Approaching the career of the late greatAlfred Hitchcockcan be a daunting task for any up-and-coming cinephile, as the “Master of Suspense”consistently made great films for several decades. Hitchcock’s career can easily be divided into two segments; he began making lower budget espionage and suspense films in his home country of England, and then transitioned to more high concept projects in America after his 1940 filmRebeccawon the Academy Award for Best Picture. Hitchcock picked an interesting time to start his American filmmaking career, as it was shortly after his transition to the United States that the nation officially entered World War II on the side of the Allied Forces.Hitchcock channeled the anxieties of World War II into his excellent suspense thrillerSaboteur, which laid the groundwork for the even more grandiose setpieces he would take on later within his career.
What Is ‘Saboteur’ About?
Saboteurbegins at an aircraft construction factory in Glendale, Californiain which vehicles are built in order to be dispatched overseas.Robert Cummingsstars as the factory worker Barry Kane, who is wrongfully accused of starting a deadly fire in a facility, which leads him to hit the road in order to clear his name and find the real culprit. Although Barry suspects that the real saboteur was a man named Fry (Norman Lloyd), he does not realize that theconspiracy is even more sinister, and involves members of the local law enforcement. As he dashes across the country in order to intercept the information before it’s too late, Barry begins to realize that he is not just responsible for proving his innocence; if the real saboteur was to escape, then the entire American military campaign could be vulnerable to subsequent attacks on their resources.
Saboteurserved as the perfect combination of high concept suspense and legitimate societal anxieties based on the historical events that surrounded it. Considering that the film was released less than a year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, American audiences were naturally terrified of the notion of a domestic terrorism attack. The prospect of resources being depleted was also quite scary, as a decline in aircrafts ready to battle could mean that the war would wage on for many years. It is here that Hitchcock is able to craftone of his greatest heroes, as Barry has all the ethical values that define him as being an American. He is ultimately an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances, and is inspired to risk his personal safety and honor to protect the lives of others. Hitchcock’s ability to understand what types of storylines would appeal to American audiences is certainly why he found so much success in his new home country.
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‘Saboteur’ Has Many Iconic Hitchcock Moments
Saboteurshowed Hitchcock’s ability to use national monuments to his advantage, as the ending ofSaboteurfeatures aniconic chase in New York Cityin which Barry avoids the saboteurs on top of the Statue of Liberty. By identifying a location that nearly every member of the audience would be able to recognize, Hitchcock was able to make the action more tangible. This certainly influenced the ways in which he utilized historical locations in his subsequent films; Mount Rushmore plays a critical role at the end ofNorth by Northwest, and the Golden Gate Bridge is featured prominently inVertigo.
Saboteuralso set the right tone for what a Hitchcock spy thriller could be, as he was not afraid to have fun with the material. There’s a touch of romance within the story when Barry is accompanied by the woman Pat Martin (Priscilla Lane), and he even briefly finds himself in the company of a group of carnival forces as he sets off on his road trip adventure.Saboteurmay have hooked audiences by bringing to life some of their most pressing fears, but it has stood the test of timeas an entertaining suspense thrillerbecause Hitchcock understood that viewers ultimately go to genre films in search of escapism.
Saboteuris currently streaming on the Criterion Channel in the U.S.
WATCH ON CRITERION
