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GOOD EVENING: AN ALFRED HITCHCOCK BLOG

We all go a little mad sometimes

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2024

THE PASSIONATE ADVENTURE (1924)

With The Passionate Adventure, Hitch would again work as an Assistant director,
screenplay co-writer, and art director on a film directed by Graham Cutts and
produced by Michael Bolton. This marked the first film for Michael Balcon's new
Gainsborough studio. After Balcon made Woman to Woman (1923) and The White
Shadow (1924) with Victor Saville and John Freedman, he and director Graham
Cutts formed their own studio taking along some of the crew used on those
previous movies including Hitch. Like the previous two films, Clive Brook would
once again play the male lead. The female lead would again go to an American
actress, this time Alice Joyce. Joyce was a very prolific actress appearing in
more than 200 films over a career that stretched through the 1910's, 20's and
early 30's.

The story for this movie involves a married couple (Clive Brook, Alice Joyce)
whose marriage has grown loveless after the husband has returned from World War
1. Unhappy with his home life, the husband heads to the East End of London.
There he meets a young woman (Marjorie Daw) and forms a friendship with her.
This gets him in trouble with her criminal boyfriend (Victor McLaglen).

This story was based off a novel of the same name by Frank Stayton. The movie
was sold as a socially conscious film that would go "right to the root of the
social institution of marriage." Some reviewers found the subject matter and the
messaging tasteless. However, Walter Mycroft for the Evening Standard praised
the film for its "absolute skill in production and for inspiration in setting."
Mycroft would later be a screenwriter on the Hitchcock movie, Murder! (1930).

Graham Cutts at this time was interested in a plight "to eliminate the
explanatory letterpress [intertitles] as much as possible, as it is his belief
that the perfect film is one which tells its own story in a series of pictures."
This is very similar to Hitch's later comments about "pure cinema," where Hitch
argued that films should tell their stories visually instead of through a
plethora of dialogue. At the same time for an article entitled What Does the
Public Want?, Cutts wrote about the classic German film The Cabinet of Dr
Caligari (1919) that it "is too violent a swing into the realms of mental
experiences to be universally acceptable, but along that line future
developments lie if the public is to have the variety and breadth necessary to
hold it."

The greatest challenge for Hitch with this movie was creating a cannel set
inside Islington studio’s 90-foot stage.

Only one print of this film is in existence. It is in the BFI National Archive.
It is a European release print with German intertitles. Unfortunately, this film
is not available for me to view.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031858/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/The-Passionate-Adventure

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422860/

at December 07, 2024 No comments:
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Labels: British Film, Graham Cutts, Silent Film

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024

THE WHITE SHADOW (1924)

Sadly, only three reels (about 45 minutes) of this film exists today. However,
since the previous films Hitch had worked on are not available for the average
person to watch, this movie provides us with our earliest peek into the master's
filmography. Once again Hitch was not the director that credit goes to Graham
Cutts. Hitch played no small part in the making of this movie though. He worked
as screenwriter, assistant director, art director, and possibly editor.

The storyline is very melodramatic, similar to many of the master's early
credits. It involves two identical twin sisters (both played by Betty Compson).
One of them is very social conservative, while the other is a free spirit. A man
falls in love with them without knowing they are different people.

For anyone who regularly watches silent films, the story here will feel very
familiar. There is nothing original or fresh about this film at all. In many
ways this is the type of melodramatic fluff that is hard to take seriously. The
problem is that the movie does take itself very seriously. This is not to say
that this film is a waste of time. In fact there are definitely some things to
recommend about this movie. Betty Compson is wonderful in her dual role. She
commands the screen and brings so much energy, charm and heart to these rather
standard characters. This is also a visually beautiful movie. Director Graham
Cutts shows why he was considered one of the best British directors of his time
and Alfred Hitchcock's art direction is nothing short of brilliant. So many of
the shots here are perfectly composed from the lighting to the color tinting to
the sets to the cinematography (Claude L. McDonnell). There are visual moments
here that will stay in your mind long after you forget the story. One moment
involving a light shining through a window is a great example of a simply
perfect shot. Much of the visual filmmaking also lends this film a wonderful
sense of atmosphere that enhances many cliché scenes. The beautiful countryside
where an early romantic scene takes place and the seediness of The Laughing Cat
Cafe are perfect examples of this. It is simply too bad that these truly
wonderful qualities this movie has, could not have been attached to a better
story.

