Easy Virtue (1927)

 

Like many of Alfred Hitchcock's British films, Easy Virtue was based off a play. Here the movie was an adaption of a Noel Coward play of the same name. The play made its Broadway debut on December 07, 1925, and would continue on Broadway until April 1926 for a total of 147 performances. The opening night (at the Empire Theatre) cast included Constance Best, Joyce Carey, Peter Carpenter and Joan Clement Scott. Though most of these names are unknown today, Joyce Carey would later end up acting in some truly great movies. Her filmography included such movies as In Which We Serve (1942) (which would be co-directed by Coward), Brief Encounter (1945), The Astonished Heart (1950) (an adaption of a Coward play of the same name), The Naked Edge (1961) and Disney's Greyfriars Bobby (1961). Screenland magazine had a section called the Stage Coach where there would be reviews of various stage plays. Here is a review of the Noel Coward play from an issue dated May 1926. "Noel Coward's Easy Virtue as well as being a good show has Jane Cowl in it. Which is our idea of a grand combination. There aren't many fireworks in the show, not even a pistol shot is fired. Coward's attitude is that your Englishman meets the crises of life in a calm and civilized manner, in which heroics play no part. He has an excellent cast to assist Miss Cowell in that attitude, notably Halliwell Hobbes, Mabel Terry Lewis, Marda Vanne and Joyce Carey. In addition, he adheres to the theory himself, so that where another playwright might have done things dramatically, Coward is content to do them unostentatiously but just as impressively. Here is another Hedda Gabler - an English one - who exits from her impossible surroundings with extreme calmness. Where Hedda choses death, Laritia goes just as bravely, but a bit more quietly, to meet life."  

Though trade presses originally stated that Graham Cutts would be directing the film adaption, Alfred Hitchcock would be the director when the adaption was made. Due to the success of Noel Coward's play, this movie was rushed into production. Elliot Stannard would begin writing the scenario directly after he finished writing Downhill (1927). This film was so rushed into production that shooting began (at Islington Studios) before Downhill was finished filming. In late March 1927, the vast and crew traveled to French Riviera and in Nice to film footage around that area. At the same time Ivor Novello went along to film some scenes for Downhill.

Easy Virtue was a play about divorce. Today such a drama might seem ill-fitting for Alfred Hitchcock. However, it must be remembered that at this time Hitch had not become the Master of Suspense and instead worked in a wide variety of genres. 

In this film, a recently divorced woman (Isabel Jeans) tries to hide the fact that she got a divorce from her new husband (Robin Irvine) and his family. 

This is another rather typical melodramatic story that is enhanced by Hitchcock's filmmaking. The story is simple and nothing that anyone watching has not seen before. The romance is sadly rather weak and many of the romantic scenes come off as kind of dull. There is no real romantic chemistry between these characters, and the scenes are full of tired clichés. However, the film really picks up in the last act. When the focus turns to the main character fighting back against her husband's family's prejudice against her, it is a lot more interesting than the scenes based on the romance. As well as giving us a more interesting dynamic, it is here where the social commentary is at its most biting and effective. I just simply wish the first two acts could have been this strong. Sadly, though the first two acts are simply boring in comparison. 

This movie is however very handsome throughout. Hitch has plenty of very creative visual ways to tell rather simple plot points. This is seen especially in the courtroom scenes and the proposal scene. Various of the outdoor scenes are also simply gorgeous to look at.   

This may be the master's weakest silent film, but it still has enough that works to recommend it. Hitch would follow this with four truly great silent movies, that bring his silent era work to a strong closing. 
 

When François Truffaut first asked Hitch about this film in his book length interview with the director, the first thing Hitch recalled was one intertitle that he regretted. Hitch told Truffaut, "That was taken from a Noel Coward play, and it contained the worst title I've ever written. I'm ashamed to tell you about it but I will. At the beginning of the film shows Laurita during her divorce case. She is very well known, and she tells her story to the court. How she married a young man of a good family and so forth. At any rate her divorce is uncontested and granted. And the word gets around that the photographers gather outside. Eventually she appears at the courthouse stairs, her arms out, and says, 'Shoot, there's nothing left to kill!'"

On the other hand, Hitch would remain proud of another scene in the picture. Hitch would state, "An interesting scene in this picture is when John is proposing marriage to Laurita, and instead of giving him an immediate answer, she says, 'I'll call you from my house, around midnight.' Next, we, show a little watch indicating it is midnight, it's the watch of a switchboard operator who is reading a book, A small light goes on the board. She puts the plug in and is about to go back to her reading but then automatically listens to the earphones, Then, she puts the book down, obviously fascinated by the phone conversation. In other words, I never show either of the two people. You follow what is happening by watching the switchboard operator." 

The star of this movie would be Isabel Jeans. This was her second of three movies for Alfred Hitchcock. She had previously appeared in Downhill (1927) and would later appear in Suspicion (1941). Her best-known film role is as Aunt Alicia in the Best Picture winning musical, Gigi (1958). There are some who say that Gigi is one of the worst Best Picture winners and these people are wrong. Jeans was born September 16, 1891, in London. She began her stage career at the age of 15. In 1913 she would marry actor Claude Rains, best known for movie roles such as The Invisible Man (1933), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Casablanca (1942) and Hitch's Notorious (1946). Unfortunately, the marriage would not last long. In 1915 Jeans would appear on Broadway in two plays (produced by Granville Barker), The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife (premiered Jan 27, 1915) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Feb 16, 1915). Both plays premiered at Wallack's Theatre (Broadway at 30th St., New York, NY), which was built in 1882, and wish would be torn down in 1915. She would return to Broadway at least twice with the plays The Man in Possession (November 01, 1930 - January 1931) and Make Way for Lucia (Dec 22, 1948 - Jan 15, 1949). She would be a regular presence on the London stage as well including appearing in Ivor Novello's play The Rat in 1924.  

Probably because this movie was rushed into production Robin Irvine, Ian Hunter and Violet Farebrother (who were all in Downhill) also appeared in the cast here.

   The following (written by Ernest E. Fredman) comes from an issue of The Film Daily dated September 25, 1927.

"London - Recent radical rulings of the Irish Free State Censor Board has caused great dissatisfaction in the trade both at Dublin and London. 'Mare Nostrum' was banned by the Board but was later passed unanimously by the Appeal Division. Now the censors have gone so far as to prohibit 'Easy Virtue,' a British production from showing in Ireland.

"From all appearances, this censor board has launched a 'puritan crusade.' Desire of powers that be to suppress all mention of divorce in Ireland is said by the censors to be the reason for blacklisting the Coward play, 'Easy Virtue.'" 

