Blackmail

Title: Blackmail
Year: 1929
Studio: British International Picture Ltd
Screenplay: Adapted by Alfred Hitchcock, dialogue by Benn Levy
Source Material: A play by Charles Bennett
Running Time: 82 minutes
Britain's first "talkie", shot in black & white.

Monday 2nd August, 9:30am
Another long-weekend booked in for me. I just felt the need to get some quality 'me' time in as I have been a little busy of late. Naturally, Sod's (or Murphy's) Law came into play and toward the end of last week, I developed a sort of bug. Nothing drastic, just one that provided me with symptoms including lethargy, sore throat, dizziness and a bit of a fever. So, although I had the time off, I couldn't do much with it other than lay around on the settee watching DVDs hour after hour (*sigh* - what torture!)
So, this Monday was a day of laundry and drinking plenty of fluids. I knew a good way to keep my mind positive would be to continue with the project. Thankfully, Blackmail is a film I am familiar with and rather fond of, so it didn't necessitate any extreme concentration on my part. However, this DVD edition (from Studio Canal's 'The Early Hitchcock Collection') has been wonderfully reproduced and the clarity is a wonder to behold.

Cast
Alice White - Anny Ondra (voiced by Joan Barry)
Mrs White - Sara Allgood
Mr White - Charles Paton
Detective Frank Webber - John Longden
Mr Tracy - Donald Calthrop
The Artist - Cyril Ritchard
The Landlady - Hannah Jones
The Chief Inspector - Harvey Braban
The Detective Sergeant - Ex Detective Sergeant Bishop (late C.I.D. Scotland Yard)

Synopsis
We enter the scene following a police squad van on a mission. The policemen arrive at their destination and find their suspect in his bed, smoking a cigarette and reading a paper. The man spies the officers in a small mirror and goes to reach for his gun - they are quick enough to wrestle it off him and take him away to the station where they interrogate him, prosecute him and lock him up.
Frank is one of the detectives and as he leaves for the day, his girlfriend, Alice, is waiting for him. She has been waiting for half an hour and is visibly peeved.
The two make their way to a local restaurant and battle with other customers for a spare table. The first table they find is claimed by another couple and they instantly find another, however Alice has left her glove behind. Frank goes to retrieve it and notes how he was able to recognise it because of the two holes in the fingers, made by her sharp nails. Frank is growing impatient for some service and goes to order from a waitress. Alice looks into her bag and retrieves a note she has had for a while. It reads;

I'll be here on Tuesday at 6:30 - will you?

Alice returns it to her bag when Frank returns, having ordered.
The two discuss their plans - Frank wants to go to the movies, but Alice is being frustrating. One moment she wants to go, the next, she does not. We know why after she spies her lover in the room. Frank has had enough of Alice's fickle nature and leaves some money for her and storms out. He stops in the foyer and tries to cool down, but as he regains his composure, he sees Alice has met up with this other man. Frank is not happy.

Alice is walking home with her lover. they arrive at his home and he asks he up to his studio. Before they enter, a shadowy figure pesters the artist for something, apparently this man is a sponger and always trying to get money from people.
Once inside the lobby, the artist checks the mail left for him, there is a note from his landlady - he goes to speak to her - the strange man has apparently been asking for him. He dismisses it and heads up the stairs to the top floor with Alice.

In the artist's studio, he makes some drinks while Alice looks around. She is amused by his recent 'Laughing Jester' painting and she attempts to hold a palette at the easel. The artists shows her how to do it properly and helps her paint the figure of a woman. Joyed by the result, Alice signs her name at the bottom. She then spies a tutu hanging from a dressing screen, she suggests she could model for him - he urges her to do so - initially, she plays it coy, but he persuades her through a bit of reverse psychology.
Once she is wearing the tutu, he tries to pose her - he lowers the straps off her shoulders, places her arms behind her back, adjusts her hair... and then forces a deep kiss on her. She struggles and pulls away. She suggests that she ought to leave. As she returns behind the screen to change, the artists steals away her normal clothes and flings them across them room, telling her to come out and get them - she is now only in her under garments.
He pulls her out by her arms and she struggles some more, the two of them fall onto the bed behind the curtain - she pleads with him to stop, but he is insistent.
During the struggle, she reaches out to the bedside table where a plate of bread and cheese stands alongside a large kitchen knife. She grabs for it and withdraws it behind the curtain. The struggle continues but for not much longer. The curtain stops moving and a lifeless arm falls into our view. It is his.
Alice steps nervously out from behind the curtain and looks at the knife in her hand - she places it back on the plate and stares around the room. The laughing jester is no longer amusing, more macabre. She slashes at it with her sharp fingernails.
She returns to the screen where she feels the need to dress in order to retain some dignity. She switches off the lights and leaves, but not before painting over her signature on the painting.

Alice creeps down the stairs and out of the building. As she leaves, the shadowy figure watches.
She spends the whole night walking through the city of London, haunted by images brought on through her paranoia. An electric sign advertising Gordon's Gin White for Purity! animates a cocktail shaker, but her vision imagines a hand holding a dagger in a stabbing motion. In this deluded state, Alice continues her walk through the city.

By Dawn, she returns home and the landlady has found the body and has called the police. Alice creeps up to her bedroom just in time for her mother to come in and find her under the covers. Mrs White tells Alice about the murder. Alice gets up once her mother has left the room, gets out of her dirty clothes and puts something cleaner on.
Meanwhile, Frank is at the crime scene, he is disturbed to find one of Alice's gloves amongst the victim's property. He palms it, realising what must have happened.

Back at Alice's home, she is with her parents at their newsagent shop, which leads onto their own parlour. It's breakfast time.
Various customers come into the shop and everyone has the murder on their lips, particularly a local gossip who can't seem to shut up about it. During the gossip's rambling monologue about the nature of murders, all Alice can hear is the word 'knife' piercing the cloud engulfing her head. Again and again it stabs its way through until she becomes so jumpy, she flings the bread knife onto the floor.

Soon, Frank arrives, he takes Alice into the sound-proof phone booth and shows her the glove of hers that he found.
Then, that same shadowy figure from the night before enters the shop. He has spied the glove and saunters into the scene with an air of pompousness. He hints at his knowledge with a boastful manner and even shows that he found Alice's other glove at the scene. He indicates a suggestion of blackmail and invites himself into the parlour for breakfast, much to the bemusement of Mr and Mrs White. However, Alice and Frank play along. The man introduces himself as Mr Tracy and he makes himself very comfortable.

Meanwhile, the landlady of the artist's apartment block is speaking to the police and she describes the man whom she has seen hanging around the building and the same man from whom she took the note the previous night. After some time of looking through pages of images, she identifies the man who has a criminal record already...

Back in the White's parlour, Frank has given Tracy some money and he is enjoying the food and beverages provided. Frank receives a call from the police saying they may have found their man - this gives Frank the upper hand.
Frank stands up to Tracy and states categorically that it will be their word against his - and an officer of the law has more weight than a man with a criminal record.
This unnerves Tracy and he tries to wheedle his way out of it, but to no avail. Eventually, more coppers turn up and Tracy makes a break for it - he leaps out of the window and takes a taxi which is thusly chased by the squad car. When the taxi is held up by a traffic cop, he makes a break for it and heads into the British Museum. The police are hot on his heels and they race through the exhibits and through the library. He attempts to escape by climbing onto the roof, the team of policemen are hot in pursuit. Atop the dome of the museum, he is silhouetted against the morning sky.

Tracy: "I say - it's not me you want. It's him! Ask him! Why, his own - "

With this final statement, he slips and falls, crashing through the glass in the dome and plummeting to his death.

Meanwhile, back at the Whites', Alice has written a note to Frank saying she is going to confess. She walks calmly to New Scotland Yard and is taken to the Inspector where she is about to tell the truth - Frank is there and tries to stop her. Before she manages to confess, the Inspector's phone rings and has to take the call - Frank ushers Alice out and away. She tries to confide in him everything that has happened, but he doesn't need her to talk - they walk hand in hand out of the office and down to the reception area. As a colleague jokes with Frank about the premise of women in the police force (!) Alice spies the evidence of the Laughing Jester and it mocks her as it is taken away.

THE END


Great Lines
Firstly, let us note the very first piece of dialogue heard in a full-length British motion picture:

Frank: "Well, we finished earlier tonight than I expected!"

Sure, not the most astounding piece of dialogue ever and it does take 8 minutes into the film until it is heard, but still, it is a piece of history.

In the restaurant scene where Frank and Alice are debating going to the cinema, Frank says he'd like to go and see 'Fingerprints' as it is about Scotland Yard but he is wary of the poetic license that may be taken:

Frank: "...they're bound to get all the details wrong."
Alice: "I don't see why, I did hear they got a real criminal to direct it so as to be on the safe side."

Could this be a private joke Hitchcock is making about himself?

