Saboteur [DVD]

This is a familiar theme throughout many of Hitchcocks films, a man framed for something he didnt do,but cannot go to the police,as he is not sure he will be believed,and he cant trust them, so then tries to clear his name before he is caught.

This film came many years before North By Northwest,which was a much more famous and classically noted film, but has the same theme running through it.Again, In the latter film, Hitch wishes to convey the vastness of the countyside when Cary Grant is attacked by the crop dusting aeroplane in the wide open spaces with little or no cover to hide.

This theme of man accused and trying to clear himself was very successfully approached many years later in The Fugitive for example, the innocent man being chased by the authrities who keep getting closer all the time,whilst he is trying to clear himself.

Visually the film is very rich, with a huge amount of scenes and locations. Hitch uses the camera lens to great effect when he shot some scenes with a huge telephoto lens from a great distance away, which really does imply the vastness of the country, and the mammoth task our lead "hero" is up against.

The famous Hitchcock humour is very evident,when the circus freakshow have their screen debut. There are two Siamese twins that are not talking to each other; the curlers that are seen in the bearded lady's beard when she turns in for the night.

Another recurring theme in Hitchs films is the grand climax in a public place, this time Radio City music hall,and at the Statue of Liberty, where the finale is held.

It is not the finest Hitch film ever made, but is quite linear and easy to understand, good guys and bad guys, and entertaining to the end nontheless, as in many Hitchcock films, you arent really sure until the final credits roll that you are sure of the outcome.

Amongst several memorable and beautifully staged set-pieces, the lavish charity ball sequence, a bizare encounter with a troupe of circus freaks (a nod to TOD BROWNING's marvellous 1932 film FREAKS?), and the famous suspense-filled finale atop the Statue of Liberty, stand out. Terrifically entertaining Hitchcock film!