From Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, nine of his earliest films presented together for the first time, running from the silent film era to the invention of talkies. Hitchcock's silent films such as The Ring(1928), The Farmer's Wife(1929) and Champagne(1928) were greeted with great enthusiasm by critics, and, at a time of expansion and increasing optimism for the British film industry, they were heralded as evidence that British films had reached an international standard of artistry. Hitchcock's final silent film The Manxman(1930) was also a considerable... commercial success. In 1929, Hitchcock directed Blackmail, hailed as a film which used sound and dialogue with more flair and imagination than any Hollywood or European film of the time. In particular, Hitchcock's inventive and expressionist use of sound demonstrated that the new technology opened a new realm of possibilities. In the wake of Blackmail, there were searches for new challenges. These included an adaptation of a high profile West End play, The Skin Game(1931), two more thrillers Murder! (1930), Number Seventeen(1932), and an intriguingly odd marital drama, the appropriately titled Rich and Strange(1932). [show more]
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Collection of six early feature-length films from the 1920s and '30s directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 'Blackmail' (1929) Alice White (Anny Ondra) is frustrated with her police officer boyfriend Frank (John Longden) as he neglects her in favour of his work. To spite him, she arranges to meet another man. When he tries to rape her, she ends up killing him in self defence. The case gets assigned to Frank who realises that Alice is the murderer, but it seems someone else knows as Alice begins to receive threats of blackmail from an anonymous source. Herbert Marshall stars in 'Murder!' (1930) as Sir John Menier, a jury member in a murder case who questions the consensus that the actress Diana Baring (Norah Baring) is responsible for the death of her friend. In the silent feature 'The Ring' (1927), Carl Brisson stars as prizefighter Jack 'One Round' Sander who ends up competing against rival Bob Corby (Ian Hunter) not just for boxing glory but also for love as Bob tries to woo Jack's wife (Lillian Hall-Davis). 'The Farmer's Wife' (1928) is a silent romantic comedy starring Jameson Thomas as Farmer Sweetland, an elderly widower. Determined to marry again to cure his loneliness, he asks his housekeeper Minter (Hall-Davis) to help him find a potential wife. In 'Rich and Strange' (1931) Henry Kendall and Joan Barry star as couple Fred and Emily Hill who are bored with their middle class lifestyle in London. They jump at the chance of a cruise round the world when they receive an inheritance advance from a wealthy uncle. However, all does not go as planned; following a quarrel, the couple split and commence affairs, Fred with an attractive con artist, Emily with an older man. John Stuart stars in 'Number 17' (1932) as Detective Barton who is assigned to retrieve a priceless necklace that has been stolen by a group of jewel thieves. When his life is saved by a female member of the gang who has fallen in love with him, the sleuth races against time to reach the gang's hideout - an empty London house known as number 17. 'The Skin Game' (1931) centres on two wealthy feuding families in the countryside - the Hillcrists and the Hornblowers. The Hillcrists view with disdain the nouveau riche Hornblowers, particularly Mr Hornblower (Edmund Gwenn) who evicts his tenants to build factories. When the Hillcrists uncover a secret about Mr Hornblower's daughter Chloe (Phyllis Konstam) - that she was previously a prostitute - they exploit this knowledge by forcing Mr Hornblower to sell them his land at a cut price rate.
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