I thought that this movie was in the middle group of rankings out of all Hitchcock's films. Although i put it in the top group for Hitch's movies in England. I do still think that The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes are the best Hitch-English movies, but i was wondering whether anyone thinks differently. What's your favourite Hitchcock-English movie and why?
'Do you want the moon? If you want it, I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down for you.'
The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes are the best British Hitchcock I have seen. Sabotage is good (I gave it a 7/10) but it doesn't measure up to his classics.
This is not typical Hitchcock - there's really not much suspense since we know who is guilty right from the start. There are a few nice touches in the film, the key word being 'few'.
There is a bit of the Hitchcock humor in the film which helps (the grandpa being 'bad' and has his granddaughter slap him...).
Dire_Straits
lover of all B&W; especially film-noir
Its not grandpa and granddaughter but a married couple and some people think the package explosion part is the most scary and suspenseful in his english period. However it is his most pretentious, disturbing and tight film of the 30s. But its isnt popular because of its darkness and complexity. No full loyalty can be developed to the right side. We laugh about the villain leaving the aquarium as he cant make it out of the revolving door. It feels disturbing as he shows a rest of humanity imagining people dieing innocent. He actually is much too symptathic while the greengrocer actually is on the good side but he fails to stick to his duties and exploits his love goals by his professional prestige. There are dozens of bird references symbolizing destruction and chaos, even Stevie plays some kind of bird-role. Its pretty impossible to judge on the figures in terms of guilt and innocence because we`re sabotaged ourselves, even the role as a filmviewer is questioned as a whole.
shareIts not grandpa and granddaughter but a married couple
Oh ok
Its the birdtrader and his granddaughter, 28 minutes through the film. Even the bird that doesnt whistle and its unsatisfied customer at the start of the scene is funny. I guess the audience needs to be cheered up occasionally in a generally disturbing and serious film. Sylvia Sidney was said to have the saddest eyes in Hollywood. I think this was contributing outragously to the mood and ambivalence of her role.
I just watched it for the first time and enjoyed it. There is also one other funny part which occurs early on when the 2 men are at the aquarium discussing things. As they are leaving a young blonde woman walking with a really nerdy guy are shown. The nerdy guy tells her about how a female oyster has a high fertility rate and how after laying a million eggs she changes her sex. His blonde companion says' hmm I can't blame her. Classic Hitchcock :)
I thought this was one of Hitchcock's best and most suspensful movies.
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Another funny part near the beginning of the film. After the lights come back on and the movie patrons go into the theater, she tells him, "Thank you for your trouble. I'm sure you meant well." He replies cheerfully, "Not at all. I like trouble!"
shareI just watched this film on DVD and agree that it is one of his best. The scene on the bus is classic Hitchcock suspense. I kept hoping that the puppy would be okay!
For humor, you can't beat the 39 Steps speech scene with Robert Donat, or the folk dancing scene in the apartment with Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes.
4 me - "SABOTAGE" is most certenly the best Hitch - Brit movie ... Quiet shocking 4 the time, now when we're ocupied by violence in "modern" cinematography - "SABOTAGE" is still an amazing expirience ...
"The Lady Vanishes" comes next ...
"I'm thirsty & your daughter is a cow ! Do the math ! "
I think that Sabotage and the The Lodger are his best English films and then The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps.
- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -
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'Sabotage' is a solid Hitchcock film. That scene where Stevie unwittingly hauls a packaged bomb and two reels of film around town was very suspenseful. The audience has to helplessly sit back as the bomb is going to explode any moment on him and several innocent people!
Sylvia Sidney is one delicate looking beauty. She looks very photogenic and pretty when Mrs. Verloc smiles at Ted from the box office.
Sylvia Sidney appeared in 'Beetlejuice' as Juno? I had seen her before 'Sabotage' and not realized it! She also appeared in 'Mars Attacks' as Lucas Haas' grandmother.
She did have a pair of sad looking eyes.
