Story of a crime reporter (Joel McCrea) suddenly thrust into the international arena as a foreign correspondent for a major New York paper, assigned to Europe in the weeks leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. While trying to cover the efforts being made to avert war our protagonist manages both to fall in love and also to uncover a plot to subvert the peace process.
The film includes some really great set pieces, featuring wonderful sets, special weather effects and large crowds all used to great effect. For those familiar with Hitchcock's work there are also some obvious early versions of motif's that would be used again in later films ("Notorious", "North by Northwest", "Vertigo" and "The Man Who Knew to Much" to name a few).
The two leads Joel McCrea and Larraine Day are fine in their roles and largely effective but don't have the transcendence of the later actors Hitchcock's films would feature so effectively. The supporting cast though is extremely effective and includes; Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman (nominated for an Oscar), Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn (the future Kris Kringle from "Miracle on 34th Street" plays a hired killer) and Eduardo Cianelli.
The cinematography is as to be expected quite good and includes some wonderful images. The score is effective though perhaps not up to the later Hitchcock scores from Bernard Herrmann.
The comedic elements of the film which was apparently largely added by Robert Benchley are good but seem somewhat out of place. The story has strong elements as well but I think the script needed to be tighter, perhaps another rewrite could have made this film truly great, although it already had a great many writer – perhaps too many Foreign Correspondent would be nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture, although it would win none. Another Hitchcock film the far superior "Rebecca" would win Best Picture that year.
The film includes some really great set pieces, featuring wonderful sets, special weather effects and large crowds all used to great effect. For those familiar with Hitchcock's work there are also some obvious early versions of motif's that would be used again in later films ("Notorious", "North by Northwest", "Vertigo" and "The Man Who Knew to Much" to name a few).
The two leads Joel McCrea and Larraine Day are fine in their roles and largely effective but don't have the transcendence of the later actors Hitchcock's films would feature so effectively. The supporting cast though is extremely effective and includes; Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman (nominated for an Oscar), Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn (the future Kris Kringle from "Miracle on 34th Street" plays a hired killer) and Eduardo Cianelli.
The cinematography is as to be expected quite good and includes some wonderful images. The score is effective though perhaps not up to the later Hitchcock scores from Bernard Herrmann.
The comedic elements of the film which was apparently largely added by Robert Benchley are good but seem somewhat out of place. The story has strong elements as well but I think the script needed to be tighter, perhaps another rewrite could have made this film truly great, although it already had a great many writer – perhaps too many Foreign Correspondent would be nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture, although it would win none. Another Hitchcock film the far superior "Rebecca" would win Best Picture that year.