Other great moments of dialogue are uttered by the gossip in the shop whilst Alice's family are trying to have their breakfast in the parlour:

Gossip: "...a good clean honest whack over the head with a brick is one thing - there's something British about that. But knives..?"

She continues...

Gossip: "...I can't stand here gossiping like some people. 'chatter, chatter, chatter' - give 'em a chance to talk about other people's business and they'll take it!"

One other sweet line which may or may not be a deliberate joke is when Tracy and Frank are debating their positions - Alice tries to offer her opinion, but Frank won't have it. The next line could be a private joke:

Tracy: "Why can't you let her speak?"

Anny Ondra, although capable of speaking English to a degree, had a very strong Czech accent and could not sound cockney (frankly, I know which accent I prefer!) Joan Barry stood off camera with a microphone and said all of Alice's lines whilst Anny mouthed them. One can only think of Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain...


Comments
And so, the next era begins! Talking pictures have arrived and this was Britain's very first talkie.
Hitchcock was very aware of the arrival of the new technology and was wise enough to film this movie twice, back to back, in order to have a copy available as a silent for those cinemas who could not play talkies.
He uses the new toy of sound to great advantage, particularly showing how distracting it can be; the artist's piano playing which becomes more aggressive as his libido increases, the frustrating birdsong which epitomises the confusion in Alice's head as she dresses the morning after having not slept a wink, the stabbing nature of the word 'knife' as it punctuates Alice's dreamlike state...

Other touches throughout the film are standard Hitchcock motifs, the shot of the spiralling staircase as Alice exits the crime scene, the shadows on walls which symbolise foreboding or prisons and the repetition of signs and symbols that act as reminders of the horror - the sight of an arm only triggers fear in Alice's eyes as it recalls the lifeless limb of her victim.

Although Hitch has made a number of cameos already in his films, this is his first most blatant cameo. He is sat on the train with our heroes and he is being pestered by a young boy. He admonishes the boy's mother, but she does not punish him. Hitch's look of wariness and displeasure towards the boy is absolutely classic.

My Verdict
One of my favourites, despite our anti-hero literally getting away with murder.
It's dark, moody and with sprinkling doses of black comedy. Perfect ingredients for classic Hitchcock.
9/10

The Manxman

Title: The Manxman
Year: 1929
Studio: British International Pictures Ltd
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard
Source Material: From the novel by Sir Hall Caine
Running Time: 80 minutes
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Sunday 25th July, 10:45am
Ah, back to the grindstone! Last weekend was very busy due to it being my birthday weekend and I had the Murder Party, day trips to Sassafras and jaunts into the city, so the notion of attacking the project was rather implausible.
After having had a ridiculously late night on Saturday, I awoke around 9am (and for anyone who knows me well will concur that this is almost unheard of!) and I roused myself with no less than three mugs of Yorkshire Gold tea.

I knew today's viewing would be the first milestone of the journey as it is the final of Hitchcock's silent movies. However I was unprepared for the quality - more of that later.
I was briefly, albeit pleasantly, interrupted by a visit from my friend Brad who brought me a belated birthday present and some chocolate cake (nom, nom, nom) and we has tea & coffee and discussed Doctor Who.
Eventually I got back into the movie and watched the final half hour. What a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday day.

Cast
Pete Quilliam - Carl Brisson
Philip Christian - Malcolm Keen
Kate Cregeen - Anny ondra
Caesar Cregeen - Randall Ayrton
Mrs Cregeen - Claire Greet

Synopsis
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

With this statement, the film opens with a sense of foreboding.
The famous triskelion flag of the Isle of Man flutters before us and the fishing boats are returning to harbour from a days work. Aboard one is Pete, a jolly, excitable and naive young man with the best of intentions.

Pete's best friend, Philip Christian, a rising young lawyer, is awaiting Pete on the dock. They have known each other since they were young boys. Phil has a petition for Pete and his fellow fisherman to sign.
He and the fisherman head to the 'Manx Fairy' - the local pub run by Caesar Cregeen.
At the pub, both Phil and Pete see their friend, Kate, a girl with whom both of the young men have feelings.
Pete flirts with Kate with bravado and Phil watches on.
Later, when the pub is practically empty, Phil and Pete discuss Kate. Pete wants to marry her but is doubtful he has the eloquence to persuade Kate's father to allow him her hand. He asks Phil to do the honours.

Phil does so, but Caesar is not impressed. He storms into the abr, flings open the door and asks Pete to leave.

"I tell you - get out! How dare you mention my daughter's name, you penniless lout."

Pete and Phil leave the pub, but Pete is not deterred. He plans to make his fortune overseas and return for Kate when he can afford to look after her properly.
The two men hang out below Kate's window. Pete throws up a stone to get her attention, she sees them, covers herself with a blanket and flirts with them in a '2 Romeos & Juliet' sort of way. Pete climbs on Phil's shoulders so he can steal a kiss from her. He promises he'll come back rich from his travels, but he promises her to wait for him. She teases him with a series of nods and shakes of the head.

Pete: "Aw, Kate - hold your capers - - be serious a-while. Will you wait, darlin'?"
Kate: "All right, Pete, I promise."

As he leaves, all giddy with joy, she realises what she has done and a look of panic crosses her face. He was more serious than she thought. This isn't merely a game.

Pete leaves on a liner and heads to Africa to seek his fortune. He has asked Phil to take care of Kate and make sure she sticks around for his return.

We see Kate;s diary and over a period of about a month, we see she has a number of dates with Phil. Initially referring to him as 'Mr Christian', but eventually, he becomes 'Philip'.
At the Christian home, his Aunt berates him. She is concerned that his dallying with the publican's daughter will not fare him well with his career as he climbs the ladder to become Deemster oif the island (a Deemster being a judge).

Aunt: "Your father married beneath him - let his ruined career be a warning to you."

Phil goes to the pub, but the atmosphere is sombre. It turns out that Pete has been killed. Caesar is surprisingly regretful...

Caesar: "Maybe I was wrong about Pete and Kate - she hasn't spoken a word since the news came."

Phil goes to Kate to console her, but she doesn't need consoling - she acts like she's been granted the grace to do as she pleases.

"Philip - we're free. Don't you see what this means for us?"

Unbeknown to them, it appears that there was a mistake - Pete is actually still alive and prepares to return.
Phil and Kate's relationship blossoms and on one fateful day, they are having a look around the nearby mill. It is here that they consummate their relationship albeit a sinful rendezvous.
It is later that Phil discovers the news about Pete and he writes for Kate to meet him. They are on a beautiful beach where he tells her the news and they vow to never speak of their love affair for fear of breaking Pete's heart.

Kate: "I am glad Pete's alive but it makes no difference. I don't love him."

They return to the pub and Pete has returned. The two lovers have to feign happiness but find it hard. Pete has returned with money and the wedding is planned.

In a montage, we see Kate pondering as she looks out from a balcony, having her veil fitted, the ring placed on her finger and her arms linking with Pete. They are married, but she is apathetic and lost.
The wedding reception is held in the mill, at the same spot where Phil and Kate made love. After the reception, the guests follow the newlyweds back to their new home and leave them in peace after passing on their congratulations.

After a period, there is a newspaper announcement regarding Phil's appointment to Deemster. Both Kate and Pete are very happy for him. Pete heads off to work in his usually buoyant mood and Kate meets with Phil again. She tells him some devastating news. She is pregnant - it is too far along for it to be Pete's. It has to be Phil's.
Phil is appalled and terrified. This could affect his career greatly. He states that Pete must never find out the truth.
Eventually, Pete comes home, initially spying through the window a strange man talking to his wife, but he is relieved when he sees it is his good friend Phil.

Months later, Pete and Phil are waiting downstairs whilst the doctor is helping with the delivery of the baby. Fortunately, all goes well and they welcome a baby girl into the family. Pete is overjoyed.

A few weeks later, Phil has finally been officially made Deemster and after giving his speech from the balcony to the crowd, he returns to his office only to be greeted by Kate who says she has left Pete and wants somewhere to hide away.

Back at Pete's, the man of the house returns home to find Kate gone - the table is set for one and there is a note and the wedding band left upon it.

Pete. I can't deceive you any longer. I'm going away. Before I married you I loved another man and I love him still. Good Bye. K.

Pete breaks down and sobs.
Later he tells locals that she has merely gone away to London for a brief holiday.
He turns up at Phil's place bemoaning Kate's absence, little knowing that she is in the next room listening.

Back home, Pete is with the baby and Kate's parents. Caesar has the note Kate left and he is suspicious and unimpressed with his daughter's actions.

At Phil's office, Kate gives Phil an ultimatum, asking him to choose between his career and her - he needs time to think. She storms off saying she is going to get her baby.

