Review of Saboteur (1942) by Richard D — 03 Jun 2018

Robert Cummings works at a munitions plant that is sabotaged. He knows that co-worker Norman Lloyd is the titular saboteur, but the police can find no trace of him and pin the blame on Cummings. He hits the road following a clue that leads him to the head saboteur Otto Kruger.

Hitchcock crafts what is essentially an American version of "The 39 Steps" imbued with a lot of pro-America wartime enthusiasm. Cummings is a fairly lightweight lead, but Kruger balances it out with a very strong turn as an aristocratic fascist.

Priscilla Lane gets a fairly rich role as a woman essentially kidnapped by Cummings who starts out as hostile, but grows to believe in his innocence. This is not top notch Hitchcock, but it's an extremely solid execution of a familiar formula.