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Foreign Correspondent (film)
Encyclopedia
Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain
, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War II
. It stars Joel McCrea
and features Laraine Day
, Herbert Marshall
, George Sanders
, Albert Bassermann
and Robert Benchley
, along with Edmund Gwenn
.
The film was Hitchcock's second Hollywood production since leaving the United Kingdom
in 1939 (the first was Rebecca) and had an unusually large number of writers: Robert Benchley
, Charles Bennett
, Harold Clurman
, Joan Harrison, Ben Hecht
, James Hilton
, John Howard Lawson
, John Lee Mahin
, Richard Maibaum
, and Budd Schulberg
, with Bennett, Benchley, Harrison, and Hilton the only writers credited in the finished film. It was based on Vincent Sheean
's political memoir Personal History (1935), the rights to which were purchased by producer Walter Wanger
for $10,000.
The film was one of two Hitchcock films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
in 1941, the other being Rebecca, which went on to win the award. Foreign Correspondent was nominated for six Academy Awards, including one for Albert Bassermann for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
, but did not win any.
The editor of the New York Globe (Harry Davenport) is concerned about the "crisis" in Europe, the growing power of Adolf Hitler
and Nazi Germany
, and the inability of celebrated foreign correspondents in getting answers about whether or not war will ensue. After searching for a good, tough crime reporter for a fresh viewpoint, he appoints Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea
) as a foreign correspondent, under the pen name
"Huntley Haverstock".
The reporter's first assignment is Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall
), leader of the Universal Peace Party, at an event held by Fisher in honour of a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer (Albert Bassermann
). On the way to the party, Haverstock sees Van Meer entering the car which is to take him to the party, and runs to interview him; Van Meer invites him to ride along. At the party, Haverstock meets Fisher's daughter, Carol (Laraine Day
). Van Meer disappears mysteriously. Later, Fisher informs the guests that Van Meer, who was supposed to be the guest of honor, will not be attending the party; instead he will be at a political conference in Amsterdam
.
At the conference, Van Meer is shot in front of a large crowd by a man disguised as a photographer. Haverstock commandeers a car to follow the assassin
's getaway car. The car he jumps into happens to have in it Carol and Scott ffolliott (George Sanders
), another reporter, who explains that the capital letter in his surname was dropped in memory of an executed ancestor. The group follows the assassin to a windmill
in the countryside.
While Carol and ffolliott go for help, Haverstock searches the windmill and finds a live Van Meer – the man who was killed was an impostor. The old man is drugged and unable to tell him anything. Haverstock is forced to flee when the kidnappers become aware of him. By the time the police arrive, the villains have escaped with Van Meer in an airplane.
Later, back at Haverstock's hotel room, two spies dressed as policemen arrive to kidnap him. When he suspects who they really are, he escapes out the window and into Carol Fisher's room.
Haverstock and Carol board a British boat to England, and while a furious storm thunders overhead, he proposes to her. In England, the two go to Carol's father's house, where Haverstock sees a man whom he recognizes as one of the men at the windmill. He informs Fisher, but Fisher ignores him, saying that he will send a bodyguard to protect him. However, the bodyguard Rowley (Edmund Gwenn
) repeatedly tries to kill Haverstock instead. When the assassin tries to push him off the top of the Westminster Cathedral
tower, Haverstock steps aside just in time and Rowley plunges to his death instead.
Haverstock and ffolliott are convinced that Fisher is a traitor, so the two come up with a plan, with Haverstock taking Carol to the countryside, while ffolliott pretends she has been kidnapped to force Fisher to divulge Van Meer's location. However, Haverstock and Carol argue, and she returns to London. Just as Fisher is about to fall for ffolliott's bluff, he hears her car pull up.
ffolliott follows Fisher to a hotel where Van Meer is being held. Just as Van Meer is being forced to divulge the information the organization wants, ffolliott distracts the interrogators. When Haverstock arrives, Fisher and his bodyguards escape, leaving Van Meer behind. Van Meer is rushed to the hospital in a coma.
