"Bathing suits looked awfully funny a hundred years ago."

Rating: Null/10 (23 October 2011)

"Saboteur" shows that in order for Alfred Hitchcock to make great films, he must first make films that are less than spectacular. I had high hopes for this film. It was shot beautifully (This IS a Hitchcock film, after all) and it's great to see Priscilla Lane's character actually DO something to help the main character and herself, which breaks away from that commonly irritable label about damsels in distress. However, the film seems to drop everything that we knew about the characters' personas and identities towards the end. I'm not sure why, but it appears that the characters instantly stop acting the way they have been throughout the entire film, and suddenly become someone different. Lane's very outspoken character begins to act very small around the center of the movie, and then snaps back to her usual self. The police change overtime as well, but it's probably because they cycle between different police departments in different cities. Aside from the bizarre character behaviors, I also felt the ending could use some more work. Without giving anything away, I'll just say this: If the ending to "Sabotaur" could be structured like the ending to another Hitchcock film, like perhaps "Foreign Correspondent," then perhaps it would have been something reflective. Other than that, the film works, but not in the way you think it will.