Long before the United States was brought into World War II, the Third Reich was creating terror and paranoia in England. Or at least in the hearts of film makers. This movie, similar in some ways to The Lady Vanishes and 39 Steps shows the dawning edgy awareness of things sinister. Without clearly identifying the enemy (overtly), we are given some strong hints as to how the insidious darkness begins to penetrate the awareness of "regular folk", and finally, begins to impact their lives.

This is not Hitchcock's first movie, and perhaps not his best. It has an abrupt and abbreviated feel to it, as opposed to others, where the suspense is drawn out excruciatingly. A touch of Hitchcock humor is here, but in scant quantity. And it has more than a playful quality about it. In fact it rings in as downright sinister.

The question really is, though, whether this is a movie that registers as a "warning" to audiences (and it hits home there hard) or is it Hitchcock, plying his trade in mystery and suspense? Perhaps it is a bit of both.

In this particular movie, though, there is justice of sorts. And an ending that will be a little surprising.

Have Definitions Changed?

sabotage, definition supplied in the movie: Willful destruction of machinery with the object of alarming a group of people or inspiring uneasiness.


sabotage, definition-Webster's (1990) : deliberate destruction of machines, etc. by employees in labor disputes or of railroads, bridges, etc by enemy agents or by an underground resistance.

Quite a difference, hey what? The word comes from the French Sabot, or shoe, something that was tossed into factory machinery as a labor protest, to wreak havoc with the bosses...and stop work. But perhaps the first definition merely describes the goal of the movie.

That this is a scary movie, you should have no doubt. It is even more sinister on the second viewing. The character of the Saboteur is drawn so clearly and with such developing antipathy, that I can only wonder that Hitchcock was able to pull it off in the 75 minute running of the flick.

THE TIMES

In 1936, at least two of the actors who were in this film (Homolka and Thatcher) had exited Germany to the more liberal neighboring Island. Without question, what was happening in Germany could not, should not, be ignored in England. And what better way to educate the public than by film?

This was done with great ingenuity by the setting of the flick, with the "the secret agent saboteur" being the owner of the cinema. As filmgoers watched the film in such theaters as in the setting, their identification with events would have been instantaneous, and unavoidable.
No one could have left the viewing of that film without a little paranoia developing!

FILM ELEMENTS

The MUSIC is in the murky stage between the sound and music-- created -dramatic- moments type of sound track and a true film score. There are no themes developed, and the music actually sounds very like the program music that characterized the silent movies. However, the use of SOUND was very creative and innovative in this flick. In particular, there is one scene, where Verloc (the German agent) approaches his wife with extremely squeaky shoes.

PHOTOGRAPHY stands out as having a couple of very innovative techniques. In a climactic scene, there is a kinetic and dramatic use of focus and camera angles from a normal setting to a bizarre angle, all pointing toward a knife. The scene flashes from Verloc's eyes, to Mrs. Verlocs hands, to the knife and back and forth for a classic Hitchcockian imagery collage...that must have had the audience biting their nails. In other scenes , there is an juxtaposition of reality and "imagination" that leaves you hoping until the very end of the movie, that brother Stevie will come waltzing out of the crowd.

THE PERFORMANCES of Sylvia Sidney and Oscar Homolka were outstanding. Less impressive was the Scotland yard leading man, John Loder although he wasn't bad looking.

IF THERE IS A FAILING OF THIS FILM, it is the lack of premise for the romance between Mrs. Verloc and the Scotland yard man, which might have worked if there had been any hint of chemistry between them. In fact, Mrs. Verloc's marriage to the sinister Verloc is a little poorly explained, or justified. But no one cares once the action gets going.

THE PLOT

A movie theater goes dark, in the middle of a show. It is the handiwork of a saboteur, whose intentions, we soon discover, is to cause havoc with the English public, causing them distress, and distracting them from what is happening abroad. The saboteur is a quiet foreign man, who is married to an American, in what seems to be a marriage of convenience. Women of no means required protection, and Mrs. Verloc had a younger brother, Stevie to care for. (The fact that Stevie has a cockney accent goes unchallenged)

Going to pick up his paycheck for the dirty deed, Verloc is confronted by his "boss" in an aquarium, (not accidentally in front of a shark tank, where a comment points to one of the fish as having a mustache..Hitler?-) but his boss won'tt pay him, because the sabotage failed in its intention. Londoners merely laughed away the sudden darkness. They were not terrified or upset, as was planned.

