Sabotage (1936) ft. Myke Emal

Guest:

• Myke Emal 

  • Host and Creator of the Cinemusts podcast

  • @cinemusts on Twitter, Letterboxd, Facebook, and IG

  • Previously on Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Cast:

• Alfred Hitchcock, Director

• Charles Bennett, Writer

• Bernard Knowles, Cinematography

• Jack Beaver, Music

• Charles Frend, Editor

• Sylvia Sidney as Mrs. Verloc

• Oskar Homolka as Karl Anton Verloc

• Desmond Tester as Stevie

• John Loder as Sergeant Ted Spencer

• Joyce Barbour as Renee

• Matthew Boulton as Superintendent Talbot

Background:

• Sabotage premiered in the United Kingdom in December 1936 but was soon released in the United States on January 11, 1937 - 89th anniversary.

• Also known by the alternative name, The Woman Alone, Sabotage is based on the 1907 Joseph Conrad novel, The Secret Agent.

• What few reviews are still known from the time were positive mostly praising Hitchcock and his ability for suspense.

• In 2017, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine ranked the film as the 44th best British film ever.

• In 2021, The Daily Telegraph ranked the film at No. 3 on its list of "The 100 best British films of all time".

• Sabotage currently holds a 91% among critics on RT, an 85 score on Metacritic, and a 3.5/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: In 1930s London, a seemingly ordinary cinema owner, Karl Verloc, hides a dangerous secret: he is part of a shadowy network of foreign saboteurs plotting terrorist attacks across the city. His wife, Mrs. Verloc, and her younger brother, Stevie, help run the theater, unaware of his double life.

As London reels from a mysterious blackout caused by deliberate sabotage, Scotland Yard grows suspicious. They place an undercover detective in the shop next door to observe Verloc, hoping to uncover the group’s next move. Tension builds as Verloc is pressured by his handlers to carry out a bombing, setting off a chain of events that entangles his unsuspecting family and pushes Hitchcock’s suspense to a devastating climax.

Did You Know:

• Since the film was produced in the years immediately preceding World War II, the unnamed hostile power behind the bombings has been assumed by many viewers to be Nazi Germany. However, the film does not specify this, and indeed, Verloc's first name has been changed, presumably because his name in the novel, Adolf, had too many connotations by the time the film was made.

• Quentin Tarantino used the scene where Stevie is initially not allowed onto the bus due to the nitrate film he is carrying, in his film Inglourious Basterds. This was used to explain the use of nitrate film for the character's terrorist plot.

• Ted takes Stevie and Mrs. Verloc for a steak at Simpsons In The Strand. This was Sir Alfred Hitchcock's favorite meal at one of his favorite restaurants.

• Mrs. Verloc's first name is never revealed in this movie. However, in the 1907 novel "The Secret Agent" by Joseph Conrad, it is given as Winnie.

• The animated short that plays near the end of the film is the 1935 Oscar nominated best animated short Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935).

• In the scene where Stevie watches the parade, next to him is the very young Patricia Hitchcock (maybe 6 years old).

Best Performance: Alfred Hitchcock (Director)

Best Secondary Performance: Bernard Knowles (Cinematographer)/Sylvia Sydney (Mrs. Verloc)

Most Charismatic Award: Desmond Tester (Stevie)/William Dewhurst (Professor)

Best Scene:

• Blackout

• Dinner at Simpsons

• Bird Shop

• Stevie on the Bus

• Dinner Afterward

• Birdcage Explosion

Favorite Scene: Stevie on the Bus/Dinner Afterward/Bird Shop

Most Indelible Moment: Stevie on the Bus

In Memorium:

• Brigitte Bardot, 91, French actress (And God Created Woman, Contempt, La Vérité) and animal rights activist.

• Don Bryant, 83, American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter ("I Can't Stand the Rain")

• Melanie Watson Bernhardt, 57, American actress (Diff'rent Strokes)

• Amos Poe, 76, American film director, producer, and screenwriter (The Foreigner, Subway Riders, La commedia di Amos Poe)

• Pat Finn, 60, American actor (The Middle, Murphy Brown, Dude, Where's My Car?)

• Mick Abrahams, 82, English guitarist and singer (Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig)

• James Ransone, 46, American actor (The Wire, It Chapter Two, The Black Phone)

• Isiah Whitlock, Jr., 71, American actor (The Wire, Your Honor, BlacKKKlansman, 25th Hour)

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Superintendent Talbot: But she said it before! Or was it after...?

Verloc: It doesn't pay to antagonize the public.

Karl Anton Verloc: Is the little girl's father dead?

The Professor: I don't know. He might be. I don't know. Nobody knows. My daughter would like to know, too. But there you are. It's her cross and she must bear it. We all have our cross to bear.

Mrs. Verloc: Thank you for your trouble. I'm sure you meant well.

Ted Spencer: Not at all. I like trouble.

Member of Cinema Crowd: And what do you call an act of God?

Ted Spencer: I call your face one, and you won't get your money back on that.

Superintendent Talbot: Making trouble at home to take our minds off of what's going on abroad. Same as in a crowd. One man treads on your toe and while you're arguing with him, his pal picks your pocket.

Vladimir - Paymaster at Aquarium: You made London laugh. When one sets out to put the fear of death into people, it's not helpful to make them laugh. We're not comedians.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 4.33

Impact/Significance: 6.5

Novelty: 7.17

Classic-ness: 7.33

Rewatchability: 6

Audience Score: 7.75 (85% Google, 70% RT)

Total: 39.08

Remaining Questions:

• Where do Ted and Mrs. Verloc go?

• Is John Coder trying to sound like Cary Grant?

• Does Stevie have a mental handicap?