As a film lover, I am on a quest to watch all of Alfred Hitchcock's many pictures. I'm about half way through (somewhere around the 30 mark) and I'm finally catching up on his earlier British work. YOUNG AND INNOCENT is the typical Hitchcock film. Wrongly accused man, evades police in search of the real killer. Along the way, he meets a beautiful girl (usually a blond) who is pivotal in the culprits apprehension.
As the film begins we meet an actress and her husband who accuses her of being with other men, especially a young man who spends a lot of time at the house named Robert Tisdall. Near the end of the argument, and after a hearty slap from his wife, we see the husbands eyes twitch uncontrollably. He then strangles her to death with a belt from a raincoat.
Then next morning Robert spots her dead body on the beach. He goes to help and is seen by two girls holding the belt. He is immediately taken in, and accused of murder. It seems as if though the actress has left him quite a bit of money, and the police use this as a motive.
While in the police station, Robert meets the police chief's daughter, Erica. He falls for her instantly and although she doesn't let on, we know she likes him too. Through a series of event Robert escapes with Erica's help and from here on out, they are on a quest to find the stolen raincoat.
As far as YOUNG AND INNOCENT is concerned among Hitchcock's body of work, I'd say it's a very worth effort. It moves at a brisk pace, is extremely fun and entertaining and it contains one the greatest narrative tracking shots that I've ever seen.
I say narrative tracking shot because it is not only a beautifully choreographed floating camera, but it reveals a key plot point, much like the brilliance of the key reveal in Hitchcock's own NOTORIOUS. It truly is up on the short list with TOUCH OF EVIL, GOODFELLAS, SNAKE EYES and anything KUBRICK and if for no other reason should be watched by all students of the cinema.
YOUNG AND INNOCENT is a great little thriller that doesn't carry the weight of a film like VERTIGO or REAR WINDOW, but it certainly deserves to be seen and discussed on it's own terms, along with movies like THE LADY VANISHES.
STARRING
Derrick De Marney
Nova Pilbeam
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
Bernard Knowles
EDITED BY
Charles Frend
WRITTEN BY
Charles Bennett
Edwin Greenwood
Anthony Armstrong
DIRECTED BY
Alfred Hitchcock
3 comments:
Any movie that can be labeled a "typical Hitchcock film" sounds pretty damn awesome to me.
This one's been on my "you ought to stop re-watching Short Circuit and see some classics" list for awhile now.
Scott
he-shot-cyrus.blogspot.com
Scott said it: any typical Hitchcock is pretty good, although I'm a little light on his earlier British stuff like this.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Even bad Hitchcock is better than almost everyone else's best. So you guys are right. Typical Hitchcock is "pretty damn awesome."
I'm light on his British stuff as well. In fact, I've seen 31 of his 60 features, and all the ones I haven't seen are British!
He's just done so much.
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