Sabotage (1936)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Joseph Conrad (novel)
Charles Bennett (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

11 January 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

...A Bomb Plot ...A Killing ...Justice

Plot:

A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.

Plot Keywords:

Cinema | Detective | Saboteur | Bomb | Blackout

Cast

Sylvia Sidney	...	Mrs. Verloc (as Sylvia Sydney)
Oskar Homolka	...	Her Husband (as Oscar Homolka)
Desmond Tester	...	Her Young Brother
John Loder	...	Ted
Joyce Barbour	...	Renee
Matthew Boulton	...	Superintendent Talbot
S.J. Warmington	...	Hollingshead
William Dewhurst	...	The Professor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pamela Bevan	...	Miss Chatham's Daughter (uncredited)
Peter Bull	...	Michaelis - Conspirator (uncredited)
Albert Chevalier	...	Cinema Commissioner (uncredited)
Clare Greet	...	Mrs. Jones - Cook (uncredited)
Charles Hawtrey	...	Studious Youth at the Aquarium (uncredited)
Martita Hunt	...	Miss Chatham - The Professor's Daughter (uncredited)
Mike Johnson	...	Member of Cinema Crowd (uncredited)
Hubert Leslie	...	Conspirator (uncredited)
Aubrey Mather	...	W. Brown & Sons Greengrocer (uncredited)
Frederick Piper	...	Bus Conductor (uncredited)
Fred Schwartz	...	Tailor (uncredited)
Torin Thatcher	...	Yunct - Conspirator (uncredited)
Austin Trevor	...	Vladimir - Paymaster at Aquarium (uncredited)
Jack Vyvian	...	Detective (uncredited)
Sam Wilkinson	...	Cinema Patron Who Wants His Money Back (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Joseph Conrad		(novel "The Secret Agent")
Charles Bennett		(screenplay)
Ian Hay		(dialogue) &
Helen Simpson		(dialogue)
E.V.H. Emmett		(additional dialogue) (as E.V.H.Emmett)

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	producer (uncredited)
Ivor Montagu	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hubert Bath		(uncredited)
Jack Beaver		(uncredited)
Louis Levy		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bernard Knowles		(photography)

Film Editing by
Charles Frend

Art Direction by
Oscar Friedrich Werndorff		(as O. Werndorff)
Albert Jullion		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Joe Strassner		(dresses) (as J. Strassner)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pen Tennyson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Albert Whitlock	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
A. Cameron	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Stephen Dade	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marianne	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Louis Levy	....	musical director

Other crew
Alma Reville	....	continuity

Thanks
Walt Disney	....	thanks: Cartoon sequence by arrangement with

Production Companies

• Gaumont British Picture Corporation (presents) (as Gaumont-British Picture Corpn. Ltd.)

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1936) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gaumont British Picture Corporation of America (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled)
• Nederland NV (1937) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Film Classics (1944) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1980) (Finland) (TV) (as MTV2)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• Madacy Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Platinum Disc (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Whirlwind Media (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (Taiwan) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD) (8-disc Hitchcock Classic Collection)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• St. Clair Vision (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Castle Communications (19??) (Finland) (VHS)
• Century Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Cine Art Pictures (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Prime Time Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Stokey Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"I Married a Murderer" - USA (reissue title)
"The Woman Alone" - USA

Runtime:

76 min | West Germany:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Full Range Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (1995) | Iceland:12 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1980) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1937) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1937) | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | Norway:16 (1937)

Filming Locations:

Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Trivia:

The film "Bartholomew the Strangler" is fictitious, as is, so it seems, actor Tom McGurth (who is named on the posters outside the movie theatre).

Goofs:

Continuity: The ring on Mrs. Verloc's third finger when she's wielding the knife.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man in power plant:Sand.
2nd Man in power plant:Sabotage.
3rd Man in power plant:Wrecking.
4th Man in power plant:Deliberate.
2nd Man in power plant:What's at the back of it?
3rd Man in power plant:Who did it?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Village (2004)

Soundtrack:

Love's Old Sweet Song (Just a Song At Twilight)

The best of Hitch's early British films...

Most buffs and fans of Alfred Hitchcock point to 39 STEPS or LADY VANISHES as his best work before he hit Hollywood in 1940. SABOTAGE is really the first time we see a pure thriller, specifically a spy thriller, which became so commonplace throughout the master's career. The main character is an undercover agent, looking to break up a ring of saboteurs bent on destroying London. Hitch places the head villain within, what else, a cinema, something that adds to the already rich atmosphere. The film was also shot on location, an oddity for Hitch.

Check out the camera movements and use of shadows in regard to the villain (played by a creepy looking Oscar Homolka). They reveal a lot to us the viewer and lead us to hope for his wife to figure it all out. An ominous image of London falling is depicted from the point of view of Oscar. This is pretty basic stuff, but, considering how old the film is, it still packs a punch. The scene on the bus, where a young boy carries a film tin which may or may not carry a bomb is extremely suspenseful and well-done. We even see a British crowd in the movie theater watching a Disney flick (which is well noted in the opening credits).

1934's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH was an effective early thriller, better than the 1956 remake, however, this is the film to start with if studying Hitchcock's career. You may find yourself preferring some of his British films, like MAN WHO KNEW, to his work in Hollywood. SABOTAGE provides the goods for the first time.