Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 30-November-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Sabotage (1939)

Although it's one of his lesser known works, the smart little thriller Sabotage feels more universal than many of Alfred Hitchcock's films. Drawing heavily upon the precarious situation in Europe at the time of its release (much like its immediate predecessor, The Lady Vanishes), the movie deals with the resilience of nations more than the psychology of individuals. Thus, while its suspense engenders the typically Hitchcockian impression of relief mingled with uneasiness, Sabotage also delivers a message of hope and defiance that (for better or worse) will probably never become irrelevant.

Sabotage begins with a definition of its title — the "wilful destruction of buildings or machinery with the object of alarming … or inspiring public uneasiness" — and with an example of such, a blackout that temporarily throws London into a state of confusion. This leads to the introduction of Mr. Verloc (Oscar Homolka), the burly German proprietor of a modest neighborhood theater who apparently moonlights as a hired saboteur. In addition to shutting down streetlights and storefronts, Mr. Verloc's handiwork has created a headache for his gentle young wife (Sylvia Sidney), who faces a horde of angry moviegoers demanding their money back. As her husband feigns slumber and contemplates his reward, Mrs. Verloc finds a champion in Ted (John Loder), the fruit-stand vendor next door who soon proves to have more than gallantry as a motive for his interest.

The movie identifies the role of each player early on but focuses primarily on Mrs. Verloc, allowing the viewer to experience the worry that grows as her husband's actions and Ted's attention seem to close a net around her. Her concern, like her affection, is mostly directed toward her little brother Stevie (Desmond Tester), for whose sake she married a humorless but dependable older man. While Mrs. Verloc represents the unoffending bystander confused by the threat of unseen enemies, the cute and trusting Stevie embodies blameless innocence, which makes the pivotal (and controversial) scene involving him, a puppy, and a bomb on a bus all the more unforgettable.

Sabotage does an excellent job of illustrating that terrorists do not care about the actual loss and destruction they propagate (the value in human life and property), but only the reaction they get by their deeds. (The icy puppeteer holding Mr. Verloc's strings warns him that London must not laugh at what they do.) This being the case, Mr. Verloc's almost robotic nature becomes not merely unattractive but frightening; as long as there are people as venal and passionless as he, cleverer men will always find means to their evil ends. But the upshot of the movie is that terrorism doesn't work precisely because so many men and women aren't like Mr. Verloc. Sabotage triumphantly shows how people — real, feeling people who laugh and get angry and care about something other than themselves — find ways to keep going even after suffering acts that reach well beyond the public destruction of buildings or machinery to the annihilation of private homes and personal hopes. As we root for Mrs. Verloc to escape her husband and the pain he has caused her, we also cheer for all of London to foil the terrorists' plans simply by continuing to run their errands, have parades, go to the movies, and fall in love. Though much has been lost by the time the curtain closes, the film's message rings clear: you cannot put us down.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.