A fairly routine thriller, noted chiefly for its cheating flashback, though with much more to enjoy than its detractors -- including Hitchcock -- make out.
Stage Fright (1950)
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Synopsis: STAGE FRIGHT, based on Selwyn Jepson's novel, was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock's wife and frequent collaborator, Alma Reville. Hitchcock uses London itself as the stage for this story of an acting student forced to solve a murder. Young Eve Gil (Jane Wyman) is studying drama at... STAGE FRIGHT, based on Selwyn Jepson's novel, was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock's wife and frequent collaborator, Alma Reville. Hitchcock uses London itself as the stage for this story of an acting student forced to solve a murder. Young Eve Gil (Jane Wyman) is studying drama at the Royal Academy when she runs into an old friend, John Cooper (Richard Todd), who explains that he has been implicated in a murder he didn't commit. Cooper's affair with stage icon Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) has made him a suspect in the death of Inwood's husband. Hitchcock used an actress as the protagonist in his 1930 film MURDER, but here, as a student forced by circumstance to truly learn the acting craft through real-life deception, the character of Eve can also be compared to Hitchcock's other accidental heroes, such as Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill in NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Eve must pose in many guises to get to the truth, and her nimble, multifaceted performance is commendable. But as the smoldering older diva, Marlene Dietrich's supporting role takes center stage. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Sybil Thorndike
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Composer: Leighton Lucas
Screenwriter: Alma Reville
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 9, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.37
Audio:
- Mono 1.0 English
Additional Release Material:
- Documentary - 1. HITCHCOCK AND STAGE FRIGHT
Reviews
Fun rather than thrilling, this duplicitous tale certainly isn't Stranger On A Train, but Hitchcock's weak films are still better than most.
The standard British murder mystery is raised to a higher plateau by Hitchcock in Stage Fright, but still falters in comparison to the best of the master's works.
Wyman is delightful as embryo actress but the choice femme spot goes to Dietrich.
The issues aren't satisfactorily resolved, but Hitchcock seems to be exploring the ways in which various falsehoods -- the falsehoods of acting, storytelling, and art in general -- can lead to the truth
One is strongly suspicious, after watching this helter-skelter film, that Mr. Hitchcock was much less interested in his over-all story than in individual scenes.
Blame it on the subject matter: Stage Fright, especially for postwar Hitchcock, is all elbows.
Even a lesser Hitchcock film is as good as a great film by nearly anyone else.
the central ridiculousness comes off as hokey at best, insulting at worst


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