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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A somewhat overlooked Hitchcockian gem that packs quite an emotional punch, 17 Dec 2006
The genius of Hitchcock is best seen in his early British films. Back in the 1930s, working with relatively unknown actors and actresses, low budgets, and seemingly rather straightforward scripts, Hitchcock's eye for detail, unique mastery of cinematography, framing, and lighting, and most of all his unsurpassed ability to generate suspense put him in a directing class all by himself. Speaking of suspense, Sabotage packs a particularly nasty punch in that department, resulting in what I consider one of the most memorable cinematic sequences in my own personal experience. Those excruciating moments, and the events they set in motion, make Sabotage a disarmingly powerful, surprisingly emotional film.
The story, adapted from a Joseph Conrad novella, centers around a seemingly harmless cinema run by the Verlocs, foreigners seemingly well-adjusted into life in London. Karl Verloc (Oskar Homolka) is apparently supposed to be German (he sounds a lot like Bela Lugosi, so I initially took him for an eastern European of some sort), while his wife Sylvia (Sylvia Sidney) and her brother Steve (Desmond Tester) came over from America a year earlier. The film opens with a blackout of London, a happenstance we quickly learn to be an act of sabotage committed by Mr. Verloc. Scotland Yard, already suspicious of the man, has a man working undercover at the neighboring grocery (John Loder), but he doesn't have enough evidence to nab the guy. As he cozies up to Mrs. Verloc to see if she knows anything, the mysterious group Verloc is reluctantly working for make plans for a much larger demonstration of their presence (using terrorism to distract England's attention from what is already taking place on continental Europe in this year of 1936).
As you can see, the viewer knows exactly what is going on and exactly what is planned for the near future, but rest assured that Sabotage is in no way lacking in the suspense department. The critical scenes in the movie are rather excruciating and even a fair bit shocking, setting up an ending that might look rather clichéd on paper but proves quite fascinating onscreen - in large part due to Hitchcock's masterful direction. Raw emotion radiates off the screen as Hitchcock proves, even at this relatively early stage of his career, that he is much more than a mere master of suspense.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brits are best!, 15 April 2005
When people think of Hitchcock films, they talk about the tension, the frights and the shocks. They forget that almost all of Hitchcock's films were based upon good, sometimes excellent thriller novels (in this case provided by Joseph Conrad.) He also had an intelligent group of screenplay writers with him. To cut a long story short, the dialogue in this film (as in most hitchcocks) is marvellous: it is fun and witty when it won't be ruining the tension, and as the film draws to its cushion-bitingly tense conclusion it supplies speeches which are realistic and engaging but not hackneyed, and which allow us to actually enjoy and immerse ourselves in a brutally nerve-racking finale, without dissecting or judging it.While John Loder (in standard english hero form) attempts to emulate Robert Donat, and does a fair job too, Sylvia Sidney provides a fantastic performance as the wife who is unwilling to think badly of her husband, but gradually becomes more and more cautious. Oscar Homolka also does brilliantly by providing a character who is more hateful for his weakness and his concordance with others' orders than for his evil deeds. Part of the film (the bit with the bus) is nasty and unpredictable enough to even be something that Quentin Tarantino 60 or 70 years later wouldn't dare do, and this, joined with its many other assets remind us that this isn't a generic tinseltown picture, but a classic Hitchcock which everyone WOULD enjoy, yet a piece that probably only the fans will have the opportunity to appreciate.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wilful destruction of buildings or machinery with the object of alarming a group of persons or inspiring public uneasiness. , 4 Sep 2008
One of the darker movies of Hitchcock's British career, but one of the most successful at the box office, Sabotage is by no means a flawless film, but still does manage to come out on the positive side of the equation.
Veloc's attempts to strike fear into the hearts of London by causing a power cut are laughed at by the newspapers so his paymasters withhold his payment and say that in order to get his money he has to deliver a bomb, timed to go off during the Lord Mayor's parade. What Veloc doesn't know is that the friendly fruit monger next door is actually a policeman and he is already under surveillance. When the policeman notices Veloc sneaking back into his cinema on the night of the power cut, yet later insisting he was in all night, they are sure something is afoot.
Oskar Hemolka is decent enough as Veloc but perhaps lacks the creepy charm that Hitchcock's number one choice, Peter Lorre, would have brought to the role. Slyvia Sidney as his wife was another leading lady that failed to charm, or indeed be charmed, by Hitchcock and although she is never thoroughly convincing, she makes a good fist of her role. John Loder puts in a good performance as the policeman who finds himself falling in love with Mrs Veloc at the same time as realising that her husband is indeed a saboteur and is one of the best things in the movie.
The controversy with the film largely surrounds Stevie, the boy who unwittingly carries the bomb that explodes; Hitch admitted his "mistake" in later years, acknowledging that he would have been better served by not letting the bomb blow up whilst Stevie is carrying it, but in many ways it was the only choice. It is unconceivable that anything other than Stevie's death would lead to Mrs Veloc's actions towards the end of the film, even with the way that the murder is filmed leaving some doubt as to her actual intentions.
There is nothing inherently "wrong" about this film and it carries some of Hitch's characteristic set pieces with aplomb, but it is definitely, for this viewer anyway, missing the spark that would have carried it to greatness. Perhaps the fact that the story never really chooses its focus (with not enough time allocated to any one character) ultimately prevents this from being one of Hitch's best efforts. But even with its flaws, it is certainly a film worth watching.
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