When American actress Betty Compson accepted to work on the British film Woman
to Woman (1923), a condition of her contract stated that she would make two
films with the Balcon-Savile-Freedman team. However, the filmmakers were so
invested in the first film, that there were few plans for a second. After work
on the first movie wrapped, the filmmakers rushed into making another. The film
would be another adaption of another book by Michael Morton, Children of Chance.
Working titles for this film included The Awakening and The Eternal Survivor.

Upon its release, The White Shadow proved to be a massive disappointment both at
the box-office and with critics. Critics praised the visual filmmaking but
criticized the story. Biograph stated, "the best part of the production is the
magnificent settings, photography and lighting which are worthy of a better
plot. As a whole the White Shadow makes fair entertainment as a conventional
melodrama, admirably staged (both in the lavish interiors and unusual
continental exteriors) and featuring a well-known American star." A review in
Kine Weekly stated, "There is a complete lack of conviction in the way in which
the sisters are mistaken for each other, and no attempt at a coherent and
well-proportioned sequence of events. Everything happened in a haphazard sort of
way as though the plot had been evolved as the production progressed." Motion
Picture Studio stated, "When a production is made in this country with the pick
of British stars and the added commercial and artistic presence of a pretty and
clever American screen actress of great box office repute one is entitled to
expect a better result than The White Shadow…. If the picture had been the first
effort of a modest little firm one could understand more readily some of the
shortcomings and their causes." This movie was such a box-office disappointment
that it lost all of the money that Woman to Woman had made.

For those who wish to see what exists of this film you can watch it on YouTube
below.

Resources Used

Hitchcock/Truffuat by Francios Truffau

https://www.jazzageclub.com/the-white-shadow-1924/1997/t

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Labels: Betty Compson, British Film, Silent Film

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

WOMAN TO WOMAN (1923)

Alfred Hitchcock's first movie for producer Michael Balcon, does not have Hitch
in the director chair. However, Hitch had more than a small hand in this film.
For this movie, The Master worked as a screenwriter, an assistant director and
the film's art director. When Francios Truffaut asked if Hitch was the assistant
director on this film, Hitch responded, "More than that! My friend the art
director was unable to work on the picture. I volunteered to work as art
director. So, I did all this and also helped on the production. My future wife
Alma Reville was the editor of the picture as well as the script girl. In those
days the script girl and the editor were one and the same person. Today the
script girl keeps too many books, as you know. She's a real bookkeeper. It was
while working on that picture that I first meet my wife. Then I performed these
various functions for several other films. The second was The Passionate
Adventure, the third was The Blackguard. And then there was The Prude's Fall."
He also remembered, "Woman to Woman was the best of the lot and the most
successful."
The storyline of this film begins when David Compton (Clive Brook) leaves his
pregnant girlfriend, Louise Boucher (Betty Compson), to join the war. During the
war he loses his memory. After the war he gets married and starts a life in
London. Meanwhile she, now a single mother, thinks he is dead. She becomes a
famous dancer; however, she falls incredibly ill and knows she won't live much
longer. One night David is at one of Louise's performances and this causes him
to regain his memory. Learning that David is married, she leaves her son in the
care of him and his wife (Josephine Earle). The main writer for this film was
Michael Morton, who also wrote the play that this was adapted from.

The actual director of this film was Graham Cutts, who was just beginning his
career at this time. He had however previously directed Mae Marsh in Flames of
Passion (1922) and Paddy the Next Best Thing (1922). With these movies he helped
revitalize Marsh's career at a low point. Marsh is of course a much better-known
name by film buffs with a filmography that includes such well known movies
as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), The Grapes of Wrath
(1940), Great Guns (1941), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and many more. Graham
Cutts however is a figure in film history that deserves more attention. He
cofounded the prestigious British movie studio, Gainsborough Films and helped
guide the career of Ivor Novello, a major British star of the period. He was
also considered to be one of the finest British directors of his time and his
movies commanded equal respect from audiences and critics. It is a shame that he
is almost completely forgotten today.

