BFI Monthly Film Bulletin (Dec/1936) - Sabotage
(c) BFI Monthly Film Bulletin (Dec/1936 - Volume 3, Number 36)
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Desmond Tester, Oskar Homolka, Sabotage (1936), Scotland Yard, Secret Agent (1936), Sylvia Sidney
Sabotage (1936)
Melodrama suggested by, rather than adapted from, Conrad's Secret Agent - the story of a scheme organised by foreign agitators to destroy London. Verloc, aloof, moody, nervous, is the foreign manager of an East End cinema. His wife, small, neat, alert, is interested in her job of helping her husband, devoted to her young brother Steve, who lives with them, and is becoming friendly with the grocer's new assistant, who is, in reality, a Scotland Yard detective. The drama is rapidly unfolded. The lights of London go out. Sabotage is suspected. Sand is found at the power station and we see Verloc nervously washing his hands. His next task is to leave a high-explosive bomb in Piccadilly Tube Station at 1.45 on Lord Mayor's Day. Suspecting that he is being watched, Verloc sends Steve with the parcel, with strict injunctions to deliver it by 1.45. The child is delayed. He is still on a bus when the bomb explodes. The omnibus is wrecked, and all its occupants killed. Mrs. Verloc suspects her husband of being responsible, and kills him. An unexpected twist in the story saves her from the consequences and she is left in the arms of the Scotland Yard man.
Whereas in the book interest centres on the psychology of Verloc, the film is mainly a drama of suspenses. The individual genius of Hitchcock is very clearly shown in the distinctive and original direction. The scene on the bus is unforgettable. Steve sits, hugging the fatal parcel, and playing with a puppy in the seat next him. Clocks on the route show how the time is passing. Another almost equally effective scene is that in which Mrs. Verloc kills her husband. The drama is in the main cleverly built up out of everyday things. The London backgrounds are admirable. The humour is typically Cockney. The acting is thoroughly sound. Oscar Homolka gives a remarkable performance as Verloc. He suggests his hatred of his job, and his lack of courage to refuse to do it. Every gesture and every action helps to build up a picture of the man. Sylvia Sidney acts with charm and intelligence. Desmond Tester is a promising boy, and John Loder plays his part adequately and effectively. The technical qualities are of a very high order.
