9. The Manxman (1929)

Hitchcock's last intended silent was an adaptation of Sir Hall Caine's 1894 book of the same name which had already been adapted into a film 13 years earlier by director George Loane Tucker which was a big success in the US (no copies of that version are known to exist). Hoping the success thunderbolt would strike again, British International Pictures assigned its most popular director to the project.

The movie's plot concerns two friends since boyhood, fisherman Peter Quilliam (Carl Brisson) and lawyer Philip Christian (Malcolm Keen) as well as the saloonkeeper's daughter Kate Creegan (Anny Ondra) who they are both in love with. Philip keeps his emotions a secret (mainly since his father was disgraced for marrying beneath him) and allows Peter to make his move. He's rebuffed by her father (Randle Ayrton) who thinks him a penniless lout. Deciding to go to Africa to make his fortune, Peter asks Kate to wait for him, which she agrees to, while asking Philip to watch after her. Now even a 4 year old child can see the eventuality that Philip and Kate start seeing each other. Philip learns that Pete has been killed in Africa and Kate thinks they're free to publicly declare their romance, but not only is Pete alive, but coming back a wealthy man. Philip steps aside and lets Pete marry his sweetheart even though Kate's heart belongs to Philip. Kate becomes pregnant even though there may be some doubt as to who the father actually is. Kate then later leaves Pete for Philip who eventually works his way up to become deemster (judge). How will this all resolve?

I do have to admit that Eliot Stannard (in his last collaboration with Hitchcock as scenario writer) does a very good job trimming down Caine's lengthy novel while still maintaining the overall crux of the story. The last 1/3 of the book is reworked into the last 10 minutes of the film and also giving it a weak and unsatisfying ending does sort of put me off from really enjoying the movie. I will give credit to Hitchcock and Stannard for giving us some very good characterization especially for the 3 leads.

Ondra is very good in the role even though I think she's a bit too glamorous compared to her surroundings. Brisson exudes a lot of joy in his role, but in the book he seems to be an uneducated local man while in the movie he seems dumb enough not to recognize the simplest facial expressions leading to Kate and Philip's deception. Keen could have done a wee bit better in his performance just seeming to have this pity-pout expression on him no matter what.

The movie was originally shot on the Isle of Man, but Hitchcock got tired of Caine's (who lived on the island) interference, so the shooting was moved to Elstree studios in Cornwall (Caine was invited to watch the filming there).

Reviews for the film were mainly positive (definitely in comparison to his previous two films, Easy Virtue and Champagne). Bioscope praised Hitchcock's directing of making the story still powerful and interesting. I did feel however, that Hitchcock wasn't as imaginative with his directorial prowess as in his previous films, just shooting this as a straight drama, which might have been because of the popularity of the source material. Hitchcock wasn't that enthused about the movie when talking to Francois Truffaut, just commenting that its only significance was that it was his last silent film. (Granted his next film, Blackmail, was intended to be shot as a silent, but more about that in my next review).

The movie was restored in 2012 by the British Film Institute's effort to preserve Hitchcock's existing silent films. Luckily an original film negative was available for the restoration which can be purchased here as one of a 5 film set by Kino Lorber. Caine's book can be purchased here.

8. Champagne (1928)

Hitchcock returned to the out-and-out comedy with this romp starring Betty Balfour, who was referred to as "Britain's Queen of Happiness" and as the British Mary Pickford. Reportedly, Walter Mycroft (author of the source material) originally had the film be more of a drama about a girl who packaged champagne bottles wonder what happened to each bottle in their journey, then after sampling too much of her product, she goes through a nightmare excursion. Once Balfour was attached to the project, the film was quickly rewritten around her.

The film has Betty as a wild daughter of a Wall Street tycoon (played by Gordon Harker) who is picked up mid-ocean by a liner to catch up with her fiance (Jean Bradin) so they can vacation in Europe. Things goes somewhat amiss when she and her fiance (unnamed in the movie) have an argument over their upcoming marriage and she gives back the ring. Betty lives the high life in Paris, until her father comes and informs her that the market crash and their fortune is gone. What's a rich-now-poor girl to do in Paris and who is that strange mustachioed man who seems to be everywhere Betty is?

