Released in 1940, Foreign Correspondent is Hitchcock's argument that America should get involved in World War 2. At that time we had the policy that the war was Europe's problem. Hitchcock saw things differently; he was after all a British citizen who was only recently come to America to make movies. He had a personal motivation to see help come to England, and he couldn't quite understand why America was dragging its feet on what seemed to be a problem for all people everywhere.
So Foreign Correspondent was made, a simple film with a simple message. As a film, it is one of the most streamlined of Hitchcock's works. It progresses rapidly, following the exploits of a newly commissioned newspaper correspondent. He travels from America to Europe, where war is brewing. There he meets a girl in a peace charity and falls in love, notices windmills in Holland that spin the wrong way, witnesses an assassination, finds out the dead man is actually alive, and generally makes himself a thorn in the side of a group of German spies. Oh, and he discovers that the ringleader of the group is really...oh, but I can't spoil every twist in a Hitchcock film for you, can I?
Simply put, the plot is rather straightforward and understandable. The action is fun and exciting, full of chases, tension, and even a plane crash, and the movie is genuinely entertaining. But as in any well-directed film, it's the little things that stand out. For example, our hero, while traveling from one window to the next on the roof of the "Hotel Europe" accidentally breaks the neon in the sign, making the words now read "Hot Europe." Very appropriate.
The use of humor is also quite well done. Our hero's name is Johnny Jones -a perfectly normal American name. However, the newspaper boss things such a name would not stand out, and thus gives his reporter a new handle: Humphry Haverstock. This of course becomes a running gag. Further, when declaring their love for each other, the main characters seem almost to realize they are in a movie: him "I'm in love with you, and I want to marry you." Her: "I'm in love with you, and I want to marry you." Him: "Hmm, that cuts down our love scene quite a bit, doesn't it?" The whole relationship is almost a parody of Hollywood insta-love, as though Hitchcock was required to have a love story in the movie but wanted to get it out of the way as quickly as possible to focus on his theme.
There is also some genuinely good and clever writing, decent acting, and a plane crash effect that -while rather tame by today's standards -was revolutionary then.
I would say that the biggest flaw in the film is also its most memorable part, and it happens right at the end. Johnny (sorry, Humphry Haverstock) has earned notoriety for his reporting, but is trapped in London during the Blitz. He is in the middle of a radio report going live to America when the lights go out and the bombs start dropping again from German planes. So Johnny, knowing America can probably still hear him, begins to talk off the cuff: "All that noise you hear isn't static, it's death coming to London. Yes, they're coming here now. You can hear the bombs falling on the street and the homes. Don't tune me out, hang on a while -this is a big story and you're part of it. It's too late to do anything here now except stand in the dark and let them come... as if the lights were all out everywhere, except in America. Keep those lights burning, cover them with steel, ring them with guns, build a canopy of battleships and bombing planes around them. Hello America! Hang on to your lights: they're the only lights left in the world."
And then the movie ends to a patriotic rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." I kid you not, the whole thing is as patriotic at the end as Sam the Eagle, and I can't help but think "Hello Hitchcock, your propaganda is showing!" The message is clear: Europe waited too long, listening to evil men who cried "peace, peace" when they only ever worked toward war. Now the inaction of the past has reduced England to standing in the dark and waiting for bombs to fall. America can't do that; they need to wake up and get ready for a fight, or the whole world will plunge into darkness.
This ending to the film is all very stirring and a fitting finale. However, I still regard it as a moviemaking error, because it just seems like an overreach. But I then try to put myself in Hitchcock's shoes in 1940, and I see the world falling apart, and America asleep. And you know, I'd try as hard as possible to wake them up too!
Entertainment: 7/10
Artistic Value: 7/10
Technical Merit: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
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