That would have ended the movie....

Rating: 6/10 (8 March 2017)

Allegedly, director John Ford was once asked by a reporter why the Apaches chasing the eponymous stagecoach in 1939's "Stagecoach" didn't just shoot the stage's horses to stop it. Ford's reply: "Well, that would have ended the movie."
I kept thinking of that Ford response while watching Alfred Hitchcock's 1942 film "Saboteur."
The plot: Ordinary, average Joe American, "Barry Kane" (Bob Cummings), works in a Los Angeles aircraft plant where a fire breaks-out. Kane and a co-worker friend rush to put out the flames during which they're handed a fire extinguisher by someone whom they think is a fellow co-worker named "Frank Fry" (Norman Lloyd). The extinguisher, though, contains gasoline which accelerates the flames and kills Kane's friend. In the ensuing investigation, suspicion turns on Kane because there was no record of a Frank Fry working in that plant. Thus, Kane is accused of deliberate sabotage and causing the death of his friend. Rather than face the charges, Kane decides that only he can track down the mysterious Fry and clear his name. So, he flees with the authorities hot on his trail. Along the way, he inexplicably picks-up a beautiful blonde model, Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane), who is initially convinced of his guilt, but then starts to believes him. (And also falls in love with him.) Pat's conversion towards Kane's point of view is helped when they stumble upon a whole ring of saboteurs bent on aiding the fascist cause. To the shock of Kane and Pat, these saboteurs are led by a smooth-talking, sophisticated western rancher, "Charles Tobin" (Otto Kruger) and a grand dame of NYC society, "Mrs. Sutton" (Alma Kruger). Kane and Pat experience a host of captures and narrow escapes while trying stop the ring's next plot to destroy a battleship upon its christening launch in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It all culminates in a chase on the top of Statue of Liberty.
As others have noted, "Saboteur" comes across as an American version of Hitchcock's 1935 "The 39 Steps" and a precursor to 1959's "North by Northwest." It features many plot elements that were used in both those films. However, "Saboteur" is not considered a Hitchcock classic like "The 39 Steps" and "North by Northwest." Why "Saboteur" does not get the accolades of those other films is usually based on its cast being inferior due to having lightweight Bob Cummings and pretty singer-turned-actress Priscilla Lane as its leads. However, I think its script is just not as smart or clever.
In fact, I thought "Saboteur" was pretty stupid mainly because the supposedly ruthless and sophisticated sabotage ring was so incredibly stupid. They repeatedly capture Kane and Pat. Yet, instead of putting bullets in their brains and then burying them, the ring keeps them alive and puts them unrestrained and unobserved in rooms by themselves from which they quickly escape. As much as I wanted Kane and Pat to succeed, I still found myself saying: "Shoot them!" whenever the sabotage ring had them in their clutches. There was NO REASON whatsoever for the ring to keep these two alive. Yet, the ring kept doing it.
I wonder if anyone ever asked Hitchcock why the saboteurs didn't just kill Barry Kane and Pat Martin and if he replied: "Well, that would have ended the movie."