Saboteur (1942)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Peter Viertel (original screen play) &
Joan Harrison (original screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

24 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Unmasking the man behind your back!

Plot:

Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane goes on the run across the United States when he is wrongly accused of starting a fire that killed his best friend.

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Sabotage | Aircraft Factory | Fire | On The Run

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Priscilla Lane	...	Pat
Robert Cummings	...	Barry
Otto Kruger	...	Tobin
Alan Baxter	...	Freeman
Clem Bevans	...	Neilson
Norman Lloyd	...	Fry
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Sutton
Vaughan Glaser	...	Mr. Miller (as Vaughan Glazer)
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Mason
Ian Wolfe	...	Robert
Frances Carson	...	Society Woman
Murray Alper	...	Truck Driver
Kathryn Adams	...	Young Mother
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Bones - Circus Troupe
Billy Curtis	...	Midget - Circus Troupe
Marie LeDeaux	...	Fat Woman - Circus Troupe (as Marie Le Deaux)
Anita Sharp-Bolster	...	Lorelei - Circus Troupe (as Anita Bolster)
Jean Romer	...	Siamese Twin (as Jeanne Romer)
Lynne Romer	...	Siamese Twin (as Lynn Romer)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hardie Albright	...	Detective (uncredited)
Oliver Blake	...	Deputy Sheriff-Driver (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Marine MP Sergeant (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Farmer (uncredited)
Don Cadell	...	FBI Man (uncredited)
James Carlisle	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Jack Cheatham	...	Detective Outside Movie Theater (uncredited)
Hans Conried	...	Edward (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps	...	Man in Movie Audience (uncredited)
Mary Curtis	...	Midget (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Helen Dickson	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Norma Drury Boleslavsky	...	Refugee Mother (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	FBI Agent at Mason's House (uncredited)
John Eldredge	...	Footman (uncredited)
Paul Everton	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	George - Elevator Operator (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Motorcycle Cop (voice) (uncredited)
Eddie Foster	...	Driver for Saboteurs (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Pat's Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Eugene Gericke	...	Plant Worker (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Radio Broadcaster (voice) (uncredited)
Gus Glassmire	...	Mr. Pearl (uncredited)
William Gould	...	Stranger on Sidewalk (uncredited)
Charles Halton	...	Second Sheriff (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Margaret Hayes	...	Henry's Wife in Movie (uncredited)
Vinton Hayworth	...	Will - Other Man in Movie (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man in Front of NY Drugstore (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	FBI Chief (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Man Killed in Movie Theater (uncredited)
Rex Lease	...	Plant Cafeteria Worker (uncredited)
Will Lee	...	Rogers (uncredited)
Alexander Lockwood	...	Marine (uncredited)
Nancy Loring	...	Young Mother (uncredited)
Lou Lubin	...	Man (uncredited)
Jimmie Lucas	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Man in Newsreel Truck (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Cowhand (uncredited)
Frank McClure	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Margaret Ann McLaughlin	...	Baby Susie Brown (uncredited)
Dick Midgley	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Belle Mitchell	...	Adele - Tobin's Maid (uncredited)
Robert Mitchum	...	Passerby (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Margaret Moffatt	...	Mrs. Moore - Neighbor (uncredited)
Henry Norton	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Gene O'Donnell	...	Jitterbug (uncredited)
Paddy O'Flynn	...	Counterman at Statue of Liberty (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	Plant Worker (uncredited)
Emory Parnell	...	Henry - Husband in Movie (uncredited)
Ruth Peterson	...	Society Woman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Plant Security Officer (uncredited)
Paul Phillips	...	Driver (uncredited)
Gerald Pierce	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Louis Quince	...	Tourist (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
William Ruhl	...	Deputy Marshal (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Shadow	...	Dog (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Barry's Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Byron Shores	...	Detective (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Motorcycle Highway Patrolman (uncredited)
Virgil Summers	...	Ken Mason (uncredited)
Torin Thatcher	...	Man (uncredited)
Jean Trent	...	Blonde Aircraft Worker (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell	...	Motorcycle Cop (voice) (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	FBI Assistant - Phone Operator (uncredited)
Claire Whitney	...	Wife in Movie Audience (uncredited)
Matt Willis	...	First Sheriff (uncredited)
Marjorie Wood	...	Farmer's Wife (uncredited)
Will Wright	...	J.C. Lormans - Company Official (uncredited)
Barton Yarborough	...	First FBI Man at Mason's House (uncredited)
Duke York	...	Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Peter Viertel		(original screen play) &
Joan Harrison		(original screen play) &
Dorothy Parker		(original screen play)
Alfred Hitchcock		(story) uncredited

