Good movie but grossly overrated

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's Hitchcock at his grimmest. Just count the number of smiles. Also, the only happy person is unceremoniously killed half-way through! This is not a movie the director could have made in Hollywood—the Hayes office would never have allowed it. What with the killing of a central character, an innocent kid, plus an unpunished murder by another central character, there's no way the film could have originated stateside. Nonetheless, it's one of Hitch's most interesting since it raises a number of complex moral issues attaching to both guilt and innocence. Most saliently, should Mrs. Verloc (Sydney) be allowed to walk away from killing her husband unpunished, and if so, why?Also, there's the issue of terrorism, not dealt with by many films of the time, but which seems very topical in our own day. Apparently, the terrorist killing of the boy (Tester) has been a controversial part of the film over the years, since it's so wrenching and goes against unwritten movie-making norms. Nonetheless, I think it's an important part of the story since it calls attention to the death of innocents caused by terrorist acts, whether the bombs are planted or come from the sky. I'm glad Hitch had the gumption to include it.Anyway, it's not a movie to see if you're depressed. The lighting is dark, the mood somber, with a doleful Sydney, a sour-faced Homolka, and a conflicted Loder. Still, it's good to see so many Londoners going to the movies in those days, even if they do want their money back. In my view, it's one of Hitch's most daring movies, British or American.

A highly recommended film, better than many of Hitch's follow-ups. Plus it has a story I can believe in, which is not that typical for the lion's share of his filmography. And who would expect such a disturbing and utterly thrilling ending from an early Hitch film that starts with a quite funny episode of a crowd demanding their money back because of outage? I guess that the only drawback of the film is that Sidney and Homolka were miscast as a married couple, they look like a father and a daughter. Though, I cannot complain too much on their acting; furthermore, the supporting cast is quite solid.

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, at this stage just the vigorous maverick of the Gaumont-British sentry, carved a mercilessly sensational bit from Conrad's The Secret Agent into a proficient drill in suspense. Sabotage is flawed plotting, but unqualified histrionics. Edgily dismissing all but the facade of motivation, the great manipulator thrusts his lens into the nucleus of Conrad's plot and extracts a giftedly implemented splinter of a story. What makes Hitchcock Hitchcock is that his technique is its own justification.Invariably the master of his movie's fate, this sculptor of modern cinema has compacted this story to the nuts and bolts, choosing just those events which he could crook to his dramatic command. His tempo is deceivingly measured, but he lurches mercilessly to his climaxes and makes the effect intense and unexpected. The excellent Oscar Homolka, Sylvia Sidney, John Loder and that winning youngster Desmond Tester, are held tightly to the frontier of plot development and, inside the slender confines Hitchcock allows them, supply thoroughgoing characterizations.For reasons vague, minor cinema owner Verloc has been ordered to terrorize London. His gateway is to disable the city's lighting works. London receives the blackout as a gag. The foreign agent retaining him cautions that London better not chuckle next time: A time bomb, placed in a Piccadilly cloakroom, would truly try the British sense of humor.Verloc, being watched by Scotland Yard, is incapable of sending the bomb himself and picks his wife's baby brother as the innocuous courier of terror. The kid takes the paper-wrapped bomb, calculated to explode at quarter two, and commences his venture across town. Verloc has cautioned him to leave the little box no later than half one. Despite the Master of Suspense's later nitpicking of his work here, he orders the sequence mischievously. It's excruciating to have to helplessly watch the heedless youngster's easygoing movement across London, stopping at shop windows, volunteered by a sidewalk vender for a presentation, postponed by a parade, by traffic and finicky policemen.Homolka as Verloc is an ideal means for Hitchcock's calculated rhythm. Sidney as his baffled wife, mothering her young brother, John Loder as the amorous Scotland Yard sergeant, William Dewhurst as the bomb maker and of course Tester are severally solid. But this is Hitchcock's film and a worthy early one.

Joseph Conrad's novella, "The Secret Agent", served as the basis of Alfred Hitchcock's "Sabotage", during his British period. Since Mr. Hitchcock had already directed another English film, "Secret Agent", the title was changed to "Sabotage", not to be confused with "Saboteur", which the director made in America in 1942, which is not a remake. The achievement of this film is tremendous, even when the viewer knows from the start who the evil character is. Mr. Hitchcock pulled it off in surprising, and simple ways, that paid off handsomely in this thriller, that in spite of having been made more than 74 years ago, still merits a view by fans of the director. Mr. Hitchcock knew how to keep the suspense, as he proved here. The viewer is kept at the edge of his seat as one watches Stevie, the young boy going on to deliver the bomb, that unknown to him, his brother-in-law thought would surely go to its intended target. Because of the parade, and not being able to cross the street by the police barricade, he has no other way to get to Picadilly by taking the bus as time gets closer to the deadline of 1.45pm.The other fantastic sequence involves the killing of Verloc. It is done without any sound, practically, yet, the impact it creates in our minds is nothing short of shocking because, basically, Sylvia Verloc, cannot believe the monster she has married, could be the one responsible for the death of her own brother. The ironic twist at the end comes unexpectedly at the end without even a hint of what is going to happen to the Bijou when all the evil doer is trapped inside the apartment trying to retrieve the bird cages.Sylvia Sidney made a wonderful Mrs. Verloc. She is not the typical blond the director favored, but she brought a great presence to the film. Oskar Homolka underplayed his Verloc to an amazing effect. He is menacing without doing much, which goes to show what good actor he was. John Loder is seen as Ted, the undercover agent assigned to watch what was going on at the theater next door. Diamond Tester added a touch of innocence to the action; we all know he is a good kid who did not deserve his tragic end."Sabotage" is vintage Hitchcock that must be seen by serious fans.