Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Charles Bennett (screenplay) &
Joan Harrison (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery | Romance | Thriller | War

Tagline:

The thrill spectacle of the year!

Plot:

On the eve of WW2, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.

Plot Keywords:

American In The Uk | Amsterdam Netherlands | The Star Spangled Banner | Beautiful Woman | Conspiracy

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars.

Cast

Joel McCrea	...	Johnny Jones / Huntley Haverstock
Laraine Day	...	Carol Fisher
Herbert Marshall	...	Stephen Fisher
George Sanders	...	Scott Folliott
Albert Bassermann	...	Van Meer
Robert Benchley	...	Stebbins
Edmund Gwenn	...	Rowley
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Mr. Krug
Harry Davenport	...	Mr. Powers
Martin Kosleck	...	Tramp
Frances Carson	...	Mrs. Appleby (credited as Mrs. Sprague)
Ian Wolfe	...	Stiles
Charles Wagenheim	...	Assassin
Eddie Conrad	...	Latvian (as Edward Conrad)
Charles Halton	...	Bradley
Barbara Pepper	...	Dorine
Emory Parnell	...	Captain John Martin of 'The Mohican'
Roy Gordon	...	Mr. Brood
Gertrude Hoffman	...	Mrs. Benson
Marten Lamont	...	Captain (as Martin Lamont)
Barry Bernard	...	Steward
Holmes Herbert	...	Commissioner Folliptt
Leonard Mudie	...	McKenna
John Burton	...	English announcer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samuel Adams	...	Van Meer's impersonator (uncredited)
Meeka Aldrich	...	Donald's wife (uncredited)
Jack Alfred	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Bunny Beatty	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Frank Benson	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Billy Bester	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Henry Blair	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Rebecca Bohannen	...	Sophie (uncredited)
Louis Borel	...	Capt. Lawson (uncredited)
Barbara Boudwin	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Betty Bradley	...	Cousin Mary (uncredited)
Louise Brien	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Ronald Brown	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Horace B. Carpenter	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Willy Castello	...	Krug's Henchman at Windmill (uncredited)
George Cathrey	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Committeeman (uncredited)
Ken Christy	...	Fake Dutch detective (uncredited)
E.E. Clive	...	Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Luncheon waiter (uncredited)
Jack Dawson	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Harry Depp	...	Uncle Buren (uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Carl Ekberg	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Helena Phillips Evans	...	Mrs. Stiles (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Parking Valet (uncredited)
James Finlayson	...	Dutch peasant (uncredited)
Robert Fischer	...	Bit part (uncredited)
George B. French	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Bill Gavier	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Hotel waiter (uncredited)
John George	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Alexander Granach	...	Hotel valet (uncredited)
Richard Hammond	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Luncheon Guest (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man with newspaper on street (uncredited)
Otto Hoffman	...	New York Globe teletype operator (uncredited)
Billy Horn	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Paul Irving	...	Dr. Williamson (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Crauford Kent	...	Toastmaster (uncredited)
Joan Leslie	...	Jones' Sister (uncredited)
Gwendolyn Logan	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	College Arms Hotel cashier (uncredited)
Jackie McGee	...	Bit part (uncredited)
John Meredith	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Hermina Milar	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Thomas Mizer	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Luncheon Guest (uncredited)
John T. Murray	...	Clark (Jones family member) (uncredited)
Henry Norton	...	Luncheon Guest (uncredited)
Jane Novak	...	Miss Benson (uncredited)
Joe O'Brien	...	Bit part (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	New York Globe Copy Boy (uncredited)
Lawrence Osman	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Hilda Plowright	...	Miss Pimm (uncredited)
Thomas Pogue	...	Airplane Passenger (uncredited)
Jack Rice	...	Donald (uncredited)
Ronald R. Rondell	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Loulette Sablon	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Sidewalk Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Raymond Severn	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Frederick Sewell	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Ernie Stanton	...	Bit part (uncredited)
William Stelling	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Donald Stuart	...	Eric, Skittish Girl's Escort in Tower of Westminister Cathedral (uncredited)
Paul Sutton	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Ferris Taylor	...	Jones' father (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Jones' mother (uncredited)
Jack Voglin	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Hans von Morhart	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Larry Wheat	...	Luncheon Guest (uncredited)
Bert White	...	Bit part (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.	...	Dutch motor policeman (uncredited)
Mary Young	...	Auntie Maude (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Charles Bennett		(screenplay) &
Joan Harrison		(screenplay)
James Hilton		(dialogue) &
Robert Benchley		(dialogue)
Ben Hecht		(writer: final scene) uncredited

Produced by
Walter Wanger	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Rudolph Maté

