An important early film for Hitchcock, marking the beginning of his career as a director of thrillers. The film was shot simultaneously as a silent and sound picture, and each version has its attributes.
For the sound version, Hitchcock employed Joan Barry to speak the lines in place of the heavily accented Anny Ondra who (bodily, and then some) plays Alice White. But lacking the technology for overdubbing, Ondra had to lipsynch the lines as Barry spoke them (in a ridiculous and inappropriately posh accent) off-camera. The results are, as you might guess, mixed, which is perhaps why I slightly prefer the silent version.
Incidentally, the Kinowelt DVD includes a nice extra: a sound test with Ondra and Hitchcock that becomes, thanks to the wily director, quite obscene.
For more on Hitchcock and sound, see Elisabeth Weis’ book The Silent Scream, which is available online in its entirety.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Kinowelt DVD
30 Dec 2005 3:12 PM | Submit Comment
