Sabotage (1936) Director: Alfred Hitchcock
“Sa-botage sà-bo-tarj. Wilful destruction of buildings or machinery with the object of alarming a group of persons or inspiring public uneasiness.”
★★★★☆
In his famous series of interviews with Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock later admitted regret for the film Sabotage for its percieved downfalls. And while I agree that Sabotage is not necessarily a major achievement in Hitchcock’s oeuvre, Sabotage is nevertheless an exciting thriller filled with all the genius and familiar characteristics of an early Hitchcock picture. Today, it is still often featured on various lists among the greatest British films ever made. Sabotage is very loosely based on Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (though it was titled differently to avoid confusion with Hitchcock’s prior 1936 film Secret Agent). The story follows Karl Verloc as he becomes entangled in an organized crime group in London, presumably of Nazis (though the film does not specify if they are Nazis). He lives with his wife Mrs. Verloc and her little kid brother, Stevie. Together, they run a small cinema.
The film opens with a jarring scene, spelling out the dictionary definition of “sabatoge,” followed by a dramatic scene in which Karl manages to cut the power throughout much of London. Unbeknownst to him, Scotland Yard is hot on his trail. Sergeant Ted Spencer quickly befriends Mrs. Verloc and Stevie in an effort to gain information about Karl (in the book he was named Adolf, however this was changed to avoid any direct relation to Nazi Germany). We are never really given a clue as to what Karl’s motivations are for engaging in sabotage, or what his terrorist group’s ultimate plan might be.
The most iconic scene in the film occurs when Karl asks Stevie, the young boy, to carry a box across town for him containing two of the reels from the cinema. The audience knows that inside the box is a bomb set to detonate at 1:45pm, but the boy has no idea. Karl tells him he must arrive promptly, however Stevie dawdles and is delayed by various happenings in the street. He ultimately boards a bus in a swirling scene of extreme tension, as Hitchcock cuts quickly between scenes of a clock and the panicked nerves of Stevie. Ultimately, the boy does not make it in time and the bomb explodes, destroying the bus. Hitchcock later called this scene “cruel” to the audience. It violated one of his tenets of suspense – always provide relief.
Unlike some of his later films, which focus on an innocent “everyman” who is falsely accused of wrongdoing and thereby sets out to prove himself right, in Sabotage, Hitchcock explores another narrative style, in which a wife slowly realizes the true nature of her husband. Much of the suspense of the film originates in this tension: when will she discover that her husband is a terrorist? In a rather cliche twist of events, the police Sergeant falls in love with Mrs. Verloc. he confesses his love to her, shortly after she kills her husband, Karl, with a knife upon discovering his guilt in the bomb plot. The Sergeant tries to protect her, and she nearly confesses to the police her guilt, but suddenly a bomb goes off in their house killing Karl’s bomb supplier and all the evidence of Karl’s death. Right at the moment of the explosion she exclaims: “My husband is dead!” leaving it open-ended as to whether she had confessed before or after the bomb exploded. Thus concludes film.
Hitchcock would go on to make only three more films in England before permanently relocating to Hollywood. He was notably disappointed with the male actors in the film.
In my view, Sabotage is a top-notch film, one to which I very nearly gave 5 stars. The suspense, cinematography, and themes collectively offer a wild ride, however there are a few holes in the plot –such as, what is the main character’s primary motivation for engaging in a campaign of sabotage? Why does the film continue after the death of Karl Verloc? Did we really just watch an explosion killing a young boy? These and other lingering questions leave the audience scratching their heads –all of which are points of criticism that Hitchcock later acknowledged.
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Credits:
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Screenplay by: Charles Bennett
- Story by: Joseph Conrad
- Produced by: Michael Balcon
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney…..Mrs. Verloc
- Oskar Homolka…..Karl Anton Verloc
- John Loder…..Sergeant Ted Spencer
- Cinematography: Bernard Knowles
- Edited by: Charles Frend
- Music by: Jack Beaver
- Distributed by: General Film Distributors
Other Notes:
- Hitchcock Cameo: Hitchcock can be seen at the 08:56 mark, just after the lights come back on in front of the movie theater, the Bijou, looking up towards the sky as he crosses in front of the crowd.
- Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter, Patricia (perhaps age 6 years old), is briefly visible in the scene where Stevie watches the parade.