Produced by
Frank Lloyd	....	producer
Jack H. Skirball	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Frank Skinner		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Joseph A. Valentine		(director of photography) (as Joseph Valentine)

Film Editing by
Otto Ludwig		(film editor)
Edward Curtiss		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Jack Otterson

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(set decorations) (as R.A. Gausman)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Frank	....	assistant director
John P. Fulton	....	second unit director: New York (uncredited)
Vernon Keays	....	second unit director: Lone Pine (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert F. Boyle	....	associate art director (as Robert Boyle)
John DeCuir	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
William Hedgcock	....	technician

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Russell Saunders	....	stunt double: Robert Cummings (uncredited)
David Sharpe	....	stunt double: Robert Cummings Horse Riding/Norman Lloyd at the Statue of Liberty (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James V. King	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Virgil Summers	....	best boy (uncredited)
Charles Van Enger	....	director of photography: Lone Pine (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Charles Previn	....	musical director

Other crew
Adele Cannon	....	set continuity

Production Companies

• Frank Lloyd Productions (presents) (as Frank Lloyd Productions, Inc.)
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmes Alcântara (1945) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Films (1949) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Films (1949) (France) (theatrical) (16 mm)
• MCA Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2001) (Canada) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2006) (Canada) (DVD)

Other Companies

• David O. Selznick Productions Inc.  courtesy of: Alfred Hitchcock directs through the

Also Known As:

Runtime:

109 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

France:U | USA:Approved (certificate no. 8268) | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:16 | Ireland:PG | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Owens Lake, California, USA

Company:

Frank Lloyd Productions

Trivia:

The shot of the ship on its side toward the end was an actual shot of the ocean liner SS Normandie, which had caught fire and capsized at its pier in New York. The fire was an accident, not sabotage (a cutting torch accidently set fire to some kapok life vests), though there were rumors of sabotage at the time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the two detectives hold Barry Kane at Tobin's ranch, the detective on Barry's left has his arm by his side. The next mid-shot shows the detective holding Barry's arm with both hands.

Quotes:

[to Patricia as they dance at a party full of Nazi sympathizers]
Barry Kane:Right now, they're probably haggling over the price for us with Murder, Incorporated.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 'Torn Curtain' Rising (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67

On the Road

Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur is not one of his best-regarded films; made between two vastly more popular and critically praised pictures, Suspicion and Shadow Of a Doubt, it's generally regarded as a lesser effort. I agree that the later film is groundbreaking, drawing Hitchcock wholly into the American mainstream for the first time, but Saboteur is in its way at least as lively as Suspicion; its chief flaw being its less than charismatic star players, Bob Cummings and Priscilla Lane.

In Saboteur we find Hitchcock feeling his way around America, literally, as its lead character travels from California to New York in search of an arsonist for whose crime he was accused. Cummings is very youthful here, and quite engaging. His boyishness (but not immaturity) perfectly suits the character he is portraying, and seems appropriate, as the director, though middle-aged, was in the process of reinventing himself, and an older, more established star might have thrown things off. Priscilla Lane's spunky heroine, which not a typical type for the director, was very much a common type in American films at the time; and she and Cummings provide an openness and a youth the director needed both in his life and work at this time. I cannot imagine older, more solid types,--Cooper and Stanwyck for instance--doing any better, as they would have, between them, carried, well, too much baggage.

As is the norm in Hitchcock's films, nothing is as it appears. Where Saboteur differs from his better known films is that the audience is let in on the game early. Though Cummings is an accused arsonist, we know that he is innocent. The villains become apparent fairly soon; and the movie hinges more on its plot than its ironies. What pleasures there are are incidental, and here the Master does not disappoint. There is an interesting, Tod Browningish interlude with some circus freaks, who help Cummings elude capture. In another scene, reminiscent of James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, Cummings spends some time in the cottage of a blind man, who, as it turns out, is Lane's uncle. Was the director perhaps studying key American films of the previous decade? Whatever the case, these and other offbeat and discursive aspects of the movie give it a playfulness and variety, which, when one adds the factor of quite youthful leads, makes the picture seem like the work of a younger man, still learning his craft.

The film's later scenes, in New York, are more suspenseful and typical of the director, as the picture gradually becomes more Hitchockian as it moves along. In the end I find it a satisfying work; and as neither Cummings nor Lane has a dark side as an actor, neither does the movie have one. It is deliberately lightweight, and I suspect semi-experimental; an attempt by Hitchcock to see if he could pull off, in an American setting, the sort of story he had done so well in England. He succeeded admirably. The next logical step: Shadow Of a Doubt, a film in which the main character travels east to west, and with a wholly different set of values and plans.