Alfred Hitchcock’s frothy and fun thriller, “Foreign Correspondent,” screens at Woodmere on Nov. 17. American reporter John Jones (Joel McCrae) is dispatched to England as a foreign correspondent on the eve of World War II. Brave and intrepid, Jones chases down a story involving assassinations, body doubles, car chases, windmills, kidnappings, torture, plane crashes and romance.

“Foreign Correspondent” stars Joel McCrae (“Sullivan’s Travels”) as John Jones, George Sanders as Scott ffolliott (“All About Eve,” “Rebecca”), and Laraine Day as Carol Fisher. Classically trained stage actor Albert Basserman, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Van Meer, and Herbert Marshall (“Trouble in Paradise”) round out the main cast. “Foreign Correspondent” was Hitchcock’s second film for Hollywood studios, the first being his Oscar award-winning adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel, “Rebecca.”

A thrilling predecessor to James Bond films, with a little Indiana Jones, sans the supernatural, “Foreign Correspondent” was, in fact, inspired by the memoir of American journalist Vincent Sheean. Starting his career as a foreign correspondent in Paris for the Chicago Tribune, Sheean reported throughout Europe, Morocco, China, Palestine and Persia, often on the front lines of violence and major political changes. His semi-autobiographical journalism created a new genre of reporting and he became better known for writing journalistic books than reporting for newspapers. Drawing on the memoir of a man who saw Mussolini march on Rome, a Civil War in China, and drank with Hemingway on the Left Bank, “Foreign Correspondent” feels both very alive with intrigue and hip to world politics.

After many unsuccessful attempts by different writers to develop a screenplay from Sheean’s award-winning memoir, producer Walter Wanger gave Hitchcock full control. Hitchcock was working on “Rebecca” at the time and asked his wife, Alma Reville and his secretary, Joan Harrison, to develop the screenplay. At this point, Reville had already been credited as co-writer on several Hitchcock films, including “The 39 Steps” and “The Lady Vanishes,” as well as writing screenplays for other directors. Harrison and Reville had already worked together on the screenplays for “Jamaica Inn” and “Rebecca.” Several more writers were brought on to massage the script into Hitchcock’s final vision, including novelist James Hilton (“Goodbye, Mr. Chips”) and Harvard Lampoon humorist and newspaper columnist Robert Benchley. Benchley also plays the comedic role of Stebbins, an American reporter, in “Foreign Correspondent.”

McCrae is well cast as Jones, the tough American reporter who is willing to put himself in danger to get his story. Jones finds himself in danger from the get-go, and we are treated to some Hitchcockian set pieces that I won’t spoil for you. There is also plenty of humor around mistaken identities, climbing through hotel windows, and fake kidnappings, mirroring spy tropes, in the romantic subplot. Day hits the perfect note as a young leader in the Peace Party. Sanders is delightfully British. And Basserman elevates every scene he is in, adding depth and real human stakes to a film often veering toward being too lighthearted.

The coda, at the end of the film, was filmed on July 5, 1940. Hitchcock flew back to the states to film a new epilogue after visiting England, where it was being reported that Germany could begin bombing London at any time. The Battle of Britain, an air battle between England’s Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy against Germany’s Luftwaffe, started on July 10. “Foreign Correspondent” was released on August 16, 1940. A few weeks later, The Blitz, Germany’s bombing campaign of the United Kingdom, began.

“Foreign Correspondent” was inspired by Sheean’s journalism, often written on the front lines of wars and political action throughout the world. Now that Europe was at war, “Foreign Correspondent” could inspire audiences in the United States to turn away from isolationism and neutrality in the face of Hitler’s advancement. Yet it’s only the epilogue that feels like war propaganda. The rest of the film is a top-notch Hitchcock thriller, everything you’d expect from the master of suspense.

“Foreign Correspondent” screens at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, as part of the Tuesday Nights at the Movies series at Woodmere, 9201 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and light refreshments will be provided prior to the screening. Tuesday Nights at the Movies screenings are free to the public, but donations are greatly appreciated.