Under Capricorn (1949)

In 1831, Irishman Charles Adare travels to Australia to start a new life with the help of his cousin who has just been appointed governor. When he arrives he meets powerful landowner and ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Colton (play), Margaret Linden (play),

Stars:

Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingrid Bergman	...	Lady Henrietta Flusky
Joseph Cotten	...	Sam Flusky
Michael Wilding	...	Hon. Charles Adare
Margaret Leighton	...	Milly
Cecil Parker	...	The Governor
Denis O'Dea	...	Mr. Corrigan
Jack Watling	...	Winter
Harcourt Williams	...	The Coachman
John Ruddock	...	Mr. Potter
Bill Shine	...	Mr. Banks
Victor Lucas	...	The Rev. Smiley
Ronald Adam	...	Mr. Riggs
Francis De Wolff	...	Major Wilkins (as Francis de Wolff)
G.H. Mulcaster	...	Dr. Macallister
Olive Sloane	...	Sal

Storyline

In 1831, Irishman Charles Adare travels to Australia to start a new life with the help of his cousin who has just been appointed governor. When he arrives he meets powerful landowner and ex-convict Sam Flusky, who wants to do a business deal with him. Whilst attending a dinner party at Flusky's house, Charles meets Flusky's wife Henrietta who he had known as a child back in Ireland. Henrietta is an alcoholic and seems to be on the verge of madness.

---

Plot Keywords:

ex convict | governor | fortune | housekeeper | secret | 

---

Taglines:

Out Of Her Curtained Past...Came A Man Past All Forgetting!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les amants du Capricorne

Filming Locations:

Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Transatlantic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although well received in France, it was still a box office flop in US when it was released. The box office rank was #90 for the year.

---

Goofs

(at around 1h 02 mins) By way of mentioning an invitation to a ball, Charles tells Hattie and Sam, "Oh by the way, I have a bit of news for you," but his mouth is closed for much of the sentence.

---

Quotes

[last lines of the movie]
Winter: We'll be sorry to lose you, sir.
Hon. Charles Adare: If I may say so, Winter, I'm sorry to go. Not a bad place. It is said that there is some future for it, there must be- it's a big country.
Winter: Then why are you leaving, sir?
Hon. Charles Adare: That's just it, Winter. It's not quite big enough. Bye, good luck.

---

Connections

Featured in Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)

User Reviews

Under Capricorn

This is one of Hitchcock's very best films.

1831: Irishman Charles Adare arrives in Australia to make his fortune, and soon hooks up with Sam Flusky, a wealthy landowner with a shady past and a business proposition. Ignoring the orders of his cousin, a local Governor, Charles continues to associate with Flusky and his alcoholic wife Henrietta, who was a friend of Charles' sister many years ago back in Ireland.

The long takes the film is composed of are often masterful. Whereas his previous film Rope felt like a gimmicky experiment (albeit a successful one), here the technique is perfected, and actually serves a purpose. It widens the scope to allow the actors room to deliver fine performances, and to exploit the lavish sets. It also serves to narrow the scope, either to focus attention or withhold crucial information until the last moment (it's especially effective at these two). This focusing/concealing also adds to the sense of Bergman's isolation and entrapment in her environment, and allows for some of the film's best shots.

I'm not a fan of Jack Cardiff, but his colour cinematography is considerably less jarring here than in his Powell-Pressburger outings, and although it does take a while to adjust the eyes, it's perfectly suited to the mood and setting.

Ingrid Bergman delivers what I consider to be her best performance. Henrietta is frail and very vulnerable - a pathetic creature. Yet the strength and dignity that she once possessed is glimpsed at the outset, and gradually comes to the fore without ever completely displacing that vulnerability.

Joseph Cotten likewise does an excellent job. His crippling inferiority complex dictates everything he does, and it's where the film gleans much of its drama. In his own way he's equally as pathetic as Henrietta; trapped in a different kind of mental prison. Sometimes he's unaware of his cruelty, believing himself to be doing the right thing; at others it's as if he can't help himself. He's a man who constantly tries to do good things, yet at every turn he's thwarted either by his own secret past, or his fear of that past. For a man so ostensibly powerful he's easy to knock down, and his reaction to these setbacks just reinforces his own negative perception of himself. This conflict is written on his every gesture and expression.

Michael Wilding's performance as Charles is less technically brilliant, but as the carefree, opportunistic cad who sees in Henrietta the chance to do an act of great kindness he's wonderful. There is great humanity in all three leads, but it's most overt and infectious in Wilding.