HitchcOctober Day 11: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Posted on October 11, 2014 by jaycluitt

Bob and Jill (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) are holidaying in Switzerland with their daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam), partaking in some kind of competition where Jill gets to show off her clay pigeon shooting skills, and they get the chance to meet up with their family friend Louis (Pierre Fresnay), who is involved in the skiing tournament. On the last evening of Louis’ stay he is shot whilst dancing with Jill, and his dying words set in motion a mission for the couple, as they must keep the contents of a hidden message secret, because their daughter’s life is at risk. 723
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HitchcOctober Day 10: The Pleasure Garden

Posted on October 10, 2014 by jaycluitt

See, told you I’d be getting to The Pleasure Garden soon (though when I wrote that yesterday I had no intention of it being quite so soon, I just ran out of time to watch anything longer than an hour. All praise YouTube!).

Patsy (Virginia Valli) is a chorus line girl at a theatre known as The Pleasure Garden, which is run by Mr. Hamilton (Georg H. Schnell). One day a new girl, Jill (Carmelita Geraghty), arrives, but she’s had her introductory letter stolen along with all her money, so Patsy offers her a place to stay for the night. The next day, after Patsy puts in a good word and Jill haggles with Hamilton, Jill is offered a shot at dancing and, despite never having danced professionally before, she secures herself a place not just as one of the backing dancers, but as a starring attraction. Jill stays with Patsy in her small flat (even sharing a bed, which they do on their first night together as perfect strangers, it was a different time back then), and when Jill’s fiancé Hugh (John Stuart) visits, Patsy is soon set up with his colleague Levett (Miles Mander). Hugh has to go abroad on business for two years, and requests Patsy prevent Jill from going off the rails, but Jill’s newfound fame and fortune soon go to her head, leading her down a dark path. Meanwhile, Patsy and Levett marry, with the intention of waiting for one another and being together once he is back from his similar work trip.
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HitchcOctober Day 9: The Lodger

Posted on October 9, 2014 by jaycluitt

In 1920s London, a string of murders has just received its latest addition. Every tuesday night a golden-haired young woman is slain within a small area of town, and as yet the police have no leads to go on, other than the killer goes by the name of The Avenger, and is a tall man with a face wrapped up in a scarf. Meanwhile, a tall, creepy, scarf-adorned man (Ivor Novello) arrives at a lodging house and requests a room. The landlady Mrs. Bunting (Marie Ault) accepts and he is shown the room, were he immediately requests that all the portraits of blonde women be removed, as they unnerve him. Mrs. Bunting runs the lodging house with her husband (Arthur Chesney) and daughter Daisy (June Tripp), who also works as a fashion model. The house is regularly visited by bumbling policeman Joe (Malcolm Keen) who is attempting to woo Daisy and, once he is put onto the Avenger case, he vows that as soon as he catches the killer he’ll put a ring on Daisy’s finger. Over time, Daisy grows closer to the house’s new, mysterious lodger, much to the concern of her parents, who begin to suspect this strange man may be involved in the murders.

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HitchcOctober Day 8: The Wrong Man

Posted on October 8, 2014 by jaycluitt

Christopher Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Balestrero (Henry Fonda) is a pretty ordinary man. He makes a living playing bass fiddle in a band, and takes his modest pay home to his wife and two sons, barely scraping by with the bumps life throws into the road. Manny’s kids are learning to be musicians like their father, he dutifully visits his ailing parents, and his wife Rose (Vera Miles) suffers from toothache, which means they need to borrow money against her life insurance to pay for the dentist bill. When Manny attempts to obtain this money, his life is suddenly throw upside-down as he finds himself caught in the midst of an incredible case of mistaken identity. The-Wrong-Man1000 Continue reading →

HitchcOctober Day 7: To Catch A Thief

Posted on October 7, 2014 by jaycluitt

John Robie (Cary Grant) is a former master cat burglar, who gave it all up during the war to become a hero of the French resistance. He now lives a life of luxury in the south of France, but when a string of burglaries starts up the police immediately puts Robie in the frame, causing him to go on the run. He hatches a plan using a connection within the jewellery insurance industry to scope out the next potential victims, believing the only way to clear his name is to catch the real burglar in the act. This brings him into contact with the wealthy Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her beautiful daughter Frances (Grace Kelly). Thief 1
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HitchcOctober Day 6: Lifeboat