Graham Cutts was also a director who knew the value of costume design. The
costumes for this film were made by Dolly Tree. Fans of classic Hollywood films
might recognize her name as she worked on many MGM films of the 1930's and 40's.
This allowed her to design dresses for such actresses as Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow,
Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland. The amount of sheer movie
classics she worked on is incredible. For Woman to Woman, Graham Cutts made sure
that Dolly Tree had every advantage to work here. Dolly definitely delivered.
She had worked in Paris and had an extensive knowledge of the Parisian
nightlife. This certainly helped when making a film like this. The ostrich
feather dress that she wore in scene towards the end of the film was as one of
the most elaborate and beautiful dresses to appear on the cinema screen. This
dress supposedly consisted of 200 ostrich feathers and 1,000 pearls.

Dolly Tree's familiarity with the Parisian lifestyle is not the only factor
leading to a form of authenticity. Both Cutts and Hitchcock took a trip to Paris
for research.

The star of this movie is American actress Betty Compson. Despite being not as
well know as she should be she has a very distinguished filmography that
includes The Miracle Man (1919), Beggar on Horseback (1925), Paths to Paradise
(1925), The Pony Express (1925), The Docks of New York (1928), The Great Gabbo
(1929), The Spoilers (1930), A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith
(1941, directed by Alfred Hitchcock). She was paid £1,000 a week, which was
considered to be a record for an actress working in a British film.

Production for this film began in April 1923 and ended by August of that year.

The film was a major box office success and was just as popular with the critics
as it was with audiences. Many critics at the time hailed it as one of the best
British films. A review in Variety stated, "An example of the better grade of
work over there. It is unquestionably equal to a vast majority of the releases
viewed in the first run houses over here." A review in Bioscope said, "This is a
film of exceptional artistic and dramatic interest." Probably the most telling
of reviews for this movie was from Kineweekly which stated, "Woman to Woman…
does one important thing astonishingly well – it forever blasts the delusion
that a production, technically perfect cannot come out of a British studio." A
review in Motion Picture Studio said, "The director has certainly had at his
disposal a greater latitude of treatment and an accompanying freedom in
expenditure which few British directors have ever been able to experience…the
gorgeous dance and stage settings are quite lavish – and as daring as any
American efforts on the same lines." The critics especially praised Betty
Compson's performance, many referring to it as the best performance of her
career.

Betty Compson agreed to star in Woman to Woman on the condition that her
contract would be for two films. However the filmmakers were so engrossed in
making this film that they did not prepare for a second. When they did make the
second film, The White Shadow (1924), it proved to be nowhere near the critical
or box office success that this movie was.

Unfortunately, this movie is considered a lost film. However, the 1929 remake
(which has Betty Compson reprising her role), with the same name, is still
available to watch. It can be found on YouTube listed as this 1923 version.
However, the fact that it is a talkie immediately gives away that this is not
the same film.

Resources Used

Hitchcock by François Truffaut

https://www.jazzageclub.com/woman-to-woman-1923/429/

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Labels: Betty Compson, British Film, Graham Cutts, Silent Film

SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2024

ALWAYS TELL YOUR WIFE (1923)

It may surprise some that Alfred Hitchcock's earliest completed film as a
director was a two-reel comedy. However, for his whole career, comedy would
remain an important element of Hitch's films. Try to think of North by
Northwest (1959), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Foreign Correspondent
(1940), Suspicion (1941) or Frenzy (1972) without their comedy. He even directed
some all-out and out comedies like Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and The Trouble with
Harry (1955). And of course, comedy would play an important role in his
television work. Yet Always Tell Your Wife is not a Hitchcock film in the
traditional sense. That is because it was never intended as a Hitchcock film. In
Francios Truffaut's famous book length interview with Alfred Hitchcock, Hitch
would state, "... I worked on a picture called Always Tell Your Wife, which
featured Seymour Hicks, a very well-known London actor. One day he quarreled
with the director and said to me, 'Let's you and me finish this thing by
ourselves.' So, I helped him, and we completed the picture." Different sources
have debated whether Hugh Crosie (the film's original director) had rough words
with Hicks or fell ill. It has also been debated just how much Alfred Hitchcock
had to do with the completed picture or what parts of the short he had directed.
It is believed that he was probably an assistant director before becoming a full
director for this film. Always Tell Your Wife was actually a remake of a 1914
comedy short by the same name that also starred Seymor Hicks.

