Hitchcock One by One: THE FARMER'S WIFE (1928)

Who Made It?
Adapted for the screen by Elliot Stannard
Based on the play by Eden Phillpots
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Who's In It?
Jameson Thomas as Samuel Sweetland, a Farmer
Lilian Hall-Davis as Araminta Dench, his Housekeeper
Gordon Harker as Churdles Ash, his Handyman
Maud Gill as Thirza Tapper
Louie Pounds as Louisa Windeatt, a Widow
Olga Slade as Mary Hearn, Postmistress
Ruth Maitland as Mercy Bassett

What's It About?
Farmer Sweetland is in the market for a new bride. Can he overcome his towering social incompetence to claim a new partner? Or will he notice and accept the love of the woman who is already by his side?

'Minta (Lilian Hall-Davis) and Farmer Sweetland (Jameson Thomas).

Why Should I See It?
After the death of his wife and the marriage of his daughter, Samuel Sweetland (Jameson Thomaas) is inspired to seek a new wife and, with the assistance of his housekeeper, 'Minta (Lilian Hall-Davis, seen previously in The Ring), compiles a list of likely candidates. Up to this point, the film plays like a drama; but once Mr. Sweetland sets off to call on the first of the lucky ladies, the picture swings fully into comedy mode.

The objects of his affection (Olga Slade, Maud Gill, Louie Pounds). 

And it's a wickedly funny comedy. Farmer Sweetland's odyssey of social missteps is so colossal that one wants to reach into the screen, take him by the shoulders, and give him a productive thrashing. I don't want to ruin any of the laughs; suffice it to say that the humor holds up well and modern audiences may be surprised at some of the racier bits.

The Farmer's Wife is notable for the quantity of first-person shots from the point of view of Sweetland's prospective wives. Over and over we are harangued by the indignant farmer's long silent monologues. This may sound a bit surreal, but Jameson Thomas's expressive face really makes it work.

The film also has a bit of a feminist bent. Throughout the picture, Farmer Sweetland seems to expect his targets to immediately and gratefully accept his proposals. Instead, time and again, he is firmly rebuffed by women who are firmly in control of their own affairs without the aid of a paternalistic partner (even if the women are sometimes portrayed as a bit goofy—this is a comedy, after all).

What Else?
The Farmer's Wife is really a great picture—once it gets going. The film's first act is a little too slow and a little too serious, but it's worth sitting through for what comes after. Also, without giving anything away, I'm a little surprised that the ultimate conclusion wasn't a little better forshadowed earlier in the picture. It almost feels like a bit of an afterthought when it comes.

There are times when The Farmer's Wife, especially in its first act, reminds me of D.W. Griffith's pastoral films (the best of which is probably True Heart Susie). The emphasis on location, on an idealized, British rural setting is very similar to Griffith's evocation of a glorified, idyllic American scene.

Where Can I See It?
Unfortunately, The Farmer's Wife has yet to see a properly-presented DVD or blu-ray release in the US. It is easily available on any number of low-quality, budget compilation sets. The version that I viewed is included in "Alfred Hitchcock: The Legend Begins". It's perfectly watchable, but could be much better.

The Farmer's Wife is currently undergoing a major restoration by the British Film Institute. Here’s hoping we see a sparkling new edition soon!

What's the Bottom Line?
The Farmer's Wife is a successful and rewarding silent comedy, not what most audiences will expect from a Hitchcock picture, but ripe for rediscovery in the 21st century.

Special Note
While writing this it came to my attention that I botched the chronology a little: we should have viewed Easy Virtue between The Ring and Downhill. We'll watch that one next before we move onward to Champagne.

Flashback: THE PLEASURE GARDEN

My review of Hitchcock's next film, The Farmer's Wife, has taken longer than expected due to a series of family illnesses (everyone's fine!). Here's something to look at while we wait...

If you're read this far, you may remember me exclaiming over the artistic, animated intertitles of The Lodger, and then complaining about the boring, static intertitles of The Ring. A reader pointed out an interesting link to the Hitchcock Wiki showing how the original intertitles of The Pleasure Garden had been replaced for the Rohauer restoration (which is the version that I viewed). It's entirely possible that The Ring suffered a similar fate at some point in its long history.