Posted on October 6, 2014 by jaycluitt

In the midst of World War 2, a freighter is torpedoed by a German U-Boat, during which both ships sink. One lifeboat remains afloat, and is gradually filled with survivors, beginning with famous journalist Constance Porter (Talulah Bankhead), and eventually includeinga headstrong engine-worker named Kovac (John Hodiak), radio operator Stan (Hume Cronyn), nurse Alice (Mary Anderson), millionaire Ritt (Henry Hull), wounded seaman Gus (William Bendix), black steward Joe (Canada Lee) and mourning mother Mrs. Higgins (Heather Angel), whose baby has died in the incident. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, the ninth person aboard their craft is Willi (Walter Slezak), the sole survivor of the U-Boat that sank their ship.
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HitchcOctober Day 5: Suspicion

Posted on October 5, 2014 by jaycluitt

Johnnie and Lina meet by chance on a train when Johnnie (Cary Grant) can’t afford a first class upgrade, and pays for it in pennies and a borrowed stamp from Lina (Joan Fontaine). Lina leads a relatively sheltered life, being bookish and introverted, whereas Johnnie is a serial blagger, flying by the seat of his pants without a care for cause or consequence. Naturally, these opposites attract and the two are soon married, against the wishes of Lina’s parents. Eventually, Johnnie’s extravagant lifestyle leads to financial woes, and Lina suspects Johnnie may have some untraditional methods of fixing them. Annex - Grant, Cary (Suspicion)_09 Continue reading →

HitchcOctober Day 4: Jamaica Inn

Posted on October 4, 2014 by jaycluitt

In Cornwall, England, a crew of hoodlums run a racket whereby they obscure the warning lights along the rocky coasts during a storm, then salvage all the goods from the ships that subsequently wreck, leaving no survivors amongst the crew – after all, if the gang is caught, they’ll all be hanged. The base of their operations is the Jamaica Inn, and when Mary (Maureen O’Hara) is sent there to stay with her aunt and uncle after her parents have died, she begins to uncover the full depths of the depravity. 55W7YNtxgbVlRrRoerQQc2EUT3C
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HitchcOctober Day 3: Number Seventeen

Posted on October 3, 2014 by jaycluitt

When a man chases his windblown hat into the courtyard of a creepy looking house, he goes inside to investigate. There he finds all manner of odd occurrences, beginning with a corpse on the landing, a strange man attending to the deceased, and a woman falling through the roof. When even more unusual people begin showing up, it’s clear something out of the ordinary is going on.

As with most of Hitchcock’s early films, I’d heard nothing about this film prior to watching it, so had very little to expect upon the viewing. As such I was pleasantly surprised to discover this relatively unknown gem, full of surprises, quirky characters and unusual occurrences. Unfortunately, the twisty nature of the plot, which sees you never further than a couple of minutes from the next revelation, character introduction or the revealing of someone turning out to not be whom they originally appeared, makes it relatively difficult to discuss without giving away any spoilers, seeing as there are so many to be given away! Considering the film clocks in at just a few minutes over an hour, that’s some impressive script work. It does render the plot a trifle confusing at times, but I got through it having largely understood everything that was going on, and without thinking a second viewing was required. Continue reading →

HitchcOctober Day 2: Elstree Calling

Posted on October 2, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review a few months ago, but I’ve saved it here for HitchcOctober!

In the late 1920s/early 1930s, Hollywood produced a number of musical and comedy revues; a selection of skits, dances and musical numbers, combined together into one long production, similar to a modern day Royal Variety Performance, but without the obligatory monarch amongst the audience. In response to these, Britain retaliated with Elstree Calling, a more comedic take that almost parodied the American counterparts, whilst still showcasing a range of talented performers from the time, and linked together by a sporadically inept compère, a desperate Shakespearean performer (the greatest Shakespearean actor in captivity) and a man attempting to re-tune his television set to watch the broadcast at home.
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