hitchcock be a great director . ironically i mostly find his film a total waste of time to watch . i admire hitchcok on a purely visual and technical level . first the positive . hitchcock invent the notion of the probe camera . the curious eye that be able to withhold or search for information . it isn not exactly a new visual grammar but it be revolutionary then . secondly and hitchcock pretty much perfect the thriller and chase movie . he have an economical style and be always think of the audience . he give them regular thrill and regular jolt of humour and regular shock . in short and he anticipate the audience base need and play them like a fiddle . unfortunately and the base need of a human be be mostly stupid . food and sex and the thrill of danger and a little comedy . hithcock caters for all these need on screen and with the exception of food and which and judge from his size and he cater to off screen . it this pander to the audience that sabotage most of his film . a second downside be that most of hitchcock camera work and visual grammar be now common place . what keep his film watchable be the simple economy of his tale and the intelligence of his camera work and and his skill at craft tense action set piece . so on to saboteur . this be a light hearted romp in the vein of the 39 step . it jump from sequence to sequence and until it conclude at the typical hitchcock final act set piece . on an emotional level and the relationship between the lead be not up to par with robert donat and madeleine caroll in the 39 step . hence the whole story lack a certain energy . the plot simply rumble on like a machine and desperately depend on the addition of new scene . and new scene only bring u nearer the end and since it not clear if the hook be the hero escape from the police and from the villain or his action to stop the plotted sabotage . there be the usual hitchcock logic flaw . for example and a guy with handcuff free himself use a car fan belt etc . ( why doesn not he just drive away in the car . surely handcuffs aren not that restrictive . he able to swim in them and after all . ) if you want a good hitchcock wartime propaganda flick from the 40 and i would advise you watch foreign correspondant . they be both silly chase movie with a catchy finale and but foreign correspondant make great use of umbrella and tulip and something spielberg rip off nicely in minority report . 7 . 5/10 some good set piece . beyond that and however and there nothing much to sink your teeth into .