Review of Easy Virtue

Easy Virtue (1927)
9/10
One of Alfred Hitchcock's best films and an underrated classic of the silent era!
19 February 2011
Easy Virtue is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films. It follows Larita Filton who at first is married to a drunk but starts to fall for a painter. When they get filed for divorce her husband brings her to court for adultery, believing that she was cheating on him with the painter. She eventually goes to France and marries a man named John Whittaker but she also attempts to hide her past from him. But when John's family starts to find out a few things about Larita's past her relationship with her new husband starts to become strained. Does her relationship survive? So basically I find it a very interesting and entertaining plot which keeps the viewer entertained all the way until the end where the film seems to end very abruptly. This makes me wish that the film had a little bit better closure and had gone on for just a little bit longer.

All of the actors in the movie do a great job with Isabel Jeans playing Larita with true excellence. She seems to act very naturally instead of the typical exaggerated expressions that you see in most silent films. John's disapproving and unhappy mother is played very well by Violet Farebrother who gets her anger and disapproval across very well. Robin Irvine manages to do a nearly perfect job as John so basically all of the actors are great including minor ones.

Each and every one of the sets in this film are great and the only noteworthy special effects shot, a man firing a gun, is done very well for the time. The soundtrack for the film fits it very well even if some of it has already been used in earlier Hitchcock films.

This is a movie that really caught me off guard with its high level of quality and entertainment value. The plot is based off of a 1925 play and it ends up working very well here in the movie, the film is a pretty good length although it could have used a little bit more footage at the end, the acting is stupendous, the music is great and fits the movie well, and finally the special effects are great. So this is an excellent film from the silent era and a classic that should be watched and enjoyed by everyone. Score: 9/10
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