Early Hitchcock work and a cartoon
This DVD contains Hitchcock's first two feature length sound films and a Betty Boop cartoon, as an added bonus. If you came to know Hitchcock's work through his later films, as I did, you may be a bit disappointed; absent is the dazzling camera work, the craneshots and zooms--instead there is mostly static frame photography, well done, but tame by comparison with his better known work. Two exceptions to this, both in BLACKMAIL: in one scene, the camera rises along a vertical track to follow a young couple ascending a spiral staircase, presaging similar camera work in VERTIGO; also the chase sequence resembles that in NORTH BY NORTHWEST. The lighting is dramatic and sophisticated, often anticipating the Film Noir style that would ensue.
BLACKMAIL is the UK's first sound feature and the sound is primative. John Longdon stars as Frank, a young cop whose babeolicious girlfriend (Anny Ondra) goes behind his back to see a flamboyent painter (Cyril Richard) with whom she is infatuated. When she disrobes to pose for him, he tries to rape her, and she kills him in self defense. Our hero discovers her involvement and confronts her, but before she can explain, they are approached by a blackmailer trying to extort money from them. The script drags, but performances are strong,including some lovely ones by minor characters, and yes, Hitchcock makes a cameo.
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK is a fairly straight ahead adaptation of O'Casey's masterpiece, except that Hitchcock does what he can to break it out of the one room set the stage play used, and he streamlines the dialogue. The play is set in Dublin in the early 1920's: the aftermath of the Easter uprising of 1916; the city is a combat zone, with innocent civilians getting killed in the crossfire between the I.R.A.and their adversaries, the "Free Staters". "Captain" Jack Boyle (Edward Chapman) is a worthless lout, ostensibly looking for work, but trying harder to avoid it. He whiles away the hours with his sychophantic sidekick Joxer (Sydney Morgan) who flatters him to his face, then steals from him behind his back. Boyle's wife Juno (Sara Allgood) struggles to keep the wolf from the door; her meager wages are the family's only income. Daughter Mary (Kathleen O'Reagan) is a union girl on strike, and son Johnny (John Laurie) is a cripple who lost his right arm serving in the I.R.A.
A rich relative dies, leaving them half his estate. The family goes on a spending binge and throws their neighbors a party, all on credit. Mary dumps her beau, Jerry (Dave Morris) for Charley Bentham (John Longden), a foppish, self centered snob she thinks is sophisticated. The party is interrupted by the funeral procession of young Tankred, Johnny's pal killed in the "troubles"--an uncredited actress gives a brief but heart wrenching performance as the boy's mother, perhaps the best performance in the film.
Just when their credit is streched to the limit, there are rumors of a problem with the will--the money might never come. The Captain lives in denial, hiding this from the family. I won't spill the ending.
It may just be this video transfer, but the compositition is way too tight, the camera often cutting off character's heads--it gets annoying after awhile. Both films have mediocre quality transfers, and both are made from less than pristine prints, but they are viewable.
BETTY IN BLUNDERLAND is a delightful romp. Boop fans will love it, and those new to Betty may well become fans.
Except for scene selection, there no special features, but then this is a budget DVD which squeezes two features and a cartoon onto one disc, overall a pretty good value.
--Lawrence RowswellRead full review
