Sabotage (1936)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  For some reason, this seems to be one early Hitchcock film that is either underrated or overlooked period. That's a real shame in both instances, because this is one that is really quite something, and deserves a lot more attention and respect. A sleeper agent terrorist sets… More
  For some reason, this seems to be one early Hitchcock film that is either underrated or overlooked period. That's a real shame in both instances, because this is one that is really quite something, and deserves a lot more attention and respect. A sleeper agent terrorist sets off a bomb in London on a bus. His wife is rather unsuspecting of him secretly being a bad person, but she's heard just enough info about him to arouse the suspicions of her neighbor, and undercover Scotland Yard agent. From there, it becomes a race to prevent any more attacks, complicated by a set of circumstances that are extremely suspenseful and thrilling, and just a joy to watch. Some of this actually sounds like contemporary events, despite coming from a film from 1937 that's based on written material from maybe earlier than that. Sylvia Sidney gives a terrific performance as the wife, and the set pieces, most notably a very tense sequence involving a bomb and when it might go off just really sing and make this an oldie that is extremely worth checking out.

• Jameson W

  
  Not one of Hitchcock's best, but still an entertaining and thrilling ride. I recommend this to any Hitchcock fan. It has a lot the same elements that make his later films unforgettable, only this film doesn't capitalize on them.

• Pierluigi P

  
  It's a great joy to learn from the old master's fluid and introspective narration, managing nail-biting moments and also concentrating on his actor's facial expressions.

• AJ V

  
  This is my favourite Hitckcock movie of the thirties, I think. It's the most like his later movies. It's exciting, suspenseful, and realistic, I love it.

• jay n

  
  Mid English period Hitchcock isn't among the master's best but a good tight thriller with many of his later touches evident. He's fortunate here to have two strong leads in Oscar Homolka and especially Sylvia Sidney with her wonderfully expressive eyes. If you've… More
  Mid English period Hitchcock isn't among the master's best but a good tight thriller with many of his later touches evident. He's fortunate here to have two strong leads in Oscar Homolka and especially Sylvia Sidney with her wonderfully expressive eyes. If you've only seen her in her later work say Beetlejuice or An Early Frost, her youth and beauty will come as a surprise.

• Cassandra M

  
  Ah, yet another Hitchcock movie that is less than famous but then turns out to be one of the best films ever made. Every Hitchcock film that I see just makes me want to the rest of his films. Sabotage has a lot going for it. It is based on a novella by Joseph Conrad, the master… More
  Ah, yet another Hitchcock movie that is less than famous but then turns out to be one of the best films ever made. Every Hitchcock film that I see just makes me want to the rest of his films. Sabotage has a lot going for it. It is based on a novella by Joseph Conrad, the master writer who wrote Heart of Darkness (truth be told, that's the only novel of his that I've read the whole of, but I've been told that he has plenty of great novels besides that; I guess after Sabotage, I'm now obliged to read up). The story is excellent. Mix that with great characters played by great actors, and you've got yourself yet another Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece. Maybe this film is not popular because it is atypical for Hitchcock. It contains tons of suspense, maybe more than any of his films besides Rear Window, especially in a sequence where he demonstrates his famous theory that a bomb that does not go off creates the suspense. No, this film is atypical because it lacks Hitchcock's masterful humor. This is usually taken as one of his trademarks, but I've seen several of his films that lack humor (or at least reduce it), and I find them just as good (I Confess, Rope, and The Birds). Instead, Sabotage may be the most emotionally affecting Hitchcock film, competing with the likes of Vertigo and Rebecca. It gives you characters to care about, especially Mrs. Verloc, played masterfully by Sylvia Sydney as a happy wife who discovers the hard way that her husband is a terrorist (don't worry, no spoilers here; we find this out in the first scene). John Loder plays Ted, a detective who falls in love with Mrs. Verloc, although she is clearly not willing, while undercover at a grocer next door. The best performance is Oskar Homolka's, who plays Mr. Verloc. Only Norman Bates is a more sympathetic villain than Mr. Verloc. We never do see why exactly he wants to sabotage things (and in this way, this movie is quite xenophobic), but we see that he does not wish to harm anyone, and that when he does he only does it through compulsion. He also cares greatly for his wife and her brother. Even at the end of the film, we understand why Mrs. Verloc wants nothing to do with Ted's advances. The film ends with an easy escape, but guilt remains heavy

• Stella D

  
  this film is highly underrated! i can't believe i haven't seen this before. fantastic! of course it helps that i love wartime spy stuff but i have to say this is the equal of the thirty nine steps and the lady vanishes