During a press conference for Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot, the director called Champagne the least favorite of all of his movies and during his interviews with Francois Truffaut, he said the film was the lowest ebb in his output. The movie does have some nice touches, but the movie does feel like that it didn't maximize its potential. Truffaut did suggest that the film could have been assigned to him, but it really seems like that instead of Betty Balfour appearing in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, it was more of Alfred Hitchcock directing a Betty Balfour movie.

Now while many of Balfour's movies are lost due to the ravages of time making it hard to give a comparison of her performances to Champagne, she does show a lot of her talent here, but it really seems it would have been better utilized by a director more suited to a comedienne's film. According to Michael Powell (who worked as a stills photographer before becoming one of the greatest directors in film history) said that Hitchcock was detested Balfour calling her "a piece of suburban obsenity".

There are some funny moments in the movie obviously, but the plot doesn't really stay focused on drama, romance or mad-cap moments just slightly scraping each. Alfred Broome, the assistant cameraman on the movie, said that a whole script wasn't made and that it was written on envelopes on the way to the studio. This may be more reason for Hitchcock's dismissal (and perhaps Truffaut's suspicion of studio involvement) of the film knowing his attention of having control of every detail with the production of his films but having an uncompleted script seems very unlike what Hitchcock would have done.

The Manchester Guardian liked Balfour's performance saying she was the "same delightful Betty" despite her character being an American and not the cockney she'd been so many times in movies. The Variety review was more harsh saying it was a waste of 7000 feet of celluloid with legs and close-ups. While personally I can see why Hitchcock didn't like the film, I wouldn't rank this the worst (Downhill and Easy Virtue went down to the bottom), but I think it should have been better.

The movie was restored in 2012 by the British Film Institute in an effort to preserve Hitchcock's surviving silent films. Apparently the original camera negative was lost and a backup negative using second takes & alternate camera angels used often for foreign release prints was used for the restoration. The film was released as part of 5 film set on DVD and Blu-Ray in December 2019 by Kino Lorber and can be purchased here.

7. Easy Virtue (1928)

Hitchcock's last project he filmed for Gainsborough Pictures (before joining British International Pictures) is a loose adaptation of Noel Coward's 1924 play of the same name. Gainsborough wanted to capitalize on the play's success by rushing the movie into production just as Hitchcock finished filming Downhill, so many of the cast of that film (Isabel Jeans, Ian Hunter and Violet Farebrother) were selected for Easy Virtue.

The movie focuses on Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans) who at the beginning of the film is in court for a divorce case where her drunken husband beat an artist to death, who was smitten with Larita. She loses the case because of her attractiveness and the fact the artist left his "fortune" to Larita. She decides to move on to the French Riviera to avoid the scandal of the trial. She meets a young man John Whittaker (Robin Irvine) who immediately falls for her and wants to marry her. Larita insists that he take his time and get to know her, but John is insistent and he brings her home to his family. John's mother (Violet Farebrother) takes an immediate dislike to her saying she's not right for her son, but what will happen when she finds out Larita's past?

The movie is a real let down mainly because the overall plot from the play doesn't date well. (Larita's back story is not featured in the Coward play which begins from the point where John brings Larita home). There is some creativity in the edits early in the film with Hitchcock focusing on an object before dissolving into a flashback, but it does appear tiresome after the 4th time we see this. The latter half of the movie doesn't offer much to keep the viewer interested, perhaps until Jeans makes her appearance at the party, which is a great scene.

The standout scene in the film (and one that Hitchcock was more than glad to describe to Francois Truffaut) was when John proposes to Larita over the telephone and we are only conveyed this message by watching the expressions of the switchboard operator (played by Benita Hume) as the conversation progresses. I think this scene wouldn't haven't been as effective if it were in a sound film.

