The Lodger

This film, known in the US as 'The Phantom Fiend' and seemingly only surviving in appalling prints with muddy soundtrack, was the first sound remake of Hitchcock's wonderfully atmospheric silent classic, 'The Lodger'.

As in the earlier film, British composer and matinée idol Ivor Novello plays the mysterious lodger of the title, this time affecting a bizarre European accent and managing to be even more creepy than in the silent version. His acting though was far too mannered for the sound screen, even if we do get to hear his piano playing in this film!

In support, Elizabeth Allen and a very young Jack Hawkins are not at all bad, although the story is extremely familiar and you could take a fair attempt at guessing the ending. Maurice Elvey's direction is rather pedestrian but the principals are photographed well and the tension is kept up well over the short running time.

Not a substitute for the silent version (or the superior sound version with Laird Cregar) but an interesting curio.

Enjoyed this film very much. I am making my way through my DVD gift box of mysteries (a trudge,sometimes) and I am always pleased to come across an unknown gem - unknown,at least,to me. Have seen "The Lodger" many times but this one was made special by Ivor Novello, whom I had never seen, and Jack Hawkins, who never looked so young in any picture I had seen.

It was early in the sound era which could explain the hammy acting, and so I overlooked it. I thought Ivor Novello was an almost hypnotic presence - too bad he made so few movies.I also enjoyed the trick ending which was different than the American version but, from what a reviewer from the U.K. states, is the way it was in the original Hitchcock version, which I have never seen.

All in all, a very pleasant surprise. I hope I find a few more in my collection. The transfer copy must have been very old and it is probably a title hard to come by, which would account for the occasional blotches on the print and garbled sound track, but it really is better than the 6 rating it presently sports, and I gave it a rating of 7.

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.

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.

Not much to recommend in this creaky antique. It's another version of the Ripper story, with the mysterious killer loose in London. He appears to be a lodger in an ordinary household where the daughter takes a shine to him despite his odd behavior. But then his lyrical piano playing does indicate a romantic soul. On the whole, however, actor Novello delivers a rather unfocused performance as the lodger, never gelling as a real object of menace. But I suppose something like that was required for his crucially ambiguous role. On the other hand, actress Allan is quite natural as the charming daughter, a turn that could easily transfer to the modern screen.

The Amazon print that I saw was murky in the extreme, effects of age I suppose. Too bad, because whatever atmospheric lighting was used was clouded over; that plus a muddy sound track made this version rather difficult to watch. Moreover, the choppy narrative suggests a poorly edited longer cut. Overall, it's an oft-told tale, done to much better effect by Hitchcock (1927) and John Brahm (1944), at least in terms of the version I saw.