Upon its release, reviews were not over positive for this movie. C.A. Lejeune (writing for Manchester Guardian) stated, "for all its cleverness, [it] is not a good film" A review in The Bioscope praised Hitch's filmmaking but felt that the source material kept it from being a great movie. That review stated, "Hitchcock has done the best possible for a subject which does not lend itself readily to the medium of the screen, and he is to be congratulated on having maintained interest throughout with what proves to be very slight material ... In spite of an excellent performance by Isabel Jeans, and Hitchcock's always-apparent resourcefulness and occasional brilliance, this was not one of his more effective films."

Contemporary reviewers try to put this movie into Hitch's larger filmography. One such example is Professor Charles Barr who feels that this film has some attachments to Hitch's later Notorious (1946). Prof. Barr states, "[Isabel Jeans] is twice referred to, in dialogue titles, as 'the notorious Mrs Filton'; she is oppressed by journalistic cameras, as Bergman is at the opening of "Notorious", and she is hounded in the same way by a mother-in-law who is intent on discovering her disreputable secrets. In the power struggle between the two women, key scenes in both films are played out on the main staircase." 

Easy Virtue can be watched below. 

-Michael J. Ruhland


Resources Used

Hitchcock by Francios Truffaut

The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg.

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Easy_Virtue_(1928)

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/isabel-jeans-46892

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/easy-virtue-3261

 

  

Downhill (1927)

 

Hitch followed his first true suspense film (and the biggest financial and artistic success to date), The Lodger (1927), with a college melodrama. 

In this film, Roddy Berwick (Ivor Novello) scores the winning try at an important rugby match in his college. This makes it so that he becomes School Captain. Just everything looks like it couldn't be better for him, he is accused of misconduct by a waitress. In reality the guilty party is his good friend, Tim Wakely (Robin Irvine). Because of this he is expelled and from here his life gets worse and worse. 

This movie was based off a play of the same name. That play was written by David L'Estrange and actress Constance Collier. David L'Estrange was a pen name for Ivor Novello, who would star in the film version (he was also the star of The Lodger). Before Downhill, the two had written a play entitled The Rat. The Rat was a massive stage success and would spawn a 1925 film version which would be directed by Graham Cutts, who had previously directed multiple films on which Hitch had worked as an assistant director. That movie would be such a success that it would give way to two sequels Triumph of the Rat (1926) and The Return of the Rat (1929). Both of those movies were also directed by Graham Cutts and starred Ivor Novello. The play featured a risqué scene in which Novello was seen washing his legs after a rugby match. Critic James Agate wrote, "The scent of honest soap crosses the footlights." This scene would not make it into the movie version, but Hitch does include a scene where Novello is seen naked from the waist up.  

Despite being based on a play, this movie often jumps from setting to setting. You would think that this was a liberty that was taken to make the movie more cinematic. However, that was not the case as Hitch told Francios Truffaut (in the book long interview Truffaut did with Hitchcock), "The original play was written that way." Truffaut was naturally surprised by this statement and Hitch responded, "No, no. It was done as a series of sketches. It was a rather poor play." 

The storyline itself may be melodramatic and a little hokey but for the most part it works. Much of this is due to the main character who is immediately sympathetic and likable, even before his selfless act that sets the story in motion. This is greatly enhanced by Ivor Novello's performance. It is easy to see why he became such a massive star. At times his performance is effortlessly charming and likable, while at other times it has real dramatic weight to it. Regardless his performance is always believable and compelling. Though sometimes the hardships that meet him seem excessive, our emotional connection to this character keeps us invested in the story, even when it is at its most melodramatic. Even with the seriousness of the story, the filmmakers are able to slip in a few comedic moments as well. These comedic moments are well integrated into the story and keep it from feeling too serious or depressing. These scenes are also pretty funny. Incorporating humor into mostly serious stories, would later become almost a staple of Hitch's work and this movie provides a great example of that. However, the real star of this film remains Hitch's visual storytelling. It is amazing that this early in his career, Hitch was already a master of visual filmmaking. The visuals here are wonderful and always simply stunning to look at. Like in all the best silent films, for the most part we can tell what is happening in the story through the visual storytelling alone. In fact, this movie has quite few intertitles for a silent drama. This is very effective and a great example of what Hitch would refer to as "pure cinema." Though Hitch would often dismiss his filmmaking in these early movies, the visual storytelling here, shows Hitch as a master of the medium.

However, this movie does have its flaws. The runtime is simply longer than it needs to be, and the movie can drag at times. The ending also feels really forced and rushed. It simply strains any form of believability.  

Despite its flaws, this is a quite strong movie that tends to go overlooked in discussions and writings about Hitchcock's British movies. 

Many of Alfred Hitchcock's British films feature moments of experimental visual filmmaking that the director would abandon in his later Hollywood work. One such scene takes place in a Paris cabaret. Hitch described this scene to Truffaut. "Yes, I experimented there quite a bit. I showed a woman seducing a younger man. She is a lady of a certain age, but quite elegant, and he finds her very attractive until daybreak. Then he opens the window, and the sun comes in, lighting up the woman's face. In that moment she looks dreadful. And through the open window we see people passing by carrying a coffin." More visual experimentation showed up in the use of dream sequences. About these scenes Hitch told Truffaut, "I had a chance to experiment in those scenes. At one point I wanted to show that the young man was having hallucinations. He boarded a tiny schooner, and there I had him go down to the fo'c'sle, where the crew slept. At the beginning of his nightmare, he was in a dance hall. No dissolve, just straight cutting. He walked over to the side wall and climbed into a bunk. In those days dreams were always dissolves and they were always blurred. Though it was difficult, I tried to embody the dream in the reality, in solid, unblurred images."    

This movie would mark one of the earliest film roles for actor Ian Hunter. In a 1936 issue of Film Weekly titled My Screen Memories, Alfred Hitchcock wrote, "When I was making Downhill I started Ian Hunter on his film career simply because I saw him in a Basil Dean play at the St. Martin's theater when I was casting the film, and he happened to suit one of the roles." In a 1937 article Hitchcock wrote (titled Direction) the director remembered making a scene (that didn't make it into the movie) involving Hunter. In 1926 I made a film called Downhill, from a play by Ivor Novello, who acted in the film himself, with Ian Hunter and Isabel Jean. There was a sequence showing a quarrel between Hunter and Novello. It started as an ordinary fight; then they began throwing things at one another. They tried to pick up heavy pedestals to throw and then the pedestals bowled them over. In other words, I made it comic. I even put Hunter into a morning coat and stripped trousers because I felt that a man never looks so ridiculous as when he is well dressed and fighting. This whole scene had to be cut out; they said I was guying Ivor Novello. It was ten years before its time."

