For what it's worth, I think this is one of Hitchcock's top films. **SPOILERS AHEAD** Some people have commented on the over-the-top dialogue. I must admit that I found the characters rather whimsical, but I think that is the point. From Edmund Gwenn's (great casting) larking cutthroat to George Sanders' wry snobbery to Eddie Conrads's eyebrow-rustling Latvian, Hitchcock puts together a very light-hearted setting. Into this brush of sparkling romance, hack journalism, and "amateur politics" comes a nest of Axis spies. The McGuffin is a particular clause of a peace treaty, and our cast is whirled around this center. Many of the set-pieces-- the assassination, the windmill, the crash landing-- are virtuosi in themselves but are not meant to distract from a weak script, unlike many of today's films. The main plot, the secret kidnapping of a diplomat, keeps its steam. Subplot #1, the romance between lovely Laraine Day and McCrea, is charming and believable. Subplot #2, the intrigue, is masterfully handled by Hitch, and it is his forte. When first viewing this, you will be glued to the screen, attempting to figure things out before Hitchcock, in typical fashion, releases the pressure by revealing some "secret" thing. The patriotism is perfectly suited to 1940, and we in America would do well to heed the warnings against isolationism even today. I give it a 10.
Review of Foreign Correspondent
