American Cinematographer - November 1993 - 70

A Hitchcock

villain isn't

necessarily a
heavy. Enemy
espionage chief
Otto Kruger with
his granddaugh¬
ter (Margaret
Ann

McLaughlin),
daughter
(Kathryn Adams)
and house¬

keeper (Belle
Mitchell) at his
desert ranch (a
set at Universal).

kept them stuffed with gourmet foods, that they gave in
on every point in the script. Selznick, meanwhile, was
infuriated that Hitchcock wasn't clocking in at the stu¬
dio and was further chagrined when the screenplay
emerged as exactly what Hitchcock had wanted, Lewton
had foreseen and Selznick had feared.
Saboteur begins at an aircraft plant

in Glendale

where Barry Kane is falsely accused of starting a fire that
kills his best friend. He knows that the real saboteur is

Universal,
the

came

to the rescue.

Lloyd and Universal paid Selznick $70,000 for
screenplay and made a deferred payment arrange¬

Fry. Eluding the police, Barry follows a clue to Deep
Springs Ranch, near Lone Pine, where he meets Tobin, a
gentle grandfather who is also a leader of Nazi saboteurs.
Arrested, Barry escapes by jumping from a high bridge

ment of $50,000 for Hitchcock's services. Hitchcock,
whose salary at Selznick was $3,000 per week minus 10%
for Selznick's agent brother, Myron, was irritated at be¬

secluded cabin he meets Martin, a blind

separate arrangement with Universal to receive a bonus
of 10% of gross receipts over 170% of the negative cost,
provided costs did not exceed $750,000. He found Frank
Lloyd and his line producer, Jack H. Skirball, to be pleas¬

into

a

river. In

a

pianist who believes in him. Martin's niece, Patricia, a
famous model, tries to have Barry arrested but eventu¬
ally decides to help him. They follow a clue to the desert
ghost town of Soda City, where Patricia hides when Barry
encounters Freeman and Nielsen, two enemy agents, and
convinces them he is part of the gang. He goes with them
to the organization's headquarters in New York. Patricia
reports this to the sheriff, but he proves to be one of the
saboteurs and she is abducted.
At the Park Avenue mansion of Mrs. Sutton, a
leader in the conspiracy, Barry is identified by Tobin. Es¬

caping, he is reunited with Patricia, who has been res¬
cued by the FBI. Barry finds Fry and chases him through
the Radio City Music Hall and to the Battery, where Fry,
followed by Patricia, boards a ferry to the Statue of Lib¬
erty. Patricia flirts with Fry, delaying him until the au¬
thorities arrive. Barry corners Fry atop the statue's torch
and the saboteur falls to his death.

Convinced
was

68

called it "the sort that every studio rejects after the most
cursory reading" - Selznick gave Hitchcock permission
to market it elsewhere. With Houseman's assistance
Hitchcock pitched it to RKO and Twentieth Century-Fox.
Both turned it down. Then famed director-turned-pro¬
ducer Frank Lloyd, who had a unit producing deal with

not up

American

by his advisors that the screenplay

to the company's high standards - Lewton

Cinematographer

ing the

source

ant and not

of a 300% profit for his boss. He made

a

domineering.

However, Hitchcock was dissatisfied with the
casting of the stars, in which he had no voice. He had
hoped to get Gary Cooper for the lead but was given
Robert Cummings, an excellent performer but so associ¬
ated with romantic comedy that it was feared audiences
would not take his plight seriously. He had similar res¬
ervations about Priscilla Lane, a vivacious blonde
charmer but not the sophisticated Madeleine Carroll type

he had in mind.
Hitchcock was able to select the supporting cast,

but even here there were some difficulties. For Tobin, the

ringleader of the saboteurs, he envisioned
wholesome all-American character. His

a

seemingly

original plan to
cast the beloved Western star Harry Carey was "out"
because Mrs. Carey had angrily vetoed the idea. His next
choice, fat and jolly Guy Kibbee, was already booked for

November 1993
American Cinematographer - November 1993

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