Alfred Hitchcock Collectors Guide: Sabotage (1936)

by Brent Reid
  • Highlight of the Master’s British years; perhaps his tightest, tautest film
  • His peerless run of 1930s thrillers are essential viewing for any film fan
  • Plot is as sadly relevant today as ever; only the names and causes change
  • Though not explicitly stated, these terrorist enemies are Hitler’s fascists
  • Features various real and fictitious references to popular 1930s cinema
  • Detailing its source novel, related adaptations and all official releases

Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.

Part 2: Home video releases and remakes

Sabotage aka The Woman Alone (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) US poster

US poster


Contents


Production

“Fascinatingly detailed suspenser with famous sequences and splendidly brooding atmosphere.” – Halliwell’s Film Guide

No one is who they seem and nothing is safe from Sabotage in this riveting cloak-and-dagger classic that starts with a bang and never lets up. Unbeknownst to his young American wife (Sylvia Sidney), a London theatre owner is providing a cover for a nest of German spies. In the shadows, hides a sinister mastermind plotting to destroy the London Underground rail system. When the wife’s young brother is innocently drawn into the web of espionage and danger, the fuse is lit on a deadly series of events that will blow their lives apart. From the master of intrigue comes a fascinating suspense thriller where finely-drawn performances and cutting-edge atmosphere combine for first-rate entertainment. – US Hallmark 4-VHS The Master of Intrigue (1995)


Sylvia Sidney in Sabotage (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Imported American star Sylvia Sidney as tragic heroine Mrs. Verloc, in a pose redolent of the gangster flicks and noirs for which she’s best known.

 

Verloc (Oscar Homolka) runs a cinema in London’s West End and lives with his wife (Sylvia Sidney) and her young brother (Desmond Tester). The cinema is a front for his activities as a secret agent working with a foreign power to destroy the London Underground system. When a detective, Ted (John Loder), reveals that Verloc is under suspicion as a saboteur the boy is dispatched on an errand to deliver film. He is actually carrying a bomb. On the way to Piccadilly Circus Station the boy boards a bus where the bomb explodes, killing him and the other passengers. Mrs. Verloc, repelled by what her husband has done takes justice into her own hands.

Sabotage, released immediately following Secret Agent in 1936, had to be retitled despite its source, the Joseph Conrad novel The Secret Agent. This change from the book title avoided confusion in 1936 but seven years later in Hollywood, Hitchcock completed a film for Universal entitled Saboteur starring Robert Cummings. This however was not confusing in the USA where Sabotage had been released under the less dramatic title The Woman Alone. The woman in this case was the saboteur’s wife played by American actress Sylvia Sidney, whose Hollywood career after a number of films was about to take off with the release of Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) opposite Spencer Tracy. On her return to California she landed important roles with Henry Fonda in Lang’s You Only Live Once (1937) and Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart in William Wyler’s Dead End (1937). When asked what she’d learnt from Hitchcock in the making of Sabotage she cattily replied, “To be a puppet and not try to be creative”.

Viennese-born Oscar Homolka was a veteran of German film in the ’20s before he moved to England to appear in Rhodes of Africa in 1935 and Sabotage in 1936. From 1940 the majority of his movies were made in Hollywood or by Hollywood studios such as Rage in Heaven (1941), I Remember Mama (1948), The Seven Year Itch (1955), War and Peace (1956) and Song of Norway (1970). Desmond Tester had a successful career as a child star in Great Britain beginning with Midshipman Easy in 1935 followed by Tudor Rose in 1936, the same year he appeared in Sabotage. In 1938 he appeared as the drummer boy in The Drum with Sabu. Tester migrated to Australia in the 1950s becoming the long running compere of the children’s program on Australia’s first ever TV channel, TCN-9 in Sydney. He has continued to appear in the Occasional Australian film including 1984’s The Wild Duck with Jeremy Irons and Liv Ullmann. – Australian Roadshow Entertainment VHS (1998)


Desmond Tester and Oskar Homolka in Sabotage (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

An unsuspecting young Stevie (Desmond Tester) gets his delivery instructions from Karl Verloc (Oskar Homolka)

Hitch’s golden run of 1930s thrillers continues unabated with Sabotage, whose title is a MacGuffin; this is really a domestic drama, albeit one with sky-high stakes. It boasts an impeccable pedigree, being based on The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (1907, Gutenberg/Internet Archive), a critically acclaimed novel by Joseph “Heart of Darkness” Conrad. Once again, Hitch’s chief scriptwriter, Charles Bennett, assisted by a handful of others, deviated considerably from the novel and supplied the film’s more defined sense of closure, and quasi-happy ending.

