Network Hitchcock - 7

The Network collection

The Lodger (1926 -  B/W) -Jack the Ripper played as tragic romance/wrong man story, Ivor Novello  a soppy lead, suited to the tone.

The Pleasure Garden (1925 - B/W) - Hitchcock's silent erotica.

Downhill (1927 - B/W) - Tompkinson's Schooldays with added mammies.

The Man Who Knew Too  Much (1934 - B/W) - More deliberately paced yet less bloated than the 1956 take.

Sabotage (1936 - B/W) - Per typical Hitchcock of the era, soppy romantic melodrama mixed in with thrills. The bus bombing and death of future Grundy exec Desmond Tester is stunningly done. Surprised the Disney excerpt remains.

Young and Innocent (1937 - B/W) - More of the same, though the idea of the villain dying because of how terrible it is to be a Minstrel is a  nice twist.

Jamaica Inn  (1939- B/W) - Maureen O'Hara sounds like the Ranelagh girl she was. Charles Laughton's makeup has an Uncanny Valley  effect. It's atmospheric but it feels as if everyone is in a differently toned production to each other.


Secret Agent, 39 Steps and the Lady Vanishes have been  reviewed elsewhere.