A man confronts his accuser atop the Statue of Liberty, where one false move will spell death. A wolf in sheep's clothing allows the beast lurking within to bear its teeth. A housemaster slowly, oh so slowly, pieces together the heinous crime perpetrated by two former students. A woman searches for clues in a suspected murderer's apartment just as the man returns home. Four people work to keep the demise of a fellow smalltown resident a secret from a local deputy. An assassin's gun slides out from behind a curtain as an ordinary man races to thwart his plot. An airplane buzzes then roars past as a man dives for cover. The hiss of a shower masks the approach of a madman with a knife in his hand. Countless birds gather on a jungle gym as a woman smokes a cigarette nearby. A husband barges into his new wife's bedroom and has his way with her as she retreats into a near-catatonic state. A physicist discovers killing a man isn't as easy as it might seem, wrestling with his victim right up until the violent end. A purple dress billows out beneath a dying woman like spilled blood. A serial killer retrieves his pin from a woman's grasp, one dead finger at a time. A fake psychic tries to squirm out of a thief's vice-like grip as he pushes a syringe closer and closer. Be it drama, horror or comedy, psychological stunner, monster movie or international spy thriller, is it any mystery that filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was known as the Master of Suspense? Is it any wonder his movies still hold hypnotic sway over filmfans all these years later?
A factory worker is falsely accused of sabotage and sets off on a desperate chase to clear his name...
Saboteur, the first film in the sprawling but by no means complete Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection, is a tricky entry in the prolific director's canon, made all the more problematic by the numerous hurdles he had to leap to bring his first Universal Pictures project to the silver screen. Hitchcock was denied casting privileges (Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane were thrust upon him) and failed to fill key supporting roles with his first choices (he wanted All-American Harry Carey as Charles Tobin, a rancher with Nazi loyalties, but had to settle for Otto Kruger instead), and the size and scope of the story led to endless technical challenges. Those same challenges, though, allowed Hitchcock to rise above and create one of the more ambitious sequences of '40s cinema: Cummings hair-raising struggle with Norman Lloyd on a then-convincing replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch, which remains effective even some seventy years after it was shot. Saboteur certainly wasn't Hitchcock's first film -- thirty had come before it, some more innovative and deserving of masterpiece status -- but this was the director on the ropes fending off the bullish tactics of the studio system, all to make the kind of films he simply couldn't hope to make outside of Hollywood. It was also Hitchcock at his leanest and most shrewd, knowing full well that his move to the States, however rocky, would pay off in time. It's a flawed film, yes. Lane is out of her depth, the script isn't all that good, its wartime patriotism is rather forced, and the movie doesn't have the exposed nerve of other Hitchcock classics. But with Hitchcock in his Hollywood infancy, it serves as a powder keg preview of what the already veteran filmmaker was about to unleash on suspense-starved audiences in the coming years.
Universal's 1080p/AVC-encoded Saboteur restoration and subsequent video transfer are magnificent, and easily represent one of the best presentations in the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection. Midrange grays are gorgeous and balanced beautifully, black levels are deep and dutiful, and contrast is so consistent and consistently alluring that I nearly dropped the word "perfect" just now. Detail is revealing as well, with well-resolved textures, nicely defined edges and a filmic veneer of carefully and judiciously restored grain, and most every instance of softness traces back to the original photography. The image is almost pristine, in fact, and not because the nitrate film elements used in the restoration were in pristine condition. Quite the contrary. No, it's the care and respect with which those elements have been treated, as well as the wisdom and restraint in any digital decisions that were made, that makes this one so memorable. Scratches, blemishes and damage have been dealt with admirably, flickering and brightness fluctuations have either been meticulously reduced or eliminated altogether, and what few bumps and bruises remain never amount to a serious distraction. There are also a handful of shots that clearly proved to be a challenge, but the restoration team tackled each one with skill and faithfulness to Hitchcock's intentions. This is Saboteur at its finest. I can't imagine the film ever looking any better than this.
As masterfully realized as Saboteur's video presentation, Universal's two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix is sure to elicit praise from audiophiles and longtime Hitchcock aficionados who've quite simply never heard the film sound as clean, clear and confident as it does here. Dialogue has been effectively and enthusiastically rejuvenated and renewed, proper soundscape prioritization has been restored, and voices aren't left at the mercy of any significant hiss or troublesome noise. Likewise, effects and music surge and relent without incident, many faint or previously inaudible sounds are intact, and those familiar with the film's original sound design are in for several small but satisfying surprises. Saboteur may be the oldest masterpiece in The Masterpiece Collection, but it defies its age time and time again, all to thrilling ends.
Saboteur: A Closer Look (SD, 35 minutes): Actor Norman Lloyd and associate art director Robert Boyle discuss the film and share memories from the production. It's Lloyd who takes ownership of the documentary after a few minutes, though, offering a firsthand overview, analysis and scene-by-scene, performance-by-performance dissection of Saboteur. Hitchcock's daughter Pat Hitchcock O'Connell also appears, but only briefly.
Storyboards (SD, 4 minutes): Original storyboards for the Statue of Liberty sequence.
Alfred Hitchcock's Sketches (SD, 1 minute): A small selection of drawings and storyboards from the director.
Production Photographs (SD, 8 minutes): Movie posters, vintage ads and production photos.
Hitchcock's first Universal picture didn't come easy, but it paved the way for the classics to come, among them his next project at the studio: Shadow of a Doubt, which still stands as one of the director's best films. Viewed as a stepping stone to greater and grander things, and with the knowledge that Hitchcock's hands were tied on crucial aspects of the movie (casting chief among them), Saboteur is a worthwhile entry in the 15-film Masterpiece Collection, even though "masterpiece" is being much too kind. Universal's first class restoration, outstanding transfer and excellent DTS-HD Master Audio mix are a big plus too, despite a slim supplemental package that hedges all its bets on a single 35-minute documentary. Yes, interest in Saboteur will be limited to cinephiles with a love of Golden Age cinema and Hitchcock completists, but it's a decent little film that just so happens to boast one of the most impressive AV presentations in the Masterpiece Collection.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is releasing individual versions of four films from the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection: Saboteur (1942) and Rope (1948) on May 7th, Shadow of a Doubt (1943) on June 4th and The Trouble with Harry (1955) on July 2nd. ...
