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Foreign Correspondent | 
| Actors: Albert Bassermann, Robert Benchley, Frances Carson, Eduardo Ciannelli, Eddie Conrad
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: Video
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.42
You Save: $13.56 (91%)
New (2) Used (17) Collectible (2) from $1.42
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 26227
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Original Recording Reissued, Ntsc
Languages: Dutch (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 079074239X
UPC: 085393674038
EAN: 9780790742397
ASIN: 079074239X
Theatrical Release Date: August 16, 1940
Release Date: July 27, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
The first of Alfred Hitchcock's World War II features, Foreign Correspondent was completed in 1940, as the European war was only beginning to erupt across national borders. Its titular hero, Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea), is an American crime reporter dispatched by his New York publisher to put a fresh spin on the drowsy dispatches emanating from overseas, his nose for a good story (and, of course, some fortuitous timing) promptly leading him to the "crime" of fascism and Nazi Germany's designs on European conquest. In attempting to learn more about a seemingly noble peace effort, Jones (who's been saddled with the dubious nom du plume Hadley Haverstock) walks into the middle of an assassination, uncovers a spy ring, and, not entirely coincidentally, falls in love--a pattern familiar to admirers of Hitchcock's espionage thrillers, of which this is a thoroughly entertaining example. McCrea's hardy Yankee charms are neatly contrasted with the droll, veddy English charm of colleague George Sanders; Herbert Marshall provides a plummy variation on the requisite, ambiguous "good-or-is-he-really-bad" guy; Laraine Day affords a lovely heroine; and Robert Benchley (who contributed to the script) pops up, albeit too briefly, for comic relief. As good as the cast is, however, it's Hitchcock's staging of key action sequences that makes Foreign Correspondent a textbook example of the director's visual energy: an assassin's escape through a rain-soaked crowd is registered by rippling umbrellas, a nest of spies is detected by the improbable direction of a windmill's spinning sails, and Jones's nocturnal flight across a pitched city rooftop produces its own contextual comment when broken neon tubes convert the Hotel Europe into "Hot Europe." --Sam Sutherland
Amazon.com
For inexplicable reasons, Foreign Correspondent never achieved the fame of The 39 Steps or North by Northwest, but it is certainly good enough to join the ranks of these better-known Hitchcock thrillers. Set just before the beginning of World War II, the film focuses on murder, international intrigue, and an innocent Joel McCrea caught between spies and counterspies. Highlights include an assassination on a rainy day with the killer escaping into a sea of umbrellas, a group of spies who signal their Dutch contacts by turning windmills against the wind, and an extraordinary climax aboard a plane that crashes into the ocean. In McCrea's final speech, you can hear the British filmmaker uniting American patriotism with the anti-Nazi cause. --Raphael Shargel
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Every which way April 13, 2008
Jay Dickson (Portland, OR)
Made during his early years in Hollywood, the little-seen FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT reflects Hitchcock is one of his most experimental phases: as in his follow-up to this, SABOTEUR, the film uses an espionage plot mostly as an excuse to show off. Here he seems mostly interested in seeing how he can work with mise-en-scene and camera movement. There are classic sequences constructed along vertical axes (the great sequence with Joel McCrea exploring a Nazi base hidden in an anicent Dutch windmill), horizontal axes (McCrea's attempt to sneak out of a hotel room along a high outdoor ledge to get away from spies), and diagonals (the assassination sequence on the giant steps of an Amsterdam government building). McCrea, as the title character, a crackerjack New York reporter put on his first foreign assignment, is warmer here than usual: it helps that he seems to have an unusual rapport with his leading lady, Laraine Day. The film does drag quite a bit after McCrea and Day escape from Amsterdam to London, but it picks up again at the end tremendously in the exciting if crazy sequence near the end when the leads' passenger airplane is shot down over the ocean and they must escape to safety with the rest of the passengers and crew on a broken wing in dangerous seas. Robert Benchley, who helped with the dialogue, has what is for him an unusual role as a jaded and seedy correspondent stationed in Europe; he seems a bit like something out of Graham Greene.