In the meantime, England and France have declared war on Germany. Then, while the group are on a Boeing Clipper plane to America, Fisher confesses his deeds to his daughter. Despite this, Carol blames Haverstock for not really loving her and only wanting to pursue her father. He protests that he was just doing his job as a reporter. Seconds later, the plane is shelled by a German destroyer and crashes into the ocean. The survivors perch on the floating wing of the downed plane. Realizing that it cannot support everyone, including his daughter, Fisher sacrifices himself by allowing himself to drown. Jones and ffolliott attempt to save him, but are unsuccessful. Shortly after, they are picked up by an American ship, the Mohican, from which they relate their whole story. Later, back in London, Jones and Carol do a radio broadcast to the US, while London is being bombed, warning them about what Germany is doing.
Alfred Hitchcock can be seen when Joel McCrea first spots Van Meer on the street in London; Hitchcock walks past reading a newspaper. Albert Basserman, who plays Van Meer, was German
and couldn't speak English
, so he had to learn all his lines phonetically. Likewise, one "Dutch" girl speaks Dutch phonetically, though not quite as convincingly.
Producer Walter Wanger
bought the rights to journalist Vincent Sheean
's memoir Personal History in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book. It took numerous writers and five years before Wanger had a script he was satisfied with, by which time Hitchcock was in the U.S. under contract with David O. Selznick
and available to direct this film on a loan-out. Hitchcock, who enjoyed not working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted Gary Cooper
and Joan Fontaine
for the lead roles, but Cooper wasn't interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine. Later, Cooper admitted to Hitchcock that he'd made a mistake in turning down the film.
Working titles for the film, which began production on 18 March 1940 and initially finished on 5 June, were "Personal History" and "Imposter". Shooting took place at the Goldwyn Studios
in West Hollywood
, and on location around Los Angeles
and Long Beach
.
After the film wrapped, Hitchcock visited his native England, and returned on 3 July to report that it was expected there that the Germans would begin bombing London at any time. To accommodate this, Ben Hecht
was called in to write the epilogue of the film, the scene in the radio station, which replaced the original end-sequence in which two of the characters discussed the events of the film on a transatlantic seaplane trip. The new ending was filmed on 5 July, presciently foreshadowing the celebrated radio broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow
.
One of the sequences in the film that continues to have a strong impact on viewers is the mid-ocean crash of the Clipper airplane after it is shot down by a German destroyer. In 1972, in an interview with Dick Cavett
, Hitchcock discussed some details of how the scene was created. Footage taken from a stunt plane diving over the ocean was rear projected on rice paper in front of the cockpit set, while behind the rice paper were two chutes connected to large water tanks. The chutes were aimed at the windshield of the cockpit, so that water would break through the rice paper at the right moment, simulating the crash of the plane into the ocean.
Hitchcock's eccentric marriage proposal to his wife Alma was written for this film, for the scene when Haverstock proposes to Carol.
Hitchcock frequently used visual imagery to underscore the dramatic action. When McCrea flees his hotel room and touches the letter 'E' of the neon 'HOTEL' sign, he burns himself and the letters 'E' and 'L' die, appropriately leaving the word 'HOT' and leaving the hotel's name as 'HOT EUROPE', underscoring the film's theme of war in Europe. Also, there is an unmistakable image of Adolf Hitler
in the windmill scene. Right after McCrea rescues his coat from the grinding gears, and escapes out the window, he peers back in at the spies. In the right hand corner of the scene, there is a cartoon like image of Adolf Hitler formed by a wood beam and unidentified markings: Hitchcock's subtle, almost subliminal reminder of who the bad guys really represent.
, just three days after the Luftwaffe
began bombing British coastal airfields in the early Adlerangriff phase of the Battle of Britain
, and a week before Germany actually began bombing London on 24 August.
The film did well at the box office, and was generally praised by the critics – although some saw it as a glorified B movie
. It also attracted attention from at least one professional propagandist: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
, who called the Foreign Correspondent:
The film has a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
In 1941, Foreign Correspondent was nominated for six Academy Awards
, but did not win any.
The film was named one of the 10 Best Films of 1940 by Film Daily, and was nominated for Best Picture of 1940 by the National Board of Review.
on July 24, 1946 with Joseph Cotten
starring.
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It stars Joel McCrea
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
and features Laraine Day
Laraine Day
Laraine Day was an American actress and a former MGM contract star.-Career:Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, to an affluent Mormon family, she later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players...
, Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
, George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
, Albert Bassermann
Albert Bassermann
Albert Bassermann was a German stage and screen actor.-Career:Bassermann began his acting career in 1887 in his birthplace, Mannheim. He then spent four years at the Hoftheater in Meiningen. He then moved to Berlin. From 1899, he worked for Otto Brahm. He began work at the Deutsches Theater...
and Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
, along with Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
.
The film was Hitchcock's second Hollywood production since leaving the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1939 (the first was Rebecca) and had an unusually large number of writers: Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
, Charles Bennett
Charles Bennett (screenwriter)
Charles Bennett was an English playwright and screenwriter, probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock....
, Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, Joan Harrison, Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
, James Hilton
James Hilton
James Hilton was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.-Biography:...
, John Howard Lawson
John Howard Lawson
John Howard Lawson was an American writer. He was head of the Hollywood division of the Communist Party USA. He was also the cell's cultural manager, and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the Party's New York-based cultural chief...
, John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter and producer. He was the son of John Lee Mahin, Sr. , a Chicago newspaper and advertising man, and Julia Graham Snitzler....
, Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels....
, and Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run?, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay for A Face in the...
, with Bennett, Benchley, Harrison, and Hilton the only writers credited in the finished film. It was based on Vincent Sheean
Vincent Sheean
Vincent Sheean , born James Vincent Sheean, American journalist and novelist, most famous for Personal History...
's political memoir Personal History (1935), the rights to which were purchased by producer Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
for $10,000.
The film was one of two Hitchcock films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
in 1941, the other being Rebecca, which went on to win the award. Foreign Correspondent was nominated for six Academy Awards, including one for Albert Bassermann for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, but did not win any.
Plot
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, and the inability of celebrated foreign correspondents in getting answers about whether or not war will ensue. After searching for a good, tough crime reporter for a fresh viewpoint, he appoints Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
) as a foreign correspondent, under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
"Huntley Haverstock".
The reporter's first assignment is Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
), leader of the Universal Peace Party, at an event held by Fisher in honour of a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer (Albert Bassermann
Albert Bassermann
Albert Bassermann was a German stage and screen actor.-Career:Bassermann began his acting career in 1887 in his birthplace, Mannheim. He then spent four years at the Hoftheater in Meiningen. He then moved to Berlin. From 1899, he worked for Otto Brahm. He began work at the Deutsches Theater...
). On the way to the party, Haverstock sees Van Meer entering the car which is to take him to the party, and runs to interview him; Van Meer invites him to ride along. At the party, Haverstock meets Fisher's daughter, Carol (Laraine Day
Laraine Day
Laraine Day was an American actress and a former MGM contract star.-Career:Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, to an affluent Mormon family, she later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players...
). Van Meer disappears mysteriously. Later, Fisher informs the guests that Van Meer, who was supposed to be the guest of honor, will not be attending the party; instead he will be at a political conference in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
At the conference, Van Meer is shot in front of a large crowd by a man disguised as a photographer. Haverstock commandeers a car to follow the assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
's getaway car. The car he jumps into happens to have in it Carol and Scott ffolliott (George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
), another reporter, who explains that the capital letter in his surname was dropped in memory of an executed ancestor. The group follows the assassin to a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
in the countryside.
While Carol and ffolliott go for help, Haverstock searches the windmill and finds a live Van Meer – the man who was killed was an impostor. The old man is drugged and unable to tell him anything. Haverstock is forced to flee when the kidnappers become aware of him. By the time the police arrive, the villains have escaped with Van Meer in an airplane.
Later, back at Haverstock's hotel room, two spies dressed as policemen arrive to kidnap him. When he suspects who they really are, he escapes out the window and into Carol Fisher's room.
Haverstock and Carol board a British boat to England, and while a furious storm thunders overhead, he proposes to her. In England, the two go to Carol's father's house, where Haverstock sees a man whom he recognizes as one of the men at the windmill. He informs Fisher, but Fisher ignores him, saying that he will send a bodyguard to protect him. However, the bodyguard Rowley (Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
) repeatedly tries to kill Haverstock instead. When the assassin tries to push him off the top of the Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
tower, Haverstock steps aside just in time and Rowley plunges to his death instead.
ffolliott follows Fisher to a hotel where Van Meer is being held. Just as Van Meer is being forced to divulge the information the organization wants, ffolliott distracts the interrogators. When Haverstock arrives, Fisher and his bodyguards escape, leaving Van Meer behind. Van Meer is rushed to the hospital in a coma.
