Foreign Correspondent (1940)

In Alfred Hitchcock's intriguing political thriller set just before the outbreak of war on the Continent - it was an espionage tale that endorsed the US entrance into the war effort; the film closely resembled his earlier British spy thrillers: The 39 Steps (1935, UK) and The Lady Vanishes (1938, UK), although more attuned for US audiences. The film was best remembered for a number of memorable scenes or set-pieces. It was nominated for six Oscars, but didn't receive a single Academy Award.

The main protagonist was a hard-headed, but relatively inexperienced American crime reporter and foreign correspondent caught in the political turmoil of Europe just before the outbreak of World War II (in the late summer of 1939). He became embroiled in the duplicitous activities of an international peace organization operating as a traitorous, subversive Nazi spy ring. There were three basic settings in the film: New York, London, and Amsterdam.

The film's MacGuffin was Clause 27 in the draft of a secret peace treaty between Holland and Belgium, memorized by a Dutch diplomat, one of only two signatories of the treaty. As a result of his knowledge, the Dutch "strongman" was kidnapped after a faked assassination attempt by a secret spy organization, and the film revolved around trying to locate and save the diplomat, who was allegedly the key to maintaining peace in Europe in 1939.

• the film's opening scrolling prologue was dedicated to "foreign correspondents"
• in the NYC offices of the New York Morning Globe on August 19, 1939, Mr. Powers (Harry Davenport), the Globe's editor-in-chief was upset over the unsatisfactory reports being received from Mr. Stebbins (Robert Benchley), his foreign correspondent in London; tough and often insubordinate NY crime reporter Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea) was chosen to be sent to Europe to report on the crisis as a true news reporter; he was assigned to interview leading Dutch statesman and Peace Movement leader and diplomat Mr. Van Meer - the "keynote" to understanding the European situation
• before leaving NY, Jones met with one of the Globe's urbane contributors - the head of the Universal Peace Party - a suave Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall) who was one of Van Meer's supporters and close confidantes; it was suggested that Jones change his name to a pen name - the posh-sounding Huntley Haverstock; Jones took the Cunard Lines' Queen Mary on his voyage to London; at the Victoria train station, he met his predecessor Stebbins (a Globe reporter for 25 years), and during a drink in a nearby bar, Stebbins admitted that he was slack in his reporting, and was an alcoholic (and later was found to be a womanizer)
• the next day in London on August 26, 1939, Jones was prepared to attend a Savoy Hotel luncheon (sponsored by the Universal Peace Party) to obtain an exclusive interview with the speaker, famous diplomat Van Meer; to his surprise after leaving his hotel (the Carlton), he found himself sharing a taxi ride to the event with Van Meer (Albert Bassermann) himself; during the short trip, Van Meer avoided most of Jones' questions about politics and the impending war in Poland

Stephen Fisher With His Daughter Carol (Laraine Day) at Van Meer's Luncheon Lecture
	Jones' Infatuation with Carol Seated at the Head Table During the Luncheon - He Sent Her Love Notes Asking For a Date

• at the Savoy Hotel while awaiting the luncheon's lecture, Jones mingled with other international guests, including Stephen Fisher and his lovely, feisty and idealistic US/Brit. daughter Carol (Laraine Day), but Jones made some insulting comments and the Peace Party that offended her; at the head table, Fisher was seated with his daughter; during the meal, Jones kept sending over a dozen flirtatious love notes (asking for a date) to Carol; he had quickly developed a strong romantic attraction toward her, but she was not interested
• Stephen Fisher made an unexpected announcement that the luncheon's guest of honor, Dutch diplomat Van Meer, couldn't attend and had sent a telegram to notify the gathering of his absence; and then he introduced his "publicist" daughter as the substitute speaker; during her talk, she debunked Jones' comment to her earlier that the Peace Party members were only "well-meaning amateurs"
• Jones was notified by his boss Mr. Powers by cable that his next compulsory assignment was to travel to Amsterdam to attend a Peace Conference and again establish contact with Van Meer; he was notified to: "EXPECT IMPORTANT SPEECH AFFECTING EUROPEAN WAR"
• in Amsterdam at the city's grand Town Hall, onlookers, police and photographers (including Fisher and Jones) were on the top landing of the Town Hall's stairs awaiting Van Meer's arrival by limousine in the public square below; Fisher happened to mention to Jones that he was doubtful and concerned about worsening peace prospects (they were "under the shadow of war"), and was leaving to return to London later in the day
• in one of the film's spectacular set-pieces - during an assassination attempt in Amsterdam, as Van Meer (Samuel Adams, Van Meer's impersonator) was mounting the steep stairs in the rain, Jones rushed down to greet Van Meer, but the elderly gentleman strangely failed to recognize him; Van Meer was shot in the middle of his forehead by a photographer-assassin (Charles Wagenheim) with a gun; from a high vantage point, a sea of bobbing black umbrellas revealed the escape route of the assassin; at the bottom of the steps, the gunman also shot a policeman dead and a bicyclist (when aiming at Jones)

