Nothing sabotages a Hitchcock classic

"Sabotage"
Overall Rating: ****

A child in grave danger, a terrorist masquerading as a normal neighbor. I'm not talking about last month's "Arlington Road," I'm talking about the far better treatment the premise received more than six decades before, in Alfred Hitchcock's "Sabotage"

When the film opens, London is subject to a power outage--in this case, clearly an act of sabotage, The culprit is the owner of a small movie theater, Mr. Verloc (Oskar Homolka). His wife (Sylvia Sidney) is somewhat suspicious when he comes home in the middle of the blackout, but insists he was home all the time. The police are also on to him--Sgt. Spencer (John Loder) is working undercover, running the produce stand next to the theater while he observes Verloc. If Verloc can and will cause a blackout, is he capable of worse before the police have the evidence they need to arrest him?

John Loder is good in his part; his character's happy demeanor helps break the tension of the blackout. Though one wouldn't think a lighthearted character would work in the role of a detective following a terrorist, it works surprisingly well. Desmond Tester is also good as Mrs. Verloc's younger brother, Stevie. The best performer in the movie, however, is Oskar Homolka. He is wonderful as Verloc--the terrorist next door. He is universally menacing; his role was made all the more difficult by the fact that his character must deceive his loved ones.

The real star of "Sabotage" is Alfred Hitchcock, without even the cameo appearance he often makes. Innocuous things such as a parade, a street vendor, or a cartoon create emotional tension. The interesting thing about "Sabotage" is that just a few moments into the movie, we know not only who the saboteur is, but that the police are onto him; the tense moments of this thriller come elsewhere. There are also nice ironies in various places in the film, such as Spencer's insistence that the power outage was not "an unfriendly act"--when in fact it was.

The biggest problem with the film is its slow start. For much of the first half of the film, the pace is fairly slow, worsened by the fact that Verloc's sabotage happened despite the stakeout. Things pick up in the second half, however, after both Spencer and Verloc's superiors push them towards action. The end of the film is very well structured, more than making up for this problem. There are also problems with the sound--though I'd have a hard time saying whether the audio problems are a problem with the film itself, or my particular video (which ran somewhere around five dollars).

For children, "Sabotage" is iffier than most films from the '30s. There is no strong language or strong sexual content--but there are references to a child having been born out of wedlock, referred to as being "a cross to bear." The biggest concern is a fairly graphic (for the time) on-screen murder, among other acts of violence (including a bombing); considering that one incident kills a child, and another incident involves a married couple, these could be more traumatic for children, "Sabotage" is almost certainly safe for older children and teenagers, but it may scare young children.

"Sabotage" is a good thriller. It's interesting from a historical perspective--both as an early Hitchcock work, and in general (there are subtle hints that the acts of sabotage are backed by foreign powers--interesting, since the film was made just prior to World War II). Beyond its historical interest, however, the real appeal of "Sabotage" is for its entertainment value--and, as you can say about many Hitchcock films, it's a great thriller.

Title: "Sabotage"
Release date: 1936
Not MPAA rated
Overall rating: ****
Aprox. run time: 76 min.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, Helen Simpson, Joseph Conrad (novel, The Secret Agent)
Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, John Loder

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Mansion/7045/Sabotage.htm
Added to blog site: 8/4/09 (fixed formatting problems)