Foreign Correspondent (United Artists) (1940)

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Mysteries of International Intrigue In Alfred Hitchcock Thrill Spectacle SCREEN THRILLS REACH NEW HIGH IN WANGER FILM Hitchcock Directs Chilling Mystery (Advance Reader) Breath-taking excitement, ro¬ mance and drama, mystery and intrigue are unfolded in the thrill- packed story of Walter Wanger’s “Foreign Correspondent,” which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a prominent stellar cast and is slated for a gala premiere at the .... Theatre on ... . Mr. Wanger decided to make “Foreign Correspondent” in recognition of the intrepid group of American newspapermen who are serving as the nation’s eyes and ears during the European debacle, risking their lives daily in order to keep their own people informed of the rapidly shifting panorama of war. “Foreign Correspondent” has in its principal roles Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Robert Benchley, Albert Basserman, Edmund Gwenn, Harry Daven- p o r t and Eduardo Cian- nelli. Following the completion of his sensa¬ tional hit, “Re¬ becca,” Alfred Hitchcock, known through¬ out the world as the master of screen thrillers, went to: work on the script of “Foreign Corre¬ spondent,” and with Joan Harrison and Charles Bennett wrote the orig¬ inal screenplay. James Hilton and Robert Benchley contributed dialogue to the final script. Impressive Settings Most elaborate and extensive settings constructed for any pro¬ duction in Hollywood in several years are those provided as back¬ grounds for “Foreign Correspond¬ ent.” The construction, in the opinion of Producer Wanger, was essential to bring this action-filled, swiftly moving story to the pub¬ lic with absolute fidelity of back¬ ground and in keeping with its momentous international story. The largest setting is a recrea¬ tion of a square block of the heart of Amsterdam with its stores, buildings, streets, lighting system, tram lines and all the other details which go to make up such an area of a large city. This setting is highly important as one of the most dramatic episodes of the pic¬ ture occurs there. In all, 72 set¬ tings are included in “Foreign Correspondent,” among them, sev¬ eral London streets, a reproduction of the Dutch countryside covering a large sound stage and a transat¬ lantic Clipper ship 120 feet by 84 feet, so exact in its construction that with a few minor changes and the addition of motors it could be made to fly. Joel McCrea in “Foreign Correspondent” 16 A—Thumbnail (Mat .15 ; Cut .25) Fun in a hotel room as Laraine Day and Joel McCrea prepare to out¬ wit some international gangsters during the thrill-packed action of Walter Wanger’s “Foreign Correspondent,” which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock for United Artists release and starts a run at the .... Theatre on ... . 6B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30; Cut .50) WALTER WANGER Presents “FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT Starring JOEL McCREA Laraine Day Herbert: Marshall George Sanders Albert Basserman Robert Benchley An Alfred Hitchcock Production Original Screenplay by CHARLES BENNETT and JOAN HARRISON Directed by ALFRED HITCHCOCK RELEASED THRU UNITED ARTISTS THE CAST Johnny Jones (later Huntley Haverstock) Joel McCrea Carol Fisher.Laraine Day Stephen Fisher, her father Herbert Marshall ffolliott George Sanders Van Meer Albert Basserman Stebbins .Robert Benchley Rowley Edmund Gwenn Mr. Powers Harry Davenport Krug Eduardo Ciannelli Doreen Barbara Pepper Latvian Diplomat Eddie Conrad Assassin .Charles Waggenheim Tramp Martin Kosleck TECHNICAL STAFF Produced by. Directed by. Screenplay . Dialogue . Production Designer Assistant Director . Cinematography . Special Photography. European Photography . Special Effects Assistant. Art Director. Associate . Musical Score and Direction Production Manager Editorial Supervisor Film Editor. Interior Decorations Unit Publicity Man Sound . Sound Film Cutter. Special Effects Cutter. Still Photographer . Walter Wanger Alfred Hitchcock Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison James Hilton, Robert Benchley William Cameron Menzies .Edmond Bernoudy .Rudy Mate, A.S.C. Ray Binger, A.S.C. Osmond Borradaile Lee Zavitz Alexander Golitzen Richard Irvine Alfred Newman James Dent Otho Lovering Dorothy Spencer Julia Heron Bob Burkhardt Frank Maher Walter Reynolds Louis Leffler William Walling Hitchcock Uses Camera As a Villainous Actor On Eerie Mystery Sets Director of “Foreign Correspondent 99 Looks Upon Camera As Protean Actor (Advance Feature) One of the leading players in every picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock never gets a mention on the screen. This player is the most versatile of the entire cast, and yet his name never tops the theatre marquee and no critic ever bothers to remark that his work even was adequate. When one learns that this player’s chief diet is film and an occasional drop of oil, you may -—--- get a hint as to his identity — you’ve guessed it, ‘he’ is the cam¬ era. “The camera plays a most im¬ portant part in every picture I make,” says the famous British di¬ rector who staged Walter Wanger’s new thrill spectacle, “Foreign Cor¬ respondent,” which will open at the .... Theatre on ... . thru United Artists release. “The camera always is a silent member of the cast, rather than merely a mechanical instrument to record the movements of human players.” Anyone who saw “Rebecca,” Hitchcock’s record-shattering hit, will realize instantly what Hitch¬ cock means. In the boat house scene when Max de Winter is tell¬ ing his bride about the tragic events which led up to the death of Rebecca, the camera very defi¬ nitely assumes the character of Rebecca. As Laurence Olivier speaks, the camera acts out the role of Rebecca, and one feels a definite, living presence. “I look upon the camera as a protean actor,” Hitchcock explains. “It may be one character in a scene, another in the next. Again it may be the eyes of the audience seeing the story as it unfolds.” The director calls this “partici¬ pating photography.” “It requires imagination, of course,” he admits, “But that is my opinion of what is wrong with so many movies—lack of imagina¬ tion. For years we’ve gone along making pictures that fit into exact grooves. We have the mystery type, the romantic comedy type, the domestic drama and so on. I think we sometimes need a mixture of these elements for the sake of novelty.” Waterloo Sheds Get Reproduced A reproduction of the train sheds of London’s famous Waterloo rail¬ way station occupying two full stages at Walter Wanger studios and employing more than 500 play¬ ers dressed in English summer clothes, was the first of 72 sets used by Director Alfred Hitchcock for Walter Wanger’s “Foreign Cor¬ respondent,” the thrilling suspense drama coming on .... to the .... Theatre. Built from plans and sketches provided by the studio research de¬ ment and the Associated British Railways, the huge depot set was nearly 600 feet long and 125 feet wide. The Waterloo station bar oc¬ cupied a third studio stage and a front elevation of the depot a good portion of the studio ‘back lot’. The largest backgrounds ever employed for a Wanger picture, the Waterloo depot sequence ap¬ pears for less than four minutes on the screen in the finished pic¬ ture for it serves merely to intro¬ duce two distinctly different types of newspapermen, Joel McCrea and Robert Benchley, to each other as McCrea, on a roving fact-finding assignment in Europe, reaches London. Shells for two trains of British coaches had to be constructed in the studio mill and technicians found the architectural difference in British and American Pullmans and compartment cars especially interesting. International intrigue and mysterious murder highlight the swift- paced action in this exciting scene from Walter Wanger’s “Foreign Correspondent,” which is now on view at the .... Theatre, and the principals involved include Eduardo Ciannelli, Herbert Marshall and Albert Basserman. 7 B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30; Cut .50) Page Eleven