Reporter Jones and Photographer-Assassin with Diplomat Van Meer (actually an Imposter!) Who Was Shot Dead on the Steps in Amsterdam

• Jones chased the assassin through the streets, dodging more bullets; when Jones was thrown off the black getaway car, he then hopped into another parked vehicle, and demanded that the driver, newspaper-man reporter Scott Ffolliott (George Sanders) (pronounced "with a double f...both small f's"), follow the gunman's escaping car; he was surprised that the driver's passenger was Carol Fisher; as the pursuit moved into the countryside with large Dutch windmills visible on the roadsides, the assassin shot back at them; many cars were involved in the chase including the two main vehicles, and a squadron of police cars and motorcycles
• amidst one of the windmills (the set included the sounds of the wind in the sails and the wooden gears), the getaway car suddenly disappeared; the police vehicles proceeded onward, while Ffolliott's car stopped; Jones happened to notice that the windmill had stopped revolving normally (counter clock-wise) and had begun to turn in the opposite direction (clockwise, the wrong way, mysteriously against the wind); his hypothesis ws that the windmill was a signal of some kind; after sending Ffolliott and Carol onward to summon the police to return, he noticed an airplane circling above to land nearby; inside the windmill, he discovered the getaway car inside, and upstairs, three men were negotiating (in a foreign language) regarding a payoff of the assassin, and he saw two other men approaching from the plane; it appeared to be a hideout for Nazi spies

The Getaway Car Found Inside the Windmill

Also Inside the Windmill - a Hideout for Nazi Spies

Jones Spoke with The Real Kidnapped Van Meer Held Inside the Windmill

• in a store-room, Jones found an alive Van Meer (the real one) seated and mumbling mostly incoherently after having been drugged with a sedative; Jones was astounded that Van Meer was alive; the Dutch diplomat confirmed that his death had been faked with an imposter look-alike, decoy or doppelganger, and that he had been kidnapped and held hostage by some unknown organization; Jones was forced to hide and evade them when the villains took Van Meer away in the airplane; there was a tense moment when Jones' trenchcoat became enmeshed in the rotating cogs of the windmill, and he was forced to strip off his coat to avoid being sucked into the gears
• by the time the police arrived, there was no trace of the conspirators or the getaway car, and no one believed him when asserted: "They've gone....That car was here"; he realized he had been set up and was unwittingly embroiled in the troubling situation, but vowed to investigate: ("There's a big story in this. I can smell it, I can feel it, and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it if it's the last thing I do. Nothing's gonna stop me. Do you understand? I'm gonna prove that that wasn't Van Meer that was assassinated, but his double")
• later in his Amsterdam Hotel Europe room that night, Jones typed a telegram to his Globe office: ("DON'T WORRY ABOUT DELAY AM HOT ON TRAIL OF BIGGEST STORY OF CENTURY NO KIDDING DON'T SEND OUT ANYTHING MORE OF VAN MEER'S ASSASSINATION HAVE TERRIFIC NEWS BEAT ALL READY TO BREAK
  REPEAT NO KIDDING")
• he was interrupted by two suspicious armed men claiming to be a detective and a policeman; after viewing their nefarious plans for him through the bathroom door keyhole, he climbed out of his bathroom window to evade them, made his way along a ledge on the outside of the building, and entered into another hotel room's suite, where a party or reception was being hosted by Carol and the Peace Organization; after she berated him, he defended his actions and how he had stumbled into "some international dirty business" and was being targeted because he knew that Van Meer was alive; but everything sounded incredulous to Carol and detrimental to her peace work with her father: ("All you're interested in is having fun with windmills and hotel bathrooms"); Jones was steadfast: "I don't know the ins and outs of your crackpot peace movement, and I don't know what's wrong with Europe. But I do know a story when I see one. And I'll keep after it until either I get it or it gets me"
• Carol reluctantly agreed to help him, with a smile ("Don't go!"); by creating a commotion in his hotel room, Jones was able to get a change of clothes, and escape from the hotel with Carol; on their way out, the intruders did spot them, but were unable to pursue them; Carol and Johnny boarded "the night boat to England," and were forced to spend the night on the cold deck of the ship during a storm, huddled together under blankets; inexplicably and suddenly, Johnny proposed marriage: ("I love you, and I want to marry you") and Carol promptly accepted by repeating his line, without any resistance or argument

