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Foreign Correspondent (1940)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
Unabashedly a propaganda film, Hitchcock doesn't let that prevent him turning out a fine wartime spy thriller with great set-pieces. In the historical moments leading up to World War II, Europe was balanced precariously on the brink while America was content to look after its own business. Regular reports filter across the Atlantic but these impart scant information, much to the annoyance of one newspaper magnate, Mr. Powers (Harry Davenport). He elects to send over relatively inexperienced reporter Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea), but not before he's adopted the far more distinguished pseudonym of Huntley Haverstock.

Freshly arrived in London, Haverstock is rapidly taken in hand by established Foreign Correspondent Stebbins (Robert Benchley). Luckily Haverstock manages to avoid infection by the germs of mediocrity, pushing himself into attending a peace conference arranged by Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall). Fisher is the head of an organisation who hope to prevent the outbreak of war, which is why eminent diplomat Van Meer (Albert Bassermann) has been invited to speak. By a stroke of good fortune Haverstock manages to grab a taxi with Van Meer, though all the old man deigns to discuss are the pigeons and parks.

A few days later, in Amsterdam, Haverstock once again chances to attract Van Meer's attention. Curiously the aged gent doesn't seem to recognise him but, before Haverstock can comment, events start moving rather forcefully. An assassin steps forward and shoots Van Meer between the eyes, then bounds away through the umbrella-laden crowd. Stunned, Haverstock looks around and chases after the gunman, who boards an accomplice's car. Fortunately Carol Fisher (Laraine Day) is driving past with Scott ffolliott (George Sanders). She, as Stephen's daughter, provides the romantic interest, although she's also pretty smart and soon has them racing through the Dutch countryside. Unknown to Haverstock he's just about to become embroiled in the biggest story of his life.

The subject of Foreign Correspondent is without any doubt very worthy, for attracting the attention of the US towards the plight of Europe was imperative. Thankfully, Hitchcock only descends to his call-to-arms right at the end, engineering the bulk of the story as an immense build-up. The contortions and somersaults of the plot are finely balanced, never implausible but designed to reveal certain facts at just the right moment. To this end, Hitchcock directs a feast of elaborately arranged scenes, ranging from a windmill set hide-and-seek game to the superlative terror of a dying aircraft.

In some ways the cast get submerged beneath the twisting storyline, except that the talented supporting players throw their stars a lifeline. The minor roles of Foreign Correspondent really shine by packing a lot of depth into their minimal screen presence, fleshing themselves out by noticing details. In comparison McCrea and Day are both fairly wooden, veering between reasonable behaviour and doing things which aren't in tune with their roles (but that's alright because they're "in love"). None of this thrashing around seriously wounds Foreign Correspondent though, principally because of the stable direction. While a bit dated and irrelevant, Foreign Correspondent is still nail-biting stuff.

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