What's interesting for me in watching "Foreign Correspondent" is trying to imagine how American audiences of the time might have felt while on the doorstep of World War II with Europe about to blow up. In this country for only a short time, director Hitchcock's set pieces recreate the cities of London and Amsterdam in a tale of spies and traitors operating under the guise of a Universal Peace Party. It's chairman Fisher (Herbert Marshall) orchestrates the kidnapping of Dutch partner Van Meer (Albert Bassermann), who has committed the details of a secret peace agreement to memory. Clause 27 turns out to be a classic Hitchcock maguffin, a device planted in the story to rouse the interest of the viewer, though it's details are never revealed. In fact, it's not necessary to do so, because the film's sleight of hand diverts us to assassination attempts, a Dutch windmill hideout for the villains and a harrowing plane crash into the ocean before it's all over.
The intrigue moves along nicely with Joel McCrae as Morning Globe reporter Johnny Jones, who finds himself in the thick of things in more ways than one. He gets lured into the espionage drama after he witnesses what looks like the assassination of ambassador Van Meer, though by this time he's also becoming romantically involved with Carol Fisher (Laraine Day). She's the daughter of the mastermind behind the spy ring, but having grown up British, her loyalty is staunchly pro Brit and anti war.
Hitch builds suspense in the film on any number of levels, and each time it works, even when he goes for an 'in your face' moment like Rowley's (Edmund Gwenn) attempt to push Johnny from the top of the cathedral. You know instinctively that Jones/Haverstock can't be dead, yet you maintain ever the slightest doubt until you see him again in the very next scene. But for sheer terror, the scenes of the ocean plane crash survivors scrambling onto the wreckage is about the most surreal and insane piece of film making ever, made all the more terrifying if you think of yourself being there. Personally, I can't even imagine confronting a horror like that, much less hanging on long enough to survive.
Though not remembered as one of Hitchcock's better known films, the movie was nominated for six Oscars in it's day, ironically pitted against Hitch's first American film "Rebecca" which won Best Picture in 1941. Though it may seem somewhat dated today, one can still have a good time with the movie by glossing over the less believable elements and riding it out for the mystery and adventure.
The intrigue moves along nicely with Joel McCrae as Morning Globe reporter Johnny Jones, who finds himself in the thick of things in more ways than one. He gets lured into the espionage drama after he witnesses what looks like the assassination of ambassador Van Meer, though by this time he's also becoming romantically involved with Carol Fisher (Laraine Day). She's the daughter of the mastermind behind the spy ring, but having grown up British, her loyalty is staunchly pro Brit and anti war.
Hitch builds suspense in the film on any number of levels, and each time it works, even when he goes for an 'in your face' moment like Rowley's (Edmund Gwenn) attempt to push Johnny from the top of the cathedral. You know instinctively that Jones/Haverstock can't be dead, yet you maintain ever the slightest doubt until you see him again in the very next scene. But for sheer terror, the scenes of the ocean plane crash survivors scrambling onto the wreckage is about the most surreal and insane piece of film making ever, made all the more terrifying if you think of yourself being there. Personally, I can't even imagine confronting a horror like that, much less hanging on long enough to survive.
Though not remembered as one of Hitchcock's better known films, the movie was nominated for six Oscars in it's day, ironically pitted against Hitch's first American film "Rebecca" which won Best Picture in 1941. Though it may seem somewhat dated today, one can still have a good time with the movie by glossing over the less believable elements and riding it out for the mystery and adventure.