This is the second American movie that Alfred Hitchcock directed. It is a faster paced film than Rebecca. It also allows the viewer to see how Hitchcock can keep viewers guessing about the plot. This is something he did throughout his career. The film is made interesting by the different locales. These help for the story development.
Johnny Jones, (Joel McCrea), is a very bored crime reporter, for The New York Globe. His editor, Mr. Powers, (Harry Davenport), decides to make him a foreign correspondent, operating in Europe. Powers reasoning is that what’s going on in Europe is a crime. Jones is given the pen name, Huntley Haverstock. The reporter is covering the leader of the Universal Peace Party, Stephen Fisher, (Herbert Marshall). He is hosting a dinner for a diplomat, Van Meer, (Albert Basserman). Haverstock meets Van Meer, and is offered a ride. Haverstock meets Carol, (Laraine Day), Fisher’s daughter,at the party. The guest of honor, Van Meer, doesn’t show up at the party. The story is that he is attending a political conference in Amsterdam. Haverstock goes there.
Van Meer is shot in front of a large gathering at the conference. Haverstock gets into a car to follow the getaway car. The two people in the car are Carol and Scott ffolliot,(George Sanders), a reporter. The car carrying the assassin, stops at a windmill. Haverstock gets out, and tells Carol and ffolliot to go for help. Haverstock goes inside. Here he sees the very much alive Van Meer. He is being tortured by a group of men, led by Stephen Fisher. This scene is intense. Haverstock gets out of the windmill. Carol and ffolliot return with the police. They search the windmill and the grounds, and can find no one. This makes Haverstock look foolish.
The group, led by Stephen Fisher try to kill Haverstock unsuccessfully. He keeps pursuing the group and the story. He has by this time fallen in love with Carol. This presents a dilemma, since her father is a traitor. It is during the time of Haverstock’s pursuit of the group and the story, that war is declared. Haverstock. ffoliot, Carol, her father, and a few others, board a small plane, bound for America. The plane is shot down, making for a very harrowing climax. This would be typical of most of Hitchcock’s films.
Foreign Correspondent gives a glimpse of Hitchcock’s genius. He shows something as simple as a windmill as a torture chamber. The Universal Peace Party is simply a cover for Nazi’s. The movie is topical and shows what was happening in Europe. Alfred Hitchcock was English and was very fearful of what could happen to friends and relatives back home. He managed to get the most out of his actors. All of the leads do well in their roles. Herbert Marshall is particularly good as a traitor and ringleader of the group of spies. One of the more interesting roles was given to Edmund Gwenn. He was a renowned stage actor, and had many film roles. He plays an assassin named Rowley, who pretends to be a kind elderly man. This was a few years, before Gwenn achieved everlasting fame and an Academy Award as Kris Kringle, in Miracle On Thirty Fourth Street.
The screenplay was was written by many. There was the writer and humorist, Robert Benchley. He appears in the film as a veteran reporter,Stebbins, whose closest companion was alcohol. This was until it caught up to him. There was also Charles Bennett. He collaborated with Hitchcock on his early films. There was Joan Harrison. She was a secretary for Hitchcock and later wrote for him. She later became a producer. Ben Hecht, the very famous and Oscar winning screenwriter, helped with scripting. James Hilton, the famous novelist lent a hand. Richard Maibaum may not be known to many outside the industry. He helped write the script. His claim to fame , however, is bringing the most famous spy, James Bond to the screen. He scripted Bond films from the first until 1989.
Alfred Hitchcock succeeded in part because of his natural talent. He managed to tame the egos of actors. He wrote many of his scripts. It was when he did not, that he still found gifted writers. He managed to upset studio heads, but despite this was a money maker for them . His talent shows in Foreign Correspondent. The Master of Suspense was only just beginning to show why his movies have gained so much respect.