The Lodger

Having seen the HItchcock silent film, this was a disappointment. It lacks HItchcock's gift for the misunderstood protagonist. There is so much done to make Ivor Novello look like the bad guy that we know immediately that he is not it. He is made much more quirky and not mysterious enough. At times he lapses into normalcy and quickly moves back to this eccentric, almost unapproachable being. The plot, of course, involves a "Jack the Ripper" figure who is killing women near telephone boxes. Novello's character shows up and rents an apartment at the home of an older woman and her husband. The female interest is also there. Because "London is lonely," he strikes up a relationship with the young woman, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, a loudmouthed, overbearing character. People are suspicious of the foreign visitor and when he is discovered with blood on him, he is handcuffed but escapes. There is great concern for the young woman who, by the way, should be scared and should be looking out for herself. I will not spoil the end, but it is not nearly as captivating as the Hitchcock version, where the man is hunted mercilessly. The speeches are really hard to make out; alas, the new technology; and this really diminishes the effectiveness. See this as a curiosity. It just doesn't work very well.

I saw the short US version (Phantom Fiend) of the sound remake of Hitchcock's the Lodger which was based on a novel based on the Jack the Ripper murders.

Ivor Novello (the real life counter part to Jeremy Northam's character in Robert Altman's Gosford Park) stars as the strange man who has rented a room from a nice family in London. The times are dangerous as some one called the Avenger is killing young women. Things begin to get dicey as the family begins to suspect that they may in fact be harboring a killer.

This is strange film due to the odd performances of some of the actors (Novello included) who seem to still think they are in silent films. The sound is uneven with some exchanges lost in "mud" due to poor sound recording. It makes it a bit tough to get through. Not helping matters is the fact that the story has been told and retold numerous times, so odds are you'll have some idea of whats going on. Its not a bad tale just one that I find overly familiar.

Its an okay film, thats of interest more for the odd early sound touches and casting than anything in the story.

This is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (1927) - we also have the same man as the lead character Angeloff played by Ivor Novello.

Ivor was a bit goofy acting in this 1932 version whereas in the 1927 version he was a bit more mysterious as the character should be. What got to me in this 1932 version was the fact that Angeloff was a bit talkative and not as quiet and mysterious of a man as he suppose to be.

The original film was really dark and mysterious - one of those films for a "dark and spooky night". This film would work for that scenario but the original film gives us more of the darkness that is desired for a film of this nature.

Did I like this film version? YES I did - very much so and I would watch it again. It's just not quite as good as the original but it's good.

7.5/10

This was actually the shorter (67 mins. as opposed to the full-length 85) version released in the U.S. under the title THE PHANTOM FIEND. While it pales in comparison with Hitchcock's seminal original – a rare expressionist film to emerge from Britain – especially since this has the tendency typical of early Talkies to emphasize dialogue (which is so muffled as to be unintelligible most of the time anyway, a deficiency which unfortunately seems to plague most British films I've seen from this era) at the expense of technique. As a matter of fact, the latter is only apparent during the atmospheric, fog-laden climax in which leading lady Elizabeth Allen mistakes the real Ripper-type murderer for the young man who lodges with her family (Ivor Novello, who reprises his role from the Hitchcock classic!).

Despite its basic purposelessness (though I would guess that a remake was commissioned, so soon after the Silent version, not so much to have a Talkie of the intriguing story – based on a popular novel – but more in response to the American horror boom of the early 30s), the plot is compelling enough to keep one watching…and predictable enough to be followed, so that it could have dispensed with dialogue altogether. The film features an impossibly young Jack Hawkins in one of his earliest roles as a fast-talking reporter (!) and Allen's fiancé, whose jealousy of Novello leads to the latter being targeted as prime suspect of the killings (also because his background, and wardrobe, is strikingly similar to that of the murderer)!

As I said earlier, perhaps the film's best sequence – at least with respect to direction – is its denouement; however, the changes done to the ending from the Hitchcock original are unconvincing and unsatisfying (especially since the romantic triangle at the centre of the plot isn't resolved…though this may very well have been trimmed for the American version, hence its abruptness.

Based on the original silent version of THE LODGER, Director Maurice Elvey's THE PHANTOM FIEND is a classic in its own right.

Angeloff (Ivor Novello) moves into a London boarding house just as a murdering maniac gets busy with his grisly work. Angeloff is immediately under suspicion due to his odd behavior and "peculiar" way of speaking. His deepening relationship with a young woman named Daisy (Elizabeth Allan) is the emotional heart of the film.

The fear of strangers / others is explored. Novello plays his eccentric role very convincingly, mixing a controlled menace with a subtle vulnerability.

Elvey uses various lighting and camera techniques to give the sense of growing paranoia.

A wonderful movie that's more than just another thriller...