Foreign Correspondent (Hitchcock, 1940)

Foreign Correspondent (Hitchcock, 1940) - #DTC #986

A practical, but highly unpolitical foreign correspondent finds himself at the heart of political turmoil in WWII Europe

A very enjoyable movie, although the overall plot seemed a little constructed within the greater realms of things. Just about when WW2 is to break out, Europe already seems infested with the bellicose virus carried by warmongerers and other despicable criminals. This is the mess that Joel McCrea steps into and tries to get out of. Action story and love tales are always difficult to combine convincingly, I've found, but it works here to some extent.

There is not a lot of character development throughout this story. McCrea's guy basically sticks to his guns, and the delightful George Sanders basically rules most of the action in the picture. I would have liked to see more fundamental doubts/changes in the characters.

The scene at the mill is quite fantastic. A lot of suspense as McCrea doesn't try to get caught, while moving most of the time. It's quite amazing how the spatial sense transfers from the screen - you always know exactly where you are, and it's not a simple setup.

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