Appearances are Deceiving

Rating: 8/10 (23 September 2013)

After moving to the USA in 1939, Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, had made such good psychological dramas like "Rebecca" (1940) and "Notorious" (1941). After the USA entered World War II in late 1941, it was obvious that Hollywood movie themes would focus on such subjects as espionage, the home front, national defense, and action in the field. Meanwhile Hitchcock's excellent "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943) drew Hitchcock fully into "Americana," the American culture.
Before "Shadow of a Doubt" Hitchcock was already centered on war time America. In "Saboteur," Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) is falsely accused of (Nazi) sabotage at a California airplane plant during the dark days of World War II. During a fire of suspicious origin, Frank Fry (Norman Lloyd), a supposed factory worker, had handed Kane a fire extinguisher that he passed onto his friend, Ken Mason. Mason perished in the flames. It turned out that the fire extinguisher was filled with gasoline. As there was no worker named Fry, suspicion fell on Kane, who fled. During his truck ride, he remembered that he had noticed Fry's address on an envelope that read Deep Springs Ranch, Springville, California. At the ranch he meets boss Tobin (Otto Kruger), a "gentleman-villain" who is onto Kane. Soon rounded up by ranch hands, he escapes the law when he dives from a bridge into a deep river (duplicated notably in 1993's "The Fugitive"). Still handcuffed, he dries out rather quickly at the house of blind man Phillip Martin (NOT Miller, played compassionately by Vaughan Glaser). Suspense is created when Kane drops a knife in front of Martin's niece Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) and hesitates to pick it up because of his handcuffs. We are surprised when the blind man says to his niece that he recognized the sound of the handcuffs early on. Unlike her uncle, Miss Martin does not believe in Kane, and tells him so while they are in her car. So when she later tries to summon roadside help, he uses the time to cut the handcuffs in half using the auto engine fan blade. Tension is created because of Hitchcock's use of multiple cuts between Kane and Lane: We wonder, "Will Kane win the race and free himself?" Anyway, eventually Miss Martin begins to believe in the man's innocence, especially after the two wind up in Soda City (probably Nevada, even though filmed in California, as it is near the Boulder, or Hoover, Dam). Kane calls it "The heart of the bicarbonate belt." In the ghost town (since 1923) there is a most unusual coincidence when Pat and Barry inadvertently discover that Hoover Dam may have been targeted.
After more than an hour into the movie the setting swiftly shifts to the East. Our hero gets a ride from Nevada without any in-between stops being shown. Continuity suffers: No Fort Larned, no Abe Lincoln Home, no Valley Forge! In NY, the villains are still well-disguised: Mrs. Sutton conducts a wonderful charity event, and the upper crust bad guys seem so polite. So whom do you trust? Anyway the target is a new ship being launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There is a thrilling theater shootout before an anticlimax at the torch of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. We do not know what happens to the rest of the Nazi sympathizers, but perhaps the director wanted to remind us that enemy agents were still at large at the time and that Americans should be alert to their nefarious activities.
Appearances are deceiving in this film, and we cite several examples. According to Miss Martin, Kane looks like a saboteur even though he is innocent. Mr. Martin is blind but seems aware of everything going on around him. Tobin and Sutton appear clean although they are anything but unblemished. Although Soda City is a dead town, unscrupulous activities occur there. Conversely, note that Pat Martin's billboard advertisements are interesting for describing the actions that follow:
 "You're Being Followed" (warning to Kane)
 "She'll Never Let You Down" (Miss Martin's later change of heart)
 "Beautiful Funeral" (death in NY)
"Saboteur" features many positives. The opening credits feature a nice introductory music score. Set designs are excellent throughout, and the film is well-paced. We see some attractive USA monuments: Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty National Monument. There is an amazing assortment of distinct characters: The circus troupe is right out of "Freaks" (1932). Priscilla Lane is top billed, along with Robert Cummings. Vaughan Glaser (Glazer) is particularly likable. Unconscionably, he is incorrectly identified in the closing credits as Mr. Miller even though he tells Kane that his name is Phillip Martin. "Saboteur" may not be "Vertigo," "North by Northwest" or "Psycho" but it is enjoyable and has a thrilling ending. In time the Master of Suspense would feature other USA landmarks, like Mt. Rushmore National Memorial ("North by Northwest"), the Golden Gate National Recreation Area ("Vertigo"), and the Blue Ridge Mountains ("Marnie").