Foreign Correspondent

I went into this expecting another of Hitchcock’s “man on the run for a crime he didn’t commit” espionage thrillers. Not that that’s a bad thing, he does them well. He just has a lot of man on the run movies. Color me surprised that this isn’t quite that. There’s elements of it, but Foreign Correspondent is more about that man CHASING something, namely trying to uncover a conspiracy involving a Dutch diplomat as Europe stands on the brink of World War 2. There is some dodging and running from the conspirators, but there’s also an effort by the hero to work them and uncover the nature of the conspiracy. It’s a small twist on the formula, but enough that Foreign Correspondent does stand out against movies like The 39 Steps or Sabotage. Even more interesting is that the hero, Johnny, isn’t really the dashing, clean-cut, smartest guy in the room, and the heroine, Carol, isn’t the aloof Hitchcock leading lady. It does struggle with maintaining a tone, as there’s some rather whimsical moments that feel far more frivolous than the rest of the most (especially after seeing a man shot in the head). The movie also feels a bit overlong at 2 hours. I’m not sure where it could be trimmed, but there are definitely points where it seems like it should be approaching the end, and it doesn’t. And speaking of the ending, boy, does it come out of left field. I suppose they set it up, in a factual sense, but it’s just an odd climax, and I’m not sure it fits the rest of the movie. I’m not sure that it should’ve been one of the only two movies Hitch ever got an Oscar nomination for (the other being Rebecca, which earned it). He had several other movies that were of exemplary quality. But that’s not to say this isn’t good. Very good, in fact. It may not have the name value or legacy of a Psycho or a Rear Window, but once you’ve run through Hitch’s masterpieces, or if you’d like to veer off the beaten path and see something different from him, this is worth it.