Gearing Up for the Big One

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 2013)

No need to recap the plot nor echo consensus points.
The movie reminds me a lot of North By Northwest (1959), right down to the cliff-hanger ending. Except this chase drama was made early in WWII, which means the dialogue is salted with understandably patriotic preachments. After all, it's going to take a committed country to win the war, and in 1942, things weren't going well in either Asia or Europe. Note how Barry (Cummings), a stranger in most instances, is trustingly supported by the common man types. This underscores the popular effort that will be needed to win the war. Then too, there's a reference to Brooklyn, often heard during this period, since the New York borough was shorthand for America's melting pot. Note also, the beautifully staged ballroom sequence populated by upper-class types. Here's where the treacherous, aristocrat Tobin (Kruger) hangs out, reinforcing by contrast the common man as the loyal backbone of the nation.
This thread remains a key theme of the film, but unfortunately, it also dates the events in ways that North By Northwest, for example, does not. Nonetheless, Saboteur's expertly staged narrative can be enjoyed on its own, and for its many tension-filled moments. Can't help also noting how apt Robert Cummings is for his role. He brings a freshness and unexpected grit to the part that seems just right for an idealized version of an 'everyman' rising to the occasion when called upon.
The movie may not be front-rank Hitchcock, but it does remain a masterful example of staging and picaresque story-telling.