		A Marriage Proposal to Carol
On the Cold Deck of a "Night Boat to England"

• in England, the two went to Carol's father's house, where Jones recognized Mr. Krug (Eduardo Ciannelli), one of the men from the windmill, having breakfast with Stephen; Stephen introduced him as a member of the Baruvian Embassy staff in London; in private, Jones warned Stephen about what really happened to Van Meer in Amsterdam: "Van Meer isn't dead....That was his double that was shot. Van Meer himself was kidnapped. I talked to him in a mill outside Amsterdam"; behind closed doors without Jones' knowledge, it became obvious that Stephen was one of the co-conspirator gang members - he worriedly shared Jones' recent discoveries with Krug; Krug proposed an idea to rid them of Jones' interference -- they would suggest his protection by hiring a bodyguard or "private detective" named Rowley (Edmund Gwenn) - actually, Rowley was a retired contract killer-assassin
• although Stephen advised that Jones keep his breaking news story quiet, in order to prevent any further harm to Van Meer, Jones objected to Fisher's suggestion: ("Keep it quiet?! A famous diplomat's kidnapped right under my own eyes and I muzzle myself? I'm sorry, Mr. Fisher, but this is a story with facts in it. This is the kind of story I was sent over here to get. This is the kind America's waiting for"), but he agreed to wait a few hours until there were more developments; Jones also accepted Fisher's offer of contacting "a very efficient private detective agency" and arranging to provide a bodyguard to watch out for him

Attempts of Contract Killer Rowley (Edmund Gwenn) to Murder Jones
Attempt to Push Jones Into Path of Truck	Attempt to Push Jones Off the Cathedral Bell Tower	Victim was Rowley

