Review: Foreign Correspondent

Set in 1939, when Americans appear to be largely apathetic to the impending war in Europe, perhaps unaware of the serious threat posed by the Nazi regime. Newspaper editor Harry Davenport is looking for hard news from his foreign correspondents and decides to insert a fresh face. Enter apolitical crime reporter Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea) to be sent to Europe and find out what’s really going on. After Davenport gives him the more important-sounding nom de plume Huntley Haverstock (!), he is sent to investigate negotiations conducted by a supposed peace organisation, to see whether war is imminent. The organisation is headed by Herbert Marshall, along with Dutch diplomat Albert Bassermann playing a key role. Laraine Day is Marshall’s daughter, a member of the rather amateur peace group, and the near-instant object of Haverstock’s affections. Haverstock gets barely a chance to talk with Bassermann before he is felled by an assassin, right in front of Haverstock’s eyes. Haverstock has landed in the middle of a spy ring plot, with only Day (who thinks Haverstock is flaky) and her reporter friend Scott ffolliott (George Sanders, and yes that surname spelling for his character is accurate), as well as drunk correspondent Robert Benchley, as allies. Edmund Gwenn turns up as a polite assassin posing as a bodyguard.

 

A few too many plot contrivances and a lot of truly awful front and back projection work are all that stop this 1940 Alfred Hitchcock (“Strangers on a Train”, “The 39 Steps”, “The Lady Vanishes”, “Notorious”) spy drama from being considered an absolute classic. I can certainly see why many people love it though, and I only wish I’d caught up with it sooner! It’s a much more dramatic and affecting piece than say “North by Northwest” (which I still like) or either version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, but not up to the standard of “The 39 Steps” or “The Lady Vanishes”. However, it’s better than the other three films I mentioned, and features some of the strongest and most consistent acting in any Hitchcock film, despite a cast of mostly character actors and non-stars. I especially appreciated the work by Herbert Marshall (perfectly cast), George Sanders (in a rare good-guy role), Robert Benchley (best known as a humourist and star of many a comedy short), Harry Davenport (a most underrated actor), and the affecting Albert Bassermann (in a remarkable turn for an actor who could only recite his English dialogue phonetically), who earned an Oscar nomination. Best of all is a youngish, scene-stealing Edmund Gwenn (best known for Hitchcock’s comedic “The Trouble With Harry”), cast somewhat against type as a creepy killer and walking off with the whole film.

 

I’m surprised that Hitchcock allowed Benchley to get away with his shamelessly hammy, soused act. He’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but his shameless mugging sometimes diverts the audience’s attention onto him. From all reports though they were friends, and Benchley was allowed to write his own dialogue. Meanwhile, Marshall’s casting might send up red flags for those familiar with his typical roles, but he’s such a damn fine actor that it doesn’t much matter that you know his character’s intentions quicker than the protagonist realises them. McCrea is far from the worst Hitchcock lead, and the only dud in the cast is leading lady Day who isn’t bad, but isn’t of much interest, either.

 

There’s not as many moments of Hitchcockian directorial flair or set pieces on display here, but the few we get are pretty terrific. For the first twenty minutes, you wouldn’t pick this as a Hitchcock film, it’s too busy telling its dramatic spy story, but with a rather graphic murder in the 28 minutes, The Master announces his arrival. Hitchcock and his Oscar nominated cinematographer Rudolph Maté (“Cover Girl”, “Sahara”) really get the most out of a giant windmill setting, both its interior and exterior are fantastically shot in B&W. In fact projection issues aside, the film looks terrific from start to finish, with terrific use of shadows and excellent composition. To be honest you don’t really need a lot of Hitchcock touches, the gripping and fascinating story and well-written and well-acted characters keep you busy. So busy in fact, that you won’t notice the contrivances until after the film is over. For instance, there’s a scene with one of our protagonists stuck in a room full of assorted villains, and I couldn’t believe the character managed to stay alive for so long before making their escape, let alone orchestrating it with such ease. That’s hindsight, though.

 

This is rock-solid Hitchcock spy stuff, and a must for any Hitchcock fan, or spy movie buff. I’ll even forgive the blatant propaganda speech by McCrea at the close designed to persuade the US to enter the fight against the Nazis, because the film is really good and the Nazis were very clearly the ‘bad guys’. Loosely based on a Vincent Sheean memoir, the Oscar nominated screenplay is by Charles Bennett (“The 39 Steps”, “The Man Who Knew Too Much”) and Joan Harrison (“Rebecca”, “Suspicion”, “Saboteur”), with dialogue by James Hilton (“Mrs. Miniver”, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”) and co-star Benchley. Apparently an uncredited Ben Hecht (“Wuthering Heights”, “Notorious”, “Spellbound”, “Strangers on a Train”) wrote McCrea’s closing propaganda speech. The film earned six Oscar nominations (Picture, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, and Special Effects) but won zero. Oscar and Hitchcock were decidedly not the best of friends, unfortunately.

 

Rating: B