In this early Alfred Hitchcock film, some more production values were invested in Rich and Strange than you would normally find in an early British sound film for 1931. Hitchcock did actual location shooting in Port Said and in Marseilles in this travelogue of a movie.
Marrieds Henry Kendall and Joan Barry seem to have settled in a very comfortable rut in their marriage. Might have been different had they had some children, but apparently that was not to be the case. Certainly if a small legacy hadn't come their way they would not have invested it in a round the world cruise.
But spend it that way they did and it proves to be an adventure of sorts. Both go on some flirtatious flings and a shipwreck in the China seas manages to bring them both together.
One thing I did like was the special effects in handling the sinking of their ship, quite good for its time. The dramatic highlight of the film is Kendall and Barry who were left on the drifting hulk of the ship, there and later on the Chinese junk that rescues them. The Chinese are portrayed with unusual sensitivity in terms of Kendall and Barry recognizing that while they're different and appear strange, they've got no right interfering in their culture.
Still its not what you would expect from Hitchcock, no chases after the McGuffin, no intricate murder or spy plots. He's out of his element, but to be fair he wasn't big enough to be calling his own shots then.
Marrieds Henry Kendall and Joan Barry seem to have settled in a very comfortable rut in their marriage. Might have been different had they had some children, but apparently that was not to be the case. Certainly if a small legacy hadn't come their way they would not have invested it in a round the world cruise.
But spend it that way they did and it proves to be an adventure of sorts. Both go on some flirtatious flings and a shipwreck in the China seas manages to bring them both together.
One thing I did like was the special effects in handling the sinking of their ship, quite good for its time. The dramatic highlight of the film is Kendall and Barry who were left on the drifting hulk of the ship, there and later on the Chinese junk that rescues them. The Chinese are portrayed with unusual sensitivity in terms of Kendall and Barry recognizing that while they're different and appear strange, they've got no right interfering in their culture.
Still its not what you would expect from Hitchcock, no chases after the McGuffin, no intricate murder or spy plots. He's out of his element, but to be fair he wasn't big enough to be calling his own shots then.