Murder!

A mystery movie adapted from the novel and play titled ¨Enter Sir John¨by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson . It deals with a girl (Norah Baring) silently accepts her prosecution for killing , while the jury is deliberating , there is a lone juror (Herbert Marshall) who believes in her innocence begins an investigation his own and winds up discovering weird happenings .

This fine early effort by Hitch has several novelties , as the movie transcends the limitation of its mystery plot by dealing with thought-provoking issues and focusing on the theatrical meditations of reality . An early talkie for Great Britain in which director Hitch features visualization of some typical Hitchcockian themes , being perhaps the most provocative of all early British films , adding the first gay stereotype in popular cinema and the first movie where a person's thoughts are presented by a voice-in-off . The story follows mysteriously the investigation of a murder and the protagonist attempts to keep the condemned girl from being executed to death penalty by hanging . One of the first and best Alfred film to explore the ideas and themes that would become his trademarks , including climatic and memorable scenes . Herbert Marshall gives a good interpretation as the jurist believing in a young woman's innocence and starts organizing the pieces of the crime in order to save her . Look closely for the Master in a rapid cameo about an hour into the film walking past the house where the murder was committed and Una O'Connor , John Ford's regular ; besides , brief acting by Miles Mander .

The film belongs to Hitch's first British period when he directed silent films such as ¨The lodger¨ (1926) , ¨The ring¨(1927) , ¨Easy virtue¨ (1927) , ¨The Manxman¨(29) ; being ¨Blackmail¨(29) made as a silent , this was reworked to become a talkie . Following sound movies and early talkies as ¨June and the Paycock¨(30) , ¨Skin Game¨(31) , ¨Rich and strange¨(32) , ¨Number 17¨(32) , ¨The man who knew too much¨(34) , ¨The 39 steps¨ (35) , ¨The secret agent¨(36) , ¨Sabotage¨(36) , ¨The lady vanishes¨(38) , ¨Jamaica Inn¨ (39) until he is hired by David O'Selznick to shoot ¨Rebecca¨(40) in the US .

Early Hitchcocks are all worth seeing to observe how the Master's style evolved over the years. This story, based on a Clemence Dane book, is interesting, if only for the sub-texts flowing through it. The dialogue comes in fits and starts, which is common in the early sound films and some of the camera work is rudimentary.....but you can still spot the Hitchcock touch in the nuances of some of the scenes. Herbert Marshall is especially dashing as Sir John; he was a particularly attractive actor in his early years. Nora Baring is servicable as the accused but it is Esme Percy, as Fain, who is intriguing. As a "half-caste", originally written by Dane as gay, he is either overacting like hell or is fascinating in his interpretation....there is a fine line. Regardless, he holds your attention when he is on the screen. The film moves slowlllllllly, very slowlllllly.....but for Hitchcock and early talkie buffs, it is well worth it. Catch Una O'Conner in her younger years as the landlady. She's a treat.

This was one of the few times that Alfred Hitchcock filmed one of his stories as a "whodunit" in which you are not sure until the end who committed the crime. "Murder!" is often slow-moving, but it has some good features, and is worth watching the whole way through. It was one of Hitchcock's earliest sound pictures, and he tried some new things here, some of which work quite well.

Herbert Marshall stars as Sir John, a famous actor who sits on a jury for a murder case. After the case is decided, Sir John starts having second thoughts over whether the verdict was really correct, and he decides to investigate on his own. His investigation itself moves rather slowly, but it has some entertaining moments. Everyone connected with the murder was part of a theater group, and Hitchcock gets some good mileage out of having the characters alternate between their real identities and their stage roles. There are some pretty good scenes, most especially the one of the jury's deliberations - it is quite amusing, and a not-too-subtle example of Hitchcock's lack of confidence in the infallibility of the legal system.

There is not very much of the suspense for which Hitchcock is famous, but instead there is some subtle humor and a lot of atmospheric detail. While not having the sustained excitement of Hitchcock's best films, "Murder!" is still worthwhile as a slightly different kind of film by the great director.

Although not as photographically fluid as his later films, Alfred Hitchcock, in his first sound film, managed to overcome the limitations of early recording equipment. With "Murder," he produced an entertaining work that holds up better and does not creak as much as many films of the early sound period.

"Murder" also provides early clues to themes that continued throughout Hitchcock's movie-making career. The accused perpetrator of a crime, who was caught with circumstantial evidence, has only a single champion that believes in her innocence. The wrongly accused would appear throughout Hitchcock's work from Robert Donat in "The Thirty-Nine Steps" to Henry Fonda in "The Wrong Man" and Cary Grant in "North by Northwest." Sexually ambiguous characters like Handel Fane in "Murder" would continue to fascinate Hitchcock over the years as well. Again, from Judith Anderson in "Rebecca," Robert Walker in "Strangers on a Train," Farley Granger and John Dall in "Rope," to even Mrs. Bundy, the ornithologist in "The Birds," Hitchcock displays a fascination with sexual ambivalence. However, the mincing character in "Murder," as played by Esme Percy, is borderline offensive, even in the context of the period. His sexual orientation is more than suggested by the character's predilection to wear women's clothing, revel in applying makeup, and use effeminate gestures.

However, despite the film's flaws and limitations, the story of Sir John Menier's efforts to prove a young woman innocent of murder is fairly engrossing. As Sir John, a well-known actor and a member of the jury that convicts the accused woman, Herbert Marshall is stalwart as ever, and he cleverly tracks down clues and devises an intellectual trap for his prey. The rest of the cast has little to do but follow Hitchcock's direction, which is capable but not his finest. For Hitchcock students, "Murder" is essential, for other viewers, this early sound effort is generally entertaining, if a bit slowly paced and static visually.

A recurring theme in Hitchcock's movies was the innocent accused who can't defend him or herself. In this case it's a young actress who is found, standing over the victim of a brutal murder, bloodied, with a fireplace poker at her feet. She has no recollection of the murder and is brought to court where she is convicted and sentenced to be hanged. But someone just doesn't believe she could have done this and begins to sort out evidence. All I can say is that there is so much promise in these early Hitchcock movies that pushes us forward to his more mature works. "Murder!" and "Blackmail" remain two of my favorite Hitchcock movies.