The screenplay is by Eliot Stannard, who had previously worked for Hitch on The Pleasure Garden (1925), The Mountain Eagle (1926) and The Lodger. He would go on to write for Hitch on The Farmer's Wife (1928), Easy Virtue (1928), Champagne (1928) and The Manxman (1929). 

This film's cinematographer was Claude L. McDonnell. He had previously worked on Woman to Woman (1923), The White Shadow (1924) and The Passionate Adventure (1924), all of which Hitch served as assistant director on. He would go on to work on one more Hitch movie, Easy Virtue. 

This movie marked the last film Hitch and Novello made together. MGM hired Novello and the Welsh actor traveled to Hollywood to make movies there. Unfortunately for him, after making a screen test MGM decided that his voice and appearance would not suit a Hollywood star. Instead, they hired him as a script doctor (someone who touches up flawed scripts). During his two years a script doctor, Novello worked on MGM's Tarzan pictures. He even receives a dialogue credit for Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). He opted out of his contract and moved back to England, where he returned to the stage. He would go on to become one of Britian's most successful writers of musical comedies. In 1951 he would die suddenly from a heart blockage at only 58 years old. 

Critics were greatly impressed by the visual filmmaking but found the story very poor. 

You can watch this movie below on YouTube. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hitchcock by Francios Truffaut

The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg.

Hitchcock on Hitchcock Edited by Sidney Gottlieb

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/494936/downhill#articles-reviews?articleId=1325745

https://www.imdb.com/

The Lodger (1927)

 

 

Note: This post includes spoilers for the film.

In his book length interview with Francois Truffaut, Hitch stated, "The Lodger was the first true 'Hitchcock movie.'" This may not have been Hitch's first film, but it was the first that felt like the type of movie Hitch would become known for. This was no longer the romantic melodrama that characterized his career before this, this was a suspense film, whose plot revolved around murder and mistaken identities. Such a view of this film would be shared by critic and biographer Donald Spoto, who would state that this was the first time Hitchcock, “revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death”.

In this film, a serial killer, known as The Avenger, is murdering innocent blond women. Meanwhile a lodger (Ivor Novello) moves into a house where a happy family lives. Because of the lodger's strange behavior, the landlady (Marie Ault) starts to believe that he is perhaps the serial killer. When he starts spending time with her blonde daughter (June Tripp) she grows very nervous. 

A few months ago, I took some friends to see this film at a movie theatre that plays classic films (Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo, CA). Some of them had never seen a silent film before and some only had a passing familiarity with Alfred Hitchcock. Yet they all found themselves very much enjoying the movie and some admitted that they were surprised by some of the turns the story took. That this movie can still surprise and grip modern audiences with little to no familiarity with silent movies speaks to the power of Hitch's filmmaking. 

This movie grips its audience from the very start. The opening shot is a close-up of a woman screaming. We have no context for this at first. This shot is followed by a montage of images. First, we see the words "to-night golden curls" in flashing lights. Then we see a woman's body lying dead on the floor. Afterwards is an older woman reacting in horror. Then we see a policeman taking down notes. Through these images our minds start to do detective work piecing together a story from images. This causes us to immediately become mentally absorbed in the film before we even meet the main characters. A similar opening would later take place in Rear Window (1954) as the camera pans across L.B. Jeffries apartment giving us views of various photographs and newspaper clippings that cause us paste together what has happened to the main character before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Both scenes are also a great example of Hitchcock's ideal view of "pure cinema," where the story is told through various images rather than dialogue or intertitles. It is also fascinating that the opening shot is from the point of view of the serial killer, a character who we will never once see onscreen. In his book, Hitchcock the Murderous Gaze, William Rothman examines this theme writing, "The opening shot shows us what the Avenger sees, even if it withholds all views of this figure from us (in particular, it withholds the woman's frightful vision). Within the world of the film, the Avenger is a viewer, The scene of which this is shot is a fragment is rooted in our own role of viewers. We possess views of this world, while necessarily remaining unseen by the being who dwell within it."

Many films with this great of an opening fail to live up to the great start. That is not the case with this movie at all. Hitch's passion for visual filmmaking is striking throughout. As can be seen in his films from this period, the influence of German expressionism is very clear. This can be seen in the ways each of the shots are set up, the various sets and the great stylized intertitles. Many of the shots here are just as perfectly framed as those in Hitch's later more popular films. As is true of many of Hitch's best films, there are shots that will stay with you long after you finish watching. Though Hitch would sometimes refer to his British work as the work of a talented amateur, the visual storytelling in this film prove that he was far from an amateur. At the same time these visuals are not only here to look great but also to help tell the story. Thanks to these visuals, there is a great sense of atmosphere throughout the whole film. 

Yet this movie is not only worth watching for its visuals. While its story is rather simple (especially compared to Hitch's later work), it is quite engaging. We care about these characters. They may not be complex, but they are likable, and the happy ending (even if Hitch himself wasn't a fan) feels completely deserved and satisfying. There are also enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing throughout. 

About the formation of this film Hitch stated, "I had seen a play called Who is He?, based on Mrs. Belloc Lowndes's novel, The Lodger. The action was set in a house that took roomers, and the landlady wondered whether the new boarder was Jack the Ripper or not. I treated it very simply, purely from her point of view. Since then, there have been two or three remakes, but they are too elaborate."

Though today, Alfred Hitchcock is the name that most will know going into this film. The big name attached to this movie at the time was Ivor Novello, who played the title character. An actor, songwriter and singer, he was a very well-known name in the U.K. at this time. It was on this film that Hitch learned one of the most difficult aspects with working with popular stars, wasn't the stars themselves but the public perception of them. Simply put, a matinee idol like Novello could not be a villain. Because of this Hitch had to make it very clear by the end that Novello was in fact completely innocent of the crimes. This is not to say that Hitch planned to make the character an outright villain though. He had in fact wanted to end the movie with the audience still wondering whether or not the lodger was the killer. Later he ran into the same trouble making Suspicion (1941), when having Cary Grant play a character, who the audience was supposed to whether or not he was a killer. Explaining his desire to not answer the question of whether or not the lodger was a killer, Hitch told Truffaut, "In this case, if your suspense revolves around the question: 'Is he or is he not Jack the Ripper?' and you reply, 'Yes, he is Jack the Ripper,' you merely confirmed a suspicion. To me, this is not dramatic. But here we went in the other direction and showed that he wasn't Jack the Ripper at all." 

