"Sabotage": Other Points to Consider...............

The Stories Location and time in history.

The story takes place in a theater, "the Bijou" (or Jewel) Theater.
In my area, you can still find many old theaters called "Bijou".
"Jewel", or "Gem". I imagine that at one time, that was the most
common name for a small theater
I can also imagine that the theater where people sat watching this
film was often very much the same as what they saw on the screen. When
Mr. Verloc first goes into the darkened theater and through the red
curtain [the curtain's are always red aren't they?], I can imagine that
their eyes turned towards the very same curtains in the theater where
they were sitting.
The setting plays an additional part in getting the audience
involved with the story. When the film was released, they had both the
threat of Nazi Germany and the idea that any day now, things could be
very much like what the were witnessing on the screen.

The time and setting must have added to the suspense in a way that we
(watching the story as a relic of history) can only imagine.

Rich

While Stevie is riding the bus, it encounters a policeman directing
traffic and then (just before 1:45), a traffic light changes to Stop.
If you listen to the music, it's carefully timed to make the sound of
scretching brakes while at the same time, the movement Stevie makes in
his seat (plus what's seen through the window) shows that the bus has
stopped abruptly.
Easy to talk about, but another example of the effort put into this
film.
Rich