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The Lodger (1927)
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (original title)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Marie Belloc Lowndes (novel)
Cast: June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Marie Ault
Genre: Mystery Drama
Silent Film
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (original title)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Marie Belloc Lowndes (novel)
Cast: June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Marie Ault
Genre: Mystery Drama
Silent Film
"A landlady suspects her new lodger is the madman killing women in London"
I loved how creative Hitch was with his cinematography and lighting. I found this to be a much more inspired film visually than Sabotage or Lifeboat.
I also loved how lively this film felt, especially for a silent film it was quite fluid and felt alive...Most of all Hitch really kept the tension at a fever pitch. I was blown away by the continual 'taunting' of that sign! that flashed... 'To-Night Golden Curls'. I found that very effective as it literally worked as the killer taunting us about his next victim.
I also was fascinated by how Hitch got his title card to be animated, the answer of course is at the end of the film, which is another brilliant scene. There were many such technical achievements I noticed, I've probably forgotten many of them as I was engrossed in the actual story.
There's a shot of the landlady in a room and there's a light from outside that sweeps across the ceiling illuminating it briefly, that light repeats several times. Brilliant. Then there's a scene where we see a woman who's about to become the next victim, and as we don't see the killer but his shadow sweeps up from the sidewalk and onto her back, chilling!
Characters turn up a light in the room and the exposure of the film gets brighter. Nice touch. And people's eyes, they sometimes have a distinctive sparkle in them that had to been done on purpose for effect. Very cool.
And the single color tint frames, help to convey a sense of emotion as well.
The fog, of course, is used as one of the characters and adds a lot of atmosphere as Ridley Scott would find out in Blade Runner, half a century later. I could go on, as there was so many innovative techniques that Hitch used. I'm impressed!
The actor who played the lodger extruded an eerie screen presences, which when combined with the ever-present fog gave the silent film an ambiance of gloom & doom.
A very innovative silent film with lots of style.
I also loved how lively this film felt, especially for a silent film it was quite fluid and felt alive...Most of all Hitch really kept the tension at a fever pitch. I was blown away by the continual 'taunting' of that sign! that flashed... 'To-Night Golden Curls'. I found that very effective as it literally worked as the killer taunting us about his next victim.
I also was fascinated by how Hitch got his title card to be animated, the answer of course is at the end of the film, which is another brilliant scene. There were many such technical achievements I noticed, I've probably forgotten many of them as I was engrossed in the actual story.
There's a shot of the landlady in a room and there's a light from outside that sweeps across the ceiling illuminating it briefly, that light repeats several times. Brilliant. Then there's a scene where we see a woman who's about to become the next victim, and as we don't see the killer but his shadow sweeps up from the sidewalk and onto her back, chilling!
Characters turn up a light in the room and the exposure of the film gets brighter. Nice touch. And people's eyes, they sometimes have a distinctive sparkle in them that had to been done on purpose for effect. Very cool.
And the single color tint frames, help to convey a sense of emotion as well.
The fog, of course, is used as one of the characters and adds a lot of atmosphere as Ridley Scott would find out in Blade Runner, half a century later. I could go on, as there was so many innovative techniques that Hitch used. I'm impressed!
The actor who played the lodger extruded an eerie screen presences, which when combined with the ever-present fog gave the silent film an ambiance of gloom & doom.
A very innovative silent film with lots of style.