Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Distributor: United Artists
Top Billed Actors: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 6 more:
Outstanding Production - Walter Wanger
Best Supporting Actor - Albert Bassermann
Best Original Screenplay - Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison
Best Art Direction, Black-and-White - Alexander Golitzen
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Rudolph Maté
Best Special Effects - Paul Eagler and Thomas T. Moulton
Plot: On the eve of World War II, an American reporter gets caught in the middle of political intrigue all the while trying to shack up with party leader's daughter.
Distributor: United Artists
Top Billed Actors: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 6 more:
Outstanding Production - Walter Wanger
Best Supporting Actor - Albert Bassermann
Best Original Screenplay - Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison
Best Art Direction, Black-and-White - Alexander Golitzen
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Rudolph Maté
Best Special Effects - Paul Eagler and Thomas T. Moulton
Plot: On the eve of World War II, an American reporter gets caught in the middle of political intrigue all the while trying to shack up with party leader's daughter.
Alfred Hitchcock's second Best Picture nominee for 1940, Foreign Correspondent (1940) was also the director's second Hollywood feature. With a 2-for-2 track record, you would think all of his classics like Vertigo (1958) or Rear Window (1954) would surely make the cut and be included in this Project. Alas, we are sadly only halfway done with Hitchcock films as he only directed four Best Picture nominees. At least one of them was a winner. This particular film didn't win any Oscars bit was nominated for six. It is one of a handful of films that are pro-American involvement in World War II as this as still over a year before Pearl Harbor. Although the Germans were scarcely called out in the dialogue, it is all too apparent who the enemies to the British are in this story. The story itself was a source of frustration between Hitchcock and produce Walter Wanger. Wanger wanted to keep updating the story with every passing development in Europe but Hitchcock wanted a complete script before shooting. All of these re-writes resulted in over sixteen writers involved in the story and screenplay. The most obvious example of refreshing the narrative due to actual events overseas is the tacked-on conclusion of Joel McCrea urging Americans to "keep the light on" amidst a bombing in London. It's a wonder how the screenplay ended up with an Oscar nomination with all of these back and forths.
There are a few Oscar nominations that make perfect sense despite the eventual losses on Awards night. The art direction stands out as the most deserving. Hitchcock himself is said to have a very active role in the design of the sets with sketches and construction ideas. Without the ability to film on location, many well known places in London had to be constructed such as Waterloo Station. The most impressive sets, however, include an old windmill and a large airplane. The windmill is the site of a key moment in the film, one in which McCrea's John Jones/Huntley Haverstock learns the plotting of the assassins of the Dutch diplomat. The cinematography captures the vertical space in an effective way, the sound design adds to the eerie atmosphere, and the actual windmill presents a thrilling moment of a jacket being caught. The other impressive set piece is the transoceanic plane in the waning moments of the film, more so because of the immersive crash sequence, which leads to another well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects. The instant the water bursts through the front of the plane, I audibly gasped. This sequence is what movies are all about.
Despite all this technical prowess that is to be expected from a Hitchcock production, I never fully got invested in the story. Although the director and producer were at odds with incorporating real-world events from the impending war, I wish the narrative picked a lane and stuck to it. It seems too generic to be understood but still had specific moments that feel forced especially the final moments with McCrea speaking into the radio. I could have used even more political intrigue moments rather than settling on a story that only involves one section of a peace treaty that only one man knows. Perhaps it's because I've seen a lot of James Bond films within the past year, but this felt like James Bond lite (not fair to a movie that was released over two decades prior to Dr. No (1962)), but I just wasn't as drawn in to this tale. Hitchcock attempted to demonstrate how quickly a war could start and I'm not sure that was achieved with this script. Other middling aspects include some shaky scenes from nineteen-year-old Laraine Day and the strange assembly of accents (Day doesn't even try to sound British and what is up with that Dutch girl?).
Overall, this political thriller of a picture succeeds in its message of the involvement of America in World War II through its technical capabilities - a strong set design and spectacular visual effects - but left me wanting in the overall narrative.
My Score: 7/10
There are a few Oscar nominations that make perfect sense despite the eventual losses on Awards night. The art direction stands out as the most deserving. Hitchcock himself is said to have a very active role in the design of the sets with sketches and construction ideas. Without the ability to film on location, many well known places in London had to be constructed such as Waterloo Station. The most impressive sets, however, include an old windmill and a large airplane. The windmill is the site of a key moment in the film, one in which McCrea's John Jones/Huntley Haverstock learns the plotting of the assassins of the Dutch diplomat. The cinematography captures the vertical space in an effective way, the sound design adds to the eerie atmosphere, and the actual windmill presents a thrilling moment of a jacket being caught. The other impressive set piece is the transoceanic plane in the waning moments of the film, more so because of the immersive crash sequence, which leads to another well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects. The instant the water bursts through the front of the plane, I audibly gasped. This sequence is what movies are all about.
Despite all this technical prowess that is to be expected from a Hitchcock production, I never fully got invested in the story. Although the director and producer were at odds with incorporating real-world events from the impending war, I wish the narrative picked a lane and stuck to it. It seems too generic to be understood but still had specific moments that feel forced especially the final moments with McCrea speaking into the radio. I could have used even more political intrigue moments rather than settling on a story that only involves one section of a peace treaty that only one man knows. Perhaps it's because I've seen a lot of James Bond films within the past year, but this felt like James Bond lite (not fair to a movie that was released over two decades prior to Dr. No (1962)), but I just wasn't as drawn in to this tale. Hitchcock attempted to demonstrate how quickly a war could start and I'm not sure that was achieved with this script. Other middling aspects include some shaky scenes from nineteen-year-old Laraine Day and the strange assembly of accents (Day doesn't even try to sound British and what is up with that Dutch girl?).
Overall, this political thriller of a picture succeeds in its message of the involvement of America in World War II through its technical capabilities - a strong set design and spectacular visual effects - but left me wanting in the overall narrative.
My Score: 7/10