Newsflash! THE HITCHCOCK AND TRUFFAUT TAPES

Ambrose Heron, over at FILMdetail, has links to the audio recordings of François Truffaut's 1962 interviews with Alfred Hitchcock in downloadable MP3 format. Be sure to give them a listen!

Hitchcock One By One: DOWNHILL (1927)

Who Made It?
Written by Constance Collier and Ivor Novello (under the combined pseudonym of David L'Estrange)
Scenario by Elliot Stannard
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Who's In It?
Ivor Novello as Roddy Berwick
Isabel Jeans as Julia
Ben Webster as Dr. Dowson
Robin Irvine as Tim Wakeley
Ian Hunter as Archie

What's It About?
Here is a tale of two school-boys who made a pact of loyalty. One of them kept it—at a price.

Roddy Berwick is expelled from school after taking the fall for his roommate when a local girl falsely accuses him of inappropriate behavior (the film is coy about the precise nature of the accusation; I have my own ideas about what's being said). From there, Roddy's life slides into a steady downward spiral and we get to come along for the ride.

The night before and the morning after.

Why Should I See It?

Downhill feels like a return to form after the disappointment of The Ring. The ingenuity, the creative spark, the sense that the director is fully engaged by the material, all of the elements that made The Lodger such a refreshing picture return in full force in a film that may be the best of Hitchcock's early output thus far.

Ivor Novello, who cowrote the story, does a stupendous job as the terminally naïve Roddy Berwick, getting to stretch quite a bit more than he did in the title role of The Lodger. It's a part that's deeper and more complex than is commonly seen in silent pictures; indeed, the entire cast excels. Those who think of silent-film performances as hammy mugging and histrionic gesticulating are in for a revelation: this is what great silent acting looks like.

Hitchcock develops the film's theme early and often: Roddy's story is a descent into ever deeper despair, a journey captured by the director in literal visual terms.

Going down!

As the film's antagonists deceive Roddy, so the film deceives the audience: one of the best reveals I've ever seen in a motion picture involves no fewer than three consecutive misdirections in as many minutes. I don't want to give too much away, but when the film cuts to Ivor Novello in an elegant suit with a white bow tie, it's time to pay attention.

There are a number of other visual tricks and treats, including another montage sequence (similar to one seen in The Ring) and a fun POV shot that turns the frame topsy-turvy.

Roddy's dreaming montage.

"Who's there?"

What Else?

There are also a number of fascinating mobile point-of-view shots near the end of the film that involved the use of several types of cameras and rigs: the equivalent of hand-held and steadicam shots in an era before such technology existed.

Downhill's ending may strike some as being somewhat contrived or forced. I was happy with it. See what you think.

Where Can I See It?
As of February 2011, Downhill is unavailable in the US on any home video format. It is, however, available in a good, albeit completely silent (i.e., no musical score), streaming or download version from Archive.org (click here to view).

Downhill is currently undergoing a major restoration by the British Film Institute. Here’s hoping we see a sparkling new edition soon!

What's the Bottom Line?

Downhill is a phenomenal Hitchcock silent that deserves more attention and a far wider audience. Do yourself a favor and watch this one soon.

Newsflash! A YEAR OF HITCHCOCK MOVIES

Be sure to check out A Year of Hitchcock Movies, where Jeff and Dianne, like me, are watching Alfred Hitchcock's pictures in chronological order. They discuss his films in pre- and post-movie video clips and encourage their viewers to participate and to watch the films themselves as they go along. Our projects complement one another and I invite my readers to visit their site, too, for a double-dose of Hitch!

http://www.AYearOfHitchcockMovies.com

Hitchcock One By One: THE RING (1927)

Who Made It?
Written and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his only original screenplay

Who's In It?
Carl Brisson as "One Round" Jack Sander
Lillian Hall-Davis as The Girl
Ian Hunter as Bob Corby

What's It About?

