Saboteur

Rating:
Summary: Good.
Review: 'Saboteur' is yet another fantasic mystery from Alfred Hitchcock. Although I don't remember the storyline too much, I remember liking it enough to give it a four-star review.

Rating:
Summary: Good.
Review: 'Saboteur' is yet another fantasic mystery from Alfred Hitchcock. Although I don't remember the storyline too much, I remember liking it enough to give it a four-star review.

Rating:
Summary: Wartime Fear on the Silver Screen...
Review: Amidst World War II Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) gets falsely accused for blowing up an aircraft factory on the west coast, however, he has one clue which he intends to follow up on. This clue takes him to to the deserts of the United States where he finds reluctant help through a blind man and his daughter Patricia (Priscilla Lane). It seems like the clues lead toward the Big Apple where Barry intends to find the saboteur who really blew up the airplane plant. Saboteur is a suspenseful film that was made during World War II when there was an actual fear for saboteurs, traitors, and spies. This fear must have enhanced the suspense that the film provides, and it is still a thrilling cinematic experience that leaves the audience agape from the beginning to the end.

Rating:
Summary: Wartime Fear on the Silver Screen...
Review: Amidst World War II Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) gets falsely accused for blowing up an aircraft factory on the west coast, however, he has one clue which he intends to follow up on. This clue takes him to to the deserts of the United States where he finds reluctant help through a blind man and his daughter Patricia (Priscilla Lane). It seems like the clues lead toward the Big Apple where Barry intends to find the saboteur who really blew up the airplane plant. Saboteur is a suspenseful film that was made during World War II when there was an actual fear for saboteurs, traitors, and spies. This fear must have enhanced the suspense that the film provides, and it is still a thrilling cinematic experience that leaves the audience agape from the beginning to the end.

Rating:
Summary: 'B' Movie gets A+
Review: For a lot of what others may have found as flaws in this jingoistic gem, I thought these were attributes. I had no prior knowledge of the film and just grabbed it randomly. First impression was the quality of the print and the fantastic cinematography. The film has a definite noirish feel to it, great angles and crisp shadow and light definition. The story line, as described in other reviews, was good enough; innocent all-American Joe falsely accused of the times worst crime and his plight to get to the bottom of it all. From the mountains, through the prairies, to the ocean....the hero travels from LA to NYC, chased by police, helped by a blind man (hard to shake images of scenes in Frankenstein), shuttle by homegrown foes 'the Firm', sheltered by a traveling sideshow complete with 'fascist' midgets, motherly bearded ladies, and contrary conjoined sisters. The scenes of desert and mountains are gorgeous, and are pitted well against the canyons of metro New York where some angles recall famed Gotham photographer, Beatrice Abbott. The 'what's so bad about America' speeches and the unabashed rhetoric/propaganda were as much a part of the enjoyment as were the stinging one-liners, most likely from sceenplay collaborator, Dorothy Parker. The views on the upper class society and their power hungry struggle against the everyman aspect of the hero and heroine give serious food for thought along more current national politics. The finale atop the Statue of Liberty was eye opening on several levels. It works brilliantly, so well, one tends to wonder why the acclaimed director repeated it in NxNW. In viewing the film today, it had a B movie feel to it, but so well done, it gets a resounding A+.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly Hitch's Most Disturbing Film
Review: Having been undated via television and theatrical re-releases of the Hitchcock classics from the 50's and 60's, I discovered this one a few years ago on AMC. Boy, what had I been missing! This tale of a man falsely accused of espionage and treachery features a knockout performance from Bob Cummings, one of the 50's best-loved sitcom stars. His Barry Cane is a perfect example of a man forced to literally "run for his life" as all around him people, good and bad, are seeking his undoing. Priscilla Lane, who at first doubts his veracity, later shows a feisty side as she assists him in his efforts to clear his name.

Otto Kruger as the American businessman who supports the Nazis is just chilling! His "rationale" for his actions is so convincing that one finds himself agreeing with some of his logic. That is the frightening aspect of how easily so many Germans and other supporters fell victim to the wiles of one Adolph Hitler.

Hitchcock knew this and made an intelligent and thought-provoking exercise in human manipulation and terror.

Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad and the Duped
Review: I had given this movie three stars since it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't all that great either. The mid-war atmosphere is pleasant. The one thing that got me the most was the "us vs. them" and "what it means to be a true American" speeches. A bit hard to swallow over and over again. My goodness, I wish that I could meet as many people as Cummings did who would help me out without even knowing me! Not to mention that he was wearing HANDCUFFS when he bumped into the first few people. At least the characters are simple, if you like that. There are only three types of people in this movie: the bad fascists, the good 'true' Americans, and the duped that can't tell the difference. I'd recommend renting it before deciding to buy it. I had given this movie three stars, but the ridiculous five-star ratings that this movie has been given deserve to be offset, thus, my one-star rating.

Rating:
Summary: WHOOPS! Blunder in First Line
Review: I must rectify a blunder. In my earlier review, I meant to use the word "inundated," instead of "undated."

In the meantime, here is a second big recommendation for Hitchcock's "Saboteur."

Rating:
Summary: Scenes cut
Review: I saw this film about 40 years ago. The movie is quite a thriller; you will cringe back in your armchair during the Statue of Liberty scene.

Although the movie has been cut extensively from the one I saw, it is still quite corney in places. The scenes I remember which were cut are: the saboteur bangs on a bolt with a wrench to losen a bole so a travelling crane will crash; Barry tries to file thru the chain of the handcuffs using the spiral pipe of a floor lamp; spies who have been uncovered call their message center and warn "Tell the following to leave the country immediately: ..."; when barry is being moved to a different location, bound and gagged, he memorizes the sequence of sounds he hears outside the car and thru the car, and retraces the root with the police.

Rating:
Summary: Best Hitchcock film I ever saw!!!
Review: If you think 'Pshcho'or 'The birds'are Hitchcocks best wait
tell you see'Saboteur'.Hitchcock makes you jump in your seat
and the way he describes the plot and anger of someone who's friend
has just been killed in sabotage.If your a Hitchcock fan like me
than you probebly have this video but if you don't this
one will start it.