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer

Art Direction by
Alexander Golitzen

Costume Design by
I. Magnin

Makeup Department
Carmen Dirigo	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Norman Pringle	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
James Dent	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edmond F. Bernoudy	....	assistant director (as E.F. Bernoudy)
Marty Moss	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Julia Heron	....	interior decorator
Oscar Brodin	....	constructor (uncredited)
Richard Irving	....	associate art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Frank Maher	....	sound
James T. Moulton	....	sound effects (uncredited)
Walter Reynolds	....	sound film cutter (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Paul Eagler	....	special effects (uncredited)
Louis R. Loeffler	....	special effects cutter (uncredited)
Paul Wtuliska	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)
Lee Zavitz	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ted Mapes	....	stunt double: Joel McCrea (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ray Binger	....	process photographer (uncredited)
Osmond Borradaile	....	photographer: Europe (uncredited)
Frank Bucholtz	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ellis W. Carter	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Tom Dowling	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Paul Eagler	....	photographer: second unit (uncredited)
Norman Freed	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Burnett Guffey	....	camera operator (uncredited)
James V. King	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Roy F. Overbaugh	....	additional photographer (uncredited)
William Walling	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Otho Lovering	....	editorial supervisor

Other crew
William Cameron Menzies	....	special production effects
Walter Wanger	....	presenter
Paul Mantz	....	pilot (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walter Wanger Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Masterpiece Productions (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Masterpiece Productions (1950) (USA) (TV)
• Beam Entertainment (1996) (Japan) (video) (laser disc)
• Constantin Film (Germany)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cosmic Publishing (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Editora D+T (Brazil) (DVD)
• First Trading (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• PSG (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Sonoro Filme (Portugal)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• I. Magnin & Co.  costumes

Also Known As:

Personal History (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

120 min | Germany:98 min (cut version) | Spain:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Dutch | Latvian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6409) | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

Albert Bassermann (who played the Dutch diplomat Van Meer) couldn't speak a word of English and learned all his lines phonetically.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The film is reversed left-to-right during the chess game at the police station.

Quotes:

Carol Fisher: You never hear of circumstances out of our control rushing us into peace, have you?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele in the News (#1.18)" (1983)

"Hang onto your lights, America"

Admittedly, partly due to the presence of Joel McCrea, this is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. As with "Saboteur," Hitchcock wanted Gary Cooper (and in this case, Joan Fontaine - he wanted Barbara Stanwyck for "Saboteur) but couldn't get them. Cooper turned down the role of Johnny Jones and lived to regret it.

Today, "Foreign Correspondent" can be seen as a fierce call to bring America into the war. It's amazing today how long America stayed out. In the film, Johnny Jones, writing under the pen name of Huntley Haverstock, is given the assignment of going to Europe and digging around for information about the impending war - and particularly to have a conversation with Professor Van Meer, who may be one of the men who can help keep the peace. Johnny witnesses Van Meer being killed right in front of him, and chasing the perpetrators, he winds up searching a windmill, in one of the many remarkable scenes in the film. While on assignment, he falls in love with Carol Fisher, whose father is the head of a peace-making movement.

The film is striking for its underlying humor and lightness despite the seriousness and shock value of the events. It's also remarkable for some against type casting, i.e., George Sanders is a newsman and a good guy for a change, and Edmund Gwenn - Santa Claus! - is a killer. That's another remarkable scene.

There are several spectacular moments. The rainy scene on the steps when Van Meer is killed is one; when Jones looks for the perpetrator, all he can see is a sea of same-colored umbrellas. The windmills are another - claustrophobic inside, a peaceful picture outside. There is a marvelous shot of Johnny escaping from killers by slipping out of his hotel bathroom window and walking along the ledge. The lit-up sign HOTEL EUROPE can plainly be seen, and Jones breaks one of the lights as he goes by. Best of all is the airplane crash into the ocean which is fantastic and looks both agonizing and real. The final scene of the film, a radio broadcast, was added some time later - five days before the Germans started bombing, in fact.

Shot in black and white, "Foreign Correspondent" is loaded with atmosphere and the tension of the coming war. Joel McCrea, a very likable, easygoing actor in the same vein as Cooper, though maybe a bit livelier, is excellent in his role here as a gentle but adventurous man caught up in bizarre circumstances. Laraine Day, never used much by her own studio (MGM) and often loaned out, is great as the pretty, intelligent, and principled Carol. As Scott ffolliott, Sanders is charming and plays beautifully with Day and McCrea. Herbert Marshall has a slightly different role for him and is very effective.

Though many may not agree, I consider this one of Hitchock's best films and totally underrated. Why did Gary Cooper turn it down? It was a thriller, which in those days was considered a B-class genre. After "Foreign Correspondent," this was no longer true.