Foreign Correspondent is a spy thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1940. It tells the story of an American crime reporter sent overseas to a pre-war Europe to bring send back authentic news bulletins about the crisis in Europe. Through coincidence he becomes involved with a spy ring of Nazi supporters in Great Britain who are trying to stop the peace movement on the eve of WWII.
Joel McCrae stars as reporter Johnny Jones. Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall) and his daughter Carol (Lorraine Day) are leaders in the Universal Peace Movement. The movement is hosting a luncheon in honor of Dutch Diplomat Van Meer (Albert Bassermann). When Van Meer disappears from the luncheon and then is later assassinated, Jones becomes involved in the efforts to capture Van Meer's killers.
The film is known for three major set pieces. The assassination of Van Meer in the city square (all filmed on a Hollywood back lot, the chase through the Dutch countryside and the windmill scene, and finally the flight and crash of the Pan-Am clipper plane, a special effects sequence that still holds up today.
Based on current events of the times, Hitchcock had to rewrite the script during filming to keep up with current events. Before it's release an epilogue was added about the bombing of London, which was happening at the time.
Foreign Correspondent is as powerful today as it was in 1940.
At the Movie House rating ****
note - Foreign Correspondent was released in 1940, the same year as Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. Both films were nominated for Best Picture and Rebecca won the award. Out of the thirty films Hitchcock made in Hollywood between 1940 and 1975 these were the only two ever to be nominated by the Academy. Hitchcock himself was nominated five times for Best Director for Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window and Psycho. He never received an Oscar for any of his work.
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