Foreign Correspondent 1940

As the fateful summer of 1939 draws to a close, just before the tumultuous onset of World War II, John Jones, crime reporter for the New York Morning Globe, finds himself dispatched by his editor, Mr. Powers (Harry Davenport), to Europe’s troubled landscape. Donning the pen name “Huntley Haverstock,” Jones sets out to chronicle the region’s precarious state, with his first assignment being a sit-down interview with Dutch diplomat Van Meer (Albert Bassermann) at a high-stakes luncheon.

As Jones and Van Meer share a taxi ride to the event, their conversation is peppered with probing queries about the impending war. However, Van Meer proves evasive in his responses, leaving Jones to wonder what secrets lie behind the diplomat’s enigmatic demeanor. Upon arrival, Jones becomes enamored with Carol (Laraine Day), an enigmatic figure with a mysterious role at the gathering. He invites her to join him at his table, assuring her that none of the reporters will be paying attention to the speeches. Little does he know, this chance encounter will set in motion a chain of events that will forever alter their lives.

As the luncheon proceeds, the charming host, Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall), leader of the Universal Peace Party, takes the stage to announce that his keynote speaker, Van Meer, has fallen ill and will not be appearing. In his stead, he invites his daughter, Carol, to take center stage. Jones is struck by the realization that his thoughtless words have inadvertently slighted the woman he now finds himself smitten with.

With his editor’s instructions in hand, Jones receives a new assignment: to cover Van Meer’s next appearance at the Universal Peace Party conference in Amsterdam. Upon arriving at the event, Jones has a chance encounter with Van Meer outside the conference hall, only to find that the diplomat seems entranced and fails to recognize him. Just as he is trying to make sense of this bizarre scene, an opportunistic photographer moves to capture a photo of Van Meer – unknowingly concealing a gun near the camera. In a shocking turn of events, Van Meer meets his untimely demise at the hands of the assassin.

Jones gives chase, eventually linking up with Carol and her reporter friend, Scott ffolliott (George Sanders). Together, they embark on a high-speed pursuit through the Dutch countryside, hotly pursuing the fleeing assassin. As the sun dips below the horizon, Jones becomes convinced that the killer is hiding within the ancient walls of a windmill – setting the stage for an electrifying showdown.

As Carol and ffolliott rush to secure the authorities’ assistance, Jones embarks on a solo mission to investigate the windmill, where he discovers Van Meer alive but comatose from a potent sedative. Despite his frail state, Van Meer manages to convey that the earlier victim was actually an imposter, leaving Jones to piece together the truth. Narrowly avoiding becoming another casualty of the windmill’s treacherous labyrinth, Jones escapes to share the revelation with the authorities, only to find that Van Meer and his captors have vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, back at Jones’ hotel suite in Amsterdam, a pair of spies masquerading as police officers arrives on the scene, intent on kidnapping him. As Jones begins to suspect their true intentions, he makes a daring escape from his hotel room’s bathroom window, where he collides with Carol once more. This time, they join forces to board a British vessel bound for England, navigating treacherous stormy waters as they make their way across the channel.

As they set foot on English soil, Jones proposes marriage to Carol, and she accepts, marking a new chapter in their lives. Their journey takes them to her father’s estate, where Jones encounters Krug (Eduardo Ciannelli), the cunning operative who orchestrated the assassination and kidnapping. Fisher and Krug swiftly realize that Jones possesses too much knowledge, and Krug persuades Fisher that his presence poses a threat. Fisher warns Jones of the danger he now faces and offers to provide a bodyguard to protect him.

The enigmatic Rowley (Edmund Gwenn), donning the guise of a bodyguard, takes Jones on a perilous excursion to the heights of Westminster Cathedral’s tower. Ostensibly, their mission is to shake off any unwanted followers and take in the breathtaking view from atop the iconic structure. However, without warning, the bodyguard makes a desperate attempt to push Jones off the ledge, sending Rowley plummeting to his death instead.

As Jones (character) and ffolliott concoct a plan to uncover Van Meer’s location from Carol, they hatch a scheme involving a fake kidnapping and a trip to Cambridge. Under the guise of protecting John by extricating him from London, Jones takes Carol on the journey, while ffolliott remains in London, anticipating their return with Van Meer’s coordinates. Unbeknownst to them, however, Carol becomes privy to Jones’ true intentions when she overhears John booking adjoining rooms at an inn - a revelation that prompts her early return home, thwarting ffolliott’s attempt to extract the crucial information.

The failed ruse sets in motion a chain of events as ffolliott trails Fisher to a closed hotel where Van Meer is being held captive. The spy ring’s gruesome methods of torture, including blindingly bright lights and cacophonous jazz music, are employed to extract details from Van Meer about Clause 27 - the movie’s coveted MacGuffin. Despite Fisher’s failed attempts to persuade Van Meer, he resorts to physical coercion, eventually eliciting the location of the clause, which would be triggered if Germany were to go to war.

As ffolliott makes a daring escape, Jones and a fellow reporter arrive on the scene, joining forces with Van Meer to rescue him from his captors. The trio’s bravery ultimately proves too great for Fisher’s henchmen, allowing them to escape and whisk Van Meer away to a nearby hospital where he slowly regains consciousness.

In the wake of Britain and France declaring war on Germany, Jones and ffolliott set their sights on the United States, joining the Fishers aboard a Short S.30 Empire flying boat. When Fisher intercepts a telegram intended for ffolliott, revealing Van Meer’s recovery and his own identity as the kidnapper, he realizes his treachery will soon be exposed, prompting him to confess his wrongdoings to Carol.

As Jones implores Carol to rekindle their affair, a German destroyer launches a barrage on the aircraft, sending it crashing into the ocean. As the survivors cling to the floating wing of the downed plane, Fisher makes the ultimate sacrifice, slipping beneath the waves and meeting his demise in the service of his treacherous cause, thereby ensuring the survival of those around him.

As the American vessel approaches the stricken survivors, its captain asserts his country’s neutrality in the conflict by denying access to the ship’s communication systems for reporting purposes. Undeterred, Jones, ffolliott, and Carol resort to clandestine measures, utilizing radio-telephone technology to secretly transmit their findings to Mr. Powers. With this pivotal moment serving as a catalyst, Jones returns to England, where he emerges as a prominent war correspondent, often accompanied by the stalwart Carol by his side. As fate would have it, during a live broadcast on the radio waves, Jones vividly recounts the devastating aerial bombardment of London, passionately urging American listeners to “keep those lights burning” even as they fade into darkness within the studio itself, a poignant call to action that resonates deeply with those tuning in.