Saboteur (1942)

North By Northwest's parent movie. This is one that I actually feel deserves a higher rating on internet sites, is it fair to say that this film can be called the black & white North By Northwest? since thematically it's the same so it is something of a forerunner to that great film. Simplistic plot of innocent man on the run trying to find the real culprit after he is blamed for a fire that killed his best friend. Whilst on the run he meets an array of interesting Hitchcockian characters, from spies to circus freaks and of course the delicious lady of the piece, in this case Pricilla Lane. Enough suspense to mark it out as a film from the maestro, witness a scene as the main protagonist Barry Kane is trying to split his handcuffs on the roadside, and the ending at the statue of liberty is a cracker, making this a very tidy suspenser that earns 8/10 from me. Tidbid; Hitchcock had wanted Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck for the lead roles here and although that sounds mightily great, he didn't have to worry because Lane & Robert Cummings did just fine.

A rather run-of-the-mill espionage thriller, this one, with Robert Cummings wrongly accused of complicity in a fire that destroys a large part of an aircraft construction factory. He manages to avoid the police long enough to travel the breadth of the United States on the trail of a group of wealthy, powerful, fifth columnists. Priscilla Lane is the initially sceptical sidekick as they try to ensnare Otto Kruger and his network of traitors. Unfortunately, there is just too much inevitability about the story; very little suspense and the performances are really quite dry - especially the rather daft circus act storyline. It is fine to watch, but nothing notable to remember, I'm afraid.