Foreign Correspondent (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Great cinematography
Disadvantages:	Somewhat old - fashioned

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Introduction
I've had this film on my shelf for a few years now and much as I love Hitchcock films, have always been put off by the title - somehow it seems very staid and uninteresting. I couldn't have been more wrong. Those are the last adjectives that should be used to describe this film. Made in 1940 not long after Hitchcock had moved to Hollywood, his second American film, it was nominated for 6 Oscars.

The director
Alfred Hitchcock, AKA the Master of Suspense, was born in the East End of London and started his film career as a title writer in London. He began his directing career when one of the directors from the film studio for which he worked fell ill and Hitchcock was asked to take over. By 1940, he had moved to Hollywood, where he made his most famous films, including Psycho. His last film before his death was family plot.

The plot
With the Second World War imminent, the chief editor of the Globe becomes frustrated with the lack of news that his foreign correspondents in Europe are provided. He randomly picks a journalist, Johnny Jones, from his office to cover Europe from London. Jones becomes known as Huntley Haverstock and is told to track down Mr Van Meer, the leader of the Universal Peace Party at a lunch held in his honour. He meets Mr Van Meer outside the lunch venue, but somewhere in between there and the lunch, Mr Van Meer is 'called away on urgent business'.

He catches up with Mr Van Meer at another meeting in Holland and witnesses his murder. He chases his killer, accompanied by Carol, the daughter of one of the leading lights of the Peace Party and a journalist, Scott ffoliot. They don't manage to catch the murderer, but Haverstock finds out a lot more than he expected, something that could threaten the roots of society.

Actors/characters
Joel McCrea and Larraine Day as Haverstock and Carol Fisher do an adequate job, but are not outstanding. This film is about the special effects and the suspense rather than any role that the characters play. I did really enjoy George Sanders as Scott ffoliot though. I was not quite sure until very close to the end which side he was on and he did the combination of good and evil very well. As an actor, George Sanders frequently appears in films of this era, but always as a secondary character - I have seen him most recently in Rebecca, also directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I think he is a sadly under-estimated actor. Also worth mentioning is Herbert Marshall, who plays Carol's father in a very believable role.

Technical bits
I didn't see the DVD version and so cannot comment on the special features. The film is in black and white and is 2 hours in length. Classification is PG.

Conclusion
I was very impressed by this film. As mentioned above, the main emphasis of the film is the suspense and this is admirably portrayed by the cinematography. Not that I'm an expert, but for the time, this must have been quite special. Three things stood out for me: One is the scene where Jones chases Van Meer's murderer - it is raining and all that can be seen is a sea of umbrellas that occasionally break apart to show the chase. The second is the scene shot at a windmill - this is from all angles and was so well done, it was stomach churning. Finally, a plane crashes into the sea and we see the survivors fighting their way out of the plane that is fast sinking and struggling to survive on a stormy sea. Fabulous.

The plot is also very strong, with a number of surprises - nothing is quite as it seems.

The only disadvantages that I can see are the lack of in depth characterisation (although I think this is a common occurrence in action films such as these) and the fact that it is made in 1940 and is in black and white, which some people may not like. Personally, neither of these factors affected my enjoyment of this film.

The DVD is available on Amazon for £19.99 for a new version or from £4.11 for a used version.