Saboteur

Rating:
Summary: Flag-waving Obstructs Special Effects
Review: It's obvious that "Saboteur" was made during the war because of the fever pitched flag-waving and America right-or-wrongness. That caught me a little off guard, but I suppose that's not necessarily a bad thing.

There are shades of other Hitchcock films: "The Thirty-Nine Steps"--The fugitive hero finds himself handcuffed and has to make his getaway thataway, forcing a reluctant heroine into complicity.

"North by Northwest"--That fugitive hero has to travel across the country pursuing the true evil doers while being pursued by police himself. Also, the hero will be involved in one of those "gotcha by the hand" things off a National Monument, this time the Statue of Liberty, but in "NbyN" Mount Rushmore.

So, "Saboteur" is like deja vu all over again if you've seen enough Hitchcock movies. But what about it, itself? Well, Priscilla Lane is a charming all-American type. Robert Cummings seems VERY young, but that works since he does a lot of naive things. I liked best the suave evil Nazi sympathizer who oddly enough owns a ranch in California. However, the aforementioned flag-waving is a little heavy going for a postwar audience, I must admit.

Okay, but not one of his best, by a long shot.

Rating:
Summary: Essential early Hitchcock
Review: Robert Cummins plays a man wrongly accused (a favorite Hitchcock device) of sabotaging an aircraft factory who must clear his name and save the country from a band of fascist sympathizers. Norman Lloyd is great as the real saboteur, and the climax on the Statue of Liberty is a precursor of the climax to "North By Northwest" on Mount Rushmore.

Rating:
Summary: This is GREAT not GOOD!
Review: Saboteur is pure Hitchcock but most people always say that it is uneven but it is just the opposite! The climax and the ball scene are purely magic. Just watch the sweat and stuttering Cummings shows as he and Lane try to convince a group of well to do party goers that a plot is out on their lives and america as we know it! Cummings and Lane are so at ease that their acting seems effortless! The plot is Hitch all the way with turns and twists that you never expect coming! I have to say the opening alone is worth the price Hitchcock was a technical genius and by placing the screen so far from the action it makes this wartime thriller even more vast and apealing ,making the viewer seem miniscule to the plot and the action on the screen larger than life, genius! This film has it all the romance, fast paced action, and nail bitting action we have all grown to love from a Hitchcock movie. The Statue Of Liberty climax, leaves your heart in your mouth! Little by little, Cummings looses his gripe on a suspects sleeve and the threads pop, stitch by stitch until...

Rating:
Summary: Sabotuer----Good but not Great Hitchcock(DVD VERSION)
Review: Saboteur was released in 1942, while World War II was dividing the world and this film's budget was obviously effected in part by the days events.

The basic plot involves a war plant machinist Barry Kane(Robert Cummings) who is fingered for an act of sabotage at his plant by a man named Frank Fry(Norman Lloyd) who in a small role is quite effective as a cold blooded villain.

Because of this event, he is forced into fleeing cross country as authorities suspect Barry Kane and want him behind bars and the real villains wish him very much dead.

I won't give away all the details but the suspense grows as Barry Kane tries to uncover who set him up and why.

The final climatic scene atop the Statue Of Liberty is what most people will have indelibly burned into their minds and it is one of Hitchock's most memorable scenes, right up there with North By Northwest, Mt Rushmore sequence, as well as Vertigo's opening sequence with Jimmy Stewart, to name a few.

The DVD release of Saboteur is quite excellent which offers storyboards and Hitchcock sketches and poster art and the obligatory still gallery.

The documentary that's included is not as good as some of the more mainstream Hitchcock releases, but has its moments, including comments by Art Director Robert Boyle, who worked on The Wolf Man prior to Saboteur .

Overall this movie is uneven, in spots some of the acting is a bit wooden, the effects are a bit weak at times given budget constraints, but very enjoyable at the core.

This dvd presentation includes French and Spanish language tracks and subtitles, in addition the English sub titles.

On a rating of Bronze to Platinum......I give this film a SILVER...rating!!! Enjoy!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Statue of Liberty Will Never Be the Same Again
Review: Sixty years since it's initial theatrical release, Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur has unfortunately aged into an obviously dated, formalistically predictable, and slightly uneven innocent man thriller that still entertains only due to luminous directorial touches of the Master of Suspense. Starring Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, and Otto Krueger (playing the devilishly unpatriotic Charles Tobin), the film does boast a superior supporting cast, numerous Hitchcock narrative touches, many typically overacted performances, a reliably schmaltzy romance, many instances of incredibly defined suspense, and an undeniably brilliant ending Hitchcock Set piece that definitely rates up their with Vertigo's Church Tower, North By Northwest's Mount Rushmore, Foreign Correspondent's Windmill, or any of the Bird's attack sequences.