Back at Pete's she confronts him and tells him that the baby is not his. He is astonished and horrified. He screams at her saying she is lying, grabs the baby and locks himself in the bedroom. All forlorn and at a loss, Kate leaves the house. She walks down to the docks and plummets into the water.

The next day, it is Phil's first day in Court as Deemster. The whole town is there for the event. The first thing on the agenda is an attempted suicide, but it is announced that the guilty party won't give her name. A policeman gives his testimony of how he saved her. She is in the courtroom shrouded in a blanket.
She lifts her head and Phil sees who it is - he is gutted.
Pete bursts into the courtroom ready to defend his wife and speak for her.
Phil discharges her and says she must return to her husband. However, she says she does not want to. She stands stoically staring at Phil. It is now that Caesar has confirmation of his suspicions - he leaps to his feet and accuses Phil of being the man whom Kate left her husband for.

Caesar: "There before you is her betrayer, the Deemster himself. Can't you see, Pete - Can't you see?"

Phil removes his wig and stands - the court also rises. He admits the travesty.

Phil: "I am not fit to sit in judgement on my fellows, I who have sinned against God and man. I resign this - the dignity I strove for, that I may devote myself to righting the wrong I have done."

Pete lunges at Phil, grabs him by the collar, in readiness to do damage, but Phil is calm and simply states;

"Pete, we too have suffered."

At the home, Pete is now lacking all of his energy and verve. Kate takes her baby and leaves with Phil.

Later, Pete is back on his fishing boat, heading out to sea, tears rolling down his cheeks.

The End

Great Lines
Towards the end, when Phil is making his confession to an entire courtroom, he delivers the line;

"You gave me your trust which I am unworthy to bear."

And although it is directed to the public in his role as Deemster, it is also a brave admission to his dear friend Pete and it's double-meaning is eloquent and simple.

Comments
Hitchcock certainly loved Anny Ondra (he would use her again in his next film) and the camera certainly loves her too with a great number of close-ups on her face.
The movie is punctuated with tableauxs more than any other of his silent films - they are intentional and effective, telling the story powerfully through images of human emotion.
Also worthy of note is Hitchcock's eye for framing a scene. The shots of Kate rushing from her home, across the hill and down to the beach are marvellous and highlight the beauty of the Cornish countryside. My breath was taken away with the silhouetted image of Kate running across the hill with the sun breaking out from a cloud beyond her.
One slight worry is Kate's selfish behaviour to the point of incredulity when she leaves the baby alone in the house when she leaves Pete and goes to Phil's offices. SHe's not fit to be a mother!

My Verdict
Without doubt, my favourite of the silent films in Hitchcock's canon. Beautifully filmed, superb tableauxs used to perfection throughout and a heartfelt performance from Carl Brisson as the naive but lovable Pete. It's certainly not the most optimistic movie ever made, but it's exquisitely handled. 8/10

Champagne

Title: Champagne
Year: 1928
Studio: British International Pictures Ltd
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard
Source Material: An original story by Walter C Mycroft
Running Time: 85 minutes
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Sunday July 11th, 9:30am
Ah, a lazy Sunday! Well, not particularly lazy. I did go shopping at 6:00am to avoid the crowds, spent time scribbling down all my notes whilst watching the film, prepared the soundtrack for next week's Murder Party (for my birthday - bless!), did the laundry and tidied up around the house. In fact, I'm lazier at work than I was today. Heavens to Betsy.
I settled down at 9:30 to watch Champagne and was interested to learn that Hitchcock himself was rather fond of the famous bubbly and was rumoured to down half a bottle or more each lunch time. If I did that, I'd spend the rest of the afternoon fast asleep. Maybe he did too...

I am trying not to pressure myself too much about this blog (see last entry) and I want to have a rather carefree attitude towards the timing of it all. Heaven knows I am barely a fraction of my way into the journey and I have a long way to go yet - however, I can see myself marking off various milestones.I will soon be coming to the end of the first furlong, which we can call 'The Silent Years'. Then we will have a stretch of the 'British Talkies', beginning with Blackmail and taking us right up to Jamaica Inn, just before he headed off to America to make the superb Rebecca. At that point, I may just see each stretch as 'decades' - golly, Hitch, you did work hard and long, didn't you, my old friend!

I will try my best to keep the blogs coming without too large a gap in between, but I fear next weekend may be an issue as I will be preoccupied with the Murder Party and my own birthday shenanigans, so do not judge me too harshly.
With that said, let's proceed...

Cast
Rather strangely, the cast are referred to without proper nouns in the title card.
However, some names are referred to during the film.

The Girl (Betty) - Betty Balfour
The Boy (John? - I lip-read Betty saying his name, but it's a guess) - Jean Bradin
The Man (no idea) - Theo Van Alten
The Father (Mark - as seen on telegram) - Gordon Harker

Synopsis
We begin by witnessing a rather angry man reading newspapers and, in one case, ripping it up. This is Betty's father. He seems a very stressed man.
A headline in the New York Daily News reads:

CUPID TAKES A LEAF FROM LINDY'S
Wall Street Magnate Again Defied By Headstrong Heiress Daughter
Gives Him The Air and Makes Freak Flight to Join Lover in Atlantic Liner
Romantic Reunion on Mid-Ocean

A champagne bottle pops open, the spray filling the screen. We are on board the liner and there's a grand old time being had by all in the dining area.
Suddenly everyone rushes out on deck as they have heard something is happening.
A plane has had to land in the sea and a lifeboat goes out to save the pilot.
It turns out to be the American heiress, Betty. She needs to get aboard the lifeboat before the plane sinks, but she makes sure she has all her luggage saved first.
She is brought back to the liner and she is received warmly by the crew - she has managed to remove her flying gear whilst on the lifeboat to reveal a rather swanky outfit.
The captain asks if she was trying to fly over the Atlantic and she confesses that she was merely trying to catch this particular boat.
She is assigned room B46 and she spies the young boy (John) in the crowd, but she also spies a mustachioed man who seems to have his eye on her.

John meets Betty in her room and she is so happy to see him.

"Wouldn't I love to see dear Daddy's face when he hears I've run away with you after all - and lost his aeroplane besides!"

It appears that back home, her father is in fits and making a lot of trouble for his many staff members. They are baring the brunt of his anger.

Introductions aboard ship are easily arranged.
Betty is meeting a variety of people but eventually she manages to get away with John on her own. They go out on deck and they discuss getting engaged. He takes off his own ring, but it is too large for her wedding finger, so for the mean time, she places it on her thumb.

Cupid at the prow - but Neptune at the helm.
It's lunch time and the boat is rocking. There are not many people in the dining room, probably all in their cabins lying down! The man with a mustache is there and seems quite at home. Betty joins him at his table and they chat. John comes down the stairs but he does not fare so well. Already feeling queasy, he is turned greener when he spies a pig's head on a platter - despite wanting to prise the man from his fiancee, he turns around and heads back to his cabin.
Betty receives a telegram from her father:

DOES LIFE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU THAT YOU RISK IT FOR THAT CAKE HOUND. YOUR BOULEVARD SHEIK IS ONLY AFTER MY BANK ROLL.

Betty takes it to John's room, he is not well and sees three versions of Betty swirling around his head. She shows him the telegram and he is angry.

Betty: "I've arranged for the captain to marry us."
John: "You've arranged! Don't I arrange anything? You think your money entitles you to do all the arranging"
Betty: "My Money allowed me to fly half across the Atlantic to join you."
John: "And your father thinks his money enables him to insult me by wireless!"

She removes the ring in a huff and hands it back to him. The boat lurches and he drops it as he tries to take it back. She then storms out, saying;

"You'll not spoil my trip - I'll have a good time in Paris in spite of your silly ideas."

PARIS - revelry - and at last the longed for arrival.
Betty is having a whale of a time in her rented accommodation with lots of new friends and a great number of cocktails.
John arrives and does not seem impressed with her extravagances. She invites him into the soiree and he sees that the same man from the boat is in attendance.
Betty makes cocktails and then goes to put on one of her new designer gowns.
Everyone is wowed - except John.

John: "I've always understood that simplicity was the keynote of good taste."
Betty: "If I've offended your good taste I must try to make amends."

She goes back into her private room and borrows the drab gown off one of her maids. Returning into the room, playing up melodramatically with a headscarf and mocking the poor, John is even less amused.
The other man knows how to charm:

Betty: "Which do you think the most charming creation?"
The Man: "The wearer, undoubtedly."

The doorbell rings. Betty's father has come to see her. He brings her bad news. He sees her drab dress and tells her that it suits her now moire than she knows. He then tells her that he is flat broke - they are ruined. Her head spins. First she laughs as if he is joking, then she panics.

