This is not your typical Hitchcock of later years as this is a straight up murder mystery. There is no elaborate plot. The police find Diana Baring, an actress in a troupe, in shock, covered in blood, and next to the body of her friend and next to the poker that killed her. All during her trial she says that she does not remember killing the woman but she is sure she did not drink the brandy in a glass nearby. Sir John Menier, who was on the jury that convicted her and an actor himself, is shaving and looking in the mirror after the trial when this one fact hits him. Why would she be so sure of not drinking the brandy but claim she could not remember if she did the killing? Was this the act of a guilty woman? Thus Sir John, played energetically and cleverly by Herbert Marshall, is out to find who did kill her. This is a well done scene in and of itself, as Marshall is shaving and we hear his thoughts in a voice-over. Remember, at the time, many films were still using title cards to change scenes!
Sir John is going to need the help of the acting troupe to solve this case. Thus he gets some of the members to help him by promising them jobs in his production company, which is a huge step up for them, before asking them for his help in clearing Diana. The rest of the film plays out like a police procedural, and although the British never had a formal production code like there was in America, Hitchcock does remove the reference to homosexuality in the film versus the play upon which the film was based.
I found the film rather slow paced, but the camera-work is interesting. When one couple in the theatre troupe gets the word that Sir John wants to see them, you see close ups of shoes being shined, stockings being put on, hair being combed, but they are all shots so close you only see the actions themselves. Prior to this you see the couple living in drab surroundings just to get an idea that life has been a struggle for them and that their child seems more like a lively nuisance than their pride and joy. There are close ups of unpaid bills on the mantle as their daughter clangs annoyingly on their piano. There is a rather surreal shot when they enter Sir John's office. The man's legs sink into Sir John's carpet so that his feet are swallowed up. This is never explained, so I am assuming it is just to show the elegance and awe the man ascribes to Sir John right down to the depth of his rug.
There are odd experimental shots like this all through the film, and Herbert Marshall's presence absolutely carries the entire production on the acting side. The film suffers due to uneven and often muffled sound which was just a problem that the early talkies shared, along with having long-winded spells of being too talkie and no scoring unless something important happens and the score comes blasting out of nowhere. I'd recommend it just because it is early Hitchcock and so unlike anything he did past 1940.
Sir John is going to need the help of the acting troupe to solve this case. Thus he gets some of the members to help him by promising them jobs in his production company, which is a huge step up for them, before asking them for his help in clearing Diana. The rest of the film plays out like a police procedural, and although the British never had a formal production code like there was in America, Hitchcock does remove the reference to homosexuality in the film versus the play upon which the film was based.
I found the film rather slow paced, but the camera-work is interesting. When one couple in the theatre troupe gets the word that Sir John wants to see them, you see close ups of shoes being shined, stockings being put on, hair being combed, but they are all shots so close you only see the actions themselves. Prior to this you see the couple living in drab surroundings just to get an idea that life has been a struggle for them and that their child seems more like a lively nuisance than their pride and joy. There are close ups of unpaid bills on the mantle as their daughter clangs annoyingly on their piano. There is a rather surreal shot when they enter Sir John's office. The man's legs sink into Sir John's carpet so that his feet are swallowed up. This is never explained, so I am assuming it is just to show the elegance and awe the man ascribes to Sir John right down to the depth of his rug.
There are odd experimental shots like this all through the film, and Herbert Marshall's presence absolutely carries the entire production on the acting side. The film suffers due to uneven and often muffled sound which was just a problem that the early talkies shared, along with having long-winded spells of being too talkie and no scoring unless something important happens and the score comes blasting out of nowhere. I'd recommend it just because it is early Hitchcock and so unlike anything he did past 1940.