Trivia / Sabotage (1936)

• Box Office Bomb: The Darker and Edgier tone upset some British critics, and audiences in turn stayed away, making it Alfred Hitchcock's first flop in his home country after a string of hits. It was much better-received in America, however.
• Creator Backlash: Hitchcock later admitted that he thought this film had two big flaws: John Loder was miscast as Detective Spencer, and Stevie's death was played too much for shock value, when he should've tried to make it more suspenseful.
• Dawson Casting: Desmond Tester was 17, but being Older Than They Look makes him convincing as Stevie, who seems to be more like 11 or 12.
• Hostility on the Set: Hitchcock had long been a fan of Sylvia Sidney, and got his studio to work out a deal to bring her in from Hollywood for this film. But her fussy, almost proto-Method Acting approach (she had to "get into the right mood" before a scene) frustrated him, and they eventually clashed during the shoot. She was also appalled at the way Hitchcock teased Desmond Tester, though Tester later said he thought it was Actually Pretty Funny and enjoyed working with Hitchcock.
• What Could Have Been: Alfred Hitchcock wanted to cast Robert Donat as Spencer, but was forced to cast John Loder due to Donat's chronic asthma. According to Hitchcock, in his interviews with François Truffaut, Alexander Korda, to whom Donat was under contract, refused to release him.

---