Though apparently Hitchcock's first truly American Innocent Man chase picture, Saboteur remains one of Hitchcock's least enduring of his 40's thrillers. Regrettably for the film's appeal, Saboteur showcases American characters, American landscapes, and routinely American clichés that just don't mesh as well as they aught to in a Hitchcock forum. Hitchcock did eventually direct the Ultimate American Chase Picture with North By Northwest (1959) starring Cary Grant, Eve Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau, but Saboteur ultimately remains as a colorfully memorable side note in the Master's exemplary career as a filmmaker.

Recommended for fans or students of Hitchcock, 40's Cinema, and WW2 propaganda films. Can't wait to see the Saboteur on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: "Trivia" paragraph poppycock!
Review: The "Trivia" on "Saboteur sez that the Mafia set fire to the liner "Normandie". Hogwash! The fire was caused by careless welding during the chaos of transforming the vessel into a troopship.

Rating:
Summary: "Wrong man" thriller looks great on DVD
Review: The factory where Barry Kane(Bob Cummings)and his friends work building war time airplanes explodes into flame during a lunchtime break.When Kane and his best friend move in to put out the fire with fire extinguishers (the sprinkler system was mysteriously out of order), Kane's friend is killed. When it's uncovered that the fire extinguisher handed to them by Fry was filled with gas, the authorities suspect sabotage and Kane becomes the prime culprit. Now Kane must track down the mysterious an unfriendly stranger named Fry (Norman Lloyd in a sharp, scary performance) in order to prove his innocence. Fry mysteriously vanishes leaving Kane (in a witty reference to Orson Welles "Citizen Kane")the only visible suspect of the sabotage. In the process he discovers a facist group called "the Fifth Column" which, somehow, is involved in this conspiracy.

A midperiod minor classic from Hitchcock, "Saboteur" features a number of marvelous sequences that make it instantly memorable. The sequence where Kane tries to save someone dangling from the Statue of Liberty foreshadows his later films like "North by Northwest" and even "Vertigo". The full screen presentation (for those who are interested no movies were shot in widescreen prior to the mid-50's. Widescreen was designed to couteract the effect of television)looks quite good. Universal clearly spent quite a bit of time spiffing up this black and white thriller. The transfer is quite good with solid blacks, whites and grays. The picture occasionally suffers from a bit of edge enhancement and there are occasional analog imperfections but, on the whole, "Saboteur" looks terrific. Universal has done a great job of paying tribute to Hitchcock by putting together this carefully researched and transferred disc.

My only complaint is that there isn't a commentary track featuring someone like Peter Bogdanovich and some of the production crew/cast interviewed for the DVD. Additionally, some comments from Bogdanovich's famous interviews with Hitchcock for his book would also have spiced this up a bit. There weren't many comments on "Saboteur" included in the book but those that reference the film and its era would have been welcome.

The DVD includes a documentary on the making of the film with interviews with Pat Hitchcock O'Connell (Hitch's daughter), actor Norman Lloyd (who plays Fry and became a frequent Hitchcock collaborator and ultimately ended up co-producing "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" with Joan Harrison), associate art director Robert Boyle and cast members. We also get to see Hitch's storyboards for certain sequences in the film as well as Hitch's sketches, production photographs, photo and poster gallery from the film. We also get production notes, cast and filmmaker info and the original theatrical trailer. A nicely done package by Universal, "Saboteur" was put out as part of Universal's series of Hitchcock films back in the year 2000. The witty script (credited by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison and the witty Dorothy Parker), performances (Bob Cummings does a great job in light of the fact that he wasn't Hitch's first choice. Gary Cooper turned down the part and Joel McCrea wasn't available although he was eager to work with Hitch again after "Foreign Correspondent")and direction, "Saboteur" may be of its time but it transcends the era it was made in.


Rating:
Summary: Early Hitchcock Still Good
Review: Things get going fast in this movie with a war plane plant being flamed and Cummings being framed by a guy that never existed. He keeps going after the truth and meets some strange and also some too suave and friendly people that eventually he ends up following trying to clear his name. Good Hitchcock method ending.

Rating:
Summary: a great and well worth seeing film!
Review: This is a great film. It's vert adventurous, dramatic, and romantic. Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane make a lovely couple. It's a great film.

Rating:
Summary: a great and well worth seeing film!
Review: This is a great film. It's vert adventurous, dramatic, and romantic. Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane make a lovely couple. It's a great film.