Murder!

Murder! (1930)


Runtime: 104 minutes


Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Phyllis Konstam, Edward Chapman


From: British International Pictures


Here's a movie that was on TCM last Sunday but I did not record it; however, it was on Amazon Prime for free so I figured I should watch it. Plus, I was greatly amused that the title was Murder with an exclamation point. To borrow the plot from the IMDb:


“A juror in a murder trial, after voting to convict, has second thoughts and begins to investigate on his own before the execution.”


I will elaborate. A lady (Baring, who isn't bad-looking...) is accused of murdering someone, a fellow actress in a stage play. She does not remember what happened but the evidence makes it look like she's guilty. You get a brief amount of the trial then some deliberations in the jury room with Sir John (Marshall; he is also an actor) It isn't awful; just slow and it's no 12 Angry Men. Then again, the movie is pretty slow and talky for the most part. Think of that how you will. Me, I think the movie is alright and I wasn't bored with it due to its plotting. It just isn't action-packed by any means. Anyhow, Sir John and two pals do some investigating. There at least are some things of note to mention, and not just that the lead guy at times somewhat looks like Pacific Rim's Burn Gorman, or that the print of the movie on Amazon sometimes looked as if it might as well have been from 1830.


It was at least filmed well with some nice tracking shots and other nice shots. Some performances were odd but otherwise they were fine. A suspect is someone who often cross-dresses in roles. He does not make for a pretty lady! Hitch does try some interesting things. They don't always work out but at least he tries. You hear Sir John having an internal monologue as he's looking in the mirror shaving. I hear that was the first time it was ever done in a movie, so there's that. And, the ending is memorable as it's not something I saw coming and it was a “Holy crap” sort of thing. You can find both on YouTube.



Overall, I say that this was about average and unless you're a Hitchcock completist, you don't need to rush out to try and see this. I'll be back tomorrow night.