Originally, pretty much all its major players, both good and bad, died in the end in the tradition of nihilistic greats like King Lear. Conrad had already adapted his novel as an eponymous play which had a short London run in 1922 and many times since, but his script does not appear to have been referred to for Hitch’s film. Subsequently adapted in various other media, it’s even been turned into an opera at least thrice, in 20062011 and 2013.

Sabotage aka The Woman Alone (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) US lobby card

US lobby card

Conrad and Hitchcock: The Secret Agent Inspires Sabotage – Michael AndereggLiterature/Film Quarterly (1975)

For obvious reasons, the title had to be changed from that of Conrad’s novel… Oh, alright then: coincidentally, that happened to have been the name of Hitch’s previous film! Except in France, that is, where Sabotage was indeed titled Agent secret, made possible because the previous year’s Secret Agent had been retitled Quatre de l’espionnage (The Spying Four). No, not at all confusing. Naturally, all the remakes in various different media have retained the novel’s title.

Hitch’s film was retitled yet again for the US, where the more sensational The Hidden Power (more below) and again to the lurid The Woman Alone were somehow thought necessary, despite being wholly inaccurate. But that’s nothing: its US re-release earned the even more macabre moniker, I Married a Murderer. At least that alternative retained relevance to the plot, which does what it says on the (film reel) tin. The story, originally set in 1886 but here updated half a century to find WWII looming, concerns a London-based group of foreign saboteurs or a terrorist cell, in modern parlance. They work out of a seedy Soho newsagents selling porn magazines and sundry insalubrious wares – in the novel, that is.

There were even more renaming shenanigans due to the fact that just a few months later, a British film was released with the title A Woman Alone. It has a much lighter matter and altogether happier ending but of course, it still couldn’t follow Sabotage/The Woman Alone across the pond under that banner, so was instead called Two Who Dared. It happens to include Esme Percy, who had earlier featured as the antagonist in Murder! and has seen just a few releases:

Sabotage aka The Woman Alone and I Married a Murderer (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) US re-release lobby card

This US re-release lobby card repurposes old stock by simply pasting the new title over the original

CUNY TV: Sabotage/reprise

The film’s setting was moved to an ostensibly family-friendly cinema south of the river which may have shown some porn films, though Hitch could only get away with hinting at the fact. When Verloc, the manager and undercover terrorist (don’t worry, it’s not a spoiler: we learn this in the opening scenes), wonders why the police are paying special attention to his establishment, his greengrocer neighbour jokingly speculates, “You must have been showing some funny sort of films, I dare say. You know, perhaps a bit too hot!” This London Filmland article has more details of the film’s cinema setting, but beware its many spoilers.

In the novel, terrorist attacks are carried out by Russian Embassy agents on behalf of the Tsarist regime, to whip up anti-leftist sentiment and popular resistance to the immigration of refugees fleeing persecution. Of course, it would have been a cinch to alter Tsarist Russia to Nazi Germany but these were sensitive times, and most of the world was still trying to appease Hitler’s fascist regime. Coincidentally, the novel’s main saboteur was named Adolf Verloc, so in the film was rechristened Karl. He was played to sinister perfection by Austrian émigré Oscar Homolka, who left behind a very successful stage and screen career in Germany after Hitler came to power, thereafter living and working in the US and UK for the rest of his life. Therefore, though the baddies’ cause here remains nebulous, you can easily fill in the blanks for yourself.

Incidentally, the most-cited ‘fact’ concerning Sabotage is Hitch’s frequent pronouncement, commencing with Hitchcock/Truffaut in 1962, is that the onscreen explosion was a mistake and if he could do it over again, he wouldn’t allow the bomb to go off. To me, this rings hollow and I’m not the only one. Not only does it explode in the novel and play, it’s narratively essential for all that follows afterwards. Hitch received some contemporary criticism for the bomb, and later, from François Truffaut who bluntly told him, “Making a child die in a picture is a rather ticklish matter; it comes close to an abuse of cinematic power.” Of course Hitch, ever averse to conflict, acquiesced, thus leading to something of another Hitchcock myth. Conversely, the staging and editing of the pivotal knife scene has drawn unanimous plaudits, both then and now, and is rightly celebrated as one of the film’s high (but low) points. Unsurprisingly, Hitch remained proud of it until the end. There are cute mini-remakes of it here and here.

