Foreign Correspondent

An American reporter (Joel McCrea) stationed in Europe uncovers a conspiracy on the eve of World War II.

Foreign Correspondent is a stylish, surprisingly bloody thriller that’s plagued by one too many endings.

In his second Hollywood film after Rebecca, Hitchcock returns to his thriller roots and reunites with screenwriter Charles Bennett, who scripted two of Hitchcock’s British thrillers The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps. While the result has a little trouble both starting and stopping, the stuff in between is dynamite.

There are several amazing visual sequences here, be it the surprisingly bloody assassination and the ensuing escape through a crowd of umbrellas, or the famous windmill scene, or even the amazing plane crash effect. Foreign Correspondent was well ahead of its time visually.

Performance wise, Hitchcock finally has a solid leading man in Joel McCrea. Though Hitchcock originally wanted Gary Cooper for the part, McCrea does a fine job playing the everyman thrust into a huge conspiracy. As for the supporting cast, George Sanders also has a great supporting turn that should have been bigger, and Herbert Marshall practically steals the film.

Foreign Correspondent’s problem though, aside from a somewhat talky beginning, is that it has too many endings. Putting aside the final, propaganda ending, which Hitchcock tacked on at the last minute when he heard German bombing of England was imminent, the film still has too many climaxes. While this is a problem, to be sure, it’s not a deal breaker as Foreign Correspondent is definitely worth a look.