The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) is the first remaining film by Alfred Hitchcock still widely available. It is an adaptation of a book/play that is itself loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders.
Notable cast/crew: Ivor Novello as The Lodger will appear again in Hitchcock's next film Downhill. Malcolm Keen as Joe, the Policeman. Keen was in Hitchcock's prior film The Mountain Eagle (which has been lost) and would star in a third The Manxman. June as Daisy Bunting (even in the 1920s, there were one-name actresses!). Eliot Stannard (writer) wrote eight of Hitchcock's early films. Alma Reville, assistant director, became Alma Hitchcock shortly before this was released.
Running time: 90 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
 |
| "Providence is concerned with greater things than money, Mrs Bunting." |
Plot: We open on a woman's face in a rictus of horror, soon to be deceased. The Avenger has struck again. We are introduced to Daisy, a model, and her parents, The Buntings, who have a room to let. Daisy's beau, Joe, discusses the Avenger murders with Mr Bunting revealing the opening scene is the 7th crime, all committed against blondes, all on a Tuesday of consecutive weeks. The Lodger then appears asking to rent the available room. Dressed matching the description of the Avenger, he is mysterious and demands privacy.
As the film progresses, Joe is assigned to the case, and the Buntings begin to suspect their lodger is not what he appears to be. Daisy falls for him, though, leading to a confrontation between Joe and the Lodger. Joe then suspects him of being the Avenger leading to an arrest, an escape, and ultimately the revelation that he is an innocent man.
MacGuffin: In a Hitchcock film, the MacGuffin was a person, object, or plot point that set the story in motion but was, in itself, largely irrelevant to the story. In this case, it is the Avenger, the murderer stalking the streets of London, who is never actually shown in the final version of the film. We know nothing about him except for an early description of his clothing, and we know nothing of what he might be avenging.
Hitchcock cameo: Early in the film, seated with his back to the camera at a news desk while talking on a phone. This came about by accident as the actor who was supposed to film the scene was unavailable. Hitchcock filled in so filming could continue, and the "Hitchcock Cameo" was born. This was not as uncommon as it sounds in the early days of cinema, and it was largely because of Hitchcock's rather distinctive appearance that audiences started noticing him and looking for him at which point it took on a life of its own.
Hitchcock themes: Multiple themes that will continue through Hitchcock's oeuvre first appear here:
- Thriller/suspense based plot
- Expressionism - displaying through imagery what people are feeling in defiance of the reality we would see if the camera only showed us what was literally transpiring
- Staircase - the use of the staircase to heighten the suspense as the Lodger makes his first exit into the night will be repeated in numerous Hitchcock films
- Blondes - much has been written about Hitchcock's obsession with blondes. He gave two film-related reasons: he thought they filmed better (particularly in the black & white era), and he thought they worked better as heroines because of the traditional stereotype where audiences would not instinctually trust a brunette
Verdict: Heavily influenced by the German Expressionism of FW Murnau and Fritz Lang, The Lodger showcases Hitchcock's penchant for using the camera to capture more than just what is visible on the surface. The opening shot of the woman screaming was done with a pane of glass behind her head with lights under it to set off her "golden curls" giving her a halo. Another interesting shot has the actors looking at the ceiling where the Lodger is pacing above them. The ceiling dissolves into a view through the floor so you see him pacing. This was done by shooting up through a glass floor so you can see the Lodger pacing without cutting from one room to the other.
Hitchcock initially wanted the film to end ambiguously (if not heavily hinting that the Lodger was, in fact, the Avenger), but when Ivor Novello was cast, the studio refused to let him make Novello, a popular star at the time, into the villain. Instead we get a love triangle (not in the book) and a tacked on happy ending after finding out the Lodger is the brother of one of the Avenger's victims and is himself trying to track down the killer. The irony here is that in wanting to avenge his sister, the Lodger is actually an avenger, if not The Avenger, as we never see the real killer in the film. This strikes me as possibly having been Hitchcock's way of getting to say he was the avenger in the film regardless of how the studio wanted it to end.
The love triangle doesn't work, as we're supposed to believe Daisy goes from nearly engaged to Joe to swooning over the Lodger in a week. In fact, you may find yourself hoping the Lodger is the killer so that Daisy gets what she deserves for ditching Joe. Hitchcock took the triangle motif and worked it into the story with numerous references to the shape in the title cards, as well as it being the signature icon on the Avenger's calling card.
It's fairly obvious in watching the film that everything is leading up to the Lodger being the Avenger (even going so far as to never giving him a name in the film) so the studio-forced ending kneecaps the resolution. It's hard to take it seriously when the first 75 minutes has been dark and moody, full of mystery and peril, then the last 15 minutes neatly wraps up with everyone laughing and Daisy running off with the Lodger.
Out of five bananas, I give it:
Next review: Downhill
No comments:
Post a Comment