Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Carl Brisson, Anny Ondra, Malcolm Keen, Randle Ayrton, Clare Greet, Kim
Peacock, Nellie Richards
Hitchcock: The Beginning is a new
11-disc bluray boxset from Studiocanal featuring 10 of Alfred Hitchcock's early films and a new documentary, Becoming Hitchcock, which explores the legacy of Hitchcock's first sound film,
1929's Blackmail.
In the fifth part of our 11-part review of the boxset, we look at The Manxman.
The Manxman, Alfred Hitchcock's final exclusively silent film (the following
Blackmail would be shot in both silent and sound versions),
is an adaptation of a popular 1894 novel by author Hall Caine. The
book had previously been filmed as early as 1916, making it the first and
only time Hitchcock would remake someone else's film. As with most of his
early work that fell outside the thriller genre, Hitchcock was glibly
dismissive of The Manxman, but it's a highlight of his silent era output and features several
moments of suspense that hint at things to come.
As the title suggests, the drama plays out on the Isle of Man. A
recurring motif is of boats either entering or leaving the harbour,
usually carrying one of the two male leads: life-long friends Pete
Quilliam (Carl Brisson) and Philip Christian (Malcolm Keen).
The two men come from very different backgrounds - Pete is a working class
fisherman while Philip comes from one of the island's wealthiest families
and is set to become "Deemster," the local term for Chief
Magistrate.
Both men are in love with Kate Cregeen (Anny Ondra), the
daughter of local pub landlord Caesar (Randle Ayrton), but
Philip has kept his affections a secret. When Pete proposes marriage to
Kate, she accepts, but her father refuses to approve the bond. Determined
to make something of himself and impress Caesar, Pete heads off to Africa
in the hopes of making his fortune, naively asking Philip to look after
Kate while he's gone. Wouldn't you know it, Kate only goes and falls for
Philip, making things decidedly awkward when Pete eventually
returns.
A love triangle melodrama may be out of Hitchcock's comfort zone, but he
proves a surprisingly natural fit for this material. Most of his silents
might be reductively classed as style over substance as they tend to lack
any meaty character drama. Not so here. Despite the lack of dialogue,
Hitchcock makes his three central characters feel rounded and
three-dimensional, and the three leads are excellent at conveying their
conflicting emotions.
Hitchcock seizes the opportunity to mine suspense from the infidelity
subplot. As Kate and Philip prepare for Pete's unwanted return, Hitchcock
places them on a beach as the ship carrying Pete appears as a speck on the
horizon, growing ominously larger each time he cuts back to it. There's an
ingenious sequence where Hitchcock fools us into believing we're watching
Kate tell Pete of her affair, only to deliver a surprise twist with an
interstitial dialogue card he purposely holds back to keep us in suspense.
Ondra is the first of Hitchcock's classic blondes, and as we watch Kate
walk towards the edge of the harbour quay it's impossible not to think of
Kim Novak diving into the San Francisco Bay in Vertigo. Kate and Philip's affair is a classic case of Hitchcock convincing us
to root for people with whom we might not usually sympathise.
The most impressive piece of filmmaking comes early on as we're given a
glimpse of several pages of Kate's diary in the weeks following Pete's
initial departure. At first she refers to Philip as "Mr Christian," then
"Philip," and eventually "Phil." It's a genius piece of economical
storytelling, with Hitchcock conveying an entire developing relationship
in a manner of seconds.
The Manxman is also a rare case of the usually studio-bound
Hitchcock shooting on location, and capturing some dramatic shots of the
rugged terrain of either the Isle of Man or Cornwall (it's said the
production began on the Isle of Man but was moved to Cornwall after
Hitchcock grew tired of being pestered by Hall Caine, who lived on the
island). Though Hitchcock would really become the filmmaker we associate
with his name in the sound era, there's enough in
The Manxman to make you wonder what he might have delivered
had the silent era carried on a little longer, as it clearly demonstrates
that he had mastered the medium by that point.
The Manxman is part of Studiocanal's 'Hitchcock: The Beginning' bluray
boxset, available from December 16th.