Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont, Edward Rigby, Mary Clare
From: Gaumont
No one can like the drummer-man.
Last night felt like the time to see a Hitchcock film I hadn't viewed before, and via the Criterion Channel I checked this out. Comparisons with The 39 Steps are obvious as this also involves a man on the run who meets up with a woman & at first they don't get along but of course that changes... this time though, it does not involve spies and secrets. Rather, it is a random dude who discovers his actress friend deceased on the beach and via a misunderstanding he is accused of her murder. The woman here is the daughter of the police chief.
The movie is not as strong as The 39 Steps. While it is lighter in tone and that doesn't automatically make it worse, its main issue is that instead of having constant momentum like 39 does, there are fits & spurts; some stretches are dull rather than exciting. It's a shame because the two leads (Derrick De Marney and the amazingly-named Nova Pilbeam) are the highlights of the film. Her character Erica is especially a treat as she's a bold independent lady.
Even with its faults, I can still say that this is good; just note that The 39 Steps is very good and this will suffer in comparison. At least there is a decent number of amusing moments, some of which involve a pair of police officers best described as “bumbling.” At one point they have to ride on a trailer pulled by a horse... and a container full of pigs; insert your own jokes if you want! This does have a great tracking shot which ends on a zoom-in on a drummer in a jazz band and it's so close Sergio Leone would have loved it. I did know of this beforehand but shame that this jazz band is fronted by a white dude, and white people who are in blackface...
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