Saboteur (1942)

An aircraft factory worker goes on the run after being wrongly accused of starting a fire that killed his best friend.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Peter Viertel (original screen play), Joan Harrison (original screen play)

Stars:

Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Otto Kruger

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Priscilla Lane	...	Patricia (Pat) Martin
Robert Cummings	...	Barry Kane
Otto Kruger	...	Charles Tobin
Alan Baxter	...	Freeman
Clem Bevans	...	Neilson
Norman Lloyd	...	Frank Fry
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Henrietta Sutton
Vaughan Glaser	...	Philip Martin aka Mr. Miller (as Vaughan Glazer)
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Mason
Ian Wolfe	...	Robert
Frances Carson	...	Society Woman
Murray Alper	...	Truck Driver
Kathryn Adams	...	Mrs. Brown -- Young Mother
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Bones - Circus Troupe
Billy Curtis	...	Midget - Circus Troupe

Storyline

Los Angeles aircraft worker Barry Kane evades arrest after he is unjustly accused of sabotage. Following leads, he travels across the country to New York City trying to clear his name by exposing a gang of fascist-supporting saboteurs led by apparently respectable Charles Tobin. Along the way, he involves Pat Martin, eventually preventing another major act of sabotage. They finally catch up with Frank Frye, the man who actually committed the act of sabotage at the aircraft factory.

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Plot Keywords:

sabotage | factory | aircraft factory | fire | on the run | 

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Taglines:

Unmasking the man behind your back!

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Genres:

Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cinquième colonne

Filming Locations:

Owens Lake, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frank Lloyd Productions,Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted Gary Cooper or Joel McCrea for the lead role. Cooper wasn't interested in doing a thriller. McCrea wanted to work with Hitchcock again, but was unavailable. So the role finally went to Robert Cummings.

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Goofs

When Barry arrives in New York, he is taken into an alley and through a doorway. The outside of the door changes drastically between exterior and interior shots.

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Quotes

Barry Kane: That's the only good part. I'm with you.
Patricia "Pat" Martin: I wish it was somewhere else - the North Pole - I wouldn't care.
Barry Kane: We might wind up there too, chasing Fry over an old glacier.
Patricia "Pat" Martin: Fry. He seems so small now. I'd forgotten about him.

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Connections

Featured in Flubber (1997)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
(1809) (uncredited)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Opening bars hummed by Murray Alper

User Reviews

Pure Hitch

This is one of the classic Hitchcock films. It's not really a great film but its classic Hitchcock all the same. It's got the cross- country chase, the interesting characters and situation along the way, the innocent hero and the blonde, the oily villain and his crazed henchman, the big ending, (North by Northeast?).

I think it's a little weak that every nice person- save for the girl, instinctively knows Bob Cummings is innocent the moment they meet him. If you ran into a guy who is accused of torching a defense plant and his best friend with it, who you immediately decide that he's not so bad? Also the horrendous nature of the accusation would make the `It Happened One Night' type scenes that draw the hero and heroine together rather unlikely. The wartime patriotic speech at the end can certainly be forgiven. What movies in 1942 didn't have a speech like that?

The big thing, of course is the ending. Sweet old Norman Lloyd in his younger days finds, as Ben Hecht said, that `he needs a new tailor.' It's a model for many similar scenes later. One wonders why there was no denouement. Lloyd tells Cummings that he will clear him and then dies. Is Cummings on his way to jail at the end? An earlier scene suggests that the police already on his side. Wouldn't it be better to make that unclear and then have a scene afterwards where we find out he's off the hook?