In the meantime, England and France have declared war on Germany. Then, while the group are on a Boeing Clipper plane to America, Fisher confesses his deeds to his daughter. Despite this, Carol blames Haverstock for not really loving her and only wanting to pursue her father. He protests that he was just doing his job as a reporter. Seconds later, the plane is shelled by a German destroyer and crashes into the ocean. The survivors perch on the floating wing of the downed plane. Realizing that it cannot support everyone, including his daughter, Fisher sacrifices himself by allowing himself to drown. Jones and ffolliott attempt to save him, but are unsuccessful. Shortly after, they are picked up by an American ship, the Mohican, from which they relate their whole story. Later, back in London, Jones and Carol do a radio broadcast to the US, while London is being bombed, warning them about what Germany is doing.
Cast
- Joel McCreaJoel McCreaJoel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
as Johnny Jones / Huntley Haverstock - Laraine DayLaraine DayLaraine Day was an American actress and a former MGM contract star.-Career:Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, to an affluent Mormon family, she later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players...
as Carol Fisher - Herbert MarshallHerbert MarshallHerbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
as Stephen Fisher - George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Scott ffolliott - Albert BassermannAlbert BassermannAlbert Bassermann was a German stage and screen actor.-Career:Bassermann began his acting career in 1887 in his birthplace, Mannheim. He then spent four years at the Hoftheater in Meiningen. He then moved to Berlin. From 1899, he worked for Otto Brahm. He began work at the Deutsches Theater...
as Van Meer - Robert BenchleyRobert BenchleyRobert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
as Stebbins - Edmund GwennEdmund GwennEdmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
as Rowley - Eduardo CiannelliEduardo CiannelliEduardo Ciannelli, sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli, , was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals.-Early life:...
as Mr. Krug - Harry Davenport as Mr. Powers
- Martin KosleckMartin KosleckMartin Kosleck was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Kosleck would make a career in Hollywood playing villainous Nazis in films. While in the United States, he would appear in more...
as Tramp - Frances Carson as Mrs. Appleby
- Ian WolfeIan WolfeIan Wolfe was an American actor whose films date from 1934 to 1990. Until 1934, he worked as a theatre actor. Wolfe mostly found work as a character actor, appearing in over 270 films...
as Stiles
- Charles Wagenheim as Assassin
- Eddie Conrad as Latvian
- Charles HaltonCharles HaltonCharles Halton was a stern-faced American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.One of his most memorable portrayals was as Carter, the bank examiner in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Bradley - Barbara Pepper as Dorine
- Emory ParnellEmory ParnellEmory Parnell was an American vaudevillian and actor who appeared in over 250 films in his 36 year career...
as Captain John Martin of "The Mohican" - Roy Gordon as Mr. Brood
- Gertrude W. Hoffmann as Mrs. Benson
- Marten Lamont as Captain of clipper plane
- Barry Bernard as Steward on plane
- Holmes HerbertHolmes HerbertHolmes Herbert was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.Born as 'Horace Jenner', Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert , who worked as and actor/comedian in the English Theatre...
as Commissioner Folliptt - Leonard MudieLeonard MudieLeonard Mudie was a British-born character actor whose career ran many decades.His first film appearance was in 1921, and his last on-screen performance was in the Star Trek classic TV series....
as McKenna - John BurtonJohn BurtonJohn Burton may refer to:*John Burton , British stage and television actor*John Burton , American slalom canoer*John Burton , co-founder of the nonprofit environmental organization World Land Trust...
as English announcer
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and couldn't speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, so he had to learn all his lines phonetically. Likewise, one "Dutch" girl speaks Dutch phonetically, though not quite as convincingly.
Production
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
bought the rights to journalist Vincent Sheean
Vincent Sheean
Vincent Sheean , born James Vincent Sheean, American journalist and novelist, most famous for Personal History...
's memoir Personal History in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book. It took numerous writers and five years before Wanger had a script he was satisfied with, by which time Hitchcock was in the U.S. under contract with David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
and available to direct this film on a loan-out. Hitchcock, who enjoyed not working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
for the lead roles, but Cooper wasn't interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine. Later, Cooper admitted to Hitchcock that he'd made a mistake in turning down the film.
