The Passionate Adventure (1924)

 

With The Passionate Adventure, Hitch would again work as an Assistant director, screenplay co-writer, and art director on a film directed by Graham Cutts and produced by Michael Bolton. This marked the first film for Michael Balcon's new Gainsborough studio. After Balcon made Woman to Woman (1923) and The White Shadow (1924) with Victor Saville and John Freedman, he and director Graham Cutts formed their own studio taking along some of the crew used on those previous movies including Hitch. Like the previous two films, Clive Brook would once again play the male lead. The female lead would again go to an American actress, this time Alice Joyce. Joyce was a very prolific actress appearing in more than 200 films over a career that stretched through the 1910's, 20's and early 30's.

The story for this movie involves a married couple (Clive Brook, Alice Joyce) whose marriage has grown loveless after the husband has returned from World War 1. Unhappy with his home life, the husband heads to the East End of London. There he meets a young woman (Marjorie Daw) and forms a friendship with her. This gets him in trouble with her criminal boyfriend (Victor McLaglen).

This story was based off a novel of the same name by Frank Stayton. The movie was sold as a socially conscious film that would go "right to the root of the social institution of marriage." Some reviewers found the subject matter and the messaging tasteless. However, Walter Mycroft for the Evening Standard praised the film for its "absolute skill in production and for inspiration in setting." Mycroft would later be a screenwriter on the Hitchcock movie, Murder! (1930). 

Graham Cutts at this time was interested in a plight "to eliminate the explanatory letterpress [intertitles] as much as possible, as it is his belief that the perfect film is one which tells its own story in a series of pictures." This is very similar to Hitch's later comments about "pure cinema," where Hitch argued that films should tell their stories visually instead of through a plethora of dialogue. At the same time for an article entitled What Does the Public Want?, Cutts wrote about the classic German film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) that it "is too violent a swing into the realms of mental experiences to be universally acceptable, but along that line future developments lie if the public is to have the variety and breadth necessary to hold it." 

The greatest challenge for Hitch with this movie was creating a cannel set inside Islington studio’s 90-foot stage. 

Only one print of this film is in existence. It is in the BFI National Archive. It is a European release print with German intertitles. Unfortunately, this film is not available for me to view. 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Resources Used

https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031858/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/The-Passionate-Adventure

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422860/


  

The White Shadow (1924)

 

Sadly, only three reels (about 45 minutes) of this film exists today. However, since the previous films Hitch had worked on are not available for the average person to watch, this movie provides us with our earliest peek into the master's filmography. Once again Hitch was not the director that credit goes to Graham Cutts. Hitch played no small part in the making of this movie though. He worked as screenwriter, assistant director, art director, and possibly editor. 

The storyline is very melodramatic, similar to many of the master's early credits. It involves two identical twin sisters (both played by Betty Compson). One of them is very social conservative, while the other is a free spirit. A man falls in love with them without knowing they are different people.

For anyone who regularly watches silent films, the story here will feel very familiar. There is nothing original or fresh about this film at all. In many ways this is the type of melodramatic fluff that is hard to take seriously. The problem is that the movie does take itself very seriously. This is not to say that this film is a waste of time. In fact there are definitely some things to recommend about this movie. Betty Compson is wonderful in her dual role. She commands the screen and brings so much energy, charm and heart to these rather standard characters. This is also a visually beautiful movie. Director Graham Cutts shows why he was considered one of the best British directors of his time and Alfred Hitchcock's art direction is nothing short of brilliant. So many of the shots here are perfectly composed from the lighting to the color tinting to the sets to the cinematography (Claude L. McDonnell). There are visual moments here that will stay in your mind long after you forget the story. One moment involving a light shining through a window is a great example of a simply perfect shot. Much of the visual filmmaking also lends this film a wonderful sense of atmosphere that enhances many cliché scenes. The beautiful countryside where an early romantic scene takes place and the seediness of The Laughing Cat Cafe are perfect examples of this. It is simply too bad that these truly wonderful qualities this movie has, could not have been attached to a better story.     

 When American actress Betty Compson accepted to work on the British film Woman to Woman (1923), a condition of her contract stated that she would make two films with the Balcon-Savile-Freedman team. However, the filmmakers were so invested in the first film, that there were few plans for a second. After work on the first movie wrapped, the filmmakers rushed into making another. The film would be another adaption of another book by Michael Morton, Children of Chance. Working titles for this film included The Awakening and The Eternal Survivor.

