History Film / Saboteur

* RepressiveButEfficient: Tobin cites this as one reason why he's working for Germany.

* KarmaHoudini: Tobin. Maybe. Fry takes a dive off the Statue of Liberty, most of the other conspirators were arrested, and the cops would presumably have scooped up Mrs Sutton, but Tobin says the night before the bombing that he is leaving the country immediately. It's also downplayed by HistoryMarchesOn, as we now know he's thrown his lot in with one of the 20th century's great losing sides, so no matter what he'll be screwed when the Allies win the war in three years.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Just as ''Saboteur'' borrows a lot from ''Film/{{The 39 Steps|1935}}'', ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' borrowed quite a bit from ''Saboteur''. Both films have an innocent man going on a cross-country chase, a FauxAffablyEvil BigBad, the lead character hiding in a vehicle's overhead compartment, a comical scene involving an auction, a shot of a street from high atop a New York skyscraper, and a final MonumentalBattle at a iconically patriotic location.

* ArtisticLicense: The torch of the Statue of Liberty has been inaccessible since 1916, due to a German bombing during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI that damaged it so it can't support the weight of people standing on the balcony. It's also much smaller in reality than the set for it depicts it as.

The protagonist is Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who works at an airplane factory in California when a friend of his is killed in an act of sabotage. While the law thinks he is responsible, Kane goes on a cross-country hunt for the real saboteur, a man named Fry (Creator/NormanLloyd). While on the run, Kane--in true Hitchcock fashion--gets involved with a sexy blonde named Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane), who initially distrusts him but gradually comes to believe in his innocence. Kane also discovers that the lethal fire at the airplane factory was started by a cabal of Nazi-sympathizing fifth columnists, and that the saboteurs have more attacks planned.

* ArtisticLicense: The torch of the Statue Of Liberty has been inaccessible since 1916, due to a German bombing during World War 1 damaging it so it can't support the weight of people standing on the balcony. It's also much smaller in reality than the set for it depicts it as.

* AffablyEvil: All of the saboteurs appear to be lovely people outside of their work. Tobin adores his little granddaughter. Mrs. Sutton the New York dowager is hosting a fancy dress ball for charity when she isn't plotting treason.

* AffablyEvil: All of the saboteurs appears to be lovely people outside their work. Tobin adores his little granddaughter. Mrs. Sutton the New York dowager is hosting a fancy dress ball for charity when she isn't plotting treason.

The protagonist is Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who works at an airplane factory in California when a friend of his is killed in an act of sabotage. While the law thinks he is responsible, Kane goes on a cross-country hunt for the real saboteur, a man named Fry (Creator/NormanLloyd). While on the run, Kane--in true Hitchcock fashion--gets involved with a sexy blonde named Pat Martin (Priscilla Lane), who initially distrusts him but gradually comes to believe in his innocence. Kane also discovers that the lethal fire at the airplane factory was started by a cabal of Nazi-sympathizing fifth columnists, and that the saboteurs have more attacks planned.

The protagonist is Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who works at an airplane factory in California when a friend of his is killed in an act of sabotage. While the law thinks he is responsible, Kane goes on a cross-country hunt for the real saboteur, a man named Fry (Creator/NormanLloyd). While on the run, Kane, in true Hitchcock fashion, gets involved with a sexy blonde (Priscilla Lane). He discovers that the fire at the airplane factory was caused by a group of Nazi-sympathizing fifth columnists, and that the saboteurs have more attacks planned.

''Saboteur'' is a 1942 wartime thriller by Creator/AlfredHitchcock. It was his first film to be made with an all-American cast.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saboteur-poster_2129.jpg]]

No direct connection to Hitchcock's 1936 British film ''[[Film/Sabotage1936 Sabotage]]'', though they share some themes.

* WholePlotReference: Let's just say that this film is more than a little bit similar to a previous Hitchcock film, ''Film/{{The 39 Steps|1935}}''.

* InTheStyleOf: As a RoadMovie with a quarreling couple (like ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'') and with an Everyman hero prone to giving patriotic speeches, this comes across at times as Alfred Hitchcock doing a Creator/FrankCapra imitation, a resemblance that would've been even stronger had Creator/GaryCooper played Kane.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Just as ''Saboteur'' borrows a lot from ''Film/{{The 39 Steps|1935}}'', ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' borrowed quite a bit from ''Saboteur''. Both films have an innocent man going on a cross-country chase, a FauxAffablyEvil BigBad, a comical scene involving an auction, a shot of a street from high atop a New York skyscraper, and a final MonumentalBattle at a iconically patriotic location.

* MonumentalBattle: The final battle on the Statue of Liberty.

The protagonist is Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who works at an airplane factory in California when a friend of his is killed in an act of sabotage. While the law thinks he is responsible, Kane goes on a cross-country hunt for the real saboteur, a man named Fry (Norman Lloyd). While on the run, Kane, in true Hitchcock fashion, gets involved with a sexy blonde (Priscilla Lane). He discovers that the fire at the airplane factory was caused by a group of Nazi-sympathizing fifth columnists, and that the saboteurs have more attacks planned.

* DramaticIrony: The ball room scene, where the bad guys are chasing Barry and Pat while they are trying to find a way out.

* KarmaHoudini: Tobin. Maybe. Fry takes a dive off the Statue of Liberty, most of the other conspirators were arrested, and the cops would presumably have scooped up Mrs. Sutton, but Tobin says the night before the bombing that he is leaving the country immediately. It's also downplayed by HistoryMarchesOn, as we now know he's thrown his lot in with one of the 20th century's great losing sides, so no matter what he'll be screwed when the Allies win the war in three years.

[[quoteright:345:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saboteur-poster_2129.jpg]]

* KarmaHoudini: Tobin. Maybe. Fry takes a dive off the Statue of Liberty, most of the other conspirators were arrested, and the cops would presumably have scooped up Mrs. Sutton, but Tobin says the night before the bombing that he is leaving the country immediately.* It's also downplayed by HistoryMarchesOn, as we now know he's thrown his lot in with one of the 20th century's great losing sides, so no matter what he'll be screwed when the Allies win the war in three years.

* KarmaHoudini: Tobin. Maybe. Fry takes a dive off the Statue of Liberty, most of the other conspirators were arrested, and the cops would presumably have scooped up Mrs. Sutton, but Tobin says the night before the bombing that he is leaving the country immediately.*