Alfred Hitchcock (director)
Network On Air (studio)
Cert U (certificate)
83min (length)
19 January 2015 (released)
16 January 2015
We are right off to a rollicking start with this Hitchcock thriller from 1937. We get a murder in the first reel when a jealous ex-husband dispatches of his talented former partner near her retreat on the English coast, thus setting a train of unfortunate events in motion.
When drummer Guy (George Curzon) accuses his former wife, glamorous actress Christine Clay (Pamela Carme) of having an affair with Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) a mega quarrel ensues. As it so happens, the following morning Tisdall is walking along the shore line when he discovers a body washed-up on the beach. It is, alright you guessed it you clever bastards, the strangled corpse of the aforementioned actress Christine!
Running for help, Tisdall is spotted by two other women who just happen to be on the same beach at the same time. Suffice to say, things don’t look to good for Tisdall who soon after is accused of having murdered the woman when a belt belonging to him is found next to the body of the victim. Tisdall’s claims that the belt belongs to a raincoat that was stolen from him falls on deaf ears, especially when it transpires that the murdered woman has left him a considerable amount of money in her will – a fact Tisdall was unaware of. With the situation looking decidedly grim for the arrested Tisdall, our hero nonetheless manages to break free from a crowded courthouse. He unwittingly enlists the ‘help’ of bright young thing Erica Burgoyne (what kind of name is that?), played by the impish Nova Pilbeam (what kind of name is that?). To complicate things further, Erica happens to be the daughter of the local police Chief Constable (Pery Marmont), oh dear!
Of course, Erica, good judge of character that she is, realises pretty quickly that Tisdell is a good egg and hardly the murdering type – but how to convince the others… especially her concerned dad. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel when the stolen coat is traced to an old tramp who in turn had received it from someone the smelly and permanently sozzled old vagrant can’t quite recollect except a disconcerting facial twitch. But when Erica goes through the coat pockets and comes upon a box of matches from the Grand Hotel (a place that Tisdell has never been to), she and the old man make their way to said place in the hope that this will provide them with a lead to the real culprit. The stage is now set for one of Hitchcock’s spectacular finales.
Leading man Derrick De Marney is adequate in the part of the wronged Tisdall, and Nova Pilbeam (still with us at the grand old age of 95!) is feisty and enchanting.
Hitchcock utilizes a host of technical talent here, including cinematographer Bernard Knowles (Jamaica Inn, The 39 Steps) who later went on to direct a couple of classics himself, including A Place Of Ones Own starring James Mason.
This Blu-ray release features the following Special Features:
*Introduction by Charles Barr
*Hitchcock: The Early Years – a 25-min docu covering Hitchcock's pre-war career
*Image Gallery
