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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog More at IMDbPro »

Hitch's first film…, 8 March 2007

Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

(possible spoilers) In what Alfred Hitchcock considers to be his first true film, he presents the story of a man who is suspected of being Jack the Ripper. It is almost a polar opposite of what was to become one of his favorite themes, the wrong man theme, in the sense that it is the populace (and the audience) rather than the police that are on the wrong track. The film is very expressionistic and highly stylish, and often lingers on motionless shots to let individual performances illustrate the dramatic tension.

A young Hitchcock (he was my age when he made the film, about 27 or 28) allowed himself to be swayed by popular and studio pressure much more than he would later in his career, since he allowed the entire ending of this film to be altered based on the popularity of it's handsome star, stage actor Ivor Novello. Hitch's humor comes through in scenes like a showgirl dramatically giving up peroxide, since the Avenger seems to prefer blondes.

The Lodger is also credited with being the first film where Hitchcock started making his trademark cameos, one of him at a news desk early in the film and once again in the crowd near the end. I am going to remain neutral on this, because neither appearance is surely Hitchcock. The man at the desk is shown from behind and could be anyone, and try as I might, I couldn't find him anywhere in the crowd at the end. Hitchcock also has nothing nice to say in the film about media sensationalism, which is the cause of much of the widespread panic caused by the murders. Very good early Hitchcock, it's easy to see why he was gaining so much attention at this point in his career.

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