A solid piece of Hitchcock that plays like a halfway house between 39 Steps and North By Northwest

Rating: Null/10 (2 April 2006)

Barry Kane works at an aircraft factory at the height of World War II and as such security is high. When a fire breaks out in the factory Kane, his friend and a man called Fry run to put it out but when the fire extinguisher Fry provides turned out to be filled with gasoline, Kane's friend dies a horrible death. The factory destroyed, the investigations begins and an emotional Kane tells his story. However with no evidence of any "Fry" or anyone else who knows him, the authorities suspect that the fire was the work of Kane himself. Unable to convince them otherwise, Kane goes on the run to follow up the few clues he has  knowing that he must get to the Nazi saboteurs before the police get to him.
With a wrongly accused innocent man on the run looking to find the real perpetrators in order to clear his own name, this film plays a bit like a remake of 39 Steps crossed with a dry run for North By Northwest. Although the basic plot device is very familiar now the film is still quite a bit of fun. At times the plot is a bit baggy and does have sections that could have been cut back in order to keep the film moving at a quicker pace but generally everything is engaging and enjoyable. As this is a Hitchcock film we have some solid sequences and set pieces such as the party that is impossible to leave and the memorable conclusion on an American landmark (both basically replayed in North by Northwest). These are enough to move it along even though. The script seems to have lots of people trusting Kane, which I didn't totally buy and felt it was a bit simplistic to only have saboteurs on one side and "good" people on the other.
Hitchcock directs with his usual style and uses shadows well to build tension. He has a nice awareness of the comic even in a tense scene and the humour works well at times as a contrast to the building tension. Some reviewers have claimed that Cummings was a dull leading man; I'll give you that he is no Cary Grant in terms of screen presence but he does a good enough job given that all the script requires is a believable "everyman". He doesn't have as much chemistry as he could have done with Lane but then, I didn't think she was that good herself. The baddies are not that flamboyant but they are a welcome presence in the film and I enjoyed the turns from Kruger, Baxter and Wolfe to name a few.
Overall this is a solidly enjoyable film. Not as pacey and fun as North By Northwest but fans of that film specifically or Hitchcock generally find it worth watching. The cast are not that impressive but they do the job  just don't expect them to stand up to stars in some of Hitchcock's later films. His touch is evident though and the film looks great, being unmistakably his work and all the better for it.