The theme of an innocent man being wrongful accused and finding themselves in danger would become one of Hitchcock's favorite motifs. It would be reused in such Hitchcock films as The 39 Steps (1935), Young and Innocent (1937), Suspicion, Saboteur (1942), Spellbound (1945), Strangers on a Train (1951), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Wrong Man (1956), North by Northwest (1959) and Frenzy (1972). In his book, Hitchcock's Films Revisited, Film Scholar Robin Wood writes, "The 'falsely accused man' films typically take the form of what Andrew Britton has termed the 'double chase' plot structure: the hero pursued by the police, pursues the real villain(s)." In this Hitch's first movie with this motif, he already has established this "double chase" formula. Of these "falsely accused man" films the closest in spirit to The Lodger is his last to use this theme, Frenzy. Both have an unmistakably British setting, both feature a serial killer who is going around and killing women as well as an innocent man falsely accused of the crime and both balance out their darker story lines with a sense of humor. Frenzy however takes this plot in a much more violent and sexual nature (it is a rare Hitchcock movie ton receive an R rating). Nevertheless, it is fascinating to compare these two films and see the work of an ever-evolving filmmaker at two different points in his career. 

That the killer's victims are blonds also looks forward to future work of the great filmmaker. Hitchcock would later state, "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." Hitch would continue using blondes both as heroines and femme fatales. Due to their work with Hitch such actresses as Grace Kelly, Kim Novack, Eva Marie Saint, Janet Leigh and Tippi Hedren have all been referred to as Hitchcock Blondes. The term has become part of the common vernacular among cinephiles.    

Upon its initial release, this film was hailed by critics as a landmark in British Cinema. Its 1928 release in America would receive less positive attention from critics. A reviewer from Variety was especially harsh stating, "They took a smashing theme, gummed it up with cheap and shoddy catering to the lowest taste of what they supposed to be their public, and then further smeared it with acting and photography that belongs to the American studio of 10 years ago."  

This movie would later be remade multiple times. The Lodger (1932) would even once again star Ivor Novello. Probably the best known of these remakes is Fox's 1944 version of the same name which was directed by John Brahm (who directed multiple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) and starred Laird Cregar, Merle Oberon, George Sanders (who appeared in Hitch's Rebecca (1940) and Foreign Correspondent (1940)), Cedric Hardwicke (who acted in Hitch's Suspicion and Rope (1948) as well as two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Wet Saturday (1956) and A Man Greatly Beloved (1957))) and Sara Allgood (who appeared in Hitch's Blackmail (1929) and Juno and the Paycock (1930)). The film would also be remade again as Man in the Attic (1953), which was directed by Hugo Fregonese. The story would also be reworked in a more contemporary setting with The Lodger (2009), which was directed by David Ondaatje and starred Alfred Molina, Hope Davis and Simon Baker. 

In early 1942 the Los Angeles Times stated that Hitchcock himself was interested in a color remake of the movie following the completion of Saboteur. However, by the end of 1942, Fox would have already obtained the film rights to the story. However, Hitch had already been at least somewhat involved in a radio adaption of the story with a 1940 radio adaption. Produced by Walter Wagner (who produced Hitch's Foreign Correspondent), it was Hitchcock's idea to adapt the original novel as a radio play. This was an audition for a series called Suspense, which was originally intended as a series that would adapt Alfred Hitchcock films. As almost a forerunner to Hitch's later TV work, this series supposedly would have Hitchcock as the host. Actually, beyond suggesting this adaption and lending his name to the production, Hitchcock had little to do with the actual making of the production. Actor Joseph Kearns would even voice Alfred Hitchcock for the introduction. The stars of the radio play would be Herbert Marshall and Edmund Gwenn (both of whom appeared in Foreign Correspondent). This radio adaption would not reveal the true identity of the killer, leaving many listeners very disappointed. Suspense would actually be picked up as a radio series in 1942 but without any Alfred Hitchcock connection. You can listen to this radio production below. 

   

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hitchcock by Francios Truffaut

The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg.

Hitchcock on Hitchcock Edited by Sidney Gottlieb

 Hitchcock's Films Revisited by Robin Wood

Hitchcock: The Murderous Gaze by William Rothman

https://www.socratic-method.com/quote-meanings-english/alfred-hitchcock-blondes-make-the-best-victims-theyre-like-virgin-snow-that-shows-up-the-bloody-footprints

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/449308/the-lodger#articles-reviews?articleId=78344

https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/lodger-serial-killer-thriller-alfred-hitchcock

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Lodger_(Suspense,_22/Jul/1940)

The Mountain Eagle (1926)

 

The Mountain Eagle is the only movie with Alfred Hitchcock as sole director that is considered lost today. Hitch would be dismissive about the film telling Francios Truffaut (in Truffaut's book long interview with Hitch), "It was a very bad movie." Even if this film were as terrible as Hitch felt, for movie lovers, this is one of the holy grails of lost silent films, simply because it is one of the few missing pieces from the filmography of one of the most acclaimed directors of all time.  

Once again, this film was a romantic melodrama. The movie took place in Kentucky and centers around a widower (Bernhard Goetzke), who falls for a schoolteacher (Nita Naldi). Unfortunately, he has to compete for her love with his crippled son (John F. Hamilton) and a man he hates (Malcolm Keen). When Truffaut summarized the story and asked if he got it correct, Hitch replied that unfortunately he did.  

More elaborate story summaries appeared in 1926 issues of The Bioscope and the Kinematograph Weekly. Here is the Bioscope summary. "Beatrice Brent, school teacher in a small mountain village, incurs the enmity of Pettigrew, the local Justice of the Peace and owner of the village stores, because he believes that she encourages the attentions of his son Edward, a cripple, who takes evening lessons. Pettigrew, while questioning Beatrice, is himself influenced by her charm and attempts liberties which she strongly resents. He is so furious at the rebuff that he proclaims her as a wanton and she is driven from the village by the inhabitants. Beatrice is saved from their fury by a mysterious stranger known as Fearogod, who lives a solitary life in a cabin to which he takes her for shelter. To stop all scandal, Fearogod takes Beatrice down to the village and compels Pettigrew to marry them, explaining to her that he will help her to get a divorce. Beatrice, however, is content to leave the situation as it is, but Pettigrew, furious with rage, takes advantage of the fact that his son has left the village and arrests Fearogod for his murder. In spite of the fact that there is no vestige of evidence that young Pettigrew has been murdered, Fearogod is kept in prison for over a year, when he decides to escape. He finds that his wife has a baby and he goes off with them to the mountains. When they find that the baby is taken ill, Fearogod goes back to the village for a doctor, where he sees old Pettigrew. Some doubt as to which of the men is going to attack the other first is settled by an onlooker firing off a gun which wounds Pettigrew in the shoulder. The sudden return of his son Edward convinces the old man of the futility of proceeding with his accusation of murder, so he makes the best of matters by shaking hands with the man he has persecuted and all is supposed to end happily." And here is the Kinematograph summary. "Pettigrew, J.P. of a small mountain village, hates John Fulton, a lonely dweller in the mountains, known as Fearogod to the inhabitants, as much as he loves his son Edward, who was born a cripple as his mother, whom Fulton has also loved, died. Pettigrew sees his son apparently making love to Beatrice Talbot, the village schoolmistress, and, going to reprove her, he tries to take her in his arms. The son sees this, and leaves the village. Pettigrew determines to have Beatrice thrown out, but Fearogod intervenes, and takes her to his cabin. Pettigrew here sees the chance to arrest Fearogod for abduction and Beatrice as a wanton, but Fearogod forestalls him by coming and demanding that Pettigrew marry them. The pair then fall in love, but Pettigrew has Fearogod arrested and thrown into prison on a charge of murdering his son, who has not returned. Fearogod breaks out of prison after a year, and attempts to fly with his wife and child, but the latter falls sick, and Fearogod returns to the village for a doctor. There he finds Edward has returned, and his affairs cleared up. Pettigrew is accidentally shot." 

