A very little seen Hitchcock, and a decent British silent film, from a Noel Coward play. It's surprisingly visual for a stage play, with titles kept to a minimum. As with a lot of early HItchcock the copies circulating are pretty bad. It must have looked good when it was new.
The courtroom sequence has some typical Hitchcock touches - views through the judge's monocle. The strangest link with later films is an odd prophecy of Marnie. The blonde wife with a mysterious past is brought home to the country house, with crusty colonel father in law and brunette sister in law meeting her. A bit later on you expect to see Strutt turn up at a party to identify her. Almost the same thing happens and at the final party Isobel Jeans glams herself up and makes a grand entrance down the staircase.
I am developing a theory that the things Hitchcock says nothing about in the Truffaut book are the important ones! Isobel Jeans reappeared in Suspicion 13 years later. Is she the original Hitchcock blonde? If only (BFI please note) there were proper bright restorations of these early Hitchcocks. The only one I've seen looking good is The Lodger. It makes a huge difference.
The courtroom sequence has some typical Hitchcock touches - views through the judge's monocle. The strangest link with later films is an odd prophecy of Marnie. The blonde wife with a mysterious past is brought home to the country house, with crusty colonel father in law and brunette sister in law meeting her. A bit later on you expect to see Strutt turn up at a party to identify her. Almost the same thing happens and at the final party Isobel Jeans glams herself up and makes a grand entrance down the staircase.
I am developing a theory that the things Hitchcock says nothing about in the Truffaut book are the important ones! Isobel Jeans reappeared in Suspicion 13 years later. Is she the original Hitchcock blonde? If only (BFI please note) there were proper bright restorations of these early Hitchcocks. The only one I've seen looking good is The Lodger. It makes a huge difference.