''Foreign Correspondent'' (a.k.a. ''Imposter'' and ''Personal History'') is a 1940 American black-and-white spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It tells the story of an American reporter based in Britain who tries to expose enemy spies involved in a fictional continent-wide conspiracy in the prelude to World War II. It stars

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

and features 19-year-old Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall,

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

, Albert Basserman, and Robert Benchley, along with Edmund Gwenn. ''Foreign Correspondent'' was Hitchcock's second Hollywood production after leaving the United Kingdom in 1939 (the first was '' Rebecca'') and had an unusually large number of writers: Robert Benchley, Charles Bennett,

Harold Clurman Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.

, Joan Harrison, Ben Hecht, James Hilton,

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first pres ...

John Lee Mahin John Lee Mahin (August 23, 1902, Evanston, Illinois – April 18, 1984, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable an ...

Richard Maibaum Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his screenplay adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. Among his works are the first anti-lynching play on Bro ...

, and

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' and ''The Harder They Fall;'' ...

, with Bennett, Harrison, Hilton and Benchley the only writers credited in the finished film. It was based on

Vincent Sheean James Vincent Sheean (December 5, 1899, Pana, Illinois – March 16, 1975, Arolo, Frz. of Leggiuno, Italy) was an American journalist and novelist. Career Sheean's most famous work was ''Personal History'' (New York: Doubleday, 1935). It wo ...

's political memoir ''Personal History'' (1935), the rights to which were purchased by producer Walter Wanger for $10,000. The film was one of two Hitchcock films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1940, the other being '' Rebecca'', which went on to win the award. ''Foreign Correspondent'' was nominated for six Academy Awards, including one for Albert Basserman for Best Supporting Actor, but did not win any.

Plot

In mid-August 1939, just before the outbreak of World WarII, the editor of the ''New York Morning Globe'', Mr. Powers ( Harry Davenport), sends crime reporter John Jones, using the pen name "Huntley Haverstock" (

), to Europe to report on conditions there. Foreign Correspondent trailer 16 McCrea crop

Jones's first assignment is to interview a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer ( Albert Basserman), at an event held by Stephen Fisher ( Herbert Marshall), the leader of the Universal Peace Party, who's holding the event to honor diplomat Van Meer. Unbeknownst to Powers and Jones, Fisher is actually a German agent. Jones shares a cab with Van Meer on the way to the luncheon, but the diplomat evades any questions about the impending war. Once at the luncheon, Van Meer mysteriously disappears – his sudden absence announced by Fisher – but Jones doesn't mind as he becomes smitten with Fisher's daughter, Carol ( Laraine Day). Powers sends Jones to Amsterdam to cover Van Meer's next appearance, at a conference of the UPP. When Jones stops to greet Van Meer outside the conference hall, Van Meer does not seem to recognize him. Suddenly, an assassin disguised as an eager photographer hoping to take a photo of the Dutch diplomat – actually concealing a gun near the camera – shoots and kills Van Meer. Jones, Carol and her reporter friend Scott ffolliott (

), give chase. They seem to lose the assassin's car in the countryside, until Jones recognizes that they are hiding in a windmill. While Carol and ffolliott go for help, Jones searches the windmill and finds a live Van Meer; the man shot in front of witnesses was an imposter. The old man has been drugged and is unable to tell Jones anything. Jones narrowly escapes to tell the police himself, but when he, Carol and ffolliott return with authorities, Van Meer and his kidnappers are gone. Later, back at Jones's hotel room in Amsterdam, two spies dressed as police officers arrive to kidnap him. When he suspects who they really are, he escapes with Carol's help. Jones and Carol board a British ship to England, and while a furious storm thunders overhead, he proposes marriage to her, which she accepts. In England, they go to Carol's father's house, where Jones sees Krug (

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969), was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

), whom he recognizes from the windmill as the operative running the assassination and kidnapping. He informs Fisher, who promises to provide a bodyguard who will protect him. The bodyguard, Rowley ( Edmund Gwenn), whose true task is to kill Jones, is working with Fisher and Krug in the plot against Van Meer. Rowley tries to push Jones off the top of Westminster Cathedral tower but falls to his death himself. Foreign Correspondent trailer 12 Sanders crop

