Saboteur (1942)

Subject: Saboteur (1942) Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:20 pm

Before I write this review I am proud to report I have now seen all 30 American films Hitchcock made....and 1 of his 27 British films. This film is definitely below-average.

Anyways, the film begins with a man who works at a factory (Robert Cummings) trying to help put out a fire that has started. Soon officials believe the fire was started by sabotage and he was the saboteur and responsible for the death of a man at the factory. He thinks he knows who did it, but he cannot track down the man. The film deals with his escape from police and travel across the country to New York City where he discovers a group of saboteurs. Along the way he meets a woman (Priscilla Lane) and falls in love. The plot had its moments that were decent especially the climactic end sequence on the statue of liberty, but overall it wasn't particularly spectacular.

Starring in the film were Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane. They do a serviceable job, but nothing that was going to win any acting awards. The supporting cast is full of colorful characters, but again they are nothing special.

As mentioned earlier, the best part of this film was the end. Not only was the scene rather climactic, but the effects were great as well. Obviously, they did not have actors dangling from the torch on the Statue of Liberty, but it was shot convincingly enough so that nobody would no better. For 1942 effects and camera tricks, this is pretty impressive. Still, it takes more than great effects to make a movie and this is lacking in quite a few areas. It's worth a watch if nothing else is on, but this isn't a film anyone should go out of their way to see.

66/100
D

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