Upon its release, The White Shadow proved to be a massive disappointment both at the box-office and with critics. Critics praised the visual filmmaking but criticized the story. Biograph stated, "the best part of the production is the magnificent settings, photography and lighting which are worthy of a better plot. As a whole the White Shadow makes fair entertainment as a conventional melodrama, admirably staged (both in the lavish interiors and unusual continental exteriors) and featuring a well-known American star." A review in Kine Weekly stated, "There is a complete lack of conviction in the way in which the sisters are mistaken for each other, and no attempt at a coherent and well-proportioned sequence of events. Everything happened in a haphazard sort of way as though the plot had been evolved as the production progressed." Motion Picture Studio stated, "When a production is made in this country with the pick of British stars and the added commercial and artistic presence of a pretty and clever American screen actress of great box office repute one is entitled to expect a better result than The White Shadow…. If the picture had been the first effort of a modest little firm one could understand more readily some of the shortcomings and their causes." This movie was such a box-office disappointment that it lost all of the money that Woman to Woman had made. 

For those who wish to see what exists of this film you can watch it on YouTube below. 

Resources Used

Hitchcock/Truffuat by Francios Truffau

https://www.jazzageclub.com/the-white-shadow-1924/1997/t

Woman to Woman (1923)

 

Alfred Hitchcock's first movie for producer Michael Balcon, does not have Hitch in the director chair. However, Hitch had more than a small hand in this film. For this movie, The Master worked as a screenwriter, an assistant director and the film's art director. When Francios Truffaut asked if Hitch was the assistant director on this film, Hitch responded, "More than that! My friend the art director was unable to work on the picture. I volunteered to work as art director. So, I did all this and also helped on the production. My future wife Alma Reville was the editor of the picture as well as the script girl. In those days the script girl and the editor were one and the same person. Today the script girl keeps too many books, as you know. She's a real bookkeeper. It was while working on that picture that I first meet my wife. Then I performed these various functions for several other films. The second was The Passionate Adventure, the third was The Blackguard. And then there was The Prude's Fall." He also remembered, "Woman to Woman was the best of the lot and the most successful."
  
The storyline of this film begins when David Compton (Clive Brook) leaves his pregnant girlfriend, Louise Boucher (Betty Compson), to join the war. During the war he loses his memory. After the war he gets married and starts a life in London. Meanwhile she, now a single mother, thinks he is dead. She becomes a famous dancer; however, she falls incredibly ill and knows she won't live much longer. One night David is at one of Louise's performances and this causes him to regain his memory. Learning that David is married, she leaves her son in the care of him and his wife (Josephine Earle). The main writer for this film was Michael Morton, who also wrote the play that this was adapted from. 

The actual director of this film was Graham Cutts, who was just beginning his career at this time. He had however previously directed Mae Marsh in Flames of Passion (1922) and Paddy the Next Best Thing (1922). With these movies he helped revitalize Marsh's career at a low point. Marsh is of course a much better-known name by film buffs with a filmography that includes such well known movies as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Great Guns (1941), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and many more. Graham Cutts however is a figure in film history that deserves more attention. He cofounded the prestigious British movie studio, Gainsborough Films and helped guide the career of Ivor Novello, a major British star of the period. He was also considered to be one of the finest British directors of his time and his movies commanded equal respect from audiences and critics. It is a shame that he is almost completely forgotten today.

Graham Cutts was also a director who knew the value of costume design. The costumes for this film were made by Dolly Tree. Fans of classic Hollywood films might recognize her name as she worked on many MGM films of the 1930's and 40's. This allowed her to design dresses for such actresses as Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland. The amount of sheer movie classics she worked on is incredible. For Woman to Woman, Graham Cutts made sure that Dolly Tree had every advantage to work here. Dolly definitely delivered. She had worked in Paris and had an extensive knowledge of the Parisian nightlife. This certainly helped when making a film like this. The ostrich feather dress that she wore in scene towards the end of the film was as one of the most elaborate and beautiful dresses to appear on the cinema screen. This dress supposedly consisted of 200 ostrich feathers and 1,000 pearls.    

Dolly Tree's familiarity with the Parisian lifestyle is not the only factor leading to a form of authenticity. Both Cutts and Hitchcock took a trip to Paris for research.  

The star of this movie is American actress Betty Compson. Despite being not as well know as she should be she has a very distinguished filmography that includes The Miracle Man (1919), Beggar on Horseback (1925), Paths to Paradise (1925), The Pony Express (1925), The Docks of New York (1928), The Great Gabbo (1929), The Spoilers (1930), A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941, directed by Alfred Hitchcock). She was paid £1,000 a week, which was considered to be a record for an actress working in a British film. 

Production for this film began in April 1923 and ended by August of that year. 

The film was a major box office success and was just as popular with the critics as it was with audiences. Many critics at the time hailed it as one of the best British films. A review in Variety stated, "An example of the better grade of work over there. It is unquestionably equal to a vast majority of the releases viewed in the first run houses over here." A review in Bioscope said, "This is a film of exceptional artistic and dramatic interest." Probably the most telling of reviews for this movie was from Kineweekly which stated, "Woman to Woman… does one important thing astonishingly well – it forever blasts the delusion that a production, technically perfect cannot come out of a British studio." A review in Motion Picture Studio said, "The director has certainly had at his disposal a greater latitude of treatment and an accompanying freedom in expenditure which few British directors have ever been able to experience…the gorgeous dance and stage settings are quite lavish – and as daring as any American efforts on the same lines." The critics especially praised Betty Compson's performance, many referring to it as the best performance of her career. 

