Assassinato

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.

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.

In an early depiction of Hitchcock's fear and mistrust of the police and the legal system, we have a very legal thriller about a murder and it's subsequent trial. We are given the facts of the case, even a sort of a limited view of the murder itself taking place, followed by the prosecution and defense presenting their cases at the trial and a detailed look at the jury's discussion of the case. Sort of Hitchcock's version of 12 Angry Men.

There is a curious cast of characters involved in the film, and two of Hitch's biggest interests, the law and the arts, are on center stage. Sir John in the single character who takes the time to really look deeply into what really happened that night, even though someone's life is on the line based on the verdict that they reach, and his personal investigation is probably the best part of the film. One of the things that this movie is famous for is for being the first film where someone's thoughts are shown in a film, in the scene where he is looking at himself in the mirror, shaving. For this scene, a recording of him speaking was played off screen, since vocals could not be added to the film later.

There is a scene in the film where Mr. Marlowe goes to visit Sir John at his request, and as he approaches Sir John's desk there is a close up of his feet, which sink deeply into the rug as though it were laid over a soft mattress. This is never explained, although I am willing to accept that this is a spot of symbolism the meaning of which escaped me, since so much of the rest of the film is deeply layered, literally and figuratively, as well. There is an astonishing amount of technique and content to be seen here, impossible to catch all in one viewing, which is one sign of a great film.

Some editing and filming techniques I suspect were not as successful as they seemed in the writing stages, but the film is strong nonetheless. Consider, for example, the brave and highly successful technique of lingering on the empty jury room while the verdict is read offstage, and the shockingly effective technique of having the face of the victim hanging in the vision of the murderer. Incredibly, I think this is one of the single most haunting shots I have ever seen in a Hitchcock film. It has its slow moments and may be a bit longer than it's content can support, but this is a brilliant example of Hitch's early work.

Also keep your eye out for Hitchcock's cameo, which is a full hour into the film. This was long before he began putting all of his cameos in the beginnings of his films, knowing that the audience would be watching for him and not wanting this to distract from the stories.

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 .

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.