The following is a review from the Bakersfield California, "The latest picture to star Nita Naldi is 'The Mountain Eagle.' It's one of the best this popular star has ever appeared in. Primitive passion's play a strong part in the lawless country where the mountains rear their majestic peaks, and the eternal snows menace the unwary and where the bullet is a law unto itself. Miss Naldi is cast as a primitive mountain lass and her work is all that could be desired. There are more than the usual number of thrills even for a Naldi picture and the picture, in addition, offers some scenic gems." The following is the British Daily Mail review, "It is full of character though undramatic, and reveals the screen-charm and considerable talent for film acting of Mr. Malcolm Keen. Mr. Bernhard Goetzke, well remembered for his appearance as Death in 'Destiny,' is sincere and powerful as Mr. Keen's protagonist, whilst Miss Nita Naldi gives the only human performance in all her career and does not 'vamp' at all" The Bioscope review was even more critical, "Director Alfred Hitchcock has not been particularly well served by his author, and in spite of skillful, and at times brilliant direction, the story has an air of unreality. Bernard Goetzke gives a fine performance; Malcolm Keen is admirable, and Nita Naldi achieves considerable success. Many small character parts are admirably played and skillfully directed. There are some unusual lighting effects and excellent photography by Baron Ventigmilia."

Having Nita Naldi lead the cast continued the tradition of producer Michael Balcon importing a popular American movies star to play the female lead. Though many of her films are lost, silent film buffs today will still know her for her roles in such beloved silent classics as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Blood and Sand (1922) and The Ten Commandments (1923). The Mountain Eagle marked her only film with Alfred Hitchcock. 

Though his name may not be familiar Bernhard Goetzke is an actor that film buffs will have seen elsewhere. He is best known for his work with the legendary German director Fritz Lang. His work with Lang includes Destiny (1921), Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), and Die Nibelungen (1924), all of which he was given supporting roles. 

John F. Hamilton had done much more work as a stage actor than on film. However, his filmography is quite impressive and includes such movies as Allegheny Uprising (1939), The Saint's Double Trouble (1940), Gold Rush Maisie (1940), The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943), Headin' for God's Country (1943) and most importantly On the Waterfront (1954). In the last of those films, he played Eve Saint's father and is incredibly memorable in that Best Picture winner. On the Waterfront is still considered one of the all-time great movies. 

Newspaper Advertisement, 1926 

It has been stated that this film was released in the U.S. under the title, Fear o' God. However, there is little to no proof to confirm this as true. In fact, a surviving US lobby card calls this movie, The Mountain Eagle.

Though this film takes place in Kentucky, it was mostly filmed in Obergurgl, Austria.

It has long been said that though this was Hitch's second completed film, the distributors were wary about releasing it and it didn't get a release until three months after the success of Hitch's next film, The Lodger. However, this point is debatable. Film Historian L. Kuhns noted that the film received a trade show screening on October 1, 1926. It also received trade show screenings in Manchester (October 6th), Newcastle (October 8th), Liverpool (October 12th), Birmingham (October 15th), Cardiff (October 19th), Glascow (October 22nd) and Leeds (October 26th). It was slated for a big UK theatrical release on May 23, 1927. However, Kuhns found no evidence that this UK release ever happened. Film historian Jenny Hammerton speculated that the studio felt that Hitch's fourth film as a full director (Downhill (1927)) was more commercial and decided to give Downhill the big theatrical release instead of The Mountain Eagle. This proved to be not quite true either. Dave Pattern for The Hitchcock Zone website has found through British newspapers that the film played in at least 15 theaters (probably more though that is not confirmed) in England between June and December 1927. Newspaper and movie magazine clippings also lets us know that the film received at least a small release in the United States. Nearly all the advertisements for the film didn't mention Hitch at all, instead advertising this as a Nati Nadi movie. 

As for the search for this movie a 2010 newspaper article in the Evening Standard stated, "The British Film Institute is launching an international hunt for a missing film by Alfred Hitchcock. The Mountain Eagle disappeared not long after its release in 1926 and it is not even known whether it was shown in the UK. But it is top of a list of most wanted films unveiled today in a Long Live Film project to mark the 75th anniversary of the BFI National Archive. The Mountain Eagle was the second of two films Hitchcock made in Germany, where he had been sent after his apprenticeship at the Gainsborough Studios in London to learn at the feet of European masters Fritz Lang and Friedrich Murnau. Described by contemporary critics as imaginatively directed — if 'full of unconvincing twists' — it is possible that Hitchcock may have destroyed the prints. It is the only one of his finished films that may not have survived. Robin Baker, the archive's head curator, said its rediscovery 'would be the happiest of outcomes'." However, since it is now 2025, it is fair to access that the search was not successful. 

Though the film is considered lost, stills of it exist and you can look at those in the video below. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hitchcock by Francios Truffaut

The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg.

https://the.hitchcock.zone/onlyamovie/2014/07/26/the-mountain-eagle-has-been-found/

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Mountain_Eagle_(1926)

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock_Annual_(1998)_-_Hitchcock%27s_%22The_Mountain_Eagle%22

The Pleasure Garden (1925)

 

The Pleasure Garden was the first film to be solely directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In his book length interview with Francios Truffaut, Hitch would tell of how this came about, "Balcon [producer Michael Balcon] said, 'How would you like to direct a picture?' and I answered, 'I've never thought about it.' And in truth I had not. I was very happy doing scripts and the art direction, I hadn't thought about myself as a director. Anyway, Balcon told me there was a proposal for an Anglo-German picture. Another writer was assigned to the script, and I left for Munich. My wife, Alma, was to be my assistant. We weren't married yet, but we weren't living in sin either; we were still very pure."    

