Notable cast/crew: Leon M Lion as Ben. Anne Grey as Nora. John Stuart as Barton. Donald Calthrop as Brant makes his fourth and final Hitchcock film. Barry Jones as Henry Doyle.
Running time: 65 minutesDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
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| Is that the the Chattanooga choo-choo? |
MacGuffin: The jeweled necklace
Hitchcock cameo: None
Hitchcock themes: Stairs
Verdict: I tried to write up a better explanation of the plot, but this movie is so convoluted it actually makes more sense the less you know about it. Half the characters are not who they say they are, and to make it more confusing, they're all pretending to be each other. Keeping track of who is actually who gets so messy that every site I've seen lists a different person for each role. It seems no one has any clue who is actually who on the cast list. Watching the movie, it's obvious there are three people trying to break up a ring of thieves. It's also obvious that somehow this master criminal organization's members have no clue who each other is.
Hitchcock considered the movie "a disaster" and "quite funny, but the story was rather confusing". He was assigned the movie as punishment for the failure of his previous film Rich and Strange. This was his final picture for British International Pictures. The current remaining copies available in the US are of poor quality which makes following the dialogue that much more difficult. Some of the frames are in poor condition, as well. There is a decent train/bus chase at the end, but it's not enough to redeem the movie. It's not unwatchable, but you have to completely disregard the details to enjoy it.
Out of five bananas, I give it:
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