While the cinematography and settings were impressive I found the story to be far too convenient and the "love interest" unbelievable. Every cab, party, room next door and passerby contains someone Jones has met (Latvian fellow funny, so lets throw him in this scene). Assassination, run through umbrellas so well done. Windmill scene stretches credulity as there is no way he wouldn't have been noticed in such a tight space. It was hard to care about kidnapping and the secret since there was no reveal as to. its importance or bearing on the impending war. (and why was airplane flying so low? Well shot as early disaster scenes go though). Still not sure why she was upset about the 2nd room as in 1940 that would seem appropriate, but who knows?

Right from the start I knew I loved this movie. It's truly a Hitchcock classic, miles ahead of the last fluffy outing I saw from the director – STAGE FRIGHT – and a film with all the elements: mystery, suspense, romance, thrills, chills, and more besides. The globetrotting story sees our innocuous hero – Joel McCrea, playing one of Hitchcock's most appealing leading men – travelling to Holland and becoming involved with spies and conspirators. This is a film where nobody is who they seem to be and the action is thoroughly engaging. In some ways it reminds me of an early predecessor to the Bourne films: our hero's always on the move, outwitting sinister agents at every angle and narrowly avoiding death along the way too.The film is punctuated with vivid set-pieces. The early assassination sequence is shocking and gruesome, and it leads into a thrilling car chase. Then there's an extraordinarily suspenseful sequence inside a creaking windmill where our hero tries not to get caught – brilliant stuff indeed that defines the very word 'suspense'. Then there's the escape from the hotel room, the wonderful interlude in which our hero is accompanied by a bodyguard who's secretly out to kill him (one of the funniest things I've ever seen and the perfect mixture of laughs and thrills), a grisly torture scene, and even a major plane crash thrown in at the climax. Of course, all these moments are directed to the hilt by Hitchcock and among his best work.The cast is assured and indeed there isn't a bum performance among them. Particularly noteworthy are Herbert Marshall in a difficult role and a cocky George Sanders as a fellow reporter. I have to say, though, that Edmund Gwenn is the scene-stealer here as the immensely likable assassin. He's only in the film ten minutes but those ten minutes help to make the movie. Brilliant stuff indeed.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT is the second film of Hitchcock's one-two punch in 1940, yet its legacy has been mostly eclipsed by the more widely-beloved REBECCA (1940, 8/10), which usurped a BEST PICTURE win in the Oscar games, while the former is also a BEST PICTURE nominee with a total 6 nominations. In retrospect, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT may be a lesser compelling romance due to the insipid chemistry from its two leads, but no doubt it is a top-notch spy thriller from the master of suspense, with a trio of upstaging supporting players (Bassermann, Marshall and Sanders), plus its FX are rather cutting-edge at its time, a distinguishing precursor of the similar themed NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959, 8/10), which would arrive nearly 2 decades later. Johnny Jones (McCrea), under the pen name Huntley Haverstock, is appointed as the new foreign correspondent by New York Globe, arrives in Netherland to get a clear picture of the impending war. Soon he witnesses a staged (fake) assassination of Dutch diplomat Van Meer (Bassermann), whereas the real Van Meer is drugged and kidnapped out of the country. Jones becomes the man who knows too much and is chased by unnamed killers, escaped to London with Carol (Day) to her father Stephen Fisher (Marshall), a leader of a peace party, the romance is budding but viewers will realise Mr. Fisher is a fellow conspirator of the kidnap. In no time Jones falls upon as a target of a murdering plan, this is where Hitchcock is at his best, however illogical it seems in the script, an unbeknownst Jones visits the Westminster Cathedral tower with his "bodyguard" Rowley (Gwenn), designated by Fisher to dispatch Jones, Hitchcock ingeniously plays with audience's anticipation of the approaching danger, generates a frisson of thrill combined with priceless gallows humour although we all evidently aware that Jone's narrow escape is the default upshot.German stage actor Albert Bassermann is honoured with an Oscar nomination as the upstanding diplomat under interrogation for war information, incredibly is that he doesn't speak English, all his lines are uttered with phonetic assist, and the final outcome is a heart- rending one, boosted by his self-revealing contempt to the war through the bird-feeding people metaphor, which first time it is casually articulated like an evasive strategy to Jones' slack pestering, but the second time, under the severe mental torture, its becomes a meaningful and encouraging enlightenment. Herbert Marshall is on an equal footing in his two-faced suaveness, his aloofness contends to be a requisite for a spy, he knows his undoing is forthcoming, even at his remorseful eleventh hour, he maintains his dignity and doesn't descend to desperate malignancy. George Sanders, who also stars in REBECCA, brings his usual conceited mien to the role of Scott ffolliott (the capital letter in his surname was dropped in memory of an executed ancestor), another report who is considerably more sharp-witted in the line of work. All above only makes both McCrea and Day too broad and bland in their gauche leading parts. A revelational discovery is near the ending, Hitchcock and his crew mounts a totally engaging scenario with plane crush-landing on the sea surface, in light of its time of making, its persistent impact remains surprisingly unabated. So in a nutshell, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT may not be the crème de la crème among Hitcock's oeuvre, certainly it doesn't tarnish his reputation either, and fairly speaking, its spy tall-tale is far more engrossing than most of the products in this long-running genre still flourishing today

It wasn't until very recently when I watched Foreign Correspondent for the first time, only two days in fact. And even now I am kicking myself for not having seen it before. Foreign Correspondent is a real gem, and as of now in my top 10 Hitchcock films, it is also one of his most overlooked. It is a splendidly made and directed film, the plane crash was superbly shot and one of my favourite Hitchcock set pieces in this regard. The music is both jaunty and haunting, and the script is one of the wittiest and most playful of any of Hitchcock's films in my view. The story has never a dull moment and is always clever, suspenseful and compelling, I didn't see anything that leapt out as dated or propaganda at all. There are some terrifically tense set pieces too, especially the ones with the Dutch windmill, Westminster Cathedral and the plane crash, and the romance between McCrea and Day is a little too abruptly introduced but is still very sweet and touching. I also loved the cast, Joel McCrea is effectively smooth, compared to other Hitchcock heroes he is rather lightweight but this is in comparison we're talking about(and he isn't even distractingly so). Larraine Day could have had more to work with but is instantly appealing in her roles and works very well with McCrea. The supporting cast fare even better though, especially George Sanders who is deliciously suave and dour(and in a way that few actors have equalled him in), Edmund Gwenn who is both menacingly untrustworthy and offbeat and Albert Basserman who is quite touching in his role. Herbert Marshall also acquits himself beautifully as does Robert Benchley. All in all, one of my personal favourites as of now from the Master of Suspense and also one that deserves more attention. Out of the Hitchcock films that I've seen for the first time as well Foreign Correspondent has also been the best one. 10/10 Bethany Cox