Saboteur

First American films by Hitchcock are all made in a complex time. It was necessary to please a new breadwinner and satisfy a new audience. Nevertheless, Hitch continued to develop what he had long learned at home. Saboteur is not particularly special (compared to other tendentious war films), but there are at least two scenes worth noting. The first is the encounter with a freak show (see Freaks or Freak Show) and the second is the finale, which works the same way as the finale in Blackmail. Attractive setting, tension to the last moment, but of course the happy ending kills it all. Moreover, it's all just variations of the same, see The 39 Steps or North by Northwest. (22/03/2023)

Some scenes that are really flawless, but a few of them are too naive, and the main character's performance was unbearably dull, and the atmosphere was spoiled a couple of times by overly romantic and inappropriate music. The ending, on the other hand, was superb. (09/04/2016)

Saboteur is a spectacular thriller with a high-octane screenplay and excellent directing. However, I see a problem both in the actor playing the main character, who, though he does a believable job of it, is not a likable Hitchcockian hero, and in his chemistry with Priscilla Lane. The lady puts her head on his shoulder before there is even the slightest spark between them... (29/11/2004)