Foreign Correspondent
(1940)
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Fourteen scriptwriters spent five years toiling over a movie adaptation of war correspondent Vincent Sheehan's Personal History before producer Walter Wanger brought the property to the screen as Foreign Correspondent. What emerged was approximately 2 parts Sheehan and 8 parts director Alfred Hitchcock--and what's wrong with that? Joel McCrea stars as an American journalist sent by his newspaper to cover the volatile war scene in Europe in the years 1938 to 1940. He has barely arrived in Holland before he witnesses the assassination of Dutch diplomat Albert Basserman: at least, that's what he thinks he sees. McCrea makes the acquaintance of peace-activist Herbert Marshall, his like-minded daughter Laraine Day, and cheeky British secret agent George Sanders. A wild chase through the streets of Amsterdam, with McCrea dodging bullets, leads to the classic alternating windmills scene, which tips Our Hero to the existence of a formidable subversive organization. McCrea returns to England, where he nearly falls victim to the machinations of jovial hired-killer Edmund Gwenn. The leader of the spy ring is revealed during the climactic plane-crash sequence--which, like the aforementioned windmill scene, is a cinematic tour de force for director Hitchcock and cinematographer Rudolph Mate. Producer Wanger kept abreast of breaking news events all through the filming of Foreign Correspondent, enabling him to keep the picture as hot as possible: the final scene, with McCrea broadcasting to a sleeping America from London while Nazi bombs drop all around him, was filmed only a short time after the actual London blitz. The script was co-written by Robert Benchley, who has a wonderful supporting role as an eternally tippling newsman. Foreign Correspondent was Alfred Hitchcock's second American film, and remained one of his (and his fans') personal favorites.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide |
An immensely pleasurable spy story, set on the eve of the Second World War and ending with American reporter Joel McCrea warning of the danger to come. Director Alfred Hitchcock makes the most of some great set pieces, many of which are now acknowledged as key moments in the Hitchcock canon: an Amsterdam assassination (on a huge interior set) as umbrellas close ranks in the rain; tense moments inside a vast Dutch windmill; a plane crash where the air supply on board is slowly draining away; a remarkable sequence in Westminster Cathedral, where Hitchcock's memorial service was held in memory of this film. The plot's twists and turns are cleverly and wittily maintained, and the supporting cast is impeccably chosen, notably Edmund Gwenn as a most untrustworthy bodyguard and Albert Basserman as the Dutch diplomat whose kidnap kick-starts the plot. This film can also be viewed as a major propagandist work from a Briton in exile, and was recognised as such by Nazi minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels himself. Unfortunately, those are the aspects which have dated the film, and it is also impaired by the lightweight casting of McCrea (Hitch wanted Gary Cooper) and Laraine Day in the leading roles. No matter, this is still marvellous Hitchcock, with the Master clearly at his most playful.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Thoroughly typical and enjoyable Hitchcock adventure with a rambling script which builds up into brilliantly managed suspense sequences: an assassination, a windmill, an attempted murder in Westminster Cathedral, a plane crash at sea. The final speech was