Coincidentally this points a shaky prophetic finger at the third Reich. One of their many fatal flaws was taking themselves too seriously, and dismissing the rest of the world as inferior.

The boss (who with a Hitchcock tongue- in -cheek humor talks to Verloc in French) wants something BIGGER, a bomb this time. Verloc says he wants no part of it, will not be party to taking lives. No bomb, no paycheck, and he goes to carry out instructions.

He goes to a professor, who sells "birds", who is at the same time one of the funniest and most human characters in the film, and also the most deadly sinister . Verloc gets the bomb, made in the professor's kitchen, with "ordinary looking " stuff. WORD OF WARNING. DO Not mix tomato sauce with strawberry jam!

When he finds that he is being watched by Scotland Yard "Ted", undercover as a green grocer's assistant in the shop next door, Verloc sends the bomb to it's destination with Stevie, his young brother in law. Stevie takes forever, dawdling here and there, at a fair, then watching a parade, finally getting on public transportation with the bomb in a film container (that was forbidden, because it was flammable..the security police make an exception for Stevie.) The bomb is scheduled to detonate at a given time....and ...that's as far as I go! You'll have to see it now!

In the mean time, a sort of romance has been developing for Ted and Mrs. Verloc. As for Mrs. Verloc, her eyes about her quiet and gentle husband start to open throughout the film. It is obvious that her marriage is one in which she cooks and works at the theater, while he sitis around reading. There is no hint of physical attraction or affection there. And at first in subtle ways ,then big violent ways, she begins to see the real Anton Carl Verloc emerge... he seems to be changing, until at the end, we have little sympathy for him or "his job". Seeing the story through her eyes will be the best way to track it!

THE CAST

Sylvia Sidney.... Mrs. Verloc . Sylvia started out in theater, played the saddest eyed working girl of the decade in depression movies, and was generally cast as a pitiful and very unhappy young woman. Born Sylvia Kosow, her father was Russian, her mother Rumanian. She trained for the stage, starting at age 15. She did a few movies with German Expressionist Fritz Lang. When her movie career sputtered, she returned to the stage again, doing stock. She made a comeback to film as a character actress, and got an Academy Award nomination om 1974 for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams and earned a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Beetlejuice in 1988. The last movie I saw her in was the farce Mars Attacks. She also wrote a couple of Needlepoint books in the seventies. She was very very good in this film, and Hitch used her type-casting to good advantage.

Oskar Homolka.... Her Husband (Anton Carl Verloc). This guy had left Germany when things got hot for creative types, and had a substantial filmography in Germany prior to arriving in Great Britain. He was extremely sinister, with piercing eyes, bushy eyebrows and a pronounced gruff German accent. He would later win an Oscar Nomination for his part as Uncle Carl in I remember Mama in 1949. He was in a lot of movies, and played his parts well.

John Loder.... Ted-the Scotland Yard guy undercover in the shop next door. He is definitely a British "type" but is less than impressive with his dramatic skills. He became a US citizen in 1947 and played a lot of character roles. His career waxed and waned for many years. He plays a dependable, although rigid British type, but in this flick he plays an agent that falls in love with a married woman. He does it with so little passion that no one can be shocked by the morality of it..only surprised that it was reciprocated.

Desmond Tester.... Her Younger Brother (Stevie). He was OK as a kid about 12, although he was actually 17 at the time. He stayed active in the industry until 1983, but none of his movies look familiar.

Joyce Barbour.... Renee -I think she was taking tickets in the theater, but I wouldn't swear to it.

Matthew Boulton... Superintendent Talbot -seems to have made his career as playing stuffy English bureaucrats.

S.J. Warmington.... Hollingshead...uh, who?

William Dewhurst.... The Professor-Now this stage actor does a fine job in this movie, and was one of the more impressive members of the cast. You like him, you hate him. He also sold birds who wouldn't sing, and made their owners "look silly". The folksy humor is focused around this guy...and with full intention, I think, by the director. To prove, possibly, that the enemy looks just like us.


There are some extras of note here also, including Aubrey Mather as the grocer...known widely for playing butlers, Clare Greet and Charles Hawtrey who would become quite an item in TV comedy, and theater as well.


Final Recommendation

Keep your shoes on, this isn't about French labor movements! This movie is a pre-war paranoia flick that hits the mark, and must have been sinister indeed to all who saw it. Call it a chunk of history. It was part of a building anxiety over Third Reich activities in Europe. It is a page from Hitchcock's filmography that goes unread. I highly recommend you see it. It is worth it.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older