• during a suspenseful and tense set of sequences, it appeared that Rowley was repeatedly trying to kill Jones; Rowley deliberately pushed Jones into the path of an oncoming truck; and then on the observation deck of the tall tower of Westminster Catholic Cathedral, as Jones leaned over, contract killer Rowley backed up a few feet to take a running leap at him; the camera switched to a POV of Rowley's hands rushing at the camera - and the screams of a woman on the street below; a body fell through the air from the top of the tower - it was would-be-murderer Rowley's body that fell to the pavement; it was now confirmed for Jones that Fisher was involved with the conspirators
• in the Fleet Street offices of the newspaper, Jones refused to publish his side of the story until Van Meer was found safe; Ffolliott proposed ways to "catch Fisher" and "find Van Meer" - and suggested that they pretend to kidnap Fisher's daughter Carol to force Fisher to divulge Van Meer's location; to proceed with the plan, Jones and Carol retreated out of London to Cambridge, but due to a misunderstanding about an overnight stay, she promptly disappeared (and drove back to London), clearly insulted or distressed
• back in London, Stephen Fisher was suddenly making plans to leave for the US the following day on the "Clipper"; Ffolliott's blackmailing scheme to make it look like Carol was kidnapped failed when she reappeared at his home, and Stephen convinced her to join him
• before leaving, Fisher visited Van Meer in a 4th floor room above a closed restaurant on Charlotte Street where he was being held; the disoriented Van Meer was being tortured by two gang member thugs - under bright Photoflood Lamps while loud music was broadcast from a phonograph record player - to divulge the information (the secret clause 27) that the organization wanted; Van Meer refused to whisper the secret to Fisher, and accused him of being a traitor and a liar: ("You cry peace, Fisher. Peace. And there was no peace. Only war and death. You're a liar, Fisher"); Jones arrived with Stebbins, but Fisher and his bodyguards had escaped, leaving Van Meer behind, who was then taken to the Hilton Nursing Home for medical care
• in the meantime, England and France had declared war on Germany in early September of 1939; without any way to stop Fisher, Ffolliott suggested that they follow Fisher by booking two tickets on the same plane to America - a Trans-oceanic Airways four-propeller plane
• during their 14-hour Trans-atlantic trip, Fisher was seated in first-class with his daughter Carol; Jones and Ffolliott were in the rear of the plane in the economy section; a transmitted RADIOGRAM message for Ffolliott was intercepted during its delivery by Fisher, who read disturbing news that had been found out after Van Meer's confession - he knew he would be apprehended: ("Van Meer conscious. Has provided all necessary evidence. Steps have been taken to meet plane other side"); Fisher felt compelled to confess to his daughter Carol the truth of his nefarious activities, and how he would be arrested and taken back to London upon their arrival; she had already intuited and suspected that he was a duplicitous spy

Trans-Atlantic Plane With Fisher and Carol in First Class - Plus Jones and Ffolliott in the Rear of the Plane

• on the plane, Jones felt compelled to speak to Carol, not as much about her father but about their confused and complex relationship; she responded with multiple claims and accusations, that he didn't really love her, and that he had only been pursuing her to capture her father: "Everything you've ever said to me have been lies"; he replied that he was only doing his job as a reporter
• in a spectacular sequence (a convincing Trans-atlantic plane crash disaster), the plane was hit by German gunfire from a warship; the wings of the plane shredded as it lost altitude; the crash itself was seen from the cockpit's POV, over the shoulder of the pilots; the plane dramatically smashed into the surface of the rough seas, and water rushed into the cabin through the sides of the damaged plane; the few survivors clung to the plane's fuselage and crowded wing

Realistic Trans-Atlantic Plane Crash - Cockpit POV of Crash; Survivors Clung to the Fuselage

• to prevent any more deaths, villainous Fisher heroically attempted to save others from the stormy and turbulent seas by sacrificing himself - he removed his life jacket and swam off into the rough waters to perish; a small group of less than a dozen survivors were rescued by an American ship, the Mohican, that appeared on the horizon, spotted in the pilot's binoculars
• on the rescue ship bound for London, Jones and Ffolliott were not allowed to radio their news-story from the ship to the press while in "enemy waters"; Jones was still concerned about his weakened relationship with Carol, and vowed not to betray her father; however, she urged Johnny to not sugar-coat her father's involvement with a spy ring, and instead dutifully report the truth

Jones' Concluding Radio Appeal in London

• in the film's conclusion set in a London radio studio, Jones was introduced before a radio broadcast by an announcer (John Burton), with Carol nearby to his side; his final, provocative radio appeal (a tacked-on propagandistic ending) from London begged the American public to end its neutral stance and enter the war, as bombs fell on the darkened radio studio: ("All that noise you hear isn't static - it's death coming to London. Yes, they're coming here now. You can hear the bombs falling on the streets and the homes. Don't tune me out. Hang on awhile. This is a big story and you're part of it. It's too late to do anything here now except stand in the dark and let them come. It's as if the lights were all out everywhere, except in America. Keep those lights burning there! Cover them with steel! Ring them with guns! Build a canopy of battleships and bombing planes around them! Hello, America! Hang on to your lights. They're the only lights left in the world")
• a chorus of The Star Spangled Banner ended the film, with the cast credits scrolling upward