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.