Foreign Correspondent

Hitchcock went through several periods during his long career, from silents to glossy Technicolor Hollywood thrillers in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He did some of his best work in the ‘40s, and this is one of the best of those. The world is on the edge of war, and Joel McCrae is involved in trying to expose a plot to … well, it’s not always clear, but he’s a reporter after the Big Story. It is a fabulous flight from peril to peril, taking place on some of those gigantic sound stages of the era. I couldn’t help thinking this one could be re-made today and could even be good, in the right hands, with its tense scene in a huge old creaky windmill, a car chase, an assassination, a fall from a high cathedral tower, and a spectacular airplane crash at the end. Today’s technology could enhance what are already wonderfully designed and filmed sequences, which are, of course, limited by the techniques of the day. No, it’s probably a bad idea. Leave the classics alone, and this one is definitely a classic.