skjam

Easy Virtue (1926) dir. Alfred Hitchcock

John Whittaker (Robin Irvine) returns from a Riviera vacation with a surprise bride. Larita (Isabel Jeans) is certainly pretty, and seems pleasant enough. But John's mother (Violet Farebrother) can't shake the feeling that she's seen Larita before, and that the young woman is hiding something. Larita is somewhat evasive about her past, and one just doesn't put the question directly, but what dark secret does she possess? Who, actually, is Larita Whittaker?

Of course, the audience knows who Larita is from the beginning, as we first meet her at her divorce trial as Mrs. Larita Filton. Aubrey Filton (Franklin Dyall) was a jealous man with anger issues and a bit of a drinking problem. He didn't like the artist Larita had painting her portrait, Claude Robson (Eric Bransby Williams). It did not help that Claude was in fact madly in love with Larita and secretly had changed his will to make her sole heir. In the flashback scenes from Larita's point of view, she didn't do anything untoward with Claude, but that's her version of the story.

Aubrey finally breaks in on Claude holding Larita's hands and suggesting she leave her cruel brute of a husband. In the ensuing tussle, Claude shoots Aubrey, but only slightly wounds the other man, and Aubrey manages to brutally beat Claude with his cane before collapsing. Claude, believing he'd murdered Aubrey, shot himself. Sadly, the husband survived and sued for divorce on grounds of infidelity.

We never hear Mr. Filton's side of the story, but the jury buys it and awards him a divorce on terms unfavorable to Mrs. Filton. The press labels Larita a woman of "easy virtue." Thanks to a nice inheritance from Claude (no starving artist he) Larita's not destitute or even needing to work for a living, but the press publicity makes things miserable for her in England. Thus her trip to the Riviera under a slightly altered name.

While there, john accidentally hits Larita with a tennis ball, she forgives him, and they fall in love. Larita points out that they barely know each other, but John is so infatuated with her that he shuts down any questions about Larita's past. They are married, and soon are back at the Whittaker family home.

Now, admittedly John is a dope for not at least asking basic questions like "where are you from?" or "do you have any living relatives?" In another story, Mrs. Whittaker's suspicions would be quite correct, and they're still understandable. But here, they make Mrs. Whittaker treat Larita very unfairly and she poisons her son against his wife well before the truth comes out.

The character I feel most sorry for though is Sarah (Enid Stamp-Taylor), John's childhood friend and the one his mother and sister ship him with. She's still around constantly, and is the only person who is consistently decent to both Larita and John, even after the divorce thing comes out. (If you squint and turn your head sideways, you might be able to fanon her as bisexual.)

The story ends on a downer note, with Larita surrendering to the depredations of the press.

This movie was based on a Noel Coward play, but is silent, so most of the sparkling dialogue has to be imagined. This sort of story of manners isn't Alfred Hitchcock's forte, but he does have some innovative moments, such as presenting the courtroom through a nearsighted judge's monocle, and allowing the marriage proposal to be represented by the reactions of an eavesdropping telephone operator.

Content note: Aubrey abuses alcohol and grips his wife hard enough to bruise her. Suicide. Several characters smoke, and Larita is something of a chain smoker (more scandalous for a woman at the time.)

It's an okay movie but not one of Hitchcock's major works. It's also somewhat difficult to find good prints. Primarily recommended to Hitchcock completists or Noel Coward fans. (The play was also adapted into a movie in 2008 with a very different outcome.)

Blackmail (1929) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Alice White, who works in her father's tobacco shop, is bored with her police detective boyfriend Frank. She acts obnoxiously during a date with him, causing Frank to cancel. But Frank hesitates long enough outside the restaurant to see Alice leave with handsome artist Mr. Crewe, who'd arranged to meet Alice there.

It's clear that Alice and Mr. Crewe don't know each other well, but he pressures her into a visit to his studio apartment. He's clearly a skilled painter, and also plays the piano and sings. The two young people flirt, and Alice tries on a model's ballerina dress (which she's a trifle too big for.) All seems to be going well until Mr. Crewe forces a kiss on Alice. Unconsenting, Alice decides to leave, but Mr. Crewe takes away her street clothes, and then (behind a curtain) attempts to rape Alice. She stabs him to death in self defense.

Distraught and dazed, Alice obscures some evidence that she was at the apartment, but forgets her gloves. She wanders until dawn, then successfully fakes having been in bed.

Frank finds Alice's glove at the scene of the crime and recognizes the murder victim, but pockets the evidence and does not tell the other Scotland Yard men about his knowledge. He goes to Alice's shop and attempts to discover her connection to the crime. But their conversation is seen by another man. As it so happens, he saw Alice go into the artist's building on the night of the murder...and has her other glove! He's got blackmail on his mind.

This was Alfred Hitchcock's first talkie, and indeed is considered the first "full" talkie from England. It was initially filmed as a silent film but many scenes were reshot during production. The first few minutes of the talkie version are "silent" as we see Frank's workday, capturing a criminal, interrogating him, a lineup, and then pressing charges. Only when the detectives are in the locker area at the end of the day do we first hear talking.

One effect of the switch to sound was a problem with Alice's actress, Anny Ondra. Her strong Czech accent was considered unacceptable for playing a working class British girl, so British actress Joan Barry had to stand just off-camera and speak Alice's lines while Anny mouthed them. This was Ms. Ondra's last English film but she went on to a successful career in Germany, France and Czechoslovakia.

The film has Hitchcock's trademarks: a heavy dose of suspense, a famous landmark as the site of the climax (the British Museum) and a cameo by the director himself. It also has an ambiguous ending of the type that would soon be unacceptable under the Hays Code.

The imagery gets a little heavy-handed from time to time, more suitable for the silent version I think, but the painting of the clown who points and laughs at you is a good recurring image. Hitchcock did also start using some sound tricks to good effect; the best of these is a gossipy neighbor whose monologue slowly fades out except for the repeated use of the word "knife."

The old-fashionedness of the film (based on a stage play and you can tell) is part of its charm, but may grate on younger viewers who aren't used to it. New film fans may want to start with some of Hitchcock's Hollywood movies from the late Thirties to ease into it.