proud to be an american

Rating: Null/10 (13 October 2001)

Hitchcock, the transplanted Englishman, uses a basic expository technique in "Saboteur" (1942), one we all learned in school: Contrast and compare.
We are not deeply impressed with the American (Bob Cummings) he shows us, until he shows us what the American is not. The saboteur, creepily portrayed by Norman Lloyd, is not really intelligent -- he is merely cunning. The collaborator, sneeringly played by Otto Kruger, is not really confidently optimistic -- he only parrots an arrogant ideological dogma. Their associates, while bragging about their "practicality," are shown to be merely greedy for power. Finally, Hitchcock shows us some important, powerful people whose selfish pretentiousness allows them to be easily used by their country's enemies; these folk have become "cultured" at the expense of their own American virtues.
Hitchcock, and Cummings' disarmingly simple performance, make it clear that what invigorates the American character is genuine generosity and a healthy sense of fun, even in time of war.
Kevin Cisneros