1. Structure

• thriller = mystery + action
• romantic melodrama and humor
• propaganda ending disrupts the narrative rules, as did Jean Renoir's People of France (1936) that "does not tell a story per se but rather makes an argument." (Gomery p. 233)

2. Themes

• topicality: rise of nazism, decline of peace, shift in America from isolationism to interventionism, Van Meer's speech for "the little people"

3. Techniques

• secret treaty is the macguffin
• symbols of the bowler's hat, umbrellas, the windmill
• autobiographical references: cameo appearance, Stebbins "on the wagon" drinking milk, Johnny proposes marriage on the steamship
• mise en scenes of the crowd (Amsterdam square), of claustrophobia (inside the windmill and the Westminster Cathedral tower), of action (car chase), of disaster (airplane crash)