Champagne (1928) - film review

A wealthy businessman is infuriated when his daughter Betty takes his private aeroplane so that she can join her boyfriend on an ocean liner heading for France.  Betty had intended to elope with her boyfriend but not long after their reunion she receives a telegram from her father warning her that he is only after her money.  When Betty asks her boyfriend to marry her they end up arguing.  Soon after their arrival in Paris, Betty’s father appears with some grave news – he has lost his entire fortune.  Rejecting the pity of her boyfriend, Betty resolves to deal with the crisis herself, by getting a job...

In common with most of the films that Alfred Hitchcock made for British International Pictures in the late ’20s, early ’30s, Champagne is a film that is largely overlooked today, probably because it is poles apart from the work for which he is best known.  Interestingly, Hitchcock originally conceived this as quite a dark film, similar to his previous Downhill (1927), showing how immoderate drinking of champagne results in the tragic decline of various characters.  His more commercially minded paymasters at BIP rejected this idea and insisted on a much lighter subject, hoping to repeat the success of his previous comedy – The Farmer’s Wife (1928).

Whilst clearly not in the league of Hitchcock’s later great films, Champagne is an entertaining satire of father-child relationships and 1920s decadence.  It boasts some creditable performances – notably from its star Betty Balfour, one of the first in a long line of beautiful fair-haired women in Hitchcock films.  The far-fetched storyline admittedly leaves something to be desired but, to compensate for this, Hitchcock manages to work in some inventive camerawork which will reward admirers of his work.  The shots to watch out for are the ones taken through a glass of champagne, which required the construction of an enormous prop glass.  Hitchcock himself was a great lover of the fizzy drink, and would often drink large quantities during lunch, to the detriment of his work in the afternoon...

© James Travers 2008

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