She returns to her crowd and tells them politely that the party is over. They all leave saying their farewells. John leaves sullenly. Betty's father thinks he has lost interest now that she is poor.
Betty tells her father that she'll sell her jewellery. When she goes to do this, she is robbed and loses it all.
Not to be discouraged, she and her father take meagre lodgings. Whilst she tries to make their new small rooms homely and attempts to make bread - her father is out having a splendid meal in a posh restaurant - it seems he is lying to his daughter!
John arrives and Betty is pleased initially, but they row again and he leaves her alone once more. She decides she is going to get a job.

Betty spies an advert in the newspaper:

WANTED Young girls with beautiful teeth to demonstrate the advantages of using MINTO tooth paste.

Betty turns up at the audition, but does not wait with other girls, simply barges in. The agent asks her what she wants and she bares her teeth. Another gentleman in the office lifts her skirt with his foot and mentions her great legs to the agent. He writes her a reference for a local cabaret joint and send her on her way.
At the venue, she presents herself to the maître d'hôtel and he seems to be a rather brusque man, however, he likes her sass and gives her a trial.
Her first night, she is a flower girl - she has to give flowers to the gentlemen in the club wearing evening dress only. She gets confused and he is appalled to find her giving them to the orchestra players too.

Becoming a little bored with her job, she wanders to the bar and notices a rather flamboyant woman who is both entertaining and annoying her fellow patrons. She sees a cocktail newly made up and she watches it as it is delivered to its recipient. It is the charming man who has been following her. Their eyes meet and she tries to hide, but he locates her and invites her to sit, much to the maître d'hôtel's annoyance. She has a brief fantasy of the man taking her away to a private booth and making a pass at her, but when she returns to reality, she seems to be enjoying herself. John arrives on the scene and is not happy with what he sees. The man takes his leave, but passes a note to her first, written on the back of a business card - it reads:

always a good friend if you are in need.

John and Betty sit uncomfortably together. She explains that she works there and at one moment, the annoying woman from the bar approaches and congratulations on how she has picked up a bloke so quickly. (Implying a little more than 'flower girl', perhaps?)
Whilst still seated, Betty throws her arms around in a jazzy dance. John is even less impressed by now.

It's bad enough to find you here, but worse to find you enjoying it.

He storms off and returns later with Betty's father. By now, she is becoming debauched, laughing and smoking - certainly not doing her job.
Her father approaches her and chastises her bawdy behaviour. She defends herself saying she took the job to help him. He then reveals all - he hands her a newspaper clipping.

FLYING HEIRESS ROUSES FATHER'S WRATH
Daring Daughter to Be Taught Lesson She'll Never Forget, Millionaire Declares.

It has been a ruse to make the girl see sense. She is appalled and screams at both John and her father.
With the thought of the man's note in her head, she goes to his lodgings. She begs him to take her back to America with him and he complies. They board a boat together but he locks her in their cabin. Arming herself with the towel rail from the bathroom, she waits for him to return - the door opens and she hits him over the head - only it's not the man - it is John! Both confused, they try to figure it out. Betty tells John to wait in the bathroom for the man's return. Not only does the man return, but her father also turns up - it turns out they are dear friends and he had sent a telegram to the man to keep an eye on Betty and stop her from eloping with John. He shows it to her.

BETTY ON BOARD YOUR BOAT TRYING TO ELOPE. PREVENT MARRIAGE AT ALL COSTS. ELOPE WITH HER YOURSELF IF NECESSARY.

Eventually, when everyone realises what's been going on and that John isn't a gold-digger after all, they all seem happy and raise a toast.
The two lovers begin to plan their marriage - bicker - but then kiss.

The End.

Great lines
One sequence in particular is a lovely set-up and a great pay-off. When John visits Betty at her lowly rooms, she is so pleased to see him, she interrupts her baking session and throws her arms around him.

John: "Now I've found you I'm going to take you out of this wretched place."
Betty: "Do you think that I'd leave Daddy now?"
John: "I'd even look after your father."
Betty: "Very kind of you - but you needn't bother. You seem to forget there's such a thing as pride."
John: "You can't live on pride."
Betty: "I shall get a job."
John: "You'll make a mess of it, as you do everything you lay your hands on."

...he turns and leaves - and we notice two of her floury hand-prints on his back.

Comments
It's a bit of a mess. Apparently, the original story is quite different and Hitch more-or-less improvised the story as they went along (with Eliot Stannard, one presumes) and it pretty much shows. There is little structure and it flails around quite a bit. However, Betty is great fun, even if a little bonkers. I imagine Paris Hilton has taken her as a role model.
The crazy notion of the headline towards the end reporting Betty's father's plan of humiliating his daughter is a terrible cheat and reeks of desperation.
There are some wonderful moments including the use of the various receptacles for drinks which act as tools in telling the story, either as catalysts for dialogue and plot, or as a new lens for us to view our characters.

My Verdict
Fun until the end, which is mad and ill-conceived. It doesn't make any sense.
Not a great nor original story, but has a few highs. 5/10

The Farmer's Wife

Title: The Farmer's Wife
Year: 1928
Studio: British International Pictures Ltd
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard
Source Material: From the play by Eden Phillpots
Running Time: 94 minutes
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Monday 5th July, 7:30pm/Tuesday 6th July, 6:30pm
Well, firstly, let me apologise for my rather stern review upon the last entry. I was a bit miserable about it, wasn't I? In hind-sight, I can see I was a bit harsh, but I was a little bit unwell that weekend and had to have an awful amount of sleep and the film was about boxing!! Nope, I can't let that pass, can I?
One day, I shall re-watch it and give it another trial.
Also, it is worth noting that I am a little late with this more recent review, but unlike some (more disciplined) bloggers, I am not committing myself to a strict time-frame and regime. What with work, social life, freelance duties and a Murder Party to orchestrate all at once, I can't weigh myself down with a strict code on when I have to write-up this project. It will be as and when I choose to do so.

At this point, I would also like to make another slight apology. It's about my style. No, I don't mean my rather inept fashion sense, I imply merely about my attempt at critique. Despite attending a course in media studies at university, I am not a scholar of mighty proportions. I cannot claim to be a voice of authority when it comes to the nature of film, not even one in the studies of Alfred Hitchcock. My love of his work is simply an adoration and this blog is, at its core, a small hobby for my own pleasure - although I don't mind at all if others get some sense of entertainment out of it, even if it is mockery.
So, I hope you do not expect great things and if you've been reading thus far, you will have experienced the manner and tone of my stream of consciousness prose.

This latest viewing had to be split over two nights as with these (Southern Hemisphere) winters, I become tired very early in the evening and have to retire to the comfort of my bed with a pathetic amount of resistance. This, however, does not make comment on this particular film, as you will see below...

Cast
Samuel Sweetland - Jameson Thomas
Araminta Dench - Lillian Hall-Davies
Churdles Ash - Gordon Harker
Henry Coaker - Gibb McLaughlin
Thirza Tapper - Maud Gill
Louisa Windeatt - Louie Pounds
Mary Hearn - Olga Slade
Mercy Bassett - Ruth Maitland
Susan - Antonia Brough
Dick Coaker - Haward Watts
Sibley Sweetland - Mollie Ellis

Synopsis
Applegarth Farm is home to Farmer Samuel Sweetland, his wife, Sibley, and their daughter, Susan. Sibley lies dying in her bed and her final words are spoken to their dutiful maid; “…and don’t forget to air your master’s pants, ‘Minta.”
Time passes and ‘Minta does as she is told and also manages to run the house efficiently and capably.
Soon it is Susan Sibley’s wedding day. She is marrying Samuel Sweetland’s friend’s son, Dick Coaker. Whilst the wedding party are off at the church, Araminta and Churdles Ash, the handyman chat amongst themselves. She is busy organising for the return of the party and Ash is merely lazing about dipping bread into the meat dripping when no one is looking. Churdles Ash is grumpy and cynical, especially about love.

“I’d seed the Master ‘ave ‘is eye on a woman or two of late. To see an old man in love be worse than seeing him with whooping cough!”

“Holy matrimony be a proper steam roller for flattening the hope out of a man and the joy out of a woman.”

The bride and groom return followed by the rest of the wedding party. The table is all laid ready for a feast, they say grace and begin their meal – speeches are made but the farmer is glum. He’s losing his daughter and has already lost his wife. He glances over to her old chair by the fire and remembers her wistfully.
The groom’s father, Henry Coaker makes a clear point in his speech;

“…and there be many here who have oft been wishful of a partner… …and the need of a strong man to lean against.

His eyes gesture toward three single women at the table.

During the festivities afterwards, Thirza Tapper asks Samuel if he will be attending her party later in the week. She also asks if she can borrow his staff to help serve. She says she has a spare livery that Ash can borrow to wear. Ash shows his displeasure at having to do so, but Sweetland agrees on his behalf anyway.
When all the guests have left, the farmer’s heart aches at the loss of his wife and the loneliness of his life. He envisions the speech his friend Henry had made and it inspires him. Checking himself in the mirror, he sees he still has what it takes to attract a woman. He addresses Araminta;

“I must take time by the forelock, ‘Minta, else I’ll be a lonely man soon. ‘Twas the late Tibby’s last wish that in the fullness of time I would take another… but she didn’t name no names.”