Graham Greene on Sabotage

Revolt of the Zombies (1936) trade advert

Trade advert, as seen in Sabotage.

Though I won’t detail them, echoes of Blackmail reverberate strongly throughout, with multiple shared themes and very specific similarities. Certainly, there is at least as much wit and inventiveness on display again, yet while constantly using sound innovatively, it also showcases many of Hitch’s effective silent era techniques.

Sabotage also has many titbits, both real and fictitious, scattered around for fans of 1930s cinema. At one point, Ted Spencer, played by John Loder, playfully warns, “Look out George Arliss doesn’t bite ya, Steve!” to the unaffected youngster portrayed by Desmond Tester. Other references include several authentic looking posters for Two Gun Love, an imaginary Hollywood western with Tom McGurth and Jane O’D… [obscured], plainly inspired by the many popular cowboy stars of the time, such as Tom Mix and William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd. Similarly, an intriguing but sadly non-existent two-reeler, Bartholomew the Strangler, also features prominently throughout the central part of the film.

Just before initiating the chain of events leading to the film’s most shocking act, Mr. Verloc pretends to be browsing through a trade magazine with a cover proclaiming the arrival of “Percy Gibson in… [obscured] McGraw“, apparently another non-existent western. But behind the seemingly mocked-up cover is an actual trade magazine; among its numerous mostly indistinguishable adverts is one for Gainsborough and the glossy centre spread depicted here, for Revolt of the Zombies (1936). Its strapline, “Even more fascinating than White Zombie“, refers to a 1932 surprise hit from the same team which ushered in a wave of zombie B-movies. The earlier film starred Bela Lugosi, hot off the success of the previous year’s groundbreaking Dracula.

Revolt of the Zombies/White Zombie – Lyz Kingsley | King/Revenge

But be warned: though these zombies are well worth a taste, they aren’t the fast moving and cannibalistic 2.0 variety of game changer Night of the Living Dead (1968) and beyond; rather they’re shuffling drones that are only occasionally moved to violence. Even then, sadly, nary a brain is consumed. Both films are in the public domain, so expectedly there are many terrible copies out there with poor A/V and with White Zombie missing one-two minutes of varying snippets of footage. In 2015, UCLA restored the film to its original general release length from six different sources, but it’s only had a few public screenings and is as yet unreleased on home video. This is largely because the market is so awash with substandard copies that even a restored edition would struggle to break even. Available culprits even include two competing US BDs which, though neither looks great, are sadly as good a way to see the film as any at present; note they’re also the only releases that are region-locked:

White Zombie

  • US: Roan DVD (1999)
  • Germany: Nameless Media BD (2021) vid

Revolt of the Zombies

  • Roan DVD (1999) w/King of The Zombies (1941)
  • Alpha DVD (2003)
John Loder and Sylvia Sidney in Sabotage (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

The film was partly shot at Simpson’s, an actual restaurant where Hitch liked to dine. There’s fancy food on the menu, but Ted only has eyes for Mrs. Verloc.

When Ted sneaks around the back of the cinema to eavesdrop on the saboteurs, the British comedy playing is Fighting Stock (1935). It’s one of 18 films closely associated with the then hugely popular Aldwych Farces stage shows and is available on volume three of a handy series of UK DVDs from Network. One of the remaining non-DVD films, A Night Like This (1932), can be viewed for free at the UK’s BFI Mediatheque (films). Let’s hope the remaining half of them are eventually made publicly available.

Walt Disney Silly Symphony - Who Killed Cock Robin (1935) comic artwork by studio artist Tom Wood

Comic artwork by Disney studio artist Tom Wood

As Sabotage steamrollers towards its cataclysmic finale, a projected cartoon is seen in glaring counterpoint to the action: the Disney Silly Symphony short Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935). One of the studio’s most famous early works, it is in itself full of knowing references to contemporary cinema, including avian caricatures of Mae West, Bing Crosby, Harpo Marx and others. This masterpiece of black humour was released as an Easter egg on the Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies 2-DVD set in 2001.

