The Pleasure Garden (1925)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Oliver Sandys (novel)
Eliot Stannard (writer)

Release Date:

1926 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Patsy Brand is a chorus girl at the Pleasure Garden music hall. She meets Jill Cheyne who is down on her luck and gets her a job as a dancer...

Plot Keywords:

Extramarital Affair | Suicide | Craziness | Chorus Girl | Marriage

Cast

Virginia Valli	...	Patsy Brand
Carmelita Geraghty	...	Jill Cheyne
Miles Mander	...	Levett
John Stuart	...	Hugh Fielding
Ferdinand Martini	...	Mr. Sidey (as Ferd Martini)
Florence Helminger	...	Mrs. Sidey
Georg H. Schnell	...	Oscar Hamilton (as George Snell)
Karl Falkenberg	...	Prince Ivan (as C. Falkenberg)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lewis Brody
Nita Naldi	...	Levet's Native Lover (unconfirmed)

Also Known As:

Irrgarten der Leidenschaft (Germany)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK | Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Alassio, Savona, Liguria, Italy

Company:

Gainsborough Pictures

Trivia:

Cinematographer 'Gaetano Ventimiglia' hid the camera underneath Hitchcock's bunk, in an attempt to avoid Italian duties. The unexposed film was confiscated and the crew bought new film to shoot on location, seriously depleting the film's budget. Later, the confiscated film was returned.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pleasure Garden theatergoer: That's an exquisite chorus line, Mr. Hamilton.
Oscar Hamilton: Meet Patsy Brand.
Pleasure Garden theatergoer: I had to meet you because I was charmed by that lovely curl of hair.
Patsy Brand: [detaches the curl and presents it] Then I give it to you and hope you have a nice time. Now that wasn't a very clever line, was it?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999) (TV)

A nice look into the earliest directorial thoughts and techniques of the master

The Pleasure Garden is the first film that Alfred Hitchcock directed to completion. It's a nice look into the earliest directorial thoughts and techniques of the master. Even in this earliest film, we can see signs of what would become some of his signature trademarks. I enjoyed some of the point of view shots early in the film with the blurred view of the man looking through his monocle as well as the gentleman looking through the binoculars at the show girls legs. There is also a spiral staircase in the opening of this movie. Not that it was used like the staircase in Vertigo, but it made me smile thinking of how important that would be in his later film. The story deals with the idea of infidelity. Jill (Carmelita Geraghty) is an aspiring dancer who gets engaged to Hugh (John Stuart) who has to leave for work overseas. Patsy (Virginia Valli), who has helped Jill get her start, starts to worry about Jill keeping her promise to wait for Hugh. Jill's career is taking off and she begins to fool around with other guys. Patsy marries Levett (Miles Mander), Hugh's friend who also goes overseas to work with Hugh. Unlike Jill, Patsy remains true to her husband, thinking only of being with him. She receives a letter that her husband has taken ill and scrapes up the money to go be with her husband in his time of need. When she arrives, she finds that he has taken to drinking and island women. That's when the trouble ensues. I enjoyed Hitch's first film. It's a little slow starting, but picks up pace as it goes along. I liked seeing Cuddles, the dog, thrown in for a little comic relief to contrast the seriousness of the film, which of course is another of Hitchcock's trademarks. There was also a nice, subtle score by Lee Erwin, that fit the film well.

*** (Out of 4)