The Manxman

The Manxman (1929)

Runtime:84 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anny Ondra, Carl Brisson, Malcolm Keen, Randle Ayrton, Clare Greet

From: British International Pictures

I will be seeing a few of Hitch's movies this month, as I explain below: 

Real late last night on Turner Classic Movies I saw this film. Every Wednesday and Friday night this month (July 2017) they will show many of his films, and in chronological order. I've only seen some of Hitch's early career so I figured I would go with this one, even though the plot sounded generic.

That plot is a young lawyer named Philip and a fisherman named Pete. They were pals, and in fact had been close buddies since kids. A standard love triangle happens when they both fight over a young dame named Kate. Pete wishes to wife her but her dad is a jerk and refuses because he's poor. Thus, Pete goes off to Africa to try and earn a fortune. Bad circumstances happen and that is when the love triangle starts. At first it's hard to blame anyone for Kate loving both men, but some poor choices were then made.

It's not the most dynamically directed movie from Hitch, but even this early in his career it's competent. The three lead performances are fine (although as it's a silent, sometimes it's rather expressive) and the Isle of Man setting-which does explain its title-adds some nice flavor. This sort of thing was not Sir Alfred's wheelhouse and I am glad he went on to his bread and butter but at least this ended up being a fine watch and wasn't a bore or a waste of time.