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 enlarge | Actors: Kathryn Adams (ii), Murray Alper, Alan Baxter, Clem Bevans, Pedro De Cordoba
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: Video
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $2.27
You Save: $12.71 (85%)
New (13) Used (13) Collectible (3) from $1.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 17056
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 108
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0783236344
UPC: 096898481038
EAN: 9780783236346
ASIN: 0783236344
Theatrical Release Date: April 24, 1942
Release Date: August 3, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SEALED !
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| Customer Reviews:
 Saboteur June 25, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Scripted by the inimitable Dorothy Parker, Hitchcock's nerve-rattling wartime thriller takes a favorite theme--the wrongly accused man-- and gives it a strong, seditious twist. Terrific acting and a breakneck pace make this one of Hitch's most suspenseful movies, right up there with "North by Northwest" or "The 39 Steps." The cast is great, and the locations are used to brilliant effect. Kane's climactic scramble up the Statue of Liberty, a scene as tense and dramatic on repeated viewings as it is the first time around, is "Saboteur" 's unforgettable piece de resistance.
 A remake of The 39 Steps May 9, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Hitchcock was the only director I can think of that remade his own work.
A wrongly accused man on a cross-country run ends up handcuffed to a hot blonde who's convinced he's guilty but ends up falling in love with him in the end. On this adventure, he walks right into the enemy's home and has to escape, and at one point, he has to improvise a speech to a roomful of people to stall for time. Sound familiar?
It should if you've seen The 39 Steps - Criterion Collection, which Hitch filmed in England before being imported to Hollywood by Selznick.
While Saboteur gets major cool points for having Dorothy Parker on its writing team, it isn't an improvement on the earlier British version. For starters, it's much more serious. It was released during WWII, so it explores wartime themes - patriotism, spies, what makes a good citizen, the rise of fascism, blah blah blah.
I have no problem with Hitchcock's work during WWII. He was a British citizen living in America, so he obviously had a vested interest in the success of the Allies. In the two years after Saboteur, Hitch directed Lifeboat, which was basically the story of the war in microcosm, and two French propaganda shorts. Some of his other films such as Notorious and Foreign Correspondent have elements of war themes as well.
What is amazing about this film is the final scene atop the Statue of Liberty. It makes for a very powerful conclusion to a solid film. (And calls to mind the end of North by Northwest, arguably another version of the same story.)
However, if you ask me, Hitchcock is at his best when he isn't taking himself quite so seriously. The 39 Steps has almost everything Saboteur has, and something Saboteur doesn't - humor.
Terrific wartime Hitchcock thriller April 27, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The deft Hitchcock cinematographical touch is fully displayed in his sensational, underrated "Saboteur". Making excellent use of his filming locations which include Boulder Dam, Red Rock Canyon and Liberty Island, he is able to frame his drama which commences with an act of sabotage and murder.
Robert Cummings playing aircraft plant employee Barry Kane observes an act of arson at his plant, causing the death of his best friend, perpetrated by the wormy Frank Fry played by veteran character actor Norman Lloyd. Cummings is implicated as the saboteur and must flee for his freedom. Clues lead him to a California ranch owned by suave socialite Charles Tobin played by Otto Kruger. There he learns that Kruger is the leader of a Nazi spy ring attempting to wreck havoc across the American countryside abetting the German war effort.
Escaping from the clutches of Kruger and his minions, Cummings becomes allied with Pat Martin, a New York based model played by Priscilla Lane through the kindness of her reclusive uncle, who sheltered Cummings in his cabin. Together they embark on a trans-continental chase to try to find Fry and thwart the nefarious plans of the spy ring.
Hitchcock's directorial genius in readily apparent as Lane and Cummings find themselves at a gala hoi polloi formal ball hosted by a rich dame sympathetic to Kruger's cause. They are virtual prisoners among a group of military brass and big spenders as Kruger and his spy ring are mixed in the crowd keeping the pair checkmated.
The finale is memorable and actually a model for the memorable conclusion of the classic "North by Northwest" filmed at Mount Rushmore. The saboteur Lloyd is finally cornered atop the Statue of Liberty by the NYPD and Cummings and Lane. His demise is photographed brilliantly as he's hanging for his life on the statue's torch held by his suit sleeve by Cummings as stitch by stitch the needlework holding the sleeve together laggardly pops off.
While the film understandly tends to be somewhat propagandized and didactic, its 1942 date of release in the gloomy days of WW2, make that understandable.
Where is Frank Fry? April 21, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is 1942; we are in the height of war. Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) and his best buddy are putting out a mysterious fire. They are assisted by a stranger Frank Fry (Norman Lloyd). When it turns out to be sabotage, naturally the authorities have to accuse Barry. Barry's only chance of survival is to follow clues across the country to find fry. On his travels he gets teemed up with Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) who wants to do her patriotic duty and turn Barry in to the authorities. You can not tell the good guys from the bad guys until it is too late.
Can Barry convince Pat that he is innocent?
Can they ever find Fry?
Even if they do find Fry will the authorities ever believe that Barry is innocent?
Be prepared for a lot of long winded speeches from both sides they do not add or subtract form the story.
66 YEARS OLD AND STILL GOING!!!! April 17, 2007
Hitchcock was so good that after all of these years (Decades Actually) his movies still amaze and, astound us ! Sure this little Gem has some hokey spots but we all do after 66 years! Watch it as if its a modern day re-creation and you will forget any minor flaws. After all don't modern directors include them in their new versions of Noir films intentionally! The EXTRAS are eye opening too!!!
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