• Veronique K

  
  "sabotage" is one of hitchock's neglected british productions which are the protypes paved to promote his prosperous 50s masterpieces. it is a tale about mr. verloc who pursues an underground career of socialpathological sabotages beneath his surfacial disguise of… More
  "sabotage" is one of hitchock's neglected british productions which are the protypes paved to promote his prosperous 50s masterpieces. it is a tale about mr. verloc who pursues an underground career of socialpathological sabotages beneath his surfacial disguise of theater owner with a virtuous wife and her muddled adolescent brother. meanwhile verloc is being tailed after by the neighbor undercover detective who comouflages as fruit clerk. what differentiates "sabotage" from its routined hitchcockian pattern is the absence of wrongly accused innocent man and his highly applied bond of gender harmony which appears in lots of his flicks such as "39 steps", "lady vanishes" and "north by northwest"...etc. the pinnacle of suspense centers on the bomb explosion scene, and audience's adrenline intensifies as the clock clicks. and one innovative visual comparison would be the saboteur imaginative association in acquarium to indicate the villain's hidenous appetite for destruction, and hitch's camera close-up approaches on his virilely haphazard eyebrows with snearing gaze frequently. the episode of detective ted's smothering fondness over sylvia sidney is tenderly pleasant in reminiscence of the suppressed civility in early times. the potentiality with robert donat might relish this flick with his debonair charm that is something excluded from the audience's knowledge for good. just hover in the period that conspiracies were still performed in cinema tastefully without the despicable redundance.

• William S

  
  Sabotage is a great film that is unfairly neglected - chiefly because of the supposed central flaw. I do believe this criticism is totally unjustified - especially viewed through more modern and less timid eyes: What was seen as cruel or just too dark in the 1930s is relatively tame… More
  Sabotage is a great film that is unfairly neglected - chiefly because of the supposed central flaw. I do believe this criticism is totally unjustified - especially viewed through more modern and less timid eyes: What was seen as cruel or just too dark in the 1930s is relatively tame to our less sensitive palettes. Hence, with Sabotage, the bomb on the bus sequence is a tour de force of suspense that works better today than it did in 1936 - it's tragic outcome is shocking and that shock hangs in the air for the rest of the film becoming the driving force of the story and it's mousey heroine (the incredible dinner table finale would be nothing without it). It was a bold move by Hitch and not only does it pre-date the shock/twist of Psycho by some 24 years it's actually a better film! But for most of his life he had to concede to the cretinous critics who assured him it was a mistake. It was probably the same critics who slated Stage Fright for it's 'lying' flashback (they are wrong and its a great cinematic trick!), who think Spellbound is a great film (it's not, it's a dud!) and think the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much was an improvement (give me Edna Best with a rifle to Doris Day's warbling any day). Sylvia Sydney and Oskar Homolka (a touch of James Mason but with bushy eyebrows) are both excellent as is Desmond Trenter as little Stevie. Sydney didn't like working with Hitchcock and didn't get on with him at all which is a shame because here she is adorable (cute in the little 'sailor-boy' outfit) and very touching especially in the genuinely moving 'Cock-Robin' sequence and the very Hitchcockian dinner table finale. Unfortunately John Loder doesn't even register to me - Hitch's first choice, Robert Donat, would have been great but was too ill. Beware dodgy DVD transfers of this great little film. It's not widely available and the quality of some of the DVD transfers of Hitch's early British films are appalling and can spoil the film and this is no exception - so shop around first!

• Matthew Y

  
  Like almost all of Hitchcock's British films of the time Sabotage has poor film quality and spotty sound work. The director should not be penalized for this (he worked with the best equipment made available to him) but unfortunately the film must be. An OK plot with really only… More
  Like almost all of Hitchcock's British films of the time Sabotage has poor film quality and spotty sound work. The director should not be penalized for this (he worked with the best equipment made available to him) but unfortunately the film must be. An OK plot with really only one suspenseful scene where a boy is carrying a time-bomb on a trolley the film is almost entertaining despite the restraints of its age and technical short-comings. Another very old film that is more admirable and enjoyable.

• Burger S

  
  Of all the older Hitchcock films, this may have had the most straightforward plot. For a film that came out in 1936, I think that it holds up very well and is interesting seeing 1930's London. Interesting side note on the female lead: You may recognize her from playing the… More
  Of all the older Hitchcock films, this may have had the most straightforward plot. For a film that came out in 1936, I think that it holds up very well and is interesting seeing 1930's London. Interesting side note on the female lead: You may recognize her from playing the case worker in Beetlejuice (1988). PS Watch it for free on online ;)

• Mike T

  
  One of Hitchcock's most entertaining (and well-paced) British thrillers, Sabotage is worth it to see some of his most effective experimentation.

• Dimitris S

  
  Classic Hitchcock of the British period,equals the Lang and Hawks perfectionism in dark overtones and humidity crawling from beneath every corner.Homolka and Sidney are a supreme duet and although the film thrives with distracting propaganda during the pre-war period,this small… More
  Classic Hitchcock of the British period,equals the Lang and Hawks perfectionism in dark overtones and humidity crawling from beneath every corner.Homolka and Sidney are a supreme duet and although the film thrives with distracting propaganda during the pre-war period,this small diamond weaves Hitchcock's suspense with philosophy yet with the sly instinct of a jaguar.

• Sarah P

  
  I don't understand why this film gets such high praise...I didn't like it very much at all.

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