Murder!

Last updated

Murder!
Murder hitch.jpg
US window card
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay byAlfred Hitchcock
Walter Mycroft
Alma Reville
Based on Enter Sir John by
Clemence Dane
Helen Simpson
Produced by John Maxwell
(Uncredited)
Starring Herbert Marshall
Norah Baring
Cinematography J. J. Cox
Edited byRene Marrison
under the supervision of Emile de Ruelle
Music by John Reynders
(musical director)
Production
company
Distributed byWardour Films
Release date
  • 31 July 1930 (1930-07-31)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000 [1]
Box office$600,000 (est.) [1]

Murder! is a 1930 British thriller film co-written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring and Edward Chapman. Written by Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville and Walter C. Mycroft, it is based on the 1928 novel Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. It was Hitchcock's third all-talkie film, after Blackmail (1929) and Juno and the Paycock (1930).

Contents

Plot

Diana Baring (Norah Baring), a young actress in a travelling theatre troupe, is found in a daze with blood on her clothes, sitting by the murdered body of another young actress, Edna Druce. The poker used to commit the murder is at Diana's feet, but she has no memory of what happened during the minutes the crime was committed. The two young women are thought to have been rivals, and the police arrest her. Diana withholds some important information deliberately, to protect something about the identity of a man that she will not name.

At her trial most of the jury are certain she is guilty. One or two feel that she may have a severe mental illness which means that she really does have no memory of killing the other woman, but they are convinced that she should still be hanged lest she strike again. One juror, Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall), a celebrated actor-manager, seems sure she must be innocent, but is brow-beaten into voting "guilty" along with the rest of the jury. Diana is imprisoned, and awaits hanging.

Sir John feels responsible, as he had recommended that Diana take the touring job in order for her to get more experience. He discovers Diana has been a fan of his since childhood. She is beautiful, and seems far too honest and straightforward to be a criminal of any kind. Using skills he has learned in the theatre, Sir John investigates the murder with the help of the stage manager Ted Markham (Edward Chapman) and his wife Doucie (Phyllis Konstam). They narrow the possible suspects down to one male actor in the troupe, Handel Fane (Esme Percy).

During a prison visit with Baring, Sir John learns Fane's secret: he is a half-caste, only passing as white, and Druce had threatened to expose him. Sir John cunningly tries to lure a confession out of Fane, by asking him to audition for a new play that Sir John has been writing. Sir John describes a plot closely resembling the murder, and Fane realises that they know he committed the crime, and that they understand how and why he did it. Fane leaves the audition without confessing, and goes back to his old job as a solo trapeze performer in a circus. Sir John and the others go there to confront him again. During his performance, he looks down from his high perch and sees them waiting. Despairing, he knots his access rope into a noose, slips it over his head and jumps to his death. Sir John and Markham discover Fane had written a confession to the murder before his suicide.

At the film's conclusion, Diana is shown free, and gloriously dressed in white furs, entering a beautiful room and being welcomed warmly by Sir John, who receives her as if he loves her. The camera pulls back and reveals this is the last scene of a new play, possibly the new play, in which Diana stars opposite Sir John. They kiss as the curtain falls.

Cast

Members of the Jury

Production

The film was made by British International Pictures. It was originally to be released under the same title as the novel, Enter Sir John, but this was changed to the simpler Murder! during shooting. [2] A number of changes were made from the book, including altering the names of the two principal characters. The portrayal of the character Sir John Mernier was loosely based on that of the actor Gerald du Maurier, who was a friend of Hitchcock. [3] Hitchcock later adapted three novels written by du Maurier's daughter Daphne du Maurier: Jamaica Inn (1939), Rebecca (1940) and The Birds (1963). Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance in the film as a man walking past the murder victim's house. [3]

The film's sets were designed by the art director John Mead.

The German language version of the film, Mary (1931), was shot simultaneously on the same set with German-speaking actors. Miles Mander reprised his role as Gordon Druce in Mary, though the character's name was changed to Gordon Moore. [4]

Music

In addition to the original music composed by John Reynders, the film uses the opening of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde prelude in a radio broadcast Sir John is listening to during the shaving scene.

For the filming, an orchestra played the music live on the set. Hitchcock described the filming of this scene to François Truffaut in the book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967). In the early days of sound film, there was no way to post-dub sound, so Hitchcock had Herbert Marshall's voice recorded on a phonograph record, which was played back during the filming of the scene, while the orchestra played the "radio" music live.

Murder! is copyrighted worldwide [5] [6] but has been heavily bootlegged on home video. [7]  Despite this, various licensed, restored releases have appeared on DVD, Blu-ray and video on demand services from Optimum in the UK, Lionsgate and Kino Lorber in the US, and others. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Hitchcock</span> English film director (1899–1980)

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", Hitchcock became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo appearances in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director, despite five nominations.

<i>Young and Innocent</i> 1937 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Young and Innocent, released in the US as The Girl Was Young, is a 1937 British crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney. Based on the 1936 novel A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey, the film is about a young man on the run from a murder charge who enlists the help of a woman who must put herself at risk for his cause. An elaborately staged crane shot Hitchcock devised, which appears towards the end of the film, identifies the real murderer.