Interestingly an issue of The Film Daily (dated July 5, 1925) credited the film to Graham Cutts stating, "London, Graham Cutts will make 'The Pleasure Garden' for Gainsborough Pictures in Munich Germany. Virginia Valli and Carmalita Geraghty are now en route from the states to appear in the picture. Work states next week."

Like earlier films that Alfred Hitchcock worked on this movie is very much a romantic melodrama. Patsy Brand (Virginia Valli) is a chorus girl at a music hall called the Pleasure Garden. She meets a woman named Jill Cheyne (Carmelita Geraghty) and helps her get a job as a dancer. Jill gets engaged to a man named Hugh Fielding (John Stuart). However, when Hugh travels out of the country, Jill starts to fool around with other men. 

This film is your typical melodrama of the time boosted by great visual filmmaking. This movie is a pure visual treat. This is true right from the opening scene. The sets for the titular music hall are wonderfully larger than life. These sets alone tell us everything we need to know about the Pleasure Garden itself. We understand immediately the mixture of majesty and sin that attracts people to such a place. Equally as great is the outdoor location shooting, which is simply lovely to look at. Again, these images are not only lovely to look at but help tell the story. The juxtaposition of these idyllic settings with the relationship between the characters already falling apart works perfectly. Also helping this film is the lead performances by Virginia Valli and Carmelita Geraghty, both of whose performances help bring some charm and humanity to otherwise very cliché characters.

Unfortunately, the storyline here is nowhere near as memorable as the visuals.  This cliché-ridden story might work better if it was handled in a tongue and cheek manner but instead this movie takes these plot points much too seriously. Many of the melodramatic moments strain one's suspension of disbelief and the sheer number of twists and turns can become overwhelming at times. The storyline is actually very engaging as it starts though. The basic backstage story of these two very different women forming a close friendship and looking out for each other both in their professional and romantic lives is quite charming, if still familiar. Yet towards the middle of this film, the story gets too bogged down in these clichés and loses much of the simple charm it has in its early scenes. Still even in the later scenes, the visuals and performances make it worth watching.  

The screenplay was written by Eliot Stannard. This marks Stannard's first collaboration with Hitch. He would later be a writer on the Hitchcock films, The Mountain Eagle (1926), Downhill (1927), The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), Champagne (1928), Easy Virtue (1928), The Farmer's Wife (1928) and The Manxman (1929). His non-Hitchcock work includes Wuthering Heights (1920), The Taming of the Shrew (1923), A Christmas Carol (1923) and The Hate Ship (1929). Screen writer Sidney Gilliat (who would work on the Alfred Hitchcock films The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Jamaica Inn (1939)) would say about Stannard, "The only resident British writer I can remember was Eliot Stannard, a great character. He seemed to be writing or rewriting everything. If something went wrong on a picture, Stannard was called up — like Shakespeare would have been — and asked to come in and pep the scene a bit."

Eliot Stannard

The story was based off of 1923 novel (of the same name) by Marguerite Jervis (under the pen name, Oliver Sandys). Jervis was a very prolific British author writing over 150 books during her 60-year career. Though she most often wrote under various pseudonyms, her books also often sold very well. In fact, she was one of the most successful novelists of her time. Still, none of her works are remembered well. Eleven of her books have been adapted for the screen. Some other film adaptions of her work include The Honeypot (1920), Love Maggy (1921), Rose o' the Sea (1922), Blinkeyes (1926), Tesha (1928) and Born Lucky (1933). She was married to Welsh author Caradoc Evans. Evans was a very controversial author in Wales due to his collection of short stories entitled My People, which criticized many of his fellow Welsh citizens for smugness and hypocrisy, while also addressing the brutal poverty that was sweeping the country. The two married in 1933 and remained married until his death in 1945. As well as her literary career, Jervis was also a trained stage actress.    

Once again, the lead actress was an American star, Virginia Valli. Hitch would later recall, "Michael Balcon, who had conceived of the idea of 'importing' American stars long before anyone else, had engaged Virginia Valli for the leading role. She was at the height of her career then - glamorous, famous and very popular. That she was coming to Europe to make a picture at all was something of an event." Though largely forgotten today, Valli was a very popular movie star at the time. Born Viriginia McSweeney on January 18, 1895, in Chicago, she worked in movies as early as 1916 for the Essany Film Company. Her big break in movies was when she got the lead role in King Vidor's Wild Oranges (1924). She soon found herself playing the lead in such films as The Signal Tower (1924) and In Every Woman's Life (1924) and become one of Universal's biggest stars. Other silent films starring her were Paid to Love (1927) and Evening Clothes (1927). She made her sound debut with The Isle of Lost Ships (1929). Her last movie was Night Life in Reno (1931). The same year her last film was released she married popular actor Charles Farrell. They stayed married until her death on September 24, 1968, at the age of 73. This marked her only film for Hitchcock. 

An issue of Pictures and the Picturegoer (dated October 1925) states, "Virginia Valli was in London for a few days last month. She had just come in from Munich where she made The Pleasure Garden with Miles Mander and John Stuart and was on her way back to the states. Viriginia may make a picture in England later, when Universal start their proposed scheme for making pictures over there." 

Directing such a big star as Virginia Valli made the new director quite nervous. Hitch would later state, "I was terrified of giving her instructions. I've no idea how many times, I asked my future wife if I was doing the right thing. She, sweet soul, gave me courage by swearing I was doing a marvelous job. And Virginia Valli played her scenes sublimely unconscious of the emotional drama that was being enacted on the other side of the camera." 

Photoplay, 1925

Motion Picture Magazine, 1923

When Virginia Valli arrived, she had brought a friend along, actress Carmelita Geraghty. Hitch would later state, "The two were traveling together and intended to stick together." Carmelita Geraghty would be given the part of the second female lead in the film. Born on March 21, 1901, in Rushville, Indiana. Geraghty was the daughter of Tom Geraghty, screenwriter for such movies as The Courageous Coward (1919), When the Clouds Roll By (1919) and The Sporting Venus (1925). She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1924. These were a selection of 13 actresses that the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers would pick as the next big stars. However, she would not become the big star that they predicted. She had some other big roles including one in the first film version of The Great Gatsby (1926). In the sound era she would go on to have supporting roles in the Andy Hardy and Dr. Kildare movies. 

This film is one of the first collaboration between cinematographer, Gaetano di Ventimiglia. Ventimiglia would later work on the Hitchcock films, The Mountain Eagle (1926) and The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927). Most of Ventimiglia's filmography was made up of Italian movies. Though he did also work on the film A Woman in Pawn (1927) for the Gaumont British Picture Corporation. This film's art director was Ludwig Reiber, who spent most of his career working on German movies that have been forgotten over the years, though he would later be the art director for Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1927). He would also work on Hitch's next movie, The Mountain Eagle.

