Juno and the Paycock (1930)
I first thought I'm not going to review this one as the version I had was from a poor quality print and the sound was just aweful. As there were no subtitles either I couldn't really understand much from their Irish accent. So I couldn't see much or hear much, but I got the point as the movie was really perdictable. The script is from a theatre act and I have to say it doesn't really work in a movie. Hitchcock is clearly trying to open it up, but still it's surprisingly bad effort from the master. Even though the movie is quite tragic, there's some good humour in it too which was at points surprisingly dark toned. That was pretty much the only good thing about this one.
36%
Murder! (1930)
Even though this started off quite good, it got boring pretty soon after, though luckily towards the end it picked up some momentum again. It's a murder mystery and an early court house drama. The movie moves too slowly for the modern taste and the plot is way too predictable, but still there are some fine Hitchcockian moments in it. For example the sentencing scene is quite brilliant and also the hanging noose shadow on the wall is really effective. A bit too slow tempo for my taste so probably not worth the second viewing, even though there are those few great scenes.
49%
The Skin Game (1931)
Remake of The Skin Game from 1921. A dispute between two families that escalates to porportions neither of them are willing to handle. First of all the print this DVD was made from was really bad, the first quarter of the film was really hard to follow as the image was at points really unwatchable and the sound wasn't the best either. Luckily it got better in the end. Anyways this was a pretty weak effort from Hitchcock. It was just plain boring most of the time. Though the ending was really strong and definitely saved this movie a lot, but getting there wasn't easy. Also some of the cuts in the movie were just too confusing, for example first there's half an hour where the movie just stood still and then all of a sudden the plot takes a giant leap forward only to come to another stand still. The auction scene and the ending were really strong, but the rest was a weak effort.
31%
Mary (1931)
Haven't been able to find this movie from anywhere so haven't seen it. Though it clearly does still exist as it's been shown on TV on some countries and possibly on VHS as well. Haven't seen a DVD of it yet though. Anyone have any hints where to look from?
Rich and Strange (1931)
Well this wasn't a great movie either, but still it had some quite strong moments. The first few minutes are setting up the movie really nicely, but then it falls into the usual romance drama for about 50 minutes. Kind of boring, though I liked the idea of a strong woman who fixes things up. But near the end it gets a jump start with some quite strong scenes and themes, especially for a movie this old. There's even a bit of horror in it. Loved the eating scene on the Chinese boat. If the setup story would have been shorter and the end part longer, this would have been a great movie, but now it's just too uneven to be that.
45%
Number Seventeen (1932)
Hitchcock didn't want to direct this movie but as his previous films flopped he was basically forced to do this one. He himself consideres this movie to be one of his weakest. I don't really agree with that. Sure the plot is confusing and at parts a bit rushed making it hard to make any sense of it. But actually it adds new depth to the mystery quite nicely. You have a group of people in a house, all of who haven't been properly introduced to give any background info about them. They seem to be there for different reasons, but it turns out most of them are after some stolen jewelry. Hitchcock plays a lot with the shadows and the movie has a noirish touch to it. There are many nice tricks typical for him, but the movie itself seems a bit shallow. The pace is quite fast and action packed which was not typical for a thriller like this. Well worth watching and it's actually a nice little piece in Hitchcock's filmography being an action packed little thriller with some dark comedy.
80%
Waltzes from Vienna (1934)
At this point Hitchcock's career was in it's lowest point and the director was quite certain he wouldn't work in a picture again. After many straight box office failures he had to take every project he could and that's why this musical romantic comedy landed on his hands. It's not much a musical even though it tells the story of Johann Strauss, it focuses more on the characters than the music. Though of course Strauss' music is very present. There are some quite funny scenes and the hilarious start promised a lot more than the rest of the movie delivered. Even though I didn't really enjoy this movie, it's still a nice little oddity in the works of the master. And I was surprised how well he made the obviously very shaky script into a working movie. As a curiosity this is well worth seeing, but as entertainment it's really not.
40%
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Hitchcock was almost ready to end his career after a series of unproductive movies, struggling to find any kind of work with the movies. But while making Waltzes from Vienna (1934) he got the chance to direct this fairly low budget movie that he actually even wanted to do. The movie ended up saving his career. It became a small hit and did quite well at the box office, even though the film's producer thought it was garbage. It's a story about a family who gets mixed up in a plot to assassinate an ambassador. Their daughter gets kidnapped to keep them quiet and the father goes looking after her. Hitchcock makes most of the tiny budget and manages to squeeze out a very nice fast paced witty little thriller. There's not much of the typical movie trickery, but it has that Hitchcock feel all over it. Funny enough the idea of a common man getting unwillingly mixed up in some big conspiracy became a recurring theme in Hitchcock's movies. It's still not a masterpiece, but surely a very good movie and a brilliant effort knowing how little they had to work with in the first place. This was the first of the 6 straight thrillers he made that cemented his status as the master of suspense.