<i>The Skin Game</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

The Skin Game is a 1931 British drama film by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1920 play by John Galsworthy and produced by British International Pictures. The story revolves around two rival families, the Hillcrists and the Hornblowers, and the disastrous results of the feud between them.

<i>The Paradine Case</i> 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The Paradine Case is a 1947 courtroom drama with elements of film noir set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the 1933 novel by Robert Smythe Hichens. The film stars Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Alida Valli, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore, and Louis Jourdan. It tells of an English barrister who falls in love with a woman who is accused of murder, and how it affects his relationship with his wife.

<i>The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog</i> 1927 silent film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a 1927 British silent thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen and Ivor Novello. Hitchcock's third feature film, it was released on 14 February 1927 in London and on 10 June 1928 in New York City. The film is based on the 1913 novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes and the play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes. Its plot concerns the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer in London.

<i>The Mountain Eagle</i> 1926 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Mountain Eagle is a 1926 silent drama film, and Alfred Hitchcock's second as director, following The Pleasure Garden. The film, a romantic melodrama set in Kentucky, is about a widower who jealously competes with his crippled son and a man he loathes over the affections of a schoolteacher. The film was mostly produced at the Emelka Film studios in Munich, Germany in autumn of 1925, with exterior scenes shot in the village of Obergurgl in the State of Tyrol, Austria. Production was plagued with problems, including the destruction of a village roof and Hitchcock experiencing altitude sickness. Due to producing the film in Germany, Hitchcock had more directorial freedom than he would have had in England, and he was influenced by German cinematic style and technique.

<i>Blackmail</i> (1929 film) 1929 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. Based on the 1928 play of the same name by Charles Bennett, the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her.

<i>Waltzes from Vienna</i> 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Waltzes from Vienna is a 1934 British biographical film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, sometimes known as Strauss' Great Waltz. It was part of the cycle of operetta films made in Britain during the 1930s.

<i>The Ring</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Ring is a 1927 British silent romance film written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall-Davis and Ian Hunter.

<i>Downhill</i> (1927 film) 1927 film

Downhill is a 1927 British silent drama film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ivor Novello, Robin Irvine and Isabel Jeans, and based on the play Down Hill by Novello and Constance Collier. The film was produced by Gainsborough Pictures at their Islington studios. Downhill was Hitchcock's fourth film as director, but the fifth to be released. Its American alternative title was When Boys Leave Home.

<i>Number Seventeen</i> 1932 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Number Seventeen is a 1932 British comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring John Stuart, Anne Grey and Leon M. Lion. The film, which is based on the 1925 burlesque stage play Number Seventeen written by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon, concerns a group of criminals who commit a jewel robbery and hide their loot in an old house over a railway leading to the English Channel. The film's title is derived from the house's street number.

Champagne is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Betty Balfour, Gordon Harker and Jean Bradin. The screenplay was based on an original story by writer and critic Walter C. Mycroft. The plot concerns a young woman forced to take a job after her father loses his fortune.

<i>The Man Who Knew Too Much</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period.

<i>Mary</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Mary (1931) is a British-German thriller film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the German-language version of Hitchcock's Murder! (1930), shot simultaneously on the same sets with German-speaking actors. The film is based on the 1928 book Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson, and stars Alfred Abel and Olga Chekhova. Miles Mander reprises his role as Gordon Druce from Murder!, though the character's name was changed to Gordon Moore.

<i>Jamaica Inn</i> (film) 1939 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Jamaica Inn is a 1939 British adventure thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel of the same name. It is the first of three of du Maurier's works that Hitchcock adapted. It stars Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara in her first major screen role. It is the last film Hitchcock made in the United Kingdom before he moved to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norah Baring</span> English actress (1905–1985)

Norah Baring, born Nora Minnie Baker, was an English stage and film actress best known on screen for portraying "Diana Baring" in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Murder! (1930).

<i>Juno and the Paycock</i> (film) 1929 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Juno and the Paycock is an all-talking sound 1930 British tragicomedy film written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Maire O'Neill, Edward Chapman and Sara Allgood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Chapman (actor)</span> English actor

Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. William Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Konstam</span> English actress

Phyllis Esther Kohnstamm, known as Phyllis Konstam, was an English film actress born in London. She appeared in 12 films between 1928 and 1964, including four directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

<i>Enter Sir John</i>

Enter Sir John is a 1928 British crime novel by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. It concerns Martella Baring, a young actress, who is put on trial and convicted of murder and a fellow actor Sir John Saumarez who takes up her cause and tries to prove her innocence. It was followed by the sequel Re-enter Sir John in 1932.

References

  1. 1 2 "English Making Money". Variety. 17 September 1930. p. 57.
  2. ↑ Yacowar p.240
  3. 1 2 Chandler p.80
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (25 March 2023). "A Brief History of Hitchcock Remakes". Filmink.
  5. ↑ "Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: Slaying the public domain myth". Brenton Film. 8 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Alfred Hitchcock: Dial © for Copyright". Brenton Film. 30 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Bootlegs Galore: The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rip-off". Brenton Film. 8 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: Murder! (1930)". Brenton Film. 17 June 2019.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.