Much of this movie was filmed at Emelka Studios in Munich. This studio was on a fifty-acre estate surrounded by a large forest. On scene that takes place on Pasty's honeymoon was shot on location at Lake Como. A review in The Bioscope described this scene as "enchanting". 

The making of this movie was often beset by finical troubles on Hitch's part. As a struggling filmmaker, Hitch (as well as his future wife Alma) sometimes had difficulty managing the money to pay for hotel bills, food and other such expenses. Hitch later admitted that he got lucky a few times by Valli bringing her own food for a train ride and having a very light breakfast one morning. Hitch would later tell a story that illustrates the financial trouble he found himself in. "The critical day arrived [the arrival of a hotel bill]. In desperation I hit upon the idea of using Carmelita Geraghty as a means to extort some money from Virginia Valli. The ethics of a director playing such a trick on a star didn't trouble me. But, like a man, I left Miss Reville to do all the dirty work. She went to Valli and explained that, owing to the unexpected presence of her friend, we had insufficient expenses money to meet our obligations. Could she possibly advance us some cash? I was not present at the interview. Women can do these things more discreetly than men. At any rate, Miss Reville came back to me in triumph bearing a couple hundred dollars of Virginia Valli's money. By the time I had paid the bill I had got the equivalent of ten English pounds left."

The movie had its premiere at the Capitol in Haymarket, London on April 12, 1926. However, distributor C.M. Woolf, felt that the film was bound to be a commercial failure and withheld its theatrical release. The movie would not receive a full release in its home country until after the success of Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger. However, in the U.S. the film was being shown in 1926. Advertisements greatly promoted Virginia Valli's name. The film was still being screened at various U.S. theaters as late as 1928. 

Upon its release some reviewers attacked the film for the sexual nature of the story. Of course, when it came to classic Hollywood directors, Hitch was one who was unafraid of addressing sex in his movies. Think of the end of North By Northwest (1959) where two newlyweds consummating their marriage is shown through the unsubtle Freudian symbolism of a train going through a tunnel. However, Hitchcock would often state at the point in his life when he made The Pleasure Garden, he was wholly innocent and pure when it came to sexual matters, often emphasizing that he was still a virgin. 

In his book long interview with Alfred Hitchcock, Francios Truffaut brought this up stating, "You claim that, at the time, you were ignorant about sexual matters and totally innocent. Yet in The Pleasure Garden, the two girls, Pasty and Jill, really suggest a couple, the one dressed in pajamas, the other wearing a nightgown." Hitch responded, "That may be true, but it didn't go very deep; it was rather superficial. I was quite innocent at the time. The behavior of the two girls in The Pleasure Garden was inspired by something that happened when I was assistant director in Berlin in 1924. A highly respectable British family invited me and the director to go out with them. The young girl in the family was the daughter of one of the bosses of UFA. I didn't understand a word of German. After dinner we wound up in a night club where men danced with each other. There were also female couples. Later on, two German girls, one around nineteen and the other about thirty years old, volunteered to drive us home. The car stopped in front of a hotel and they insisted that we go in. In the hotel room they made several propositions, to which I stolidly replied, 'Nein Nein.' Then we had several cognacs and finally the two German girls got into bed. And the young girl in our party, who was a student, put on her glasses to make sure she wouldn't miss anything."

Hull Daily Mail, 1927

Alton Evening Telegraph, 1928

This movie can be watched below on YouTube. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hitchcock by Francios Truffaut

The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg.

Hitchcock on Hitchcock Edited by Sidney Gottlieb

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock by Edward White

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Pleasure_Garden_(1925) 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

https://lisasreading.com/the-queen-of-romance/

The Prude's Fall (1925)

 

In the spring of 1923 Graham Cutts announced The Prude's Fall as his next film and it was said that Alfred Hitchcock was already at work writing this adaption. However, Cutts and Hitch ended up making The White Shadow (1924) first and The Prude's Fall was held on the shelf for almost two years. A 1923 article from Pictures and Picturegoer magazine reveals that Betty Compson was planned to be the star of this movie like she was in Woman to Woman (1923) and The White Shadow. This article states, "Betty Compson expects to stay ten weeks in Europe, and will make two films. The second, The Prude's Fall, is adapted from the successful play that ran at Wyndham's Theatre, London, and is light fare compared with Woman to Woman. Betty Compson is fully equal to the demands of both roles: her early film work was done, you remember, in Lyons and Moran comedies, whilst her dancing and emotional capacities have been tested, tried and not found wanting in the many films she made for Paramount, and other companies, not forgetting the immortal Miracle Man. Betty is receiving a tremendous salary for her work this side."   

Like many films that Alfred Hitchcock was working on at this time, this was very much a romantic melodrama. In this movie Betrice Audley breaks her engagement with Captain le Briquet. The captain them marries a woman named Sonia Roubetsky. Sonia had admitted to Betrice that she is a woman with a past. When the captain finds out about this, he thinks that Betrice withheld the information from him to ruin his life. Sonia feels unloved and hurt when her husband finds out about her past and she kills herself. The captain then decides to get revenge on Betrice by making her fall for him again only to reject her. When he learns that Betrice didn't tell the captain to help protect his feelings, the captain and Betrice get married and live happily ever after.

The storyline for this film was originally a stage play (of the same name) revolving around actor Gerald du Maurier. Maurier was a well-established stage actor known for his roles as George Darling and Captain Hook in the original 1904 run of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. This was not the only connection Maurier has to Hitchcock. His daughter Daphne Maurier was an author whose books included Jamaica Inn, Rebbecca and The Birds, all of which Alfred Hitchcock would later adapt into movies. The play was written by Rudolph Besier (best known for his 1930 play, The Barretts of Wimpole Street) and novelist and playwright May Edginton. These two had previously worked together on the 1922 play, Secrets. Secrets starred English actress Fay Compton, who also has another Hitchcock connection playing Countess Helga von Stahl in the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Waltzes from Vienna (1934). Secrets would receive two film adaptions one in 1924 (directed by Frank Borzage and starring Norma Talmage) and one in 1933 (also directed by Frank Borzage and featuring Mary Pickford in her last movie).

Like The Blackguard (1925), this film also starred American actress, Jane Novak. Despite not being well remembered today, Novak played opposite such major movie stars as William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Alan Hale, Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone. During the silent era she was a major movie star herself and was one of the earliest movie stars to be paid a four-figure salary for one film. By time she started making talkies she was no longer as the big star she had been. However, she would appear intermittently throughout the talkie era. One of these appearances was in Hitchcock's film, Foreign Correspondent (1940) for which she had a small uncredited role. One of her costars would be another American actress, Julanne Johnston. Though she made many films, she is probably best known today for being the leading lady to Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad (1924). An article from Exhibitor's Trade Review (dated March 28, 1925) stated, "Julanne Johnson cables that the title of the production she is making aboard is 'The Prude's Fall,' from the stage play. She is in Mortiz, Switzerland adding that 'I am again playing a Russian refugee and tomorrow I fall off a precipice. If I live after this experience, will cable more details.' She returns to America late this month."  