Foreign Correspondent trailer 12 Sanders crop

Jones and ffolliott are convinced that Fisher is a traitor, so they come up with a plan: Jones will take Carol to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, and ffolliott will pretend she has been kidnapped, in order to force Fisher to divulge Van Meer's location. But when Carol, who mistakenly thinks that Jones tricked her to go to Cambridge – not for a romantic getaway, but to sideline her while he pursues her father — returns home from Cambridge to her father earlier than expected; this forces ffolliott to leave in haste. Ffolliott trails Fisher to a closed hotel where Van Meer is being held prisoner, but ffoliott is captured at gunpoint. He prevents Fisher from carrying out a ruse intended to persuade Van Meer to reveal a secret clause in a treaty that would benefit the Germans in the event of war. Fisher orders Van Meer to be tortured for the information; ffolliot escapes from Fisher's thugs, while Fisher flees. Van Meer is taken to a nearby hospital, where he slowly regains consciousness. Britain and France declare war on Germany. Jones and ffolliott follow the Fishers on a Short S.30 Empire flying boat to America. When he intercepts a telegram intended for ffolliott, telling him that Van Meer has recovered and identified Fisher as his kidnaper, Fisher realizes he will soon be captured and returned to England as a spy. He confesses his treasonous behavior to Carol, who already suspects the truth but promises to stand by him. Jones pleads with Carol to rekindle their affair. Seconds later, the aircraft is shelled by a German destroyer and crashes into the ocean. The survivors perch on the floating wing of the downed aircraft. Realizing that it cannot support everyone, Fisher slips into the ocean to drown, sacrificing himself so the rest may live. An American ship rescues the survivors. The captain refuses to allow the reporters to file their stories using the ship's communications, citing American neutrality in the war. Still, Jones, ffolliott, and Carol surreptitiously communicate the story by radio-telephone to Mr. Powers. Jones returns to England and, with Carol at his side, becomes a successful war correspondent. During a live radio broadcast, he describes London being bombed, urging Americans to "keep the lights burning" as they go dark in the studio.

Cast

as John Jones * Laraine Day as Carol Fisher * Herbert Marshall as Stephen Fisher *

as ffolliott * Albert Basserman as Van Meer * Robert Benchley as Stebbins * Edmund Gwenn as Rowley *

as Mr. Krug * Harry Davenport as Mr. Powers * Martin Kosleck as Tramp *

Frances Carson Frances Carson (April 1, 1895 – October 20, 1973) was an American actress on stage and in films, including three Alfred Hitchcock films. Early life Carson was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and started acting and modeling professionally in ...

as Mrs. Sprague *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a ...

as Stiles *

Charles Wagenheim Charles Wagenheim (February 21, 1896 – March 6, 1979) was an American actor who appeared in over 250 films. On television, Wagenheim appeared in an episode of ''Barnaby Jones'' titled "The Murdering Class", portraying a cemetery groundskeeper ...

as Assassin * Edward Conrad as Latvian *

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...

as Bradley *

Barbara Pepper Barbara Pepper (born Marion Pepper; May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom '' Green Acres''. Early life and career Marion Pepper ...

as Dorine *

Emory Parnell Emory Parnell (December 29, 1892 – June 22, 1979) was an American vaudeville performer and actor who appeared in over 250 films in his 36-year career. Early years Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Parnell trained as a musician at Morningside ...

as "Mohican" Captain * Roy Gordon as Mr. Brood * Gertrude Hoffman as Mrs. Benson * Martin Lamont as Captain * Barry Bernard as Steward * Holmes Herbert as Asst. Commissioner * Leonard Mudie as McKenna * John Burton as English Announcer :;Uncredited (in order of appearance) *

Crauford Kent Crauford Kent (12 October 1881 – 14 May 1953) was an English character actor based in the United States. He has also been credited as Craufurd Kent

as Toastmaster * Jane Novak as Miss Benson * Louis Borell as Captain Lanson *

Eily Malyon Eily Malyon (born Eily Sophie Lees-Craston; 30 October 1879 – 26 September 1961) was an English character actress from about 1900 to the 1940s. She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perfo ...

as English cashier * E. E. Clive as Mr. Naismith *

Alexander Granach Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a German-Austrian actor in the 1920s and 1930s who emigrated to the United States in 1938. Life and career Granach was born Schaje Granoch in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Austri ...

as Valet * Jack Rice as Donald *

Hilda Plowright Hilda Plowright (29 November 1890 – 9 October 1973) was a British actress. Biography Plowright was born in Swaffham, Norfolk, England. Following a career on the stage in Britain she came to the United States and obtained work and a Social S ...

as Miss Pimm * James Finlayson as Dutch peasant *

Joan Leslie Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress and vaudevillian, who during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''Sergeant York'' (1941) ...

as John Jones' sister Alfred Hitchcock can be seen when Joel McCrea first spots Van Meer on the street in London; Hitchcock walks past reading a newspaper. Albert Basserman, who plays Van Meer, was German and did not speak English, so he had to learn all his lines phonetically. Likewise, one supposedly Dutch girl in the film speaks Dutch phonetically, though less convincingly.

Production

Foreign Correspondent trailer 5 car trio

Producer Walter Wanger bought the rights to journalist

's memoir ''Personal History'' in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book.TC
"Notes: 'Foreign Correspondent'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: November 12, 2022. It took numerous writers and five years before Wanger had a script he was satisfied with, by which time Hitchcock was in the United States under contract with David O. Selznick and available to direct this film on a loan-out. Hitchcock, who did not enjoy working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

and

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

for the lead roles, but Cooper was not interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine. Later, Cooper admitted to Hitchcock that he had made a mistake in turning down the film.Stafford, Jeff and John M. Miller
"Articles: 'Foreign Correspondent'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: November 12, 2022. Working titles for the film, which began production on March18, 1940, and initially finished on June 5, were "Personal History" and "Imposter". Shooting took place at the

Samuel Goldwyn Studio Samuel Goldwyn Studio was the name that Samuel Goldwyn used to refer to the lot located on the corner of Formosa Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California, as well as the offices and stages that his company, Samuel Goldwyn ...

in West Hollywood, and on location around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and Long Beach. After the film wrapped, Hitchcock visited his native England, and returned to Los Angeles on July 3, to report that the Germans were expected to begin bombing London at any time. To accommodate this, Ben Hecht was called in to write the epilogue of the film, the scene in the radio station, which replaced the original end sequence in which two of the characters discussed the events of the film on a transatlantic seaplane trip. The new ending was filmed on July 5, presciently foreshadowing the celebrated radio broadcasts of

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...

