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 | horseback riding | apple | gasoline | money | 

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Taglines:

3000 MILES OF TERROR!

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Genres:

Thriller | War

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Certificate:

PG

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

As Charles Tobin (Otto Kruger) is coming down the staircase, notice that the scene is printed backwards. The handshake is with left hands, the dancers are facing vice versa, and the musicians are playing left handed.

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Goofs

When the Las Vegas newspaper is first seen in Freeman's pocket at Soda City, it is folded so that the headline cannot be seen. When Kane looks toward the pocket, the headline catches his eye, yet when he reaches for the paper to pull it out of the pocket, it has the original fold with no headline showing.

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Quotes

Frank Fry: I don't like autumn.
Patricia "Pat" Martin: You're not being very nice to a lonely girl. You look as though you might be lonely too.
Frank Fry: I got to catch that boat.
Patricia "Pat" Martin: 15 minutes shouldn't make such a big difference Mr. Fry.

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Crazy Credits

Rather than finishing with "The End", the word "Finis" appears. This is perhaps an allusion to the fall of France, which is referred to in Pat's conversation with Fry inside the Statue of Liberty.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Film Appearances of the Statue of Liberty (2010)

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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?