A Product Of Its Times

Rating: 3/10 (10 March 2017)

When reviewing a film like "Saboteur", there are a lot of "perhaps"-es that come to my mind. Perhaps the movie was better for its time? Perhaps it needs to be seen as a propaganda piece and nothing more? Perhaps it represents a different age of cinema? Even considering those factors, however, I cannot endorse this as an engaging Hitchcock flick because it just doesn't bring anything unique to the table of film-making.
For a basic plot summary, "Saboteur" focuses on Barry Cane (Robert Cummings), a man on the run from the law after being wrongfully accused of setting fire to an airplane factory. While pursuing the true baddie Tobin (Otto Kruger), Barry finds a tag-along love interest in Pat (Priscilla Lane).
This movie has all the elements of a traditional Hitchcock movie: the MacGuffin plot device, the "wrong man" scenario, the espionage plot, and the strong, independent female lead. Some of the camera-work is vintage Hitch, while the locales are distinctly "American" in nature in keeping with the wartime nature of the film.
Sadly, though, the overall plot is about as stale as they come. It is a scenario that is almost "too easy" for the genre and provides no true suspense or meaningful character development. I suspect that a film like "Saboteur" was made with a strong eye towards propaganda instead of overall quality.
Thus, I can't recommend "Saboteur" to anyone but die-hard Hitch fans or those who can sit through generic war/spy tales. You really just won't be getting anything new here.