Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Film A Long-Lost Hitchcock Film Resurfaces
Posted by Jessica McKenzie on Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 12:15 PM
So he wasn't director, but Hitchcock's name is all over the thing: assistant director, editor, art director, and scenarist (the story was adapted from Children of Chance by Michael Morton). It's an amazing find and resource for any film scholar or snobbish hipster cinephile.
The film opens on a boat to England, where Nancy Brent (Betty Compson), a student returning home from Paris, and Robin Field (Clive Brook), an American touring Europe, meet and start flirting. Nancy returns home to her twin sister (also played by Betty Compson) and parents; Robin follows her there. Then the title cards inform the viewer that the sisters are completely unlike each other and that Nancy lacks a soul. This is confirmed, I suppose, when Nancy and Robin kiss, but then Nancy sends her sister Georgina to meet him in town in her place, thus orchestrating the first instance of mistaken identity. Ultimately, through several twists and turns, Georgina falls in love with Robin after taking on her sister's identity, and Robin intends to propose, but his friend stops him after seeing Nancy, now called "Cherry," in a Parisian cabaret—gasp!—gambling. "That's a lie!" Robin exclaims in a title card.
Although only three reels survive, the film-archivists tracked down the plot description filled for copyright purposes and wrote up an epilogue of sorts so viewers wouldn't be left hanging. The last three reels sound like they were as convoluted and melodramatic as the first three, with a saccharine-sweet ending.
The film was a huge flop. The storyline was just too implausible, even for audiences in 1924. Critics still praised the performances, the style and the look of production, the elements Hitchcock valued most even at this early stage in his career.
For two months the film will be available free of charge on the National Film Preservation Foundation website. Michael D. Mortilla wrote a beautiful new score to accompany the piece, although the premature ending is a bit of a disappointment. But that means it's only 42 minutes, so if you generally have a short attention span, this is one silent film you might be able to sit through.
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