Cinema Sunday: Foreign Correspondent

"A" is for "April" and "A" is also for "Alfred".

As in Alfred Hitchcock and with today's Sunday Cinema, I kick off a month long series of posts about movies I have seen that were directed by the master of suspense. 

Since yesterday's Cinema Saturday was about a spy thriller, let's stay in the spy game with an early film from Hitchcock, 1940's  Foreign Correspondent.

It's August 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, New York Morning Globe crime reporter John Jones (using the pen name "Huntley Haverstock") is sent to Europe to report on conditions there.

From "crime reporter" to "foreign correspondent"? Maybe it makes sense. What the Nazis are up to is a crime

Jones's first assignment is to interview a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer at a luncheon in London.  Jones happens to share a cab with Van Meer on the way to the luncheon. Jones tries to chat him up on what's going on in Europe but the ambassador diplomatically keeps his own counsel on his opinions. 

Once at the event, Jones encounters a woman named Carol. He becomes immediately smitten with her but manages to insult her as block headed men tend to do in old black and white movies. There's an announcement that the speaker at the luncheon will be Carol since Van Meer is ill.  

OK, that's weird. Van Meer was fine just a little while ago.

Jones' crime beat instincts are kicking in.  

Joel McCrea as intrepid reporter John Jones

It's on to Amsterdam to cover Van Meer's next appearance but when Jones stops to speak to Van Meer outside the conference hall, Van Meer seems to be in some kind of hypnotic state and does not recognize him. 

Abuptly an eager photographer pushes in to take a photo of the diplomat and... Uh oh! He's gotta gun! He assassinates Van Meer. 

Jones gives chases after the assassin and is joined by Carol and a reporter named Scott Ffolliott.

(Yes, he makes a point to tell anyone is first name begin with TWO letter F's.)  

One car chase later, they've lost sight of the assassin. Jones suspects the killer is hiding in a windmill. 

Well, there is someone in the windmill, all right. 

And it's Van Meer.

Wait! Isn't he supposed to be back in Amsterdam? And dead? 

And this is just the beginning of the twists and turns that occur as Jones gets chased by spies and killers, he and Carol fall in love (well, of course they do!) and you never know who to trust.

Spoiler: you might expect Scott Ffolliott is up to some sneaky double dealing since he keeps popping up at odd times and he's played by George Sanders. Nope, he's not one of the spies.

Damn it! I thought I had him pegged.

Seriously, it's George Sanders! Who can trust this guy?

Working with the bad guys is Fisher, Carol's dad. 

I'm not covering the deets here but suffice to say that there is a considerable amount of spies and spy busters running about doing things and what not and eventually, all our principals wind up on a plane heading to America. 

Suddenly, World War II is declared. 

I've said it before but there is no narrative in fiction that cannot be improved by the phrase, "suddenly, World War II is declared." 

Britain and France declare war on Germany because Germany is being mean to them. This pisses off the Nazis because how dare Britain and France fight back. 

I fucking HATE Nazis!!! 

Anyway, the airplane our cast is on is shelled by a German destroyer and crashes into the ocean. 

Which is the scene I was waiting for.

Point of order: a few years back, I actually caught the last third of Foreign Correspondent and I was quite impressed with the whole plane crash sequence. Some damn fine effects work for a 1940 movie. 

A few months ago, I finally had a chance to watch this movie from the beginning which is why I am posting about it here.  

Back to the crash.....

The survivors perch on the floating wing of the downed aircraft. Realizing that it cannot support everyone, Fisher (the son of a bitch spy who was behind all this spy bullshit that caused all this trouble) slips into the ocean to drown, sacrificing himself so the rest may live.

An American ship rescues the survivors and Jones gets his story spies and derring do back to his newspaper back home.

But no return home for Jones himself as he returns to England with Carol to cover the war.  

Alfred Hitchcock's film is unnervingly prescient, predicting the events of war in Europe as Germany invaded France and launched attacks on England.  

William Cameron Menzies designed the mid-ocean crash of the airplane after it is shot down by a German destroyer. In 1972, in an interview with Dick Cavett,  According to Hitchcock in a 1972 interview with Dick Cavett, footage taken from a stunt aircraft diving over the ocean was rear-projected on rice paper in front of the cockpit set, while behind the rice paper were two chutes connected to large water tanks. The chutes were aimed at the windshield of the cockpit so that water would break through the rice paper at the right moment, simulating the crash of the aircraft into the ocean.

The sequence is astonishing in it's power and technical proficiency. But not 100% perfect;  studio lights can briefly be seen in one shot.  

Foreign Correspondent is a tight cinematic experience filled with tension, drama, thrills and even a laugh or two. It's twisty spy vs. spy tale that keeps you guessing and it's a solid film from Alfred Hitchcock who excelled at this sort of thing. And in 1940, he was just getting started.

Next weekend, movie posts will share the theme of "Creatures On the Loose!"

Cinema Saturday: It's a BEAR! He has COCAINE!! It's...  Cocaine Bear!!!

Cinema Sunday: Alfred Hitchcock month continues with... The Birds!  (Who are not on cocaine but the avian creatures are nonetheless a threat!)