Araminta agrees and they decided to make a list of potential wives.

#1 Louisa Windeatt – “You know her back view’s not a day over thirty!” says Samuel. “But you have to live with her front view.” replies Araminta.

#2 Thirza Tapper (the one who invited him to the party later in the week.

#3 Mary Hearn. “I don’t mind they pillowy women… so long as they be pillowy in the right places.” says Sam. Araminta reminds him; “A woman that’s pillowy at thirty be after a feather bed at forty!”

#4 Mercy Bassett – Landlady of the Royal Oak – put down for luck.

Samuel is now a renewed man with extra vigour as he sets out on his goal.
His first goal is Louisa Windeatt and he rides his horse out to her farm.
He clumsily announces he is set to marry again and hints at her being his bride.

“I am not the sort of woman for you – I am far too independent.”

She laughs off his proposal and he becomes infuriated. He expected her to fall into his arms. The more angry he gets, the more she laughs at him. He eventually rides off in a tantrum.
Upon arriving home, he scribbles Louisa’s name off the list and it’s time for #2.

It’s the day of Thirza’s party. Araminta and Ash are helping out. ‘Minta is being as efficient as usual but Ahs is being as slovenly as usual.
Thirza is a stickler for punctuality and is thrown into a tizz when Samuel arrives early with a basket of plums. She isn’t even dressed yet and so hurries to fix her attire. When she finally descends, she finds Samuel being all smug. He keeps knocking things over in her orderly front room much to her distress. He bluntly asks her to marry him. She shakes and nearly hyperventilates and has to take a seat. He thinks he has her caught in his net, but she responds;

“…I shall never seek the shelter of a man’s arms – not even yours.”

He is apoplectic and goes into a fury. Thirza’s own maid enters in tears because she left the ice creams by the fire and they’ve all melted.. Samuel storms out. Whilst in the garden, he spies his third victim arriving – Mary. He has a change of mind and decides to stick around and ask her.

The party is getting into full swing and there are the glee-singers ready to perform outside, the parson and his wheelchair-bound mother and a whole host of other guests easting and drinking. While everyone else is outdoors enjoying the entertainment, Samuel beckons Mary to him and tackles her with his question.

Her response is not what he expected.

Mary: “You… you, at your age!”
Sam: “Well, you don’t want to marry a boy, do you?”
Mary: “Why not? ‘Tis a way with girls to marry boys, isn’t it?”
Sam: “Have you got the face to call yourself a girl?”
Mary: “What the mischief should I call myself, then?”
Sam: “Full blown and a bit over… that’s what I call you! The trouble with you is, you are too fond of dressing your mutton lamb fashion.”
Mary: “Is this a nightmare?”
Sam: “Your hat is!”

She becomes overtly hysterical and draws the crowd in from outside.
Samuel has failed again.

Back home again, Sam has had enough, he doesn’t think he’ll get a woman to marry him. He goes to leave but is in hearing shot of Ash as his handyman chatters to ‘Minta regarding his failed attempts at wooing the ladies.

“It’s a disgrace to us males that he can sink to go among ‘em hat in hand… only to be laughed at for his pains!”

Re-entering the parlour, he is powered up again by these words. And takes his horse out once again – this time to the Royal Oak. When he is gone, ‘Minta pictures herself in the wife’s chair by the fire…

At the Royal Oak, the place is packed with gentlemen ready for the foxhunt. Samuel has a brink with Mercy, but although she is chatty, she is already mocking him for being ‘in love’ and he doesn’t even pursue it. Meanwhile, Mary and Thirza are bickering at the post office over Samuel. Thirza is expressing her disapproval over Mary’s hysterics and Mary simply fires back insults – calling her a pinnicking little grey rat. Mary is fired up and ready to rethink Sam’s proposal. They bath hat-up and head to the farm.

Sam is once again home. He confides in Araminta.

Samuel: “’Tis all over, ‘Minta – I’m done for! Every time I’ve had to creep off with my tail between my legs. The whole power of the female sex be drawn against me. They have taken away my self respect.”
Araminta: “Don’t say that, Sweetland – I won’t hear a strong, sensible man talk like that. What be women made of nowadays?”
Samuel: “I’ve got a lot of faults, but there’s good in me yet, ‘Minta.”
Araminta: “’Tis enough to weaken your faith in the whole pack of us.”
Samuel: “You’d think being mistress of the farm might tempt them, if the farmer can’t!”

He visualises the four women sat in his late wife’s chair… then his vision is broken when Araminta sits down in it. He has an epiphany at last!

Samuel: “There is a woman… one woman…”

He goes to the list of scribbled out names and writes something on it. He hands Araminta the paper and she sees written at the top of the page ‘Minta’.
She is touched, surprised and a little drained, emotionally.

Samuel: “Don’t think you’ll make me angry if you say no – I be tamed to hearing ‘no’. I’m offering myself so humble as a worm... ….the Lord works the same as lightning and don’t give warning when He is going to wake sense in a man’s heart.”
Araminta: “I’ll be proud to enter in, Samuel…”

They are both finally happy. Ash is pleased with the decision as long as ‘Minta puts in a good word for a pay rise.
Thirza and Mary barge in. Mary has come to offer herself gladly to Samuel, but it is too late. He admits his new love and Mary once again has hysterics. Thirza is cool and polite and congratulates him.

Araminta has been upstairs and changed into something more formal. Samuel is proud at last. He announces;

“And if anybody knows a woman with a gentler heart and a straighter back and a nobler character, I’d like to see her!”

The End.

Great Lines
There are a number I have already quoted above, including the wonderful insults Sam fires at Mary Hearn, My favourite line is as follows, albeit a little incongruous… “Us be drawing turnips a’ready. Proper masterpieces – so round and white as a woman’s bosom!”

Comments
I wish I could have the time and energy to venture into the worlds of the source materials for all of Hitch's work. It would be fascinating to study the differences between the original plays/books etc. Of course, there are future examples where I can (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, The Birds - yes, I'm a Daphne du Maurier fan too!) In this case, I can boast no such attempt as I have not seen any of these plays on which the films are based. This in mind, I cannot begin to guess which moments are touches of Hitchcock or merely great moments lifted directly from the play. It has been noted in other texts that Hitchcock was often requested to cut down on his use of dialogue cards in his silent films, but quite often it was almost impossible to do so. Although the action in The Farmer's Wife is very self-explanatory, there are a number of great pieces of dialogue which I imagine Hitch felt he could not do without (as detailed above).

Another comment would have to be about this monstrous myth some people spout regarding Hitchcock never doing 'comedy'. For one, he has a wonderful sense of humour - often black, but always funny - and in a number of films, he did superb comedy. Later in the run, we'll see a superb screwball comedy in Mr & Mrs Smith (nothing to do with "Brangelina" *shudder*).
Here, in The Farmer's Wife, he turns his hand to slapstick and farce during the tea party scene. Although some of it may look a little dated - trousers falling down, cumbersome wheelchairs and hysterical women - it was all par for the course in its day and Hitch pulls it off with great aplomb.

My favourite thing about this movie (apart from the performances) was the use of the farmer's late wife's chair. It's a constant throughout the movie illustrating kinship, familiarity and loss. When it is used as a theatre for his imaginations, it is at its most vulnerable, however by the end it is a beautifully romantic tool which eases 'Minta into the arms of Samuel. Effective, yet simple.

My Verdict
A much more entertaining film than his previous with, what I imagine is, great source material. The performances of our two leads (Thomas and Hall-Davies) are absolutely exquisite. Their range of emotions are delightful and prove how good you had to be in the early days of cinema where every thing had to be dealt and delivered with intricate performances in the face and body. These two leads are so good, we may not even have needed the dialogue cards.
I am giving this one 6/10 for pace, energy and those top-notch performances.

The Ring

Title: The Ring
Year: 1927
Studio: British International Pictures Ltd
Original Screenplay: Alfred Hitchcock (and Alma Reville)
Running Time: 85 minutes
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Saturday 19th June, 9:30am
Well, I say 9:30, but this film was viewed sporadically throughout the day. This happened because of two reasons.
1) I was feeling awfully tired and had to take a couple of breaks (and naps)
2) It's a film about boxing.

I woke up with every intention of getting myself organised. Having awoken at 7:30 (that's a lie-in for me!) I made myself some breakfast, answered some emails and made sure the cat was fed and happy.
By 9:30, I was all comfy on the settee with my dressing gown on and I began my viewing.
A mere 30 minutes into the movie, I had to take a break as I was feeling a little exhausted. SO I pottered about, did some laundry... to be honest, I don't know what I did - anything to procrastinate! I got back into it at about 11:30, but another half an hour later, I felt the urge for an early lunch. I had some tomato soup and watched an episode of The Golden Girls. Then, I had to have a nap.
I awoke again at 4:30 and finished the final third of the film. Knowing I was going to be heading out for dinner with friends, I abandoned my goal of writing up my notes and left it until Sunday morning - so here I am.

