Number Seventeen (1932)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Joseph Jefferson Farjeon (writer)
Joseph Jefferson Farjeon (play)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A gang of thieves gather at a safe house following a robbery, but a detective is on their trail.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Necklace | Man Punching A Woman | Cigarette Smoking | Empty House

Cast

Leon M. Lion	...	Ben
Anne Grey	...	Nora - the Girl
John Stuart	...	Barton - the Detective
Donald Calthrop	...	Brant - Nora's Escort
Barry Jones	...	Henry Doyle
Ann Casson	...	Rose Ackroyd
Henry Caine	...	Mr. Ackroyd
Garry Marsh	...	Sheldrake

Also Known As:

Number 17 (USA)

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:U | Finland:K-12 (1995) | Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | UK:Approved (British Film Censors)

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British International Pictures (BIP)

Trivia:

Alfred Hitchcock did not want to make this film. He had wanted to direct a prestige production of John Van Druten's play "London Wall," but to punish Hitchcock for the financial failure of his previous film Rich and Strange (1931), British International Pictures head John Maxwell took him off "London Wall" and put him on "Number Seventeen" instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene, Barton's hat blows past the gate, but he steps inside the gate to pick it up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ben: Oh! Oh, Gawd! Oh, Gawd! Oh, Gawd! Oh!
Fordyce/Barton: How do you feel? Now, where's that candle? Here, have some of this.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Agatha Christie: Poirot: The ABC Murders (#4.1)" (1992)

another early, unnecessary detour for the Master

NUMBER SEVENTEEN is one of the very few films Alfred Hitchcock made that has aged poorly. It's bizarre to find a movie he made that doesn't improve on a second viewing; even JAMAICA INN and THE SKIN GAME get better the more you look at them. Here's an unfortunate exception. While it doesn't lack merit as a rollicking little caper, the story is too confusing for the film to be enjoyed, and surprisingly enough the direction is clumsy and the whole thing ends up rather incoherent.

There may be a reason for this. Hitchcock made this in a hurry to get to a project he was eager to work on, RICH AND STRANGE, one of his most offbeat and personal films (actually released before this one). As a result, this very short and very stagy little comedy/thriller feels like the work of someone who didn't really care. While this is something that rarely happens in his catalog as director, you can sense the same thing to a lesser extent in STAGE FRIGHT and THE SKIN GAME, yet the technical competence of the former and the fine source material and performances of the latter make those more fun and interesting to see than this.

The real crime here is witnessing the failure of one of Hitch's only stabs at an old-dark-house mystery; it's a severe disappointment that he didn't explore the potential of the story to a greater degree. NUMBER SEVENTEEN is locked into its time and doesn't have anything close to the resonance of BLACKMAIL. To a fan of the director, it's essential but a bit off-putting.

One good point is the closing chase sequence, which takes up a major chunk of the movie's second half (the total running time is only an hour). Despite the obvious use of miniatures, it's amusing to see the director play with buildup and action in an otherwise dismal effort.