Before sitting down to write this review I took a look at the Films of Alfred Hitchcock Citadel book. One of the reviewers was quoted as saying that the frumpy character that Jane Wyman played when she was pretending to be Marlene Dietrich's maid came off like an adult's version of Nancy Drew. I remember Ms. Drew whether played by Bonita Granville or Pamela Sue Martin had a better sense of style than Wyman's character. But I really thought it said everything about the film.
I'm still trying to figure out why she is going to all that trouble to help two timing Richard Todd. That's how the film opens, a fleeing Todd comes to girl friend Wyman and says he's about to be implicated in the murder of Dietrich's husband. And of course he confesses to Wyman that he's been unfaithful.
Well instead of giving Todd the heave ho, she agrees to help and gets herself involved in the Scotland Yard investigation. Good thing that police inspector Michael Wilding falls for Wyman otherwise he'd be arresting her for tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. Presumably those are criminal offenses in the United Kingdom as well as America.
What saves Stage Fright from being a total disaster is Marlene Dietrich. She essentially plays herself as musical comedy star Charlotte Inwood and gets to sing La Vie En Rose and Cole Porter's The Laziest Gal in Town.
According to a recent biography of Dietrich she and Alfred Hitchcock had an unbelievable time trying to agree on what she should sing. She rejected The Laziest Gal In Town among dozens of others and she finally agreed at the last minute to sing that song. Of course it became a big hit and a staple in her nightclub act for decades.
Another thing I can't understand is why Wyman was identified in the script as having been born in South Africa. She certainly doesn't sound like any South African I've met. Why they couldn't use the old standby of Canadian origin for American players in British based films is beyond me.
Alfred Hitchcock definitely hit a creative snag in Stage Fright. I'm not sure devotees of the master of suspense will like this one.
But Dietrich fans will love it.
I'm still trying to figure out why she is going to all that trouble to help two timing Richard Todd. That's how the film opens, a fleeing Todd comes to girl friend Wyman and says he's about to be implicated in the murder of Dietrich's husband. And of course he confesses to Wyman that he's been unfaithful.
Well instead of giving Todd the heave ho, she agrees to help and gets herself involved in the Scotland Yard investigation. Good thing that police inspector Michael Wilding falls for Wyman otherwise he'd be arresting her for tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. Presumably those are criminal offenses in the United Kingdom as well as America.
What saves Stage Fright from being a total disaster is Marlene Dietrich. She essentially plays herself as musical comedy star Charlotte Inwood and gets to sing La Vie En Rose and Cole Porter's The Laziest Gal in Town.
According to a recent biography of Dietrich she and Alfred Hitchcock had an unbelievable time trying to agree on what she should sing. She rejected The Laziest Gal In Town among dozens of others and she finally agreed at the last minute to sing that song. Of course it became a big hit and a staple in her nightclub act for decades.
Another thing I can't understand is why Wyman was identified in the script as having been born in South Africa. She certainly doesn't sound like any South African I've met. Why they couldn't use the old standby of Canadian origin for American players in British based films is beyond me.
Alfred Hitchcock definitely hit a creative snag in Stage Fright. I'm not sure devotees of the master of suspense will like this one.
But Dietrich fans will love it.