Sabotage is a 1936 British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, and John Loder. It is a loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Production Company: Gaumont British Picture Corporation
Distributor: General Film Distributors
Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder
US Box Office: Unknown
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: December 2, 1936 (London premiere); January 11, 1937 (US); February 8, 1937 (UK)
Plot Summary: Karl Verloc (Oskar Homolka) and his wife (Sylvia Sidney) own a movie theater in London, where they live with her younger brother Stevie (Desmond Tester). Mrs. Verloc is unaware that her husband secretly works as a saboteur for enemy agents and that he was responsible for a recent power blackout in London. Although Karl doesn’t want to kill anyone, his superiors order him to plant a time bomb at Piccadilly Circus. Undercover police detective Ted Spencer (John Loder) suspects Karl and questions Mrs. Verloc about her husband’s doings.
Production: In early 1936, Michael Balcon, a producer at Gaumont British Picture Corporation, and director Alfred Hitchcock began working on a film adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent, about a woman who discovers that her husband is an enemy saboteur. The film was titled Sabotage, instead of “The Secret Agent” because Hitchcock and Balcon had already begun production on another film titled Secret Agent (1936), which was an adaptation of Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927) by W. Somerset Maugham. The screenplay for Sabotage was written by screenwriter Charles Bennett and loosely based on Conrad’s novel.
Balcon and Hitchcock cast Austrian actor Oskar Homolka as Karl Verloc, the main antagonist of Sabotage. Homolka had emigrated to Britain in 1934 and frequently played villains. Homolka had recently starred in the British films Everything is Thunder (1936) and Rhodes of Africa (1936). American actress Sylvia Sidney was cast as Mrs. Verloc. Earlier that year she starred in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), a Western which was the first Technicolor film to be shot outside. Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted to cast Robert Donat as police sergeant Ted Spencer. Hitchcock had previously worked with Donat in The 39 Steps (1935), but Donat was under contract with producer Alexander Korda who refused to loan him to Hitchcock. Balcon cast John Loder in the part instead. Hitchcock was extremely unhappy with Loder’s casting, because he thought that Loder was a bad actor. Many years later, Hitchcock told French director Francois Truffaut, “The actor we got wasn’t suitable, and I was forced to rewrite the dialogue during the shooting.”
Hitchcock shot most of the interior scenes of Sabotage on set at Gainsborough Studios (a subdivision of Gaumont) at Shepard’s Bush in London. Several exterior scenes were shot on location in London. The scene where Karl Verloc visits the aquarium was shot at the London Zoo in Regent’s Park. The scene where Stevie wanders through the open market was shot at Chapel Market in Islington. The scene where Ted meets Stevie and Mrs. Verloc was shot at Trafalgar Square. Additional location filming was also done at Selfridges in Westminster and at Oxford Street.
Fun Facts and Trivia: The names of Oskar Homolka and Sylvia Sidney are misspelled in the opening credits for Sabotage. Homolka’s name is spelled “Oscar Homolka” and Sidney’s name is spelled “Sylvia Sydney.” In Conrad’s novel Karl Verloc is named “Adolf Verloc.” Hitchcock and Balcon presumably changed the character’s name to avoid any unnecessary political controversy as Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany at the time of production. More than twenty years later Oskar Homolka reprised his role as Mr. Verloc in “The Secret Agent” (1959), an adaptation of Conrad’s novel for the Canadian version of anthology television series Startime (1959-1960). Hitchcock directed an unrelated episode of the American version of the series.
As with most of his films, Alfred Hitchcock makes a cameo appearance in Sabotage. Hitchcock can be seen walking in front of a crowd of people right after power is restored to the movie theater. Ted, Mrs. Verloc, and Stevie have steak at a restaurant called “Simpson’s-in-the-Strand” in Sabotage. Simpson’s-in-the-Strand is a real restaurant in London, and is said to have been one of Hitchcock’s favorite restaurants.
Reception: Sabotage was premiered in London on December 2, 1936. It went into wide release in the UK on February 8. Sabotage was released in the United States on January 11, 1937 where it was retitled The Woman Alone. Sabotage received generally positive reviews from critics at the time of its original release. Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times gave the film a positive. He praised the film for its suspense and unexpected turns. The critics of British publication The Monthly Film Bulletin commented that “The individual genius of Hitchcock is very clearly shown in the distinctive and original direction” of Sabotage, and they praised Homolka’s performance. The critics at Variety and Ann Ross of Maclean’s Magazine also gave Sabotage positive reviews. Jorge Luis Borges of the Argentinian magazine Sur gave Sabotage a negative review and criticized the cinematography.
Although it is not one of Hitchcock’s most popular films, Sabotage still receives mostly positive reviews from film critics. Steve Crum of the Kansas City Kansan praised the film for being just as effective as Hitchcock’s later films. Nathanael Hood of The Young Folks praised Sabotage for being one of Hitchcock’s most “viscerally effective” pre-Hollywood films but noted that it wasn’t as fondly remembered as some of his other films from that period. Dennis Schwartz commented that Sabotage might be Hitchcock’s best pre-Hollywood film. In 2017, Time Out magazine ranked Sabotage as the 44th best British film of all time. In 2021, The Daily Telegraph ranked Sabotage as the 3rd best British film of all time.
Why You Should See It: Sabotage is a good thriller film. Sylvia Sidney and Oscar Homolka both give good performances. Homolka in particular is very good as Karl Verloc. The character manages to be sympathetic in some scenes and menacing in others. Alfred Hitchcock does a great job using the cinematography and editing to create suspense in Sabotage. The scene where Stevie unknowingly transports a time bomb across London is a master class in suspense. Although it lack the iconic stars of Hitchcock’s Hollywood films, Sabotage is still an enjoyable and highly effective thriller.