Hitchcock also liked one of the opening scenes in the film where the judge in the case focuses his monocle on the plaintiff's lawyer and focusing in on him in an uninterrupted take. However it did seem that Hitchcock was dismissive of the movie (also saying the last title card in the film was the worst he had ever written) and critics were in agreement. The Manchester Guardian said despite its cleverness it's not a good film and Bioscope said that the play was not something that translated to the screen well, even though the critic did praise Isabel Jeans performance (which I will have to say was well done, as was Farebrother's).

Reportedly Hitchcock made his trademark cameo as a passerby in the tennis courts around 20 minutes into the film, but the British Film Institute has cast some doubt on that.

in 2012, the British Film Institute began a project on restoring all of Hitchcock's existing silent films. Easy Virtue was the hardest task considering the movie was lost until a discovery in Australia in the 1970's and all that print is incomplete. The movie is in the public domain so it can be viewed on many streaming and online video sites, as well as can be released on DVD by any one who wants to, but beware the quality.

6. The Farmer's Wife (1928)

The next film up for discussion The Farmer's Wife based on the play of the same name by Eden Phillpotts which had just ended a 3 year 1300+ performance run at the Court Theater in London. The film gives Hitchcock a chance to enter a rare genre for him, the romantic comedy.

The film opens with the death of the wife of Samuel Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) a middle age farmer. Time passes and we see his daughter get married, then Sweetland realizes that he doesn't want to be alone. He discusses this with his housekeeper Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis) and they make a list of four possible brides. Hilarity ensues as Sweetland goes courting and he later realizes that his future wife may be closer than he ever thought.

The movie is a pleasant surprise considering that this is a genre not associated much with Alfred Hitchcock. One reason for the film's success is obviously its source material which had been a big stage success. In comparison with his earlier films, The Farmer's Wife does contain a great deal more title cards than Hitchock's earlier films perhaps because it was harder to tackle a stage play without the use of dialogue. This is not to say that this film is just "Turn the camera on and hope everyone stays in the frame" type of directing. Hitchcock does use a lot of tracking shots in the film throughout such as to indicate the view of a young boy eyeing a desert tray or to track Minta as she passes out glasses at the wedding reception. He also takes advantage of a good deal of location shooting. (Reportedly Phillpotts chose Devon, Somerset and Surrey as the primary filming locations while also doing rewriting of his play to accommodate the screen.) So, Hitchcock succeeded in making the movie seem more like that rather than a play.

Thankfully Hitchcock took advantage of the humor in the play giving the characters a bit more warmth, which was especially a plus after watching the humorless Downhill. The movie also takes advantage of the era in which it was filmed since a lot of the film's triumphs was that it took advantage of characterization (as well as character acting) which is lacking in today's films. Gordon Harker shines again as Sweetland's handyman once again stealing every scene he's in. Thomas is great in the lead role even though his character may seem a bit too bombastic. (Also considering we never see him do any farming in the movie). Hall-Davis gets a better chance to shine here as compared to The Ring and she really lets the audience attach to her warmth and heart. Maud Gill (reprising her stage role) and Olga Slade also create memorable characters as potential brides 2 and 3.

Contemporary critics of the movie were pleased with the film considering the screenplay didn't deviate much from the stage play. There were mixes of reviews of the performances. One reviewer for The Stage heaped praise on Harker (and also praised Hitchock's directing) while saying Thomas and Hall-Davis lacked something in their performances. The Western Mail critic felt that there was too much slapstick at times especially at the garden party with Harker meddling with his oversized coat while trying to keep his pants up. Personally, I found this movie a lot of fun, even though it does owe that to the play.

The movie was restored in 2012 by the British Film Institute in an effort to preserve Hitchcock's surviving silent films. The film was released as part of 5 film set on DVD and Blu-Ray in December 2019 by Kino Lorber and can be purchased here.