Australian champion boxer Bob Corby (Ian Hunter) hires "One Round" Jack Sander (Carl Brisson) as his sparring partner after defeating him incognito at the boxing tent of the local fair. The Aussie pugilist has an eye for "One Round's" girl (Lillian Hall-Davis). A fisticuffs-punctuated love triangle ensues.  

The Girl (Lillian Hall-Davis, left), "One Round" Jack Sander (Carl Brisson, right), and the man who comes between them, Bob Corby (Ian Hunter, center).

Why Should I See It?

The Ring has some characteristics not seen in Hitchcock's previous two extant films. First, he demonstrates an eye for local color, for faces and "bits of business", as D.W. Griffith would say, that lend charm and atmosphere to a picture. The local fair in which the opening scenes occur offers a splendid example of this newfound attention to milieu.

We also see some use of subjective expressionist montage to illustrate "One Round's" point of view as he sinks into a rage of jealousy over his girl's presumed infidelity, or as he faces a string of challengers as he climbs boxing's championship ladder.

There is a recurring "ring" motif throughout the picture. Bob Corby presents the girl with an armband, which she is forced to keep hidden from "One Round". It's this event that begins round one of our heavyweight love match. Later, "One Round" attempts to make an honest woman out of her with a wedding ring. And then, of course, there's the boxing ring, where the men clobber one another to settle their differences.

The ring, the ring, and the ring.

What Else?

The Ring is not, on balance, a strong film. In fact, coming on the heels of The Lodger, it's a major letdown. Gone is the innovation and sense of discovery that infused his previous film. This one, by contrast, seems firmly rooted in the conventional. Oh, and in place of The Lodger's inventive animated intertitles, we're back to standard, static ones. Perhaps Hitchcock blew the intertitle budget and was asked to rein in his excesses...?  

The performances are all good if unremarkable. There is a touching scene midway through the film when "One Round" sees his fickle girl playing the piano. His longing and insecurity are palpable; we really feel for him in that moment, and we share in his anger when he discovers that she's playing to a photo of his rival.



Unfortunately, this scene plays in spite of the film's primary flaw: each of The Ring's three lead characters is clueless, a jerk, or some combination of the two. The "villain", Bob Corby, thinks nothing of romancing his friend's wife, who doles out her loyalty to whichever of the two men is higher on the championship roster (a point made explicit by Corby's manager). Meanwhile, "One Round", our "hero", dimly channels all of his energy and talent struggling for the affections of a woman who is demonstrably unworthy of the effort. This situation prevails throughout the film and I'm hardly giving anything away when I say that none of the characters is any wiser at the end of the story. It's a weak foundation for a picture and I sincerely doubt that anyone, even Alfred Hitchcock, could overcome such a central flaw. What's surprising is that he didn't see the problem at the outset.

Oh, and one more first for a Hitchcock picture: is that an obscene gesture during the wedding ceremony?

Take it outside, gentlemen!

Where Can I See It?

As of February 2011, The Ring is available in the US in an acceptable edition as part of Lionsgate's "Alfred Hitchcock: The Early Years of the Master of Suspense" boxed set. There are also any number of cheapie public-domain editions available. Please avoid these and pay a few extra dollars for the Lionsgate edition which offers a better presentation with a decent piano score.

The Ring is currently undergoing a major restoration by the British Film Institute. Here’s hoping we see a sparkling new edition soon! 

What's the Bottom Line?

The Ring is a fundamentally flawed picture recommended to Hitchcock completists only.

Hitchcock One by One: THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG (1927)

Who Made It?
Written by Eliot Stannard
Based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Who's In It?
Ivor Novello as The Lodger
June as Daisy
Marie Ault as The Landlady
Arthur Chesney as Her Husband
Malcolm Keen as Joe, The Police Detective

What's It About?

Daisy's family takes in a mysterious boarder just as London is gripped by "The Avenger", a serial killer with a predilection for curly blondes. As the days go by, the family grows ever more suspicious: could their paying houseguest be the very fiend who terrorizes the city?