Robert Donat, star of The 39 Steps, was due to return for both Secret Agent and Sabotage, the latter of which was initially (and strangely) titled The Hidden Power in the US. Minus the article, it was eventually the title of an related 1939 US B-movie. However, Donat suffered from various health issues throughout his tragically short life which forced him to largely confine his career to the UK and even then turn down numerous parts, including the two further Hitchcocks. In the case of Agent, an attack of acute bronchitis precipitated his withdrawal and he was replaced at very short notice by John Loder.

But later Hitch frequently articulated his disappointment and was critical of Loder’s performance, which wasn’t helped by the fact dialogue intended for Donat had to be rewritten on the fly to better suit Loder’s character. However, considering the circumstances, I think he acquitted himself extremely well in the role and is one of my favourite leading men of Hitch’s British films – after Donat, of course.

It’s a great pity neither actor got to appear in another film for the Master of Suspense; Donat died aged only 53, with just 21 full film and TV roles under his belt. But they’re classics all and absolutely essential viewing. Conversely, Loder had a lengthy screen career with many other top directors and co-stars, and left us some great performances in at least 120 films and TV programmes, many of which are detailed in his 1977 autobiography Hollywood Hussar. His imported American Sabotage co-star Sylvia Sidney didn’t leave us a self-penned memoir but we do have Scott O’Brien’s excellent biography Sylvia Sydney: Paid by the Tear (2016).

Sylvia Sidney and Robert Donat in Sabotage aka The Hidden Power (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) US Gaumont British exhibitor book

US Gaumont British exhibitor book with originally-announced stars and title

“It doesn’t pay to antagonize the public”: Sabotage and Hitchcock’s audienceMark Osteen

It’s well known Hitch frequently reused cast and crew he liked. To wit, I’m pretty certain the actor who memorably asked “What causes pip in poultry?” in The 39 Steps is also the cinemagoer who says “It’s a moot point!” in response to John Loder at the booth, around seven minutes into Sabotage. Can anyone confirm this; who is he? While I’m at it, Albert Chevalier (1899–1959), not to be confused with his eponymous music hall entertainer-uncle, played the concierge in Sabotage. Albert junior looks suspiciously like the uncredited concierge of the music hall at the beginning of The 39 Steps, who gets into a fight while trying to silence the unruly punter demanding to know the age of Mae West. Again, does anyone know for sure? Also, what’s his “minor role” in Young and Innocent?

A young Charles Hawtrey, future star of the Carry On films, has a fleeting appearance in early scenes as a youth out on a date. Gay in real life and always overtly camp, even within the space of a few seconds he is less than convincing in this guise. Although Hitch isn’t (yet) known to make one of his famed cameos in Sabotage, following her brief appearance in The Lodger his wife Alma Reville crops up again, this time with their daughter Pat. This, therefore, marks the latter’s first screen appearance, some 12 years before her official début in Stage Fright. In the Lord Mayor’s Show day crowd scene with young Stevie vainly trying to cross the road, the pair can clearly be seen standing next to him, with Alma lifting Pat for a better view of the action. But they don’t appear throughout, as the extras around Stevie are suddenly switched, indicating filming took place on two occasions, possibly on different days.

How many more previously undocumented appearances are out there waiting to be discovered? This only underlines the importance of seeing Hitch’s films, particularly his much-bootlegged British works, in the best quality possible: only via official, restored releases.

Oscar Homolka and Sylvia Sidney in Sabotage aka The Woman Alone (1936, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

The Woman Alone’s scratched-out title on this still indicates it was also used for the retitled US re-release but the glued-on label fell off.

Lastly, though Sidney starred in many early classics, I urge you to check out City Streets (1931), an absolute corker and similarly taut, economically-told tale in which she plays another morally conflicted good girl forced to do bad things. It’s a stylish, beautifully-shot gangster flick directed by Rouben Mamoulian from a story by Dashiell Hammett and co-stars Gary Cooper, Paul Lukas, and a host of top-notch character actors. It’s only had three legit releases and several boots, including DVDs from Italy (A&R) and Spain (Paycom). Get it – now!

Part 2: Home video releases and remakes


This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.

You might also like

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Leonardo
Leonardo
4th February 2023 19:56

The end of Hithcock’s Sabotage seemed disappointing to me. I think this is the first movie of his that doesn’t have a happy ending.
Through the course of Sabotage there were plenty of jokes and good humor, nonetheless the movie ended like a tragedy.

Like Brenton Film on Facebook


This will close in 12 seconds

2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x