Betty Compson agreed to star in Woman to Woman on the condition that her contract would be for two films. However the filmmakers were so engrossed in making this film that they did not prepare for a second. When they did make the second film, The White Shadow (1924), it proved to be nowhere near the critical or box office success that this movie was. 

Unfortunately, this movie is considered a lost film. However, the 1929 remake (which has Betty Compson reprising her role), with the same name, is still available to watch. It can be found on YouTube listed as this 1923 version. However, the fact that it is a talkie immediately gives away that this is not the same film. 

Resources Used

Hitchcock by François Truffaut

https://www.jazzageclub.com/woman-to-woman-1923/429/

 

  

Always Tell Your Wife (1923)

 

It may surprise some that Alfred Hitchcock's earliest completed film as a director was a two-reel comedy. However, for his whole career, comedy would remain an important element of Hitch's films. Try to think of North by Northwest (1959), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941) or Frenzy (1972) without their comedy. He even directed some all-out and out comedies like Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and The Trouble with Harry (1955). And of course, comedy would play an important role in his television work. Yet Always Tell Your Wife is not a Hitchcock film in the traditional sense. That is because it was never intended as a Hitchcock film. In Francios Truffaut's famous book length interview with Alfred Hitchcock, Hitch would state, "... I worked on a picture called Always Tell Your Wife, which featured Seymour Hicks, a very well-known London actor. One day he quarreled with the director and said to me, 'Let's you and me finish this thing by ourselves.' So, I helped him, and we completed the picture." Different sources have debated whether Hugh Crosie (the film's original director) had rough words with Hicks or fell ill. It has also been debated just how much Alfred Hitchcock had to do with the completed picture or what parts of the short he had directed. It is believed that he was probably an assistant director before becoming a full director for this film. Always Tell Your Wife was actually a remake of a 1914 comedy short by the same name that also starred Seymor Hicks. 

Seymour Hicks, though little talked about today, was one of the most respected British stage actors of the time. He first acted professionally at only in the age of 16 when he performed in In the Ranks at the Grand Theatre in Islington. By the age of 18 he was touring America with Dame Madge Kendal and her husband W.H. Kendal's popular acting troupe. In 1898, he became a successful playwright as well with the play The Runaway Girl, which was followed by a series of light comedies he co-authored with Charles Frohman. However, the most famous role for this respected actor was Ebeneezer Scrooge. He had first played this character on stage in 1901 at only the age of 30. The great actor later recounted that he must have played this character in over 2,000 performances. As well as playing the character on stage, the actor also played him in a 1913 silent film version and the talkie movie adaption, Scrooge (1935). By the 1935 film he was well seasoned when it came to playing this role and at the age of 64, he had grown into being the age of the character.

His co-stars include Stanley Logan (who would appear in many uncredited roles in Hollywood movies of the 1940's), Gerturde McCoy (who played Light in Maurice Tourneur's The Blue Bird (1918)), Ellaline Terriss (an accomplish stage actress and Hick's wife) and Ian Wilson (whose career would last until the 1970's with his last movie being The Wicker Man (1973)). 

This short is a martial farce about two couples and an affair that arose between them. 

Only one reel of this two-reel comedy is known to survive. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch this short. 

This short was intended as the first in a series of 10 comedy shorts to star Hicks. However, the other 9 films were never made, and it has been questioned whether this film ever received a proper release. However, this film did a world of good for Hitch's filmmaking career as producer Michael Balcon took notice of him at this time and would make him an important part of his new movie studio. Under Balcon, Hitch would at first work as a writer, assistant director and/or art director on a few movies, as well as directing his earliest feature length films. 

Though this is the first completed film that Alfred Hitchcock directed it was not his first attempt at directing a film. He had been the director on a movie entitled Number 13, which was never completed. This movie was to be written by Anita Ross, who claimed to be an associate of Charlie Chaplin. Hitch said about this, "In those days anyone who worked with Chaplin was top drawer: She had written a story, and we found a little money. It wasn't very good really." The movie was to star Clare Greet and Ernest Thesiger. Little is known about the story, except that it was about a low-income couple living in a building funded by The Peabody Trust, which offered affordable housing to those hard on their luck. Hitch's uncle John Hitchcock was to fund them film but eventually these funds ran out. Afterwards, Clare Greet helped fund the movie until that funding also ran out. However, Hitch's movie career started with him as an intertitle designer on various silent films such as The Great Day (1920), The Call of Youth (1920), The Princess of New York (1921), Three Live Ghosts (1922).

Resources Used

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422787/index.html

Hitchcock by François Truffaut