Murder! is one of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest sound features and one of the first which will employ some clever Hitchcock suspense devices in the dialog and cinematography. The film concerns Herbert Marshall playing an actor/playwright in the tradition of Noel Coward who gets put on a jury where Norah Baring is on trial for Murder!.
Who Baring is accused of Murder! is a fellow actress in her theatrical company. She is shielding the real murderer and even after the verdict is brought in, only Marshall has his doubts. He starts his own investigation and eventually comes up with the real culprit.
I have to reveal it folks because while Marshall and Baring do some fine work here, I was really moved by Esme Percy's performance as the cross dressing murderer. The victim was about to reveal that Percy was of mixed racial origin, something he had kept carefully hidden for years. Back in those days when some John Bulls were trying to keep the British Empire intact and its rule over millions of non-white people such an accusation was as bad as being accused of being gay. And Percy's mincing performance because after all he is a female impersonator throws some hints at the audience of at least bisexuality.
Percy creates such an air of sadness about him when Marshall confronts him Hamlet like when he calls him for an audition of a new play he's doing based on the murder case on which he sat. With minimal dialog, but with expressions that say so much more Percy realizes the jig is nearly up. But as a performer he makes a grand exit from life itself.
Definitely a must see for fans of the master of suspense, especially those who like Hitchcock's English period work. n
Who Baring is accused of Murder! is a fellow actress in her theatrical company. She is shielding the real murderer and even after the verdict is brought in, only Marshall has his doubts. He starts his own investigation and eventually comes up with the real culprit.
I have to reveal it folks because while Marshall and Baring do some fine work here, I was really moved by Esme Percy's performance as the cross dressing murderer. The victim was about to reveal that Percy was of mixed racial origin, something he had kept carefully hidden for years. Back in those days when some John Bulls were trying to keep the British Empire intact and its rule over millions of non-white people such an accusation was as bad as being accused of being gay. And Percy's mincing performance because after all he is a female impersonator throws some hints at the audience of at least bisexuality.
Percy creates such an air of sadness about him when Marshall confronts him Hamlet like when he calls him for an audition of a new play he's doing based on the murder case on which he sat. With minimal dialog, but with expressions that say so much more Percy realizes the jig is nearly up. But as a performer he makes a grand exit from life itself.
Definitely a must see for fans of the master of suspense, especially those who like Hitchcock's English period work. n