Alfred Hitchcock made many well done thrillers during his career. Until recently, I had only seen his more well known movies and I hadn't seen any of the ones he made in England. I picked up the Alfred Hitchcock Premier Collection, a DVD set with eight of his earlier movies, a few months ago. I recently watched Sabotage for the first time.
Certain things are shared right at the beginning of Sabotage. I will be mentioning those things in this review, but since they happened that early in the movie - and have even been included in plot information that I've read - I don't consider them to be spoilers. People who would prefer not to know about the plot before seeing the movie may want to skip this review.
London has been dealing with terrorist attacks. Theater owner Karl Verloc is one of the people involved in the attacks. His wife and her young brother have no idea what he's doing. When the city is hit by a blackout, Mrs. Verloc has to deal with the theater customers wanting a refund. A man working at the greengrocer's store next to the theater, Ted, tries to help with the crowd, which annoys Mrs. Verloc. Ted is actually an undercover Scotland Yard detective investigating Karl. It isn't long before Mrs. Verloc starts to suspect that her husband in the attacks.
Sabotage is based on the novel Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. Hitchcock had just made a movie with that title, so the title was changed. A few different titles were considered before Sabotage was used. When the movie was released in the United States, it was under the title of The Woman Alone. A few years later, Hitchcock made a movie with the title of Saboteur. I've never read the book, so I'm not sure exactly what was changed for the movie.
Sabotage begins by showing things connected to the blackout and it is made clear at that point that Karl is involved. His motivation isn't shared. As the movie progresses, it comes out that he is working with others, though it is never said who is ultimately behind the attacks. Karl is just following orders. The movie was made in 1936 when the Nazis were becoming stronger in Germany and some people have believed that the terrorists were connected to the Nazis. It does seem like the movie wanted to take advantage of the rising tensions in England at that time. Some of the earlier scenes do move a littler slower, which may bore some people. The movie does include a few techniques, like focusing on people's facial reactions, that Hitchcock would use again in later movies.
Since it is known right away that Karl is involved in the attacks, a lot of potential mystery is eliminated from Sabotage. The little mystery that the movie has is connected to why the attacks are happening and who is involved. Even though the mystery isn't that strong, there is still a good amount of suspense and tension in the movie, especially later in the movie. Tension and suspense slowly build over the course of several minutes leading up to a pivotal event in the movie. This event has been considered very shocking and upsetting to many people since the movie was first released and there was some controversy surrounding it as well. Later, Hitchcock even said that he regretted using that event. At the time the movie came out, things like this just weren't done. People would probably still be at least somewhat upset by the event if the movie were made today, but I don't think it would be as shocking or controversial. While the event is disturbing, it does provide much of the impact to the story.
Not much of the relationship between Karl and his shared in Sabotage. She does seem content in the marriage, even though he acts grumpy toward her at times. When the trouble arises at the theater thanks to the blackout, she wants to defer to Karl on how to deal with the situation. Based on a few other things that happen early in the movie, I think she defers to him in most things around their home as well. I don't remember hearing how long they were married. The marriage doesn't seem that loving since the couple really wasn't affectionate with each other. Mrs. Verloc seems to have more of a connection with Ted.
Even though it is shared right away that Karl is connected to the attacks, there is still a bit of mystery surrounding the character since not much else about him is shared. He is clearly not English, though I don't think it is ever said where he is from. Oskar Homolka does well with the part. Not much is shared about Mrs. Verloc. She does seem like a kind and loving woman, especially where her younger brother is concerned. Sylvia Sidney is great in the part, especially when she is able to convey so much with just her expressions in a few scenes.
Stevie is Mrs. Verloc's younger brother who is still a child. He is mostly just sort of around, until he becomes more important later in the movie. Desmond Tester is all right in the part, though nothing that special. Ted is a detective for Scotland Yard who is working undercover at a greengrocer's to watch Karl. He seems nice enough, though there isn't enough development for the character. John Loder is fine in the part. Some other characters turn up in a few scenes without standing out that much.
Main Cast
Oskar Homolka - Karl Verloc John Loder - Ted Sylvia Sidney - Mrs. Verloc Desmond Tester - Stevie
Alfred Hitchcock - Director
DVD Information
My copy of Sabotage is part of the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection DVD set along with seven of Hitchcock's earlier movies. This version of the movie has been restored so the picture quality is wonderful. This version is available alone as well. I'm not completely sure, but I think there have been other DVD versions of the movie. If there are, I'm sure the video quality wouldn't be as good on them. The extras include a commentary with film historian Leonard Leff, a restoration comparison, still gallery, and an interview with Hitchcock conducted by Peter Bogdanovich.
Sabotage is one of Hitchcock's earlier movies made in England. It includes one of the darker and more shocking events from the Hitchcock movies that I've seen. It has held up well and still deserves to be seen. Fans of Hitchcock should give the movie a chance.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.