R.I.P. Sylvia Sidney
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Of the British Hitchcock films I have seen The 39 Steps is definitely the best but Sabotage is a solid second.
shareI loved it. One of my favorite Hitchcock movies and definitely under-rated. I'd also put YOUNG AND INNOCENT up there.
shareDoesn't anybody like the first version of "The Man who Knew too Much"? I think in some aspects (like women actually taking initiative) it is even superior to the second version.
shareI really liked the original English version of the Man Who Knew Too Much. I don't know if I liked it better than the remake, I think they both have their strong points.
The Man Who Knew Too Much is probably my favorite of his English films, but I haven't seen that many of them. I think I'll go watch Sabotage right now.
CGI SUCKS
Sabotage was pretty good. I also saw The Lady Vanishes and that was great! It's definatly my favorite.
CGI SUCKS
My pick for best of Hitchcock's Brit films is The Lady Vanishes, wheich I could watch again and again. The 39 Steps is highly entertaining, so I'd put it second, even though I think Sabotage has a better plot overall. Blackmail and The Lodger are also terrific.
Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me.
Really hard to say what is the best of his British years. He made incredible leaps and bounds with each film in this era, whereas he made more subtle refinements or got more experimental after moving to the USA (especially from the 1950s on).
There's a strong case for Sabotage to be the best of the era, but don't forget we're also talking about The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps from the same era.
That said, Sabotage has been my personal favorite of his British era.
NOW, NOT THAT YOU ASKED, BUT HERE'S SOME FAVES FROM THE REST OF HIS CAREER:
After this period he moved to the USA and started off brilliantly with Rebecca in 1940; this is probably his overall best film of the '40s, but this was a real transitional period for him, ceding a lot of control to Selznick. Although Rebecca may be "the best," Rope is my favorite of his '40s films.
The start of the 1950s up until The Birds in 1963 is what I consider the "Pure Hitchcock" years, where he had full creative control and became one of the few superstar directors. It's probably his strongest era. Vertigo is my favorite, but you can make a case for anything from Rear Window to North By Northwest to Psycho, etc. It's nearly all good in this era.
After The Birds, Hitch worked less frequently and took longer to make his films, which are of lesser quality. We're talking things like Marnie and Torn Curtain; interesting stuff but hardly worthy of his legend. Only Frenzy from this era holds up for me as comparable to his best work, but that film has plenty of detractors. I also like Family Plot a lot, but that DEFINITELY has its detractors. So suffice to say, in the post-Birds era, Frenzy is my favorite.
So to sum up, for me my faves from each era are: Sabotage, Rope, Vertigo, and Frenzy. There are plenty of films from each era that are strong contenders for favorites. Sometimes it depends on what I'm watching at the time; it's kind of hard to argue against Rear Window when it's on, although I know Vertigo is his masterpiece, or Shadow of a Doubt's brilliance never fails to awe me, although I just love Rope a little bit more.
I reckon "The Man Who Knew Too Much" is the best (sorry "The 39 Steps, but there are just too many back-projections), with a great, snarling performence from Peter Lorre. "Sabotage" comes second, along with "The Lady Vanishes". "The Lodger" is probably his best silent.
shareI just saw Sabotage after seeing Fritz Lang's You Only Live Once, made immediately after with Sylvia Sidney. Sabotage is far better directed. Hitchcock's 30s films have far more shots than was usual - they are made as if they are silent, every shot carefully composed and very compressed. 75 mins is about right for a film!
There's so much humour in this very dark film too - all the bizarre minor characters. The whole style is just like Frenzy 35 year later!
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I agree with the first poster -- Hitchcock's three best British films are "The 39 Steps," "The Lady Vanishes," and "Sabotage," in that order.
shareI go with THE LADY VANISHES as Hitchcock's best British film. I'll be showing it along with YOUNG AND INNOCENT to my senior citizen movie group Saturday night.
I'm the kind of guy, when I move - watch my smoke. But I'm gonna need some good clothes though.
39 STEPS or LADY VANISHES .SABOTAGE is really the first time we see a pure thriller, from the Master.