Film Review
Rich and Strange is the film
that brought an end to Alfred Hitchcock's mixed association with British
International Pictures and also marks the end of a period of artistic
and critical decline for the director. His subsequent cycle of
British films, beginning with
The Man Who Knew Too Much
(1934) would see a marked improvement in Hitchcock's fortunes and would
lay the groundwork for his enormously successful career in Hollywood.
As in the films that preceded it,
Rich
and Strange amply demonstrates Hitchcock's fascination with and
talent for experimental camerawork. With dialogue used sparsely,
the film is closer in form to a silent film, beginning with a highly
comical Chaplinesque vignette on modern life and using exterior
location photography effectively to bring a touch of the exotic,
something which greatly appealed to cinema audiences at the time.
Joan Barry plays one in a long line of notable Hitchcockian cool blonde
heroines, working well along side her co-star Henry Kendall.
Hitchcock reputedly had a poor working relationship with Barry, who had
previously been engaged to dub Anny Ondra in his earlier 1929 film,
Blackmail.
Although the film was a commercial and critical failure on its release,
Rich and Strange
was Hitchcock's favourite film from his British period, partly because
it was a welcome release from the series of play adaptations that had
been foisted on him by his producers. It lacks his trademark
suspense
and thriller elements but it brims with his distinctive black humour,
and includes some of his best jokes. Hitchcock wrote the film
with his
wife, Alma Reville, claiming to have based it on a novel by a
non-existent writer, Dale Collins. The couple draw on their own
experiences and the film is considered to be Hitchcock's most personal,
offering a portrait of conjugal life that is daringly honest and
incisive for its time.
© James Travers 2008
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Next Alfred Hitchcock film:
The Skin Game (1931)
Film Synopsis
Office clerk Fred Hill is tired of his humdrum life, tired of never
having enough money to enjoy the luxuries than others can afford.
His wife Emily has no such complaint and appears happy to fill her day
with tedious chores, such as making her own dresses. One evening,
Fred is surprised to receive a letter from his wealthy uncle offering
him a large sum of money so that he can travel the world. Unable
to believe their good fortune, Fred and Emily set out
immediately. They cross the Channel for France and head to
Marseilles, where they catch a leisure boat bound for the Far
East. For the early part of the journey, Fred is laid up in bed
with chronic sea sickness, allowing Emily to draw the attentions of a
very eligible bachelor...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.