Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by: Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison
Starring cast: Joel McCrea (Johnny Jones)
Supporting cast: Loraine Day (Carol Fisher), Herbert Marshal (Stephen Fisher), George Sanders (ffolliott)
What’s it rated?: Not Rated (I’d say PG or PG-13 for violent images, mushiness, and intense scenes of suspense and/or torture)
Genre: Thriller, Conspiracy, War, Romance
Synopsis: Johnny Jones, dubbed Huntley Haverstock, is just an investigating reporter trying to get the scoop on the impending war in Europe, but he can’t help but get pulled into a enemy conspiracy group and uncover the story of the century.
My Take: OK, here’s the thing. I like thrillers. I like black and white classics. I also like suspense in my movies. And all that in one film with some humor and a taste of a war movie thrown in are dynamite. But, I’m afraid the message didn’t go over too well with me. As some of you know, I’m an avid Ron Paul supporter, and thusly believe in a noninterventionist foreign policy, and Foreign Correspondent states quite bluntly the idea that when war comes up, neutrality doesn’t work. I, as I said, do not believe this, but whether you think so too, is up to you. I’ve stated my views, and now I’m going to review this movie without my beliefs factored in. I do this mostly because a lot of my readers don’t have my exact views as far as foreign policy, and they just want to know whether the story/suspense/humor make this a good movie for them to see.
Anyway, on with the review.
As with most Hitchcock thrillers, the story, suspense, and pretty well everything else you can think of were well thought out and well presented. I personally thought that it was a tad too long, but if you’re a fan of this genre of film, or just a casual moviegoer with a lot of time, that’s not a big deal at all :-)
The blend of slight, subtle humor with the suspense was excellent as well. Somehow, Hitchcock manages to squeeze in enough jokes and funny circumstances to offset his signature tense situations. Any other director probably wouldn’t have pulled it off, but somehow, the King of Suspense has a way to change all the rules and flip suspenseful filmmaking on it’s head to bring forth yet another classic thriller.
If you’re looking for an old classic thriller to make your heart pump a little faster, Foreign Correspondent is for you.
Story: 7 out of 10
Humor: 6 out of 10
Action/Suspense: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
3 comments:
So, sir libertarian, question for you, in friendly debate. :)
China, Venezuela, and North Korea have declared war on many nations, and have overtaken the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy.
Each country that they have taken over, they have forced to go into communism, which means every one of those countries will begin to fail economically in about five years.
And you are trying to tell me that America shouldn't help Russia defeat this world-wide menace? Eventually, they would come here, and with as much aid as we gave others (none, if we were libertarians), we would be defeated, thanks to the fact that China can now draft English, French, Italian, and German troops to help them defeat us.
And neutrality would be an option in this case? I believe that you would agree that in extreme cases, there can be a few RARE exceptions to the idea that keeping our nose out of other peoples business is the best option.
A few RARE, occasions... maybe. But in the long run, most cases end up costing more. In money, and human lives.
Thanks for the comment btw :-)
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