In Alfred Hitchcock’s world, theaters are where danger stalks the wings, characters are not what they seem and the “final curtain” can drop any second.  Drama student Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) tries to clear a friend (Richard Todd) being framed for murder by becoming the maid of flamboyant stage star Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich).

CRITIQUE

The opening shot sets the tone for the whole film.  A curtain rises, acknowledging the unabashed theatricality of what is to follow.  Filming in his native London for the first time since coming to the States, Hitchcock opens the film with a long, compelling flashback, as Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd) tells Eve of how he was framed.  As we later learn, everything in the flashback is a lie.  This false flashback has been the subject of some debate since the film was released.  To some, it was the film’s most brilliant stroke.  To others, it was the film’s biggest flaw.  Hitchcock later felt that the flashback scene in this film was his second biggest career mistake (his biggest mistake, he felt, being the handling of a key scene in his 1942 film Saboteur).  Perhaps using flashback this way was too forward thinking at the time.  The scene may play better now than it did in 1950.  Hitchcock came to judge Stage Fright rather harshly later on, but the film is really not that bad, though it is far from his best work.

Jonathan Cooper is the boyfriend of Eve, and she believes that he is innocent of the crime of which he is suspected.  The interesting thing about Cooper is that he is not that smart.  Typically, the manipulative men in Hitchcock’s films have diabolical, scheming minds (Cary Grant in Suspicion, Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train), but Jonathan is pretty dim.  The real mind behind everything is Charlotte, the actress that Eve has to get close to.  The performances are great all around, and Todd especially comes to life in the film’s gripping third act.  Also notable is Alistair Sim, recognizable to most as Scrooge in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol.  He is hilarious in the role of Eve’s father, Commodore Gill.  He and Wyman are great together.

The film plays like a whodunit, something Hitchcock resented.  The second act drags a bit and falls flat in places, but it comes alive again in the third act, as Jonathan loses his grip more and more.  Richard Todd really plays his role to the hilt, and he practically steals the film’s final scenes.  The scene where Eve finally coaxes a confession out of Charlotte in the end is priceless, classic Hitchcock.  In the final count, the film’s trick ending, while good, may be its biggest flaw.  Like most trick endings, it takes some of the credibility out of what we have been seeing.  Francois Truffaut summed up Stage Fright best when, in an interview with Hitchcock, he said, “this film neither added to nor took away from your reputation.”  (The book length interview “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is a must read for fans of Hitchcock, film students, and anyone interested in an artists view of his work.)  Hitchcock hits all the right notes here, be he had done it before, and in the years to follow he would do it much, much better.

THE VIDEO

The film is presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  The transfer is incredible, retaining the fullness of the expressionistic photography.

THE AUDIO

Stage Fright is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.  The audio presentation is sharp, and all the effects come through nicely.

THE EXTRAS

Hitchcock and Stage Fright: a detailed look at the making of Hitchcock’s first film for Warner Brothers.  The casting of the film is discussed, as are Hitchcock’s thoughts about the film later on.  An in depth look at the film that immediately preceded Strangers on a Train, and the one that some critics have called the last “old Hitchcock” film.

Theatrical trailer: the original trailer, of interest because they just don’t make trailers like this anymore.

FINAL THOUGHTS

A solid Hitchcock film, if not one of his best.  The performances are good throughout, and the bonus material is insightful.  Stage Fright, like many notable Hitchcock films, seems to be forgotten, lost among his stronger masterpieces, but now that it is available on DVD, it deserves to be rediscovered.