Cast
"One Round" Jack Sander - Carl Brisson
Mabel - Lillian Hall Davis
Bob Corby - Ian Hunter
The Promoter - Forrester Harvey
The Showman - Harry Terry
Jack's Trainer - Gorden Harker

Synopsis
Once again, Hitchcock opens a silent film with a tremendous amount of noise. Drums bang, mouths chatter, guns fire in a coconut shy.
The fair ground is buzzing with activity; lots of people having fun. At one booth, a showman is rallying crowds to come and see some boxing matches. A young girl, Mabel, is selling the tickets. One of the champs is Jack "One Round" Sander whose name says it all.
Mabel sees a potential competitor - Bob Corby - in the crowd and beckons him over. He accepts the challenge. During the fight, Bob proves himself worthy and wins - not until the fourth round, mind you, and not before the showman has rallied more crowds to see this amazing defeat.
Bob takes his winnings and on the way out, stops to talk to Mabel.

Bob: "We heard he was good and now we know!"
Mabel: We were hoping to get married, and now you've probably lost him his job!"

The man Bob is with writes a note on the back of his business card. His note reads:

Don't fix any other job until I have seen you tonight."

Mabel turns it over and reads the front:

JAMES WARE. MANAGER TO BOB CORBY - Heavyweight Champion of Australia

Mabel is a little starstruck by Bob and he bids her farewell, for now.
That night, Mabel is tending Jack's wounds in the tent when Bob and James turn up. Mabel introduces them to Jack.
James and Jack go off to talk business and Bob takes Mabel for a walk outside.
Bob presents Mabel with a bracelet.

A present for you from the money I won.

The two potential lovebirds are being watched by a fortune teller in her caravan.
Meanwhile, James and Jack are coming to an arrangement:

"...and if you win this trial fight you can be Bob's sparring partner."

Jack likes the proposition and they shake on it - the handshake fades into Bob holding Mabel's arm as he puts the bracelet onto it.
When Jack comes to tell Mabel his news, she surreptitiously hides the bracelet from him.

Mabel goes to speak to the fortune teller and asks what time will bring her. The gypsy, with her knowledge and prior snooping, tells Mabel what she wants to hear.

The next day, Jack is outside his caravan, washing in the pond. Mabel comes to greet him and as she does, her bracelet falls off into the water. Jack retrieves it and she has to explain.

Mabel: "He bought me the bangle because he didn't like taking the money he won...
...So it was really you who gave it to me."

Jack takes the bracelet and places it, incongruously, over her wedding finger.

Jack: Then I give it to you for this... If I win the trial fight, we'll get married the day after!"

Later on, Mabel is back at her booth, fretting over the possible result of the trial fight. Eventually a telegram is delivered. It reads:

Have Won. Shall see you at church tomorrow morning as arranged, Jack.

The wedding is a colourful affair with a variety of odd guests including a pair of Siamese twins, a very tall man and a very small man. After a few comical moments involving the best man (Jack's trainer) and the ring, the wedding is over and a reception is held.
Bob makes a brief speech, touching a raw nerve:

Bob: I think the prize at the booth should have been this charming bride. Anyway, now he's my sparring partner I shall take my revenge."

Jack responds:
I shall always be ready to fight for my wife against any man.

Another day, at the gym, Jack and Bob are training. Mabel goes to chat to Bob and another woman asks her to introduce her to Mabel's husband - indicating Bob. Jack isn't pleased. he takes his frustration out on the punch bag, imagining Bob's face upon it.

Later, at Jack and Mabel's apartment, a wild party is in session with music and flapper girls dancing madly. In a quieter anteroom, James and Jack are discussing things.

Jack: It seems as though I shall have to fight for my wife after all.

James points out Jack's low-billing on a poster and says he has a way to go until he reaches the heights of Bob - implying that is what is needed to woo the women.
Eventually, the party dissipates and only Mabel is left. She's at the piano, playing a melancholy tune. When Jack goes over, he sees she has a framed picture of Bob in front of her.

After another successful fight, Jack and his entourage return to his apartment hoping to celebrate the good news with Mabel - She isn't home. Jack pours everyone champagne with the intention of drinking it upon her return. Time passes and the champagne begins to go flat. The boys realise they ought to leave and do so, leaving Jack to feel sorry for himself. Eventually, Mabel returns after a night out on the town with Bob. Jack flares up and throws Bob's picture across the room, smashing the champagne glasses. He rips Mabel's dress and tears her bracelet from her arm. She flees into her room.
He leaves the apartment after depositing the bracelet on the occasional table in the hallway. He is off to find Bob.

At the local club, he finds Bob with James. Bob attempts to be civil and offers Jack some champagne - Jack simply tips it out onto the floor. Insulter, Bob tips the table aside as a challenge - Jack simply punches him hard in the face, knocking him back. Jack tells James, who is in shock; He can try and reverse it in the ring if he likes!
Jack returns to the flat. The bracelet is gone and there's a note form Mabel on the mantelpiece.

I have gone to people who know how to treat me properly.

It's the night of the big fight at the Royal Albert Hall between Jack and Bob. Mabel turns up and sits in the front row.
Theirs is the fourth contest of the day and obviously the biggest spectacle of them all - everyone applauds when teh two fighters arrive at their corners.
Initially, the fight does not look good for Jack - he is distracted when he sees Mabel in the crowd and Bob catches him off guard. By round three, Jack is struggling.
In the break between rounds, Mabel - utterly distraught at witnessing his pummeling, makes her decision between the two men - she approaches Jack and whispers;

"Jack... I'm with you... in your corner."

This is all he needs. He strides into round floor and finally knocks Bob out cold.
Jack wins the fight and she removes the bracelet from her arm.

Afterward, in the dressing room, one of the crew hand the bracelet to Bob in his dressing room, saying he found it at the ring-side.
Bob looks at it and tosses it back to the man. He has lost more than just the fight.

The End

(not so) Great Lines
One would have imagined, knowing Hitch's wonderfully dark humour, that there would be more classy or bitchy lines within the script, but there are none to really shout about. Only one stands out, mainly because it feels so shockingly appalling due to its racist tones.

James: If you win this next fight with the nigger, you'll be in the running for the championship.

We have to look at this with a contemporary and contextual eye, but it still smarts.

Comments
Rather surprisingly, Hitch was a bit of a boxing fan and would attend a number of matches in his spare time.
This was Hitch's only screenplay (although written alongside his wife, Alma Reville, who was uncredited. Shame!) and without implying any disrespect to the great man, I am quite pleased he stuck to directing from here on in.

I have to admit, I was taken aback by the oddly embarrassing stall at the fair ground in which a black man sits on a dunking stool whilst white-folk attempt to knock him off - even when a couple of children throw eggs at his face, a policeman merely laughs at their antics - thank heavens we've come on a long way since then!

The boxing scenes are well shot, even if I do find them a little tedious.
Interestingly, the lead actor, Carl Brisson, was a professional boxer already, so there was little training for him to do. The scene where he knocks out Ian Hunter is rather realistic mainly because it was absolutely real!

The best thing about this film is the number of clever Hitchcock touches. His clever use of overlays, the way he gives the impression of time passing, the use of reflected surfaces (mirrors and water) for point of view shots... all these are beautifully arranged to lift the film from the ordinary to a higher level.

My Verdict
OK, so I am a little biased as I find films about sport incredibly tedious. Saying that, I would have hoped that the love triangle plot would make up for the drearier side, but it felt so unconvincing, especially the sudden turn-around for Mabel at the end. Fickle bitch! The only character I felt anything for was Jack, but that's probably due to his devilish good looks. Although it has many nice touches, it is not one of Hitchcock's best (although other critics would tell you otherwise).
4/10

Easy Virtue

Title: Easy Virtue
Year: 1927
Studio: Gainsborough
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard
Source Material: The play by Noel Coward
Running Time: 1 hour
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Thursday 10th June, 2:00pm
Today, I should have been at work, but my innards were having other plans. I left work around lunchtime on Wednesday after feeling rather ill. I was shaky, dizzy and my bowels were auditioning for the role of cymbals in the 1812 overture.
This morning, I had every intention of heading back to work. I caught the train at 6:20 and got off to change at Richmond station. Whilst waiting for the train to Camberwell, I sat on the cold metal bench under the dark skies and I pondered the truth of the situation. I was still feeling queasy and although I had an appointment with one of my customers and a meeting to attend, I knew that the world would keep on running without me - my job simply isn't that important that my health should take a backseat. I let my train arrive and depart without me boarding and I wandered back to platform 2 and awaited the Sandringham train to take me home.
After visiting the doctor in the morning (yes, it is merely a viral thing, blah blah) I returned to my abode and decided to continue with my Hitchcock project. I began at 2:00 but I became awash with tiredness half an hour later, so I returned to the bed, mid-viewing, and my cat, Fizzgig, accompanied me - she even got under the covers for a snuggle. I awoke an hour later and resumed the film...

