Terribly underrated film; one of Hitchcock's better early efforts (once in America)

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2015)

This film seems to be considered one of Hitchcock's lesser efforts, although I'm not sure about that. It's actually quite an entertaining film, although it doesn't have the A list cast of many of Hitchcock's other films. But, perhaps that's even part of its charm. In reality, this film was made near the beginning of what I consider to be Hitchcock's finest period, beginning with "Rebecca" in 1940 through "North By Northwest" in 1959. And while this may not be at the top of that list, there are a number of Hitchcock films which are much less entertaining.
Upon watching this film again last evening, it occurred to me that there are at least two segments of the film that ask the audience to suspend belief too much...and yet they work. The first is during Cummings' escape when, during a driving rainstorm, he comes upon a nice cabin belonging to a wonderfully kind man who takes him in and doesn't even notice the handcuffs...because he's blind. It's not reasonable...but it works. Even less reasonable is later when Cummings and Priscilla Lane are taken in by freak show characters in a small circus -- a fat lady, a bearded lady, Siamese twins, etc. Again, that so illogical...yet it works. And, these turn out to be really nice touches that are unique to Hitchcock films.
What isn't unique to Hitchcock films is the climactic scene on the torch of the Empire State Building. So like one scene in "North By Northwest".
No, Robert Cummings wasn't an A list actor, but he was darned good and terribly underrated and mostly forgotten. Of course, he's somewhat forgotten because he strayed early on to television and a couple of popular -- though terribly light -- situation comedies. Cummings is great here, as he was in two other films of the same era -- the comedy "The Devil And Miss Jones" and the drama "Kings Row". He really was quite versatile. He's very good here because he seems innocent, and this is another of those Hitchcock "innocent man in the wrong situation" films.
Priscilla Lane, who actually gets top billing but is only in the last half of the film, is also quite good, but it's Cummings that carries the film.
There are fine supporting performances here, especially a fantastic performance by Otto Kruger, although I wonder how much he enjoyed being a member of the Fifth Column. and an interesting performance by Vaughan Glaser, as well as others.
The story was very timely for the war years -- a worker in an aircraft factory is falsely accused of sabotage and murder. He escapes in an effort to clear his innocence. And an odd journey it is, There's not much to complain about here.
So for my money, this is one of the most underrated of Hitchcock's films, and I give it very high marks! Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film, highlighted in the segment at the charity ball, is the sense of chess players competing. Will the pawns win? Of course. But it's the twists and turns of the journey that make this film so great.