81%
The 39 Steps (1935)
After finally hitting gold at the box office Hitchcok was again able to make movies he himself wanted to make. This is the first part of the so called espionage trilogy. Again the theme of a wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time is there as a man watching a theatre act ending into a chaos meets a woman while they are fleeing from the theatre. The woman turns out to be a spy in the search of another spy with some highly confidential military secrets. The woman gets killed in the man's appartment and the police go after the man for the murder. The man is then forced to figure out the military espionage plan by himself to clear out his name. Again it's a solid, witty and fun little thriller without a dull moment. This movie features one of the most copied match cuts from Hitchcock; when a maid finds the body of the woman spy, her scream is cut to the train whistle where the man is fleeing to Scotland. That trick has been since used in hundreds of movies in some variation. There are plenty of other nice tricks in it too and the Hitchcock feel is pretty much starting to perfect itself. The movie also introduced another theme in Hitchcock's movies, the Hitchcock blonde. In most of his following movies the leading lady was blonde and stunningly beautiful, in this one the part is played by Madeleine Carroll. The movie was a hit and launched Hitchcock's career to an all new high.
89%
Secret Agent (1936)
Second part of the espionage trilogy. Set in the surroundings of World War I. This time a man returns home from the war to find himself dead. He is assigned an assassination job to eliminate a German spy. He gets help from a Mexican spy and a woman who is assigned as his wife. Set in Switzerland the movie focuses on the search of the spy and the romance between the man and the woman. Things don't go as planned on either of the stories and we have a fun witty little thriller again. But this time there's something missing, the movie feels a bit empty. Even though there is that fun careless chattering as always and this time the movie even takes quite a dramatic turn at one point, it still seems a bit shallow. Was worth watching and surely kept me entertained, but didn't really leave anything to think about. Even the movie trickery was quite basic.
61%
Sabotage (1936)
Last part in the espionage trilogy, though there are no spies in this one, it's a story about, well like the title says, sabotage. Mr. Verloc is running a movie theatre but as it's not exactly good business, he's trying to earn a few extra bucks by working for an organization wanting to sabotage England. His wife and the young brother of the wife have no idea what Mr. Verloc is up to. But the nosy man at the vegetable shop next door turns out to be an undercover police detective who is on to Verloc. Again the movie has a good mood to it, being witty and even funny at parts, but it takes a very dramatic turn into a tragedy. Surprisingly grim move in the light of Hitchcock's previous films, but not at all a bad one. Very solid thriller with a lot of great Hitchcockian moments. The package carrying part is simply art in form of tension building. Also the retribution scene at the end is something purely brilliant in it's silence witch tells more than a million words. This movie also brought out another recurring theme in his movies, the suspicious wife. I would personally call this the first masterpiece by Hitchcock, even though watched today it isn't as striking as it most likely was back when it was made. But still it's just a master class in movie making and even though time hasn't been kind to it, it's still definitely worth watching.
90%
Young and Innocent (1937)
After the darkly toned Sabotage Hitchcock went back to the fun and witty thriller which he surely knows best. A man gets accused of a murder he didn't commit, he flees from the police and the daughter of the police constable ends up helping him to solve the murder mystery. Sounds familiar right? Well it is, Hitchcock made many similar movies in themes and stories and that's why he became such an icon in the thriller genre. He gave the fans what they were expecting, always adding a bit of extra touch to it but always making sure he wouldn't go too far to not turn them down. This is not a bad movie at all, even though it's quite formulaic. It has a good feel to it and is entertaining enough to keep the interest up. It also has some very nice movie trickeries, especially a moving shot through a dance hall to the eyes of the killer. Similar to ones he did later that became quite iconic in the visual storytelling. Also have to give a special mention to the leading lady, Nova Pilbeam, this unknown actress does a very solid job and I really wonder why she didn't get any more proper parts in future films. She surely has the talent. So there's plenty to keep you entertained and even though it's formulaic it's still a feel good romantic thriller worth watching.
77%
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
This is the best movie from Hitchcock's Brittish films. It's basically a comedy, but with a murder and a mystery of course. And what a mystery it is. A lovely old lady goes missing in a train going through a country somewhere in Europe. Only one who notices the lady missing is a young woman who was traveling with her in the train. Everyone seems to think the woman has lost her mind as no one else seems to have seen the old lady. The woman soon starts to think she really is losing her mind. Absolutely brilliant script in the hands of the master of suspense turns into a highly entertaining fun thrill ride. The cast is absolutely brilliant, the chemistry between the characters is something special worth seeing. The two English fellows on their way back home to a cricket game are one of the best comic sidekicks I've ever seen. Actually they did the same act again in two other movies later on and even made a radio show with their characters. Even though they steal the show at points the rest of the characters are definitely not bad either. Quite a brilliant mix of personalities. The movie is quite straight forward without many tricks, but that's what's great about Hitchcock, he knows when things need spicing up and when to go with the flow. And this movie surely flows. A stunning masterpiece.
99%
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Hitchcock's last Brittish movie before the Hollywood times is a historical piece about a group of pirates, or sort of at least. They are a bunch of criminals staying in a place called Jamaica Inn, at night they go to the beach, shut the guide light from the hill and wait till the ships crash to the shore. Then they rob the ships and kill the crew. A young woman travels to the inn to meet her aunt and discoveres what the men are up to. Hitchcock himself said this was his most unhappy directing job and that shows, the movie lacks the Hitchcock feel to it. It has all the right pieces but yet it feels very hollow and that makes this one quite a miss. It's a shame as there's many things right in the movie and the story is quite interesting.
45%
That's it for the 1930's. Even though I went through the 30's quite fast as I got quite interested in these movies again, I'd still urge not to hold your breath for the 40's. It will follow some time in the future.
Links to the other decades:
1920's - 1930's - 1940's - 1950's - 1960's - 1970's
No comments:
Post a Comment