Cast
Larita Filton - Isabel Jeans
Her Husband - Franklin Dyall
Mr Claude Robson - Eric Bransby Williams
Plaintiffs Counsel - Ian Hunter
John Whittaker - Robin Irvine
John's Mother - Violet Farebrother
John's Father - Frank Elliott
John's Elder Sister - Dacia Deane
John's Younger Sister - Dorothy Boyd
Sarah - Enid Stamp-Taylor

Synopsis
Virtue is its own reward they say - - but Easy virtue is society's reward for a slandered reputation
We begin in court, a judge is presiding over a divorce court and over the first few scenes we learn about the case in a number of flashbacks.
Larita is married to a drunken brute who is overtly possessive. Larita has been posing for an artist by the name of Claude Robson. The husband is jealous and Claude wants to save Larita from the abusive marriage.
After one session with the artist, the husband returns home. He is furious when he finds Larita and Claude in an embrace, albeit an innocent one on Larita's part.
The husband attacks Claude, beating him with his cane. Claude has reached for a gun, he shoots. Larita's husband collapses. The housekeeper screams and runs for the police. In a panic, Claude kills himself. However, the husband is merely wounded and survives.

Back in court, the jury have to come to their conclusion. It has been noted that Claude had also left Larita a lot of money in his will.
The jury reach their verdict:
We find Larita Filton guilty of misconduct with the late Claude Robson."
The court clears and Larita is thrown to the wolves of the press who refer to her as the notorious Mrs Filton.

Reporters - photographers - publicity... Larita fought to forget them all on the tolerant shores of the Mediterranean.

At a hotel in the South of France, she signs in as Larita Grey as her infamy has followed her. She tries to remain incognito and lies low. Whilst watching a tennis match, a ball strikes her on the face and one of the players rushes to her aid. It's a young man named John Whittaker. He takes her to his room where he prepares cocktails for her on the balcony and a nurse attends to Larita's eye.
He woos her with flowers and they take romantic rides in horse-drawn carriages.

Larita found something reassuring in John's devotion... it was like a cool breeze sweeping away the ugly memories of the past.

He proposes to her and she won't give her answer straight away. In a beautiful moment, we learn of her answer through the eyes of a telephone receptionist who puts the call through and listens in. We see her face go from curiosity via devoted interest, through shock and eventually to romance.

The two marry off-screen, we are only alerted by a luggage label denoting her new surname. We then follow their luggage home via carriage, boat (with a very odd moment featuring a poodle and then a bulldog - I don't get this at all!), train and finally by car. The two lovers travel across the moors and eventually arrive at the Moat House in Peveril, England.
John's family are initially welcoming, but his mother is cold and suspicious. She has invited a young girl named Sarah to the dinner. She is an old flame of John's and a favourite of his mother's. She knew full well that Larita would be attending, so she's just playing the manipulative matriarch to her best ability. Sarah is the epitome of kindness and politeness, accepting John and his new bride with open arms.
Mother is positive Larita is keeping secrets from them. She is sure she has seen her somewhere before.

During the days that followed, Mrs Whittaker made Larita's life a burden to her - in private... But she was all smiles and sweetness with her - in public.

A few days later, at a polo match at which many people from far and wide attend, Larita spies someone from her past (I struggle to figure out exactly who he is, to be honest) and she fears she will be exposed.

John's mother and sister are then writing invitations to a dance party at their home for the 22nd June, 1926. Larita offers to help, but mother declines the offer.

Some friends of John turn up to play tennis. Larita sulks in the drawing room and spies a camera on a shelf. This reminds her of the invasive nature of the press and hurls a book at it.
That night, she has nightmares. She explains to John that she hates being in that house and that the family hate her. He storms off.

So Larita remained - and suffered.

The day of the dance, Larita is in the garden reading and she overhears Sarah and John talking.

Sarah: John - - you're neglecting Larita - and it's not fair to her.
John: It's been a terrible mistake... Mother made me see that.
Sarah: If only you'd realised - before it was too late!

Later, John's younger sister discovers a newspaper article which features Larita in photos and refers to her past surname. She shows it to mother and it suddenly dawns on her. She remembers the divorce case.

She confronts Larita along with the family. the father is not sure why anyone should care or make a fuss. When John discovers, he is confused and angry - but with whom? Larita for lying or his mother for interfering?
John's mother then goes on a tirade against Larita and she tries to stick up for herself.

Mother: In our world we do not understand this code of easy virtue.
Larita: In your world you understand very little of anything, Mrs Whittaker.

In the hall, John's father tries to console Larita.
That night, Larita is upstairs as all the guests arrive. John's mother tells everyone that her daughter-in-law shall not be attending as she has a headache.
Larita will not be kept prisoner in her room and dresses beautifully (and provocatively) and descends the stairs, humiliating John's mother at the same time.
She makes the decision to leave that night after the party and files for divorce.
All this to make everyone else happy but herself.

Back in the courtrooms, the case is concluded quickly and Larita steps out to await her trail by press...

The End

Great Lines
The superb comeback from Larita after John's mother has been abusing her verbally; "Now that you have quite exhausted your venom, I shall go to my room." - nonchalant and classy!
Apparently, Hitch hated the final line, but I (and other critics, apparently) love it. "Shoot! There's nothing left to kill." True pathos, balancing humour and heartbreak in equal measure.

Comments
I have watched this film a couple of times and although it tells a very basic story, it loses a few things in translation from play to silent screen. Noel Coward's wonderful dialogue is obviously one of the major losses, but the body of the play and the pertinence of the reflections on snobbery in society are still at the fore.
The notion of a family being ridiculed for having a divorcee in their midst is all rather bemusing in our 21st Century world, but we have to look at the film in context. This was a time when so many things were taboo - not only in society but also in the movie industry.
In one clever move, a juror's notes are frequently viewed on screen so we don't simply rely on the dialogue cards to aid the plot.
The telephone receptionist scene is quite possibly the highlight of the movie. Sucha simple yet effective way of storytelling through mime.
Some of the editing is a bit disappointing and scenes jump too rapidly. The death of the artist happens so incredibly quickly, there isn't even a chance to blink and miss it - it simply happens - one moment he is looking at the gun. The next he is dead. Obviously too dramatic for the audience of the 1920s.
A handful of lovely touches from Hitch; the swinging of the eyeglass merging into the swinging of the pendulum denoting time passing, the initial framing of a scene through a tennis racket, the judge focusing in on characters through his eye glass, and the terrific shot early on of the husband's viewpoint - he sees the artist's back, the artist looks over his own left shoulder looking rather evil and Larita's innocent yet scared eyes peeking over the artist's right shoulder like a frightened animal.
Also worth mentioning is the book-ending of the court room scenes and, most notably, the shots of the judge's wig.

My Verdict
It's all rather depressing, really. Poor Larita.
Not the best of the early Hitchcock films, but not the worst. My advice is either see the play or the fantastic recent movie adaptation by Stephan Elliott starring Ben Barnes, Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth - it's a hoot!!
5/10

Downhill

Title: Downhill
Year: 1927
Studio: Gainsborough
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard
Source Material: A play by David L'Estrange
Running Time: 82 minutes
A Silent Picture in Black & White

Saturday 5th June, 8:00am
I awoke early this morning, but I had slept for nine and a half hours having gone to bed at 7:30 last night. The conference I had attended had obviously had more of an effect on me than I had realised. So, awaking bright and early, I thought I'd sort myself out. The day had a few chores lying ahead and I knew I must get a number of them done, but I didn't want to miss out on the latest Hitchcock update.
Did I mention previously what I had discovered on Google?
Well, I was asked by 'blogger' whether I wanted this blog 'searchable' on Google. I ticked the 'yes please, oh how I'd love to be stalked and know what it's like to be famous' box.
Once I had done that, I tried Googling myself.
Oh.
Dear.
It seems somebody has beaten me to it and also begun a blog of watching Hitchcock's films chronologically. Damn it!
Still, I am doing it for my own pleasure, really. So it doesn't really matter.
Anyway, on with the plot...

Cast
Roderick Berwick - Ivor Novello
Sir Thomas Berwick - Norman McKinnell
Lady Berwick - Lillian Braithwaite
Timothy Wakeley - Robin Irving
Rev. Henry Wakeley - Jerrold Robertshaw
Sybil Wakeley - Sybil Rhoda
Mabel - Annette Benson
Julia Fotheringale - Isabel Jeans
Archie - Ian Hunter
Madame Michet - Barbara Gott
'Poetess' - Violet Farebrother

Synopsis
Here is a tale of two school-boys who make a pact of loyalty. One of them kept it - at a price.