."Trivia: 'Foreign Correspondent'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: November 12, 2022. Although many critics and film historians claim that neither Germany nor Hitler is named specifically in the film, both the man and the nation are indeed mentioned, including a scene where the name Germany is spelled out in the headline of a newspaper being hawked in the street and, while being given his assignment, Joel McCrea suggests an interview with Hitler, to get his views on the possibility of war. A fictional nation is mentioned numerous times however, possibly indicating that it was briefly considered as a potential proxy aggressor European country rather than an actual Axis nation. Foreign Correspondent trailer 26 crash crop

Foreign Correspondent trailer 26 crash crop

One of the sequences in the film that continues to have a strong effect on viewers is the

William Cameron Menzies William Cameron Menzies (July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957) was an American film production designer (a job title he invented) and art director as well as a film director and producer during a career spanning five decades. He began his career ...

-designed mid-ocean crash of the flying boat after it is shot down by a German destroyer. In 1972, in an interview with Dick Cavett, Hitchcock discussed some details of how the scene was created. Footage taken from a stunt aircraft diving over the ocean was rear-projected on rice paper in front of the cockpit set, while behind the rice paper were two chutes connected to large water tanks. The chutes were aimed at the windshield of the cockpit so that water would break through the rice paper at the right moment, simulating the crash of the aircraft into the ocean. However, during the crash sequence, studio lights can briefly be seen. Hitchcock's eccentric marriage proposal to his wife Alma was written for this film, for the scene when Jones proposes to Carol.

Reception

''Foreign Correspondent'' opened on August 16, 1940, in the United States and on October 11 of that year in the United Kingdom. The film, which ends with London being bombed, opened in the United States at the dawn of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, just three days after the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

began bombing British coastal airfields in the early Adlerangriff phase of the

, and a week before Germany began bombing London on August 24.Legrand and Karne
1995, p. 311.
/ref>

Box Office

''Foreign Correspondent'' did well at the box office, but its high cost meant it incurred a loss of $369,973. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' it was the second most popular film of 1940 in Britain (the first being ''Rebecca'').

Critical

It was generally praised by the critics, although some saw it as a glorified B movie. It also attracted attention from at least one professional propagandist, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, who called ''Foreign Correspondent'' "a masterpiece of propaganda, a first-class production which no doubt will make a certain impression upon the broad masses of the people in enemy countries".Humphrie
1994, p. 66.
/ref> On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Foreign Correspondent'' has an approval rating of 95% based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 8.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Alfred Hitchcock's ''Foreign Correspondent'' features a winning combination of international intrigue, comic relief, and some of the legendary director's most memorable set pieces." In his 2012 review, Saptarshi Ray of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote of ''Foreign Correspondent'': "a breathless yarn with the most serious of intents that soars well beyond mediocrity but just below genius, yet remains a film that should be included on the master of suspense's top table."

Awards and honors

Foreign Correspondent trailer 20 Basserman

In 1941, ''Foreign Correspondent'' was nominated for six

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, but did not win any. ''Foreign Correspondent'' was named one of the 10 Best Films of 1940 by ''Film Daily''.

Adaptations

''Foreign Correspondent'' was adapted to the radio program '' Academy Award Theater'' on July 24, 1946, with

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and '' Sab ...

starring."Radio's Golden Age." ''Nostalgia Digest'', Summer 2012, Volume 38, Issue 3, pp. 40–41.

References

Bibliography

* Bernstein, Matthew. ''Walter Wanger: Hollywood Independent''. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2000. . * Humphries, Patrick. ''The Films of Alfred Hitchcock''. New York: Crescent Books, 1994. . * Legrand, Catherine and Robyn Karney. ''Chronicle of the Cinema''. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. .

External links

* * * *
''Foreign Correspondent'' at the Hitchcock Wiki
*
''Foreign Correspondent''
on Academy Award Theater: July 24, 1946
''Foreign Correspondent: The Windmills of War''
an essay by

James Naremore James Naremore, born James Otis Naremore, is a film, English and Comparative Literature scholar based at Indiana University. Now retired, he retains the titles of Chancellors' Professor of Communication and Culture, English, and Comparative Literat ...

at the Criterion Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Correspondent (Film) 1940 films 1940s thriller films American black-and-white films American political thriller films American spy thriller films 1940s Dutch-language films 1940s English-language films Films about assassinations Films about journalists Films about kidnapping Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock Films produced by Walter Wanger Films scored by Alfred Newman Films set in 1939 Films set in England Films set in the Netherlands United Artists films World War II spy films 1940s American films