The Lodger
(1926), dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Woolf & Freedman Film Services
While the countdown continues we turn our focus to the first
horror films directed by the famed and the infamous. The first one is also the
earliest made and was directed by one called the master of suspense: Alfred
Hitchcock. This was also the first film Hitchcock appeared in a cameo.
On the fog covered streets of London, a masked killer
calling himself the Avenger is murdering blond women with curly hair on
Tuesdays. Daisy Bunting (June Tripp), a showgirl with curly blond hair, is a
bit spooked by the deaths, as is her policeman boyfriend Joe (Malcolm Keen).
Her parents (Marie Ault and Arthur Chesney) are concerned too, but their
finical worries are concerns too. They decided to rent their attic out to a
nice young man named Jonathan Drew (Ivor Novello). Drew is charming, witty, and
utterly taken with the Buntings and their daughter. He also makes a habit of
walking the streets on Tuesday nights with his face covered, demands that
paintings and photos of blond woman with curly hair be removed from his sight,
and his only luggage is a satchel containing a gun and map, a map marked with
every single location of the Avenger’s victims.
Surely Joe is simply jealous when he starts to suspect Drew
is the Avenger? Eve can’t believe Joe’s arguments, especially when he gets
assigned the Avenger case. When Joe serves a warrant on the Bunting house and
finds the aforementioned items, as well as several pictures of the Avenger’s
first victim, Joe is more than convinced. Can Drew prove his innocence? Will
Daisy believe him?
The hallmarks of the Hitchcock’s style are evident even
here, with plenty of camera tricks to keep the viewer guessing. Hitchcock’s
disdain for the authority is evident even here as well. Surprising, Hitchcock
rarely uses title cards, letting the audience follow the story through the
performers and their body movements. As
it is a silent film, this does present a challenge at times, but it is worth it
to see the first steps towards Psycho
and the Birds.
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