The film's opening scene. Hitchcock achieved this effect by having the actress lay flat on a glass pane, spreading her hair behind her, and lighting her from beneath.

Why Should I See It?

The Lodger is a superior silent film, stylish and atmospheric, fascinating and suspenseful. I was unprepared for just how good a film it is, especially coming on the heels of the enjoyable but unremarkable The Pleasure Garden (granted, Hitchcock's second film, the now-lost The Mountain Eagle was made in between). Clearly showing the influence of the German Expressionists in cinematography and design (Hitchcock had worked at Germany's UFA studios for a number of years and made 1925's The Pleasure Garden there), this is, hands-down, one of the finest silents I've seen. For many directors, this film would have been the high point of a career.

Ivor Novello, who was a matinee idol in the UK, plays the title role, the mysterious stranger who arouses fear and suspicion amongst the other occupants of the household, including Daisy's police-detective boyfriend, Joe. Could the lodger be the killer who roams the streets, claiming victims on Tuesday evenings? It certainly seems that he could be. He is a creepy guy (Novello does such a good job establishing this that it's tough to shake later when we're asked to be more sympathetic). He takes a liking to Daisy who happens to have blonde, curly hair—just the sort whom the killer finds attractive. And his behavior fits the pattern of the killer's activities to a T, a fact not lost on Joe the detective. (As I watched the film, I began to wonder if the lodger wasn't a misdirection and if Joe wasn't the killer. There's a point in the narrative where the pieces fit and either one of them could just as easily have been the villain.) It was Hitchcock's intent to film a faithful adaptation of Lowndes' novel, but Novello's status as silent-era heartthrob wouldn't allow it, so Hitchcock had to devise a new, somewhat ingenuous third act that deviates sharply from the novel while still telling a satisfying story. I think he did a good job. See what you think.



Ivor Novello as the lodger in the film's signature images.

Hitchcock was trained as a draftsman and his career in motion pictures began as a title designer, a talent which he put to good use here. In contrast to the traditional, textual intertitles of The Pleasure Garden, The Lodger's titles are stylish, bold, and even occasionally animated. They are works of art unto themselves and really help give the film a distinctive flavor. While such flamboyant treatment of intertitles is not unheard of elsewhere, it is fairly unusual. Seeing the impact they make here makes me wish that more producers of the era would have followed Hitchcock's example.



A few of THE LODGER's intertitles (click to enlarge). All three of these are animated in the film.

Also noteworthy are Hitchcock's attempts to compensate for the lack of sound. Chief among several examples is a scene in which the other occupants are chilled by the sound of the lodger's footsteps in the room above them. They look up, the chandelier sways slightly, and the ceiling fades away revealing the lodger, seemingly suspended in midair, walking over our heads. It's a bravura sequence and one that required innovation and ingenuity. It's worth pointing out that, had this been a talking picture, this scene would likely have been accomplished through sound effects and we would have missed out on what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest treats in all of silent cinema.



The lodger paces the floor above... (click to enlarge)

What Else?

Many have pointed out the Christian imagery that appears here and there in The Lodger. As he peers out from an upstairs window at a newsboy shouting the news of the latest murder, the window grille casts a shadow in the form of a cross across the boarder's face. Later, during the film's climax, he hangs from a fence by his handcuffed wrists, a supplicant beaten by an angry crowd.

Where Can I See It?

As of January 2011, The Lodger is available in the US in a fine, tinted edition as part of MGM's "Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection" boxed set and, until recently, as a standalone DVD. There is also any number of cheapie public-domain editions available. Please avoid these and pay a few extra dollars for the MGM edition—the superior presentation is worth the investment.

The Lodger is currently undergoing a major restoration by the British Film Institute. Here’s hoping we see a sparkling new edition soon! 

What's the Bottom Line?

The Lodger is a superior silent film, stylish and atmospheric, fascinating and suspenseful. A clear precursor to Hitchcock's later films, this is a must-see picture and an excellent starting place for those new to silent cinema.

(Originally posted on Movie Literacy on January 27th, 2011)