Once again, the director was Graham Cutts and Hitchcock worked as the writer, assistant director and art director. However, at this time the relationship between the two was not on the best of terms. Hitch claimed that during the making of The Blackguard he and his future wife, Alma Reville (who was essentially second assistant director on that movie) had carried the later parts of the shoot from a badly behaved Cutts. 

  The Prude's Fall is believed to have been rushed into production to save costs for keeping Jane Novack after already using her in a previous film. Whether this is the reason the film was shot very quickly, though post-production was done at a much slower pace. In fact, Cutts had finished another film (The Rat (1925)) before The Prude's Fall found its way into theaters. In April 1925, producer Michael Balcon gave the movie to Adrian Brunel, an owner of a Soho 'film hospital.' Brunel directed re-shoots, pad-out the film with intertitles and re-edit it. Hitchcock, while working on his directorial debut, The Pleasure Garden (1926), wrote Brunel, that he heard the movie ended up as "a new being." Despite this work, the film was barely released in Britian. 

Only fragments of this film survive today. Unfortunately, I was not able to view these fragments. The critical reception at the time it was released though hint that this was not exactly a great movie. Variety even referred to the movie as "film junk." 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422807/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

The Blackguard (1925)

 

For The Blackguard, producer Michael Balcon sent to director Graham Cutts and art director, assistant director and writer Alfred Hitchcock to Berlin. This made this the first film for the British Gainsborough studio that was made aboard. That this was made in Germany was not just a coincidence. Balcon had been talking to Hitch about studying the production methods of the UFA studio, which made many of Germany's best films of the time. The Blackguard would in fact be a co-production with UFA. 

This film's story takes place during the Russian Revolution. It involves a violinist, who falls in love with a Russian princess and must save her from execution.

 This film is a pure visual treat. The sets, lighting and cinematography are truly wonderful. There is much about these elements that owe a debt to German films of the time (including those that are often referred to as "German Expressionism") and these visual elements hold up just as well here as they do in the best German films of the era. The visuals here not only look great, but they create an incredibly effective atmosphere. Like in the best "German Expressionism" films the visuals draw us into the movie instantly. There is a bit of abstract feel to them, while at the same time never to the point where it makes anything seem any less than real. The crowd scenes here also do a lot to making this movie feel larger than life.

Unfortunately the storyline was the same type of sappy romantic melodrama as many of the films Hitch worked on at this period. Many of the plot points feel so over the top and melodramatic (a fault just as much of the source material (a 1923 novel by Raymond Paton) as the actual film) that it is hard to take much of it seriously. Unfortunately, this movie takes itself very seriously. What makes the story kind of work though is that the male hero is quite likable (he may not be a complex character, but he is likable) and the entire cast provides good performances.

Like the previous films that Alfred Hitchcock worked on, this movie would star an American actress. For this film that American actress would be Jane Novak. Despite not being well remembered today, Novak played opposite such major movie stars as William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Alan Hale, Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone. During the silent era she was a major movie star herself and was one of the earliest movie stars to be paid a four-figure salary for one film. By time she started making talkies she was no longer as the big star she had been. However, she would appear intermittently throughout the talkie era. One of these appearances was in Hitchcock's film, Foreign Correspondent (1940) for which she had a small uncredited role. Her leading man here was German actor Walter Rilla. A very prolific actor Rilla would continue working in films and TV shows through the 1970's. This movie also marked the final film appearance of German actress, Dora Bergner.
 

Writing the intertitles for this film was Adrian Brunel. Brunel would become a director himself directing such films as The Constant Nymph (1928, featuring Alfred Hitchcock's future wife Alma Reville as one of the writers) and The Invader (1936, starring Buster Keaton). 

Dover Express, 1925

 Hull Daily Mail, 1926

Lichfield Mercury, 1926

Derby Daily Telegraph, 1925

Below is a short 1925 article about this film. If you have trouble reading it click on the image below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.

The following is a review that George T. Pardy wrote for Motion Picture News, "A TRIFLE slow in getting started, but once this picture striker-its gait it maintains fast action to the finish and provides virile entertainment. The early sequences are devoted to showing the formation of the young hero's character and the influence upon him of a hallucination caused by an injury to his head, whereby he is dominated by a vision of a music-god, Maliol, who promises him success as a violinist, so long as he confines his affections to his art. He really wins through hard work, but the Maliol idea rules him so sternly that the woman he loves, Princess Marie, is led to share his belief. The big thrills come during the revolution, when he risks all to save Marie, and the mob scenes, the fight with Levenski and escape from the burning palace are staged with tremendous spectacular effect. Jane Novak and Walter Rilla do excellent work in the leading roles and are well supported. Photography A-1."

Working on a film in UFA in Germany would end up playing an important role in Hitch's development as a filmmaker. It was here he was able to witness the great German director F.W. Murnau (best known today for directing Nosferatu (1922)) directing The Last Laugh (1924). Hitch would later remember the profound influence this experience had on him. Hitch stated in his famous book long interview with Francios Truffaut, "I made a silent film, The Farmer's Wife, a play that as all dialogue, but we tried to avoid using titles and, whenever possible, to use the pictorial expression instead. I suppose that the only film made without any titles at all was The Last Laugh, with Emil Jannings. ... They were making it was I worked at UFA. In that film Murnau tried to establish a universal language by using a kind of Esperanto. All the street signs, the posters, the shop signs, were in this synthetic language." Truffaut corrected him stating, "Well some of the signs in Emil Jannings' house were in German, but those in the Grand Hotel were in this Esperanto." Hitch would mention The Last Laugh in an article (entitled If I Were Head of a Production Company and written by Hitch himself) that appeared in the magazine, Picturegoer (in an issue dated January 26, 1935), "UFA built a whole city-center for The Last Laugh. The expanse would have been justified for that fine film alone; but the set was used for years afterwards." Being without intertitles, The Last Laugh is one of the most exemplary examples of what Alfred Hitchcock would later refer to as pure cinema. This is a type of cinema that tells it stories in a visual way without relying too heavily on dialogue (or intertitles).     

The Blackguard is available to watch on YouTube below. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hitchcock Truffaut by Francois Truffaut

Hitchcock on Hitchcock edited by Sidney Gottlieb

https://britishsilentfilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-blackguard.pdf

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422989/index.html

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Blackguard_(1925)

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/