Foreign Correspondent (1940)

 

 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)

By Ralph Santini - ****

          Foreign Correspondent is not only Alfred Hitchcock’s second Hollywood film but also an extremely ambitious one. Outstandingly directed by the master of suspense, the film stars Joel McCrea as ace reporter Huntley Haverstock AKA Johnny Jones (his real name) who is assigned to cover The Universal Peace Party Organization handled by two diplomats, Dutchman Van Meer (Albert Basserman) and Englishman Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall). The screenplay for The Master of Suspense’s second Hollywood film was flawlessly written by Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison and contains additional dialogue by James Hilton and Robert Benchley (who also co-stars in the film). Its’ goal is to tell us a grand but dangerous journey to Europe where he is supposed to cover a very important story for his newspaper by visiting certain parties and conferences between London and Amsterdam. The conflict begins when Haverstock is a witness to an assassination of Mr. Van Meer himself and our hero tries to catch the assassin by chasing him with help provided by Fisher’s daughter Carol (Laraine Day) and English fellow reporter Scott ffolliott (George Sanders). However he finds out something that’s not right after almost being killed by several hitmen who are apparently working for a fifth columnist. According to a 1941 volume of “The New York Times” the film was nominated for six Oscars® that included Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Basserman), Original Screenplay and Black and White Cinematography (Rudolph Maté). These are among some of the most overlooked nominees in film history because Basserman was wonderful as the elderly diplomat and the photography was excellent.

         Maté’s triumphant camera work for this film is an important example of one of the film’s nominations. The pristine B&W photography is well shot, just like watching a great and vivid Gainsborough portrait. The photography’s takes were all terrific. Some of the best of these shots was the one where it was moving very quietly, particularly at the scene in Amsterdam where it is raining and we listen to some brilliant music by Alfred Newman and it reaches Haverstock waiting for Van Meer to attend an important conference. Another winning scene from this film is the windmill scene where our hero, Haverstock, after chasing the man who supposedly killed the Dutch statesman, is finding several clues to the diplomat’s murder. He later finds out that it was not Van Meer himself but his double. That scene has got to be one of the most riveting ones ever shot in an early 1940s film, leading us to an intriguing mystery that no one will ever forget.

        Equally compelling is the also nominated art direction by Alexander Golitzen. Golitzen’s contribution to the aspect for “Foreign Correspondent” is absolutely remarkable. During the scene where our hero Mr. Haverstock is supposedly being accompanied by some alleged protector named Rowley (an arresting Edmund Gwenn, playing way against type) at Westminster Abbey whose nakedly true mission is to push our hero from the building. Fortunately for Haverstock, he manages to dodge the “slip” letting the supporting antagonist who is revealed to by a professional killer hired by all means Mr. Fisher. Even more exciting is a thrilling climax that concerns an Airplane being under attack by a German vessel. I can’t give away any spoiler in the scene but I do want to say that the special effects were simply extraordinary. They were absolutely pioneering that it gave filmmakers lots of influential impact, especially for 1940 standards. 

       “Foreign Correspondent”, at least in my opinion, was among one the best films of 1940, a year in which the United States of America was still, unfortunately neutral during World War II. It is probably one of Hithcock’s absolute best films of the 1940s (if not his finest of the decade). It is also the most stylish of all his thrillers he has made in his early days in Hollywood. Because of its absolutely memorable screenplay, it wins all dignity once Hitchcock insisted on choosing an anti-fascist subject just after leaving his original hometown in England. He wanted to give American audiences a fair warning to encourage them to enter Hitler’s war, which was causing too much Chaos in Europe until some future attack by Japan one year later at Pearl Harbor. Not trying to give away the ending of this film I will say it has great bearing to how much we needed to end this horrible war that the bombastic Hitler wanted to use by dooming the entire European continent to destruction.