Sabotage (1936) - Delivering The Bomb

This sequence from Sabotage is now known as a classic lesson in suspense. A boy is tasked with delivering a parcel across London, but he doesn't know that he is carrying a bomb. We are told the time of denotation, and Hitchcock plays with the audience by constantly showing clocks to remind us how much time the boy has left. However, Hitchcock later admitted that he had made a mistake by deciding to blow up the bus; any suspense that was being built up got turned into shock, the audience have no relief from the situation.

• Category

  • Film & Animation

• License

  • Standard YouTube License