Seymour Hicks, though little talked about today, was one of the most respected
British stage actors of the time. He first acted professionally at only in the
age of 16 when he performed in In the Ranks at the Grand Theatre in Islington.
By the age of 18 he was touring America with Dame Madge Kendal and her husband
W.H. Kendal's popular acting troupe. In 1898, he became a successful playwright
as well with the play The Runaway Girl, which was followed by a series of light
comedies he co-authored with Charles Frohman. However, the most famous role for
this respected actor was Ebeneezer Scrooge. He had first played this character
on stage in 1901 at only the age of 30. The great actor later recounted that he
must have played this character in over 2,000 performances. As well as playing
the character on stage, the actor also played him in a 1913 silent film version
and the talkie movie adaption, Scrooge (1935). By the 1935 film he was well
seasoned when it came to playing this role and at the age of 64, he had grown
into being the age of the character.

His co-stars include Stanley Logan (who would appear in many uncredited roles in
Hollywood movies of the 1940's), Gerturde McCoy (who played Light in Maurice
Tourneur's The Blue Bird (1918)), Ellaline Terriss (an accomplish stage actress
and Hick's wife) and Ian Wilson (whose career would last until the 1970's with
his last movie being The Wicker Man (1973)).

This short is a martial farce about two couples and an affair that arose between
them.

Only one reel of this two-reel comedy is known to survive. Unfortunately, I was
not able to watch this short.

This short was intended as the first in a series of 10 comedy shorts to star
Hicks. However, the other 9 films were never made, and it has been questioned
whether this film ever received a proper release. However, this film did a world
of good for Hitch's filmmaking career as producer Michael Balcon took notice of
him at this time and would make him an important part of his new movie studio.
Under Balcon, Hitch would at first work as a writer, assistant director and/or
art director on a few movies, as well as directing his earliest feature length
films.

Though this is the first completed film that Alfred Hitchcock directed it was
not his first attempt at directing a film. He had been the director on a movie
entitled Number 13, which was never completed. This movie was to be written by
Anita Ross, who claimed to be an associate of Charlie Chaplin. Hitch said about
this, "In those days anyone who worked with Chaplin was top drawer: She had
written a story, and we found a little money. It wasn't very good really." The
movie was to star Clare Greet and Ernest Thesiger. Little is known about the
story, except that it was about a low-income couple living in a building funded
by The Peabody Trust, which offered affordable housing to those hard on their
luck. Hitch's uncle John Hitchcock was to fund them film but eventually these
funds ran out. Afterwards, Clare Greet helped fund the movie until that funding
also ran out. However, Hitch's movie career started with him as an intertitle
designer on various silent films such as The Great Day (1920), The Call of Youth
(1920), The Princess of New York (1921), Three Live Ghosts (1922).

Resources Used

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422787/index.html

Hitchcock by François Truffaut

at July 07, 2024 No comments:
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Labels: British Film, Short Film, Silent Film

Home

THE PASSIONATE ADVENTURE (1924)

With The Passionate Adventure , Hitch would again work as an Assistant
director, screenplay co-writer, and art director on a film directed...

* Always Tell Your Wife (1923)
It may surprise some that Alfred Hitchcock's earliest completed film as a
director was a two-reel comedy. However, for his whole caree...

* The White Shadow (1924)
Sadly, only three reels (about 45 minutes) of this film exists today.
However, since the previous films Hitch had worked on are not availa...

* Woman to Woman (1923)
Alfred Hitchcock's first movie for producer Michael Balcon, does not have
Hitch in the director chair. However, Hitch had more than a ...

ABOUT ME

Michael J. Ruhland Hello I'm Film Blogger, Michael J. Ruhland. I research and
write about a wide variety of films ranging from the silent era to modern day
and everywhere in between. Film is an incredible art form, and I am more than
happy to share its history, artistry and magic with you. I stand by the old
adage, "Movies are your best entertainment." View my complete profile

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