Working titles for the film, which began production on 18 March 1940 and initially finished on 5 June, were "Personal History" and "Imposter". Shooting took place at the Goldwyn Studios
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
in West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
, and on location around Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
.
After the film wrapped, Hitchcock visited his native England, and returned on 3 July to report that it was expected there that the Germans would begin bombing London at any time. To accommodate this, Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
was called in to write the epilogue of the film, the scene in the radio station, which replaced the original end-sequence in which two of the characters discussed the events of the film on a transatlantic seaplane trip. The new ending was filmed on 5 July, presciently foreshadowing the celebrated radio broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
.
One of the sequences in the film that continues to have a strong impact on viewers is the mid-ocean crash of the Clipper airplane after it is shot down by a German destroyer. In 1972, in an interview with Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
, Hitchcock discussed some details of how the scene was created. Footage taken from a stunt plane diving over the ocean was rear projected on rice paper in front of the cockpit set, while behind the rice paper were two chutes connected to large water tanks. The chutes were aimed at the windshield of the cockpit, so that water would break through the rice paper at the right moment, simulating the crash of the plane into the ocean.
Hitchcock's eccentric marriage proposal to his wife Alma was written for this film, for the scene when Haverstock proposes to Carol.
Hitchcock frequently used visual imagery to underscore the dramatic action. When McCrea flees his hotel room and touches the letter 'E' of the neon 'HOTEL' sign, he burns himself and the letters 'E' and 'L' die, appropriately leaving the word 'HOT' and leaving the hotel's name as 'HOT EUROPE', underscoring the film's theme of war in Europe. Also, there is an unmistakable image of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in the windmill scene. Right after McCrea rescues his coat from the grinding gears, and escapes out the window, he peers back in at the spies. In the right hand corner of the scene, there is a cartoon like image of Adolf Hitler formed by a wood beam and unidentified markings: Hitchcock's subtle, almost subliminal reminder of who the bad guys really represent.
Reception
Foreign Correspondent opened on 16 August 1940 in the United States and on 11 October of that year in the U.K. The film, which ends with London being bombed, opened in the U.S. at the dawn of the Battle of BritainBattle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, just three days after the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
began bombing British coastal airfields in the early Adlerangriff phase of the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, and a week before Germany actually began bombing London on 24 August.
The film did well at the box office, and was generally praised by the critics – although some saw it as a glorified B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
. It also attracted attention from at least one professional propagandist: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, who called the Foreign Correspondent:
A masterpiece of propaganda, a first-class production which no doubt will make a certain impression upon the broad masses of the people in enemy countries.
The film has a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Awards and honors
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, but did not win any.
- Best Picture
- Best Writing, Original Screenplay - Charles BennettCharles Bennett (screenwriter)Charles Bennett was an English playwright and screenwriter, probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock....
, Joan Harrison - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Albert BassermannAlbert BassermannAlbert Bassermann was a German stage and screen actor.-Career:Bassermann began his acting career in 1887 in his birthplace, Mannheim. He then spent four years at the Hoftheater in Meiningen. He then moved to Berlin. From 1899, he worked for Otto Brahm. He began work at the Deutsches Theater...
- Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Rudolph MatéRudolph MatéBorn in Kraków , Maté started in the film business after his graduation from the University of Budapest. He went on to work as an assistant cameraman in Hungary and later throughout Europe, sometimes with noted colleague Karl Freund...
- Best Art Direction, Black-and-White - Alexander GolitzenAlexander GolitzenAlexander Golitzen, oversaw art direction on more than 300 movies.Prince Alexander Golitzen was born in Moscow, but fled the country with his family during the Russian Revolution. Travelling via Siberia and China, they arrived in Seattle, where Alexander graduated from high school...
- Best Effects, Special Effects - Paul Eagler (photographic), Thomas T. Moulton (sound)
The film was named one of the 10 Best Films of 1940 by Film Daily, and was nominated for Best Picture of 1940 by the National Board of Review.
Adaptations
Foreign Correspondent was adapted to the radio program Academy Award TheaterAcademy Award Theater
Academy Award was a CBS radio anthology series which presented 30-minute adaptations of plays, novels or films.Rather than adaptations of Oscar-winning films, as the title implied, the series offered "Hollywood's finest, the great picture plays, the great actors and actresses, techniques and...
on July 24, 1946 with Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
starring.