Foreign correspondent (film)

The editor-in-chief of the New York Globe newspaper (Harry Davenport) is concerned about the situation in Europe: the growing power of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. After a long search, he appoints Johnny Jones ( Joel McCree ) as a foreign correspondent under the pseudonym Huntley Haverstock.

The main subject of the reporter’s observation is Stephen Fischer ( Herbert Marshall ), leader of the International Peace Party and representative of Dutch diplomat Van Meer ( Albert Bassermann ). Haverstock meets Van Meer on his way to the party and asks for an interview. Haverstock meets Fisher's daughter Carol ( Lorraine Day ) at the party, and Van Meer mysteriously disappears. Fisher informs the guests that he went to a conference in Amsterdam.

During the conference, Van Meer dies at the hands of a killer dressed as a photographer. Haverstock tries to catch up with the killer, and with him Carol and Scott Ffoliot ( George Sanders ), another reporter, the capital letter in his last name was purposely changed to a small one in honor of the executed ancestor. The group pursues the killers to the windmill, Carol and Ffoliot go for help, and Haverstock explores the mill, where he finds the living Van Meer - the murdered one was his double. Haverstock is forced to flee, the police arrive at the scene, but the criminals have already taken Van Meer.

They want to abduct Haverstock; together with Carol, he goes to her father, where he recognizes one of the criminals seen at the mill. Fisher denies everything and puts a guard at Haverstock who is trying to kill the reporter, but as a result he dies. Haverstock and Ffoliot understand that Fisher is a traitor, and they are blackmailing him, announcing the abduction of his daughter, but the plan fails. Nevertheless, they manage to find Van Meer, from whom they are trying to extract secret data, the diplomat is taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, England and France declare war on Germany.

When flying to America, Fisher confesses to his daughter in everything, saying that he saved his country in his own way. The plane falls under fire and falls into the sea, the survivors are trying to escape on the fallen wing of the plane, which is not able to withstand all. Fisher, seeing this, commits suicide by throwing himself into the sea, Haverstock and ffoliot try to save him, but unsuccessfully. The British ship picks up the survivors; Haverstock transfers material from the board to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.

• Joel McCree - Johnny Jones / Huntley Haverstock
• Lorraine Day - Carol Fisher
• Herbert Marshall - Stephen Fisher
• George Sanders - Scott Ffoliot
• Albert Basserman - Van Meer
• Robert Benchley - Stebbins
• Edmund Gwenn - Rowley
• Eduardo Channelli - Mr. Circle
• Harry Davenport - Mr. Powers
• James Finlayson - Dutch peasant (uncredited)

The producer of the tape, Walter Wanger, acquired the rights to Vincent Sheen's memoirs book “Own History” in 1935, but was satisfied with the script only after five years of working on it and its 16 versions.

Hitchcock , who preferred to work not under the close supervision of Selznik , initially wanted to star in the roles of Gary Cooper and Joan Fontaine , but Cooper did not prefer to star in the thriller at that moment. The actor later admitted to Hitchcoku that he had made a mistake by abandoning the role in the film.

After the film was ready, Hitchcock traveled to England, where he returned on July 3, 1940, and said that Germany was ready to start bombing London at any time. After that, Ben Hecht was called in to write a new ending for the film. The scene at the radio station was filmed on July 5 and replaced the original ending, where the characters discuss the film's incidents on board a transatlantic aircraft. The Germans began to bomb London on July 10.

• Foreign Correspondent on the Internet Movie Database  
• Foreign Correspondent on allmovie