Under Capricorn (1949)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Colton (play) and
Margaret Linden (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Romance

Tagline:

Mystery, murder and passion from the master of suspense!

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Ex Convict | Governor | Fortune | Housekeeper | Shooting

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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
Maureen Delaney	...	Flo
Julia Lang	...	Susan
Betty McDermott	...	Martha
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ivor Barry	...	1st Guard in Hall (uncredited)
Martin Benson	...	Man Carrying Shrunken Head (uncredited)
Ronnie Hill	...	2nd Guard in Hall (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man at Governor's Reception (uncredited)
David Keir	...	Man Checking Invitations at Ball (uncredited)
Roderick Lovell	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Lloyd Pearson	...	Land Agent (uncredited)
Richard Turner	...	Clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Colton		(play) and
Margaret Linden		(play)
Helen Simpson		(novel)
Hume Cronyn		(adaptation)
James Bridie		(screenplay)
Peter Ustinov		uncredited &
Joseph Shearing		uncredited

Produced by
Sidney Bernstein	....	producer (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Richard Addinsell

Cinematography by
Jack Cardiff		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bert Bates		(as A.S. Bates)

Art Direction by
Thomas N. Morahan		(as Thomas Morahan)

Costume Design by
Roger K. Furse		(as Roger Furse)
Julia Squire		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Charles E. Parker	....	makeup artist (as Charles Parker)
Joan Smallwood	....	assistant hairdresser (uncredited)
Neville Smallwood	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Fred Ahern	....	production manager
John Palmer	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
C.R. Foster-Kemp	....	assistant director (as C. Foster Kemp)
Cliff Owen	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
John Pellatt	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Philip Stockford	....	set dresser
Ted Clements	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Kenneth McCallum Tait	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Peter Handford	....	sound recordist
A.W. Watkins	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Beeson	....	operator of camera movement
Ian Craig	....	operator of camera movement
Jack Haste	....	operator of camera movement
David MacNeilly	....	operator of camera movement
Jim Dawes	....	grip (uncredited)
George Pink	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Bert Rule	....	assembly cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Levy	....	musical director

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	associate technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
David O. Selznick	....	actor arrangement: Mr. Cotten
Peggy Singer	....	continuity
Jean Dyball	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Hazel Swift	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Transatlantic Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1967) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• VidAmerica (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (video)
• Silver Screen (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Balboa Film Distributors (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (Portugal)
• Warner Bros. (Spain)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

117 min | West Germany:111 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) (1949) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:16 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Spain:13 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Canoga Park High School - 6850 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Transatlantic Pictures

Trivia:

Narration at the beginning of the movie by Edmond O'Brien.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: (At 1:02:08) 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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Hitchcock's least interesting film. Not surprising that it was a massive flop.

Transatlantic Pictures (Hitchcock's own production company) must've rubbed their hands with glee when they decided to co-produce this film with Warner Bros. For not only did they have the world's leading female actress (Ingrid Bergman) in their film, they also had gifted stars Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding and Margaret Leighton lending support, and naturally the great Alfred Hitchcock at the helm. If ever a film was sure to be a critical and commercial hit, Under Capricorn was it. Such a shame, then, that Under Capricorn emerged as the worst film of Hitchcock's career. The critics roasted it, the public ignored it, and Transatlantic Pictures went bust.

Irish aristocratic lady Henrietta (Bergman) elopes to Australia with her cruel lover Sam Flusky (Cotten). She gradually develops the illness dipsomania, what with her lover controlling her every move with over-bearing authority and their maid Milly (Leighton) plying her with drink. A childhood friend of Henrietta's, Charles Adare (Wilding) turns up and, realising pretty quickly that all is not well, tries to help her regain a sense of stability.

The film is a laughably overwrought costume melodrama, totally ill-suited to Hitchcock's playful, suspenseful directing style. A year previously, the director had made the thriller Rope, using experimental ten minute takes, and in this film he still seems to be in the habit of allowing scenes to go on and on (maybe not ten minutes, but some bits last for six or seven minutes without a single cut). Frequently, the film feels tediously unspooled as a result. The actors seem to over-act much of the time, but it's hard to see how they could've avoided this as much of the screenplay requires them to handle some horribly overripe dialogue and reactions. Under Capricorn is undoubtedly the least interesting film that Hitchcock ever made. Those who try to persuade us that it is a misunderstood masterpiece are, I'm sorry to report, well and truly kidding themselves.