24: Sabotage (1936)

SABOTAGE is one of the many great little thrillers Hitchcock made in his rise to prominence throughout the 1930s. It finds the future master gradually perfecting his mixture of sardonic humor and taut suspense, this time in service of the story of an undercover detective and a young cinema operator who get embroiled in an international terrorist plot. The film’s quietly thrilling climax centers on the stalking threat of a bomb hidden on a commuter bus, making it a clear predecessor to the 90s classic SPEED. Much as the action masterpiece remains as exciting and entertaining today as it was 27 years ago, Sabotage too feels just as timeless 85 years later.