Hitch #37 - Stage Fright (1950)

Another six months passes beween Hitchcock posts - but, we sort of have an excuse because we either don’t have, or can’t find, a copy of Hitch #36 - Under Capricorn so, that will appear when we have tracked one down (I know, that’s a rubbish excuse). We did go and see it at the BFI in 2012, I rated it 6/10 and expressed surprise at how much I enjoyed it but things change…

Stage Fright publicity still (1950)

… and, to prove that point we come to Stage Fright, that I rated 6/10 in 2000, 7/10 in 2014 - and now…?

I loved this film so much, it is so much closer to Hitch’s British films that I love so much. It is such a funny film, as well as tense, and it clipped along at a good pace. Here are some bullet points (the lazy person’s blog post):

• The cast! Every single one of them was perfect:
  • Marlene Dietrich - being so perfectly Dietrich. “This is very nice. If you can call mourning, nice. But, isn’t there some way we could, eh, let it plunge a little in front? … I suppose not”

Jane Wyman and Marlene Dietrich

• the cast continued…
  • Alastair Sim - the unsung star of the film, there was no chance of it flagging when he turned up!
  • Jane Wyman was lovely, and played it perfectly - the scene in the car with Michael Wilding was adorable!
  • Michael Wilding was charming, maybe not as charming as Hitch’s best British leads (Donat, De Marney, Redgrave), but then he wasn’t the lead.
  • Richard Todd was appropeiately overwrought.
  • … and all the minor characters but especially Joyce Grenfell who had us in tears!
• The fake flashback - in the DVD extras it was suggested that Hitch considered it a mistake, and that it may even have been a cheat - but it wasn’t at all - the flashback was delivered by a liar, so the fact that it was a lie was perfect. And the fact that he was a liar was even hinted at a couple of times before the reveal - most notably when he threw the dress into the fire.
• The chase in the theatre
• Lovely ducks… I know it already has it’s bullet point - but deserves another!

Shoot a lovely duck and win a lovely prize (play on YouTube)

… oh, and Hitchcock of course, some rather lovely Hitch moments!

• Source: DVD
• Rating: 8/10
• Hitchcock Zone: Stage Fright (1950)