It’s hard to believe that this is Hitchcock’s tenth feature- a crime drama set in a theater (something he’d do again often in 39 steps, stage freight)—it’s one of the best films of 1930 and one of the best films of hitchcock’s English period in the 30’s
First talking role, and a strong one, for Herbert marhsall
The film starts with an absolute bang. The first 10 minutes of the film are on their way to being a masterpiece, we have an opening tracking shot of people coming out of windows after hearing screaming, we have the crime scene shown in prolonged actor hold, almost like a freeze frame, we have an experimental scene/shot of the camera following a woman walking back and forth as she’s making tea and a tracking shot dollying out of a prison via the bars…
…and then the movie slows to a stylistic crawl and turns into a who-done-it and sort of a 12 angry men combination
There’s a flaw here with the church bells from the clock ringing while they show the clock at like 611
Heavy on guilt and wrongfully accused- Hitchcock auteuristic trademarks
How do you show a guilty man without words? Yes, acting is key but that’s not it- Hitchcock shoots the impossible to shoot
Big set piece finale which is another Hitchcock trademark—this one is a circus with a high trapeze
Great scene and editing foreshadows noose hanging
Highly recommend- top 10 of the ear quality but we really have two films- the avant-garde first 10 minutes are well on their way to being an all-timer and then we have a simple recommend movie for the remainder
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