 The Great Suspense Thriller February 27, 2008
Acute Observer (Jersey Shore)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The events in this film are fiction" says the opening. This film is dedicated to the foreign correspondents who report the news. The publisher of the 'NY Globe' wants to send a crime reporter, Johnny Jones, to report on Europe with a fresh outlook. He is to interview Van Meer on the situation in Europe. There are some comic scenes. People arrive for the meeting in London. Mr. Steven Fisher says Van Meer can't attend as planned. Jones goes to Holland for the Peace Conference with Van Meer. But a "lone gunman" shoots Van Meer and makes his escape. He is chased through the flat countryside - then disappears! A wind blows Jones' hat off, and this accident draws his attention to a mill whose sails turn against the wind. Jones finds the real Van Meer hidden away, a double was used to provide a patsy! There is plenty of suspense in these scenes. The gang clears out before Jones returns with the police.
Back at the hotel two men attempt to abduct Jones, but he escapes. Another ruse allows him to retrieve his clothes and then board a ship to London. Jones finds Mr. Fisher meeting Mr. Krug! There is double dealing here, a conspiracy. Rowley the bodyguard will take care of Jones. But there is a hitch in the plan. Mr. ffoliot is up on things and has a plan to get Van Meer (no doubt about his work for MI5). But his plan fails due to another human error. Van Meer knows a secret that the spies want. Torture gets the secret from Van Meer. Fisher and his daughter will travel to America on a Clipper flying boat. A ship at sea begins to shell their Clipper [which flies higher and faster], this forces the plane to crash into the sea. The survivors use the wing as a raft. After rescue Jones reports the air raid in London and warns America to become prepared for the future.
This fast-paced thriller set a high level that would not be equaled by later films. It combined political intrigue with the usual Hitchcock formula of the chase of an innocent man and a girl, and their eventual vindication. Some events are dated now, but were quite innovative then. How many other films repeated these scenes? The raft at sea foretells "Lifeboat", the chase "Saboteur" or "North by Northwest", the impersonation recalls "The Lady Vanishes" (or the novel "The 39 Steps"), the unmasking of an important person as a villain "North by Northwest". Is there irony in having Johnny Jones use a pseudonym?
remarkable! January 13, 2008
AIROLF (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A masterpiece by the Grand Master himself (Alfred Hitchock) this film stands up to all measures of time. Entertaining, suspenseful, educational, and simply brilliant in all traditional Hitchock ways, this movie is a must see for anyone who enjoys movies. The script is the strongest here, but exceptional performances, superb editing, and talented cast and crew make this film truly extraordinary.
Originally, I had started watching this film on TV about a year ago and was intrigued but fell over from tiredness. I've been trying to track it down ever since. I'm definitely glad that I was finally able to get my hands on it. It looks very good on rewatch too and is the kind of film I wouldn't mind watching again and again.
The Battle for Britain? November 23, 2007
Alfred Johnson (boston, ma)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an early black and white political suspense classic by the master of the genre, Alfred Hitchcock. What makes this film somewhat different from his other classics like The Birds or Rear Window is its evocation of up front patriotism at a time when Europe was getting set for war in the late 1930's. The Foreign Correspondent Johnny Jones(for an American newspaper, of course) in this case (played by boy next door Joel McCrea) is sent to Europe to get the facts about what was happening there-namely was war really in the offing. Along the way he runs into people and organizations (the leader of one played by arch-British gentleman Herbert Marshall) whose sole purpose is to agitate for war -for the benefit of the other side. As McCrea and later a British correspondent (played by George Sanders) dig deeper they figure out the deal and try to crush it.
Of course, along the way there is a little off-hand romance involving McCrea (with Marshall's daughter the girl next door Larraine Day) but not to worry `justice' will out in the end. A rather interesting point is that the traitor Marshall in the end finishes up heroically. Well, I guess we have to remember this was still a time when the British Empire, at least formally, held sway in the world so that even scoundrels, as long as they were British scoundrels, had to keep a stiff upper lip. As a thriller this film is interesting. As a political statement it is much too ham-handed.
 A forgotten gem from the master. October 7, 2007
M. Gamez (San Diego, CA)
This spy-story runs long and sometimes you just want to fast forward to the great spectacular scenes. The second film from Hitchcock made in the states; Rebecca has a better plot and star power. Yet this six oscar nominated film does deserve a look at, especially the set pieces. There is no confrontations or suspense who is the villain, but the camera shots are worth the price of admission. Although the final sequence is a little predictable and the goofs are among the most obvious, it is still a ride I will continue to take.
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