The World of Youth
We begin with a private school Rugby match. Roderick Berwick plays well for his team, 'The Old Boys'. Once off the pitch, we meet Timothy Wakeley, Roddy's room mate. His father, a Reverend, and his sister Sybil are attending and they take note of a sign stating the requirement of entries for scholarship to be handed into the bursar no later than February 22nd. Tim and his father are keen for Oxford University. Sybil wanders off and accidentally catches sight of the rugby boys in their changing rooms (shock, horror! and a Reverend's daughter, too!) Afterward, there's a huge dinner at the private school's dining room and families of the boys attend. One of the waitresses, Mabel, flirts with Tim and hands him a note:

Darling Boy, I'll be alone at the shop after six. Do come. Love, Mabel

Then, whilst the crowd are saying grace, Roddy stumbles in to the dining hall. Acknowledging the grace, he waits by the door and Mable cheekily plays footsie with him.
After dinner, both Tim and Roddy turn up at the shop Mabel works at; 'Ye Olde Bunne Shop'. It sells a variety of groceries and sweets. It's a quiet evening at the shop and Mabel invites the boys into the back room. She puts on a record called 'I Want Some Money' - a telling sign of her nature.
She dances with Roddy and then Tim, although he steps on her foot. A young boy comes into the shop and Roddy goes to assist. He accidentally charges the boy incorrectly. the boy then returns with his mates so they can all get 'bargains'. Feeling bad, he gives Mabel the money to make up the difference, proving his character. However, all sorts of shenanigans have been going on behind his back.
As the boys leave, Mabel highlights the sign on the door detailing the shop's closing times on Wednesday afternoon to Tim.

Later on, we witness a school assembly in which Roderick is announced as the new year captain. He is given a new cap with an 'honour' badge adorning it.

Later still, both Tim and Roddy are called to the headmaster's office. Mabel is there already, sitting quietly. She had brought a serious charge against one of the boys as she has fallen pregnant. She accuses Roddy, knowing full well that he comes from a wealthy background. The real culprit is Timothy, but from a meagre background of a Reverend's son and in need of scholarship, she feels she should be milking a richer cow.
Roddy is an honourable boy as his cap states. He takes the fall and is expelled. He makes a pact with Timothy to never tell the truth, He leaves and returns home. His mother is delighted to see him, but his father is suspicious. When Roddy explains, his father does not believe him, calls him a liar and Roddy leaves dramatically.

Roddy arrives in the centre of London and heads to the underground so he can escape his life and find a new one. We see him descend the escalator...

So the pact was kept - - at a price.

The World of Make Believe
The second act opens with, it seems, Roddy working as a waiter at a seaside resort. We see him pocket a pretty girl's cigarette case. Then we pull back to see he is actually on stage in a theatre as part of a chorus in a musical.
Later, he turns up at the star's dressing room. She is Julia Fotheringale, a beautiful blonde who loves the luxuries of life. He uses the cigarette case as a device to go and see her. She seems to enjoy his rather transparent attempts at wooing her. He is also being watched by her co-star, Archie, who also has designs on her. He sits in earshot the whole time and drinks alcohol. The three of them leave the theatre together in a taxi as it's pouring down with rain, but Roddy alights and catches the next bus home. Upon his return to his tiny abode, he discovers his God-mother has died and left him thirty thousand pounds.

He returns to the theatre the next day, looking rather dressed up to the nines. This impresses Julia a lot. If it were a cartoon, she'd have dollar signs in her eyes.
Archie basically concedes defeat but points out a pile of receipts and bills, highlighting her love of the finer things in life.

Roddy and Julia marry, and soon have their own beautiful apartment which, unwisely, Roddy has signed over to her. She has been spending like crazy and the bank account is now overdrawn by two hundred pounds. She has been having an affair with Archie who has continued to buy her expensive gifts. Roddy comes home and catches them and fights with Archie. He wins, but it is Julia who kicks Roddy out, leaving him penniless once more. He leaves the apartment and descends in the elevator...

The World of Lost Illusions
In Paris, Roddy has found himself as a dance gigolo in the ball rooms of the Moulin Rouge. His boss is Madame Michet and it is clear she has given him a helping hand as he still owes her some money. He dances with different girls for a small sum throughout the night. His despair is apparent in the wee small hours and a woman who is only described as a 'poetess' pays for the pleasure of his company - she does not dance, she merely talks to him and he tells his story. She pities him and she makes advances but he spurns them as he has sunk so low.
Suddenly, a man is choking, the staff try to help, some go to open the windows to let some fresh air in. Dawn is breaking and light splices through the seedy darkness, highlighting the pitiful displays of human behaviour around the room. The screen cap illustrates: Searching, relentless sunlight
He looks around the room like he's having an epiphany. Then he simply quits and walks out into the morning air.

Downhill - till what was left of him was thrown to the rats of a Marseilles dockside.
The finale. Roddy has succumbed to a dark place. He inhabits a dingy, squalid room along with a young black man, an older whit man and a black 'Mame' (although, oddly, this is a white actress blacked up!)
These three dubious figures sit around smoking and drinking. They worry for their friend as he has become weak and feeble. They find in his wallet a letter to Timothy detailing his plans:

Dear Tim,
I am done for. If you ever get this it will mean that I'm dead and buried. But I want you to know that I've kept my promise. Roddy.

The three pity him and drag him away. They put him on a boat to England. Roddy is still delirious during the journey and sees visions of those who have betrayed him laughing and counting his money. He also has a vision of Tim and Mabel, seemingly happy and together at the Olde Bunne Shoppe.
Once back in England, he walks all the way back to London, driven purely by blind instinct. He hesitantly rings the bell of his family home. The butler answers, but barely recognises him. Once indoors, his parents return home. His father is shocked, but embraces him, telling him that he is forgiven and that he knows the whole truth and wants his son's pardon. The family hug and all is well again.
In a brief coda, we see Roddy doing what he loves most, playing rugby with the Old Boys.

Great Lines
There aren't that many 'classic' lines - most are simply to advance the plot and explain what's going on. However, I did like the following:
Madame Michet to client: "There is a nice English boy, very cheap at fifty francs a dance."
And the poetess to Roddy in the ball room; "You seem different, somehow - - among all this artificiality - "

Comments
The very opening shot of a referee blowing a whistle is Hitchcock playing with his dry sense of irony. A loud noise in a silent film.
He uses some beautiful shots in this film including some superb panning shots at the Moulin rouge, tracking shots following various characters paths and for one brief moment we see a technique which in the Twenty First Century is being used ubiquitously as if it was a brand new concept. I am sure you will have seen a film or TV show in which a character is walking in a daze. The camera is positioned in front of their face as they stare blankly ahead and we move with them, watching their background disappear behind them. Sure, it's used all the time these days, but when Roddy is staggering back home to London, we experience the same motion. It may not be as technically perfect as we are used to, but it certainly provides the same effect.
One rather risque piece of comedy comes when in Julia's dressing room. Archie is in the foreground whilst Roddy clumsily attempts to woo Julia. Archie, being a more mature man is not impressed. We see him spray soda from the soda fountain directly in front of our line of sight to Roddy and Julia, symbolising Roddy's youth and premature... well, I don't think you need me to spell it out for you.
The purposeful division of the film into four acts works well and reminds viewers of its theatrical origins. Also, the book-ending of the film with the two rugby matches are almost like symbolic curtains to the picture.
Hitch's use of montage work well here. Both for flashbacks and fantasy sequences. The rather creepy scenes Roddy witnesses whilst delirious on the boat are quite nightmarish in a very true sense. When he watches those who have hurt or betrayed him all seated together, counting the money that was rightfully his and their laughs of derision are the moments of paranoia we all may have experienced in our dreams.
The frequent visual references to a descent into hell are powered home by longer edits. The escalator heading down into the underground and the elevator leading down from his luxury apartment both linger a couple of seconds longer than one might expect, purely to illicit an uncomfortable sense of danger and depression.
I wonder if the large gates from which Roddy exits the Moulin Rouge ball rooms are symbolic of one of the gates of hell.
And, I'm sorry, but the 'poetess' who tries to extract his soul through discussion? SHE LOOKS LIKE A MAN!!

My Verdict
This is a film which had me confused in places and in awe in others. Some of the scenes are delicately played and evoke the emotions one is supposed to feel. However, there are some parts which feel a little confused. I have to admit to saying out loud on occasion "What's going on?" and it would take a few moments for the pieces to fall into place. This may have been deliberate, but I doubt that. The relationship between Julia and Archie was rather bizarre and I am still a bit unnerved by it. He looked like her dad!
The good outweighs the bad, but I would like to have seen what became of Timothy. Surely he should have got some retribution for his actions? 5/10