The Lodger (1932)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Maurice Elvey

Writers:

Marie Belloc Lowndes (novel)
Miles Mander (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

This was the first sound remake of the Hitchcock silent classic inspired by the Jack the Ripper legend...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Hitchcockian | Based On Novel

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
Andreas Malandrinos	...	Mr. Rabinovitch (as Andrea Malandrinas)
Iris Ashley	...	Police Commissioner's Daughter

Also Known As:

The Phantom Fiend (USA)

Runtime:

85 min | USA:67 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Twickenham Film Studios

Trivia:

Film debut of George Sanders.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gosford Park (2001)

Just Not There

Having seen the HItchcock silent film, this was a disappointment. It lacks HItchcock's gift for the misunderstood protagonist. There is so much done to make Ivor Novello look like the bad guy that we know immediately that he is not it. He is made much more quirky and not mysterious enough. At times he lapses into normalcy and quickly moves back to this eccentric, almost unapproachable being. The plot, of course, involves a "Jack the Ripper" figure who is killing women near telephone boxes. Novello's character shows up and rents an apartment at the home of an older woman and her husband. The female interest is also there. Because "London is lonely," he strikes up a relationship with the young woman, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, a loudmouthed, overbearing character. People are suspicious of the foreign visitor and when he is discovered with blood on him, he is handcuffed but escapes. There is great concern for the young woman who, by the way, should be scared and should be looking out for herself. I will not spoil the end, but it is not nearly as captivating as the Hitchcock version, where the man is hunted mercilessly. The speeches are really hard to make out; alas, the new technology; and this really diminishes the effectiveness. See this as a curiosity. It just doesn't work very well.