The Phantom Fiend (1932)
"The Lodger" (original title)

This was the first sound remake of the Hitchcock silent classic inspired by the Jack the Ripper legend. Ivor Novello, who played the title role and headed the team writing the script, was ... See full summary »

Director:

Maurice Elvey

Writers:

Marie Belloc Lowndes (novel), Miles Mander (scenario),

Stars:

Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, A.W. Baskcomb

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ivor Novello	...	Michel Angeloff
Elizabeth Allan	...	Daisy Bunting
A.W. Baskcomb	...	George Bunting
Barbara Everest	...	Mrs. Bunting
Jack Hawkins	...	Joe Martin
Shayle Gardner	...	Detective Snell
Peter Gawthorne	...	Lord Southcliff
Kynaston Reeves	...	Editor Bob Mitchell (as P. Kynaston Reeves)
Drusilla Wills	...	Mrs. Coles
Anthony Holles	...	Silvano
George Merritt	...	Commissioner
Molly Fisher	...	Gladys Sims (as Mollie Fisher)
Andreas Malandrinos	...	Mr. Rabinovitch (as Andrea Malandrinas)
Iris Ashley	...	Police Commissioner's Daughter

Storyline

This was the first sound remake of the Hitchcock silent classic inspired by the Jack the Ripper legend. Ivor Novello, who played the title role and headed the team writing the script, was in the original as well.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | musician | maniac | remake | clue | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Phantom Fiend

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twickenham Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ivor Novello reprises his lead role from Alfred Hitchcock's silent classic The Lodger. Hitchcock was asked to direct the sound remake of his 1927 film, but declined.

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Connections

Edited into Muchachada nui: Episode #2.6 (2008)

User Reviews

An unnecessary remake.

Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lodger" is one of the best mystery/suspense films of the silent era. However, with the advent of sound, there was a huge push to remake these silents into new talking versions. While some might have applauded it, the results were not always positive. Take "The Phantom Fiend". It is a shabby remake of the original in every way--but the most glaring is the strange performance by the lead, Ivor Novello. While he was just fine in the Hitchcock version, her in the remake he's simply awful. Part of it was his bizarre accent he approximated for the film and part of it was his overacting. The intention was for the audience to suspect, like everyone else, that he was a psychopathic murderer. So why, then, did he overdo it so much? He behaves like a crazy man throughout the film and this made the ending all the more improbable. Having Hitchcock as the director of the remake might have solved this and a good director should have seen the deficiencies in Novello's characterization--but this one did not. My advice is just watch the original and let that be enough. If you do want to see "The Lodger", it's available for free download at archive.org--or just follow the link on IMDb for the download.