Event

Sabotage (1936)

Presented by Glenn Andreiev, Film Critic (Films in Review). All films in this series will be projected on DVD in the Cinemas Sky Room Cafe.

Too strong and dark for 1936 audiences, Alfred Hitchcocks gripping adaptation of Joseph Conrads novel The Secret Agent is now considered one of his most important works of the 1930s. Oscar Homolka is Verloc, a timid terrorist operating under the cover of running a small neighborhood movie theater. Even his loving wife (Sylvia Sidney) doesnt suspect his involvement in a plot to bring chaos and mass murder to London. When Verloc enlists an unwitting innocent in his plan, his family is drawn into his life of fear and violence. Hitchcock keeps this taut thriller crackling along at a relentless pace while undermining our expectations. Sabotage is a perfect example of Hitchcocks amazing ability to take the most innocent images and imbue them with the power of nightmares.

UK, 1936, 76 min., b/w