FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT BEST SUSPENSE THRILLER, 1940 - 5-Star Masterpiece MOST ENJOYABLE OF HITCHCOCK'S EARLY WORK It’s hard to say which of Hitchcock’s early work is more important: The 39 Steps, Saboteur, or Foreign Correspondent. But of these three, this is definitely the most enjoyable, not only because of the witty dialogue, but also because of Joel McCrea’s absolutely likeable personality as foreign correspondent Johnny Jones, alias Hadley Haverstock. There are two scenes especially that make this film important. (Some would say three. I’ll mention the third, but won’t describe it in detail.) The first is the steps sequence with the umbrellas. It opens on one of the largest sets ever created, and it is raining. The place is Amsterdam on the eve of World War II. There are streetcars converging, hosts of passers-by and the steps leading up to an imposing governmental building. A last ditch effort is being made there to divert Europe from war; but before one of the key diplomats - Van Meer, the strong man for Holland - can make it up the steps, he is gunned down by a photographer shooting bullets rather than film. The steps are crowded with people holding black, open umbrellas; and as the assassin makes his escape through that sea of black, a high camera shot reveals his trail just by the movement of the umbrellas. This is a masterful shot, and a stroke of genius on Hitchcock’s part. Johnny, who was standing with the diplomat when he was shot, pursues the killer into the umbrellas as he hits the street and starts gunning down policemen and passers-by in his path. Once on the street, Johnny gets cut off from him, first by a bicyclist, then by the various streetcars that are passing within inches of each other, and finally by automobiles, as the killer makes his escape in a waiting getaway car. Johnny commandeers the nearest vehicle, which just happens to be occupied by costars Laraine Day and George Sanders. They embark on a wonderful chase through the city then through the country, which is very much like a virtual rollercoaster ride. Included in the sequence is an hilarious incident involving a drunkard trying to cross the road as a dozen vehicles race past him. He finally gives up and goes back inside the pub. The chase finally ends on a flat, lonely road in the middle of a field of windmills. This is the location of the next important scene. The car carrying the gunman has disappeared. As Johnny and his friends stand discussing the situation, he observes that one of the windmills has changed the direction in which its sails are turning - he thinks it’s in order to signal a passing airplane. Johnny sends the others for help, while he investigates the windmill. The interior of the windmill turns out to be one of the great movie sets of all time. It is the perfect setting for suspense, full of dust, cobwebs and dripping water; a dilapidated set of stairs rising to the next floor; interesting machinery involving dangerous turning gears; eerie lighting; etc. As the conspirators plot below, Johnny sneaks up the stairs unnoticed, where he finds Van Meer - played wonderfully by Albert Bassermann - alive! The diplomat that was shot on the steps was a double. Van Meer tells Johnny what is going on before he passes out from a drug the conspirators have given him. Johnny hears the men coming up the stairs to take Van Meer away, so he hides behind the giant gears of the windmill’s mechanism. While he waits for them to leave, his trench coat gets caught in the gears, which are beginning to pull the coat into them, along with Johnny! As he frantically tries to remove his coat without the men hearing him, he is being pulled closer and closer to the gears, until finally his hand is about to be crushed between two of them. He manages to slip his hand out of the sleeve just in the nick of time. This is one of the great Hitchcock suspense sequences, and it is masterful. The rest of the film is equally engaging and well crafted, including one of the last scenes, in which the plane our three characters are traveling on crashes into the ocean. This had to be shot in a water tank in order to simulate the water rushing in, and the filmmakers had to make it seem as though the actors were actually trapped. Paper ceilings allowed the actors to escape before being totally overcome by the water. Before the age of special effects, it comes off quite well, and is still quite believable. It makes for a very exciting climax. One of the best things about this film is the dialogue, which is quick, witty and ironic. As a matter of fact, Johnny Jones seems to be irony personified. It’s hard to find very many accurate quotes - most reviewers seem to be quoting from the same limited source - but here are some of the most memorable, taken directly from the film: Johnny Jones (when he first meets Laraine Day’s character, Carol Fisher): Please don’t go… After all, you don’t even know my name yet. Carol Fisher: Well, is it necessary? Johnny: It is to me. Don’t mind if you hear it’s Huntley Haverstock, because it’s really Jones. What’s yours? Carol: Mine’s really Smith. Don’t mind if you hear it’s anything else. Scott ffolliott (really spelled that way, and played by George Sanders): Who’s been shot? Johnny: Van Meer. Scott: Dead? Johnny: Looked like it. Scott: Bad show. Johnny: Couldn’t be much worse from his point of view. Carol: That’s strange. We were to dine together tonight. Johnny: Well, I guess he realized how much I mean to you. Carol: You’d mean much more to me with your clothes on. Johnny: Oh, you like the intellectual type. Carol: You’re just a wee bit unscrupulous, aren’t you? Johnny: Not unscrupulous, just in love. It’s the same thing, I suppose. Carol: I beg your pardon? Johnny: I beg yours. You see, I’m in love and I want to marry you. Carol: I love you and I want to marry you. Johnny: Well, that cuts our love scene down quite a bit, doesn’t it? Carol: Do you mind? Johnny: Not at all - it’s made a new man of me. Johnny: I’m not going to be misunderstood. I’m so in love with you, I’m going mad. Carol: It won’t do. I suppose it can’t be helped. You’ve turned European on me overnight, Johnny. Johnny: That’s unfair. I’m just as big a jackass as I ever was - bigger. Johnny: If you knew how much I loved you, you’d faint. [They kiss, and in the middle of it, she faints.] Waitsel Smith, October 1, 2006 Text © 2006 Waitsel Smith. All Rights Reserved.

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