Easy Virtue (1927)

A recently divorced woman hides her scandalous past from her new husband and his family.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Noël Coward (adapted from the play by) (as Noel Coward), Eliot Stannard (scenario)

Stars:

Isabel Jeans, Franklin Dyall, Eric Bransby Williams

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Isabel Jeans	...	Larita Filton
Franklin Dyall	...	Aubrey Filton
Eric Bransby Williams	...	Claude Robson
Ian Hunter	...	Mr. Greene
Robin Irvine	...	John Whittaker
Violet Farebrother	...	Mrs. Whittaker
Frank Elliott	...	Colonel Whittaker
Dacia Deane	...	Marion Whittaker
Dorothy Boyd	...	Hilda Whittaker
Enid Stamp-Taylor	...	Sarah (as Enid Stamp Taylor)

Storyline

Larita Filton is named as correspondent in a scandalous divorce case. She escapes to France to rebuild her life where she meets John Whittaker. They are later married, but John's well-to-do family finds out Larita's secret.

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Plot Keywords:

trial | secret | female protagonist | courtroom | newlywed couple | 

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Genres:

Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film takes place in 1926.

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Goofs

When Sarah and Larita first meet, John stands in between them. But in the next shot he is shown on the far left of the girls.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Plaintiff's Counsel: Mrs. Filton, do you wish the Jury to believe the co-respondent never kissed you?

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Alternate Versions

In 2004, the Turner Classic Movies channel broadcast a version digitally remastered by Hypercube LLC for the National Film Museum Incorporated. It has a new piano score composed and performed by Douglas M. Protsik and runs 89 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense (2013)

User Reviews

A little dry and dull

In Alfred Hitchcock's Easy Virtue, a woman has some explaining to do when the family of her second husband finds out there was a first husband. That's because back in the day, divorced women were considered damaged goods, and upstanding families would steer well clear of such flighty harlots. Easy Virtue's tagline asks "Can she be blamed for a past she didn't create?" And the answer is yes, because she did create her past when she started making eyes at the man painting her portrait. But perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself.

Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans) is married to an unnamed guy. Well, he probably has a name, but the movie doesn't tell us. Anyway, they're rich, and she's having her portrait done by a professional artist. One day the artist notices marks on Larita's wrist, and she mentions that her husband sometimes drinks too much. Thus a relationship is born, at least as far as they went in the 1920s, which meant it's possible Larita and the artist smooched once. Anyway, one fine day the husband comes home to find the two of them in an embrace. A gun is presented, and a shot is fired, and the artist dies. This is all told to us in flashback at the divorce trial, where the jury quite naturally finds in favor of the husband. Larita is shamed and shunned.

She finds herself chillaxing on the Mediterranean, and a chance encounter with a tennis ball leads Larita to meet John Whittaker (Robin Irvine), who's from a well-to-do family himself. They romance, yadda yadda, and soon they're wed. He brings her home to meet his parents and his two sisters for dinner. The stern matriarch is fairly sure she recognizes Larita, and eventually she pieces it together. Haughty hilarity ensues.

This is a silent film, obviously very early in The Master's career, and much more of a melodrama than a thriller with a twist. There's no twist, and because there are few sight gags one must rely on the intermittent title cards to follow the mouthed dialog. That's all well and good, but there was just too much predictability afoot, and the quality of the print did the movie no favors, either. That all makes Easy Virtue a curio in Hitch's long, long career, and little more.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

None English

Release Date:

June 1928 (USA)

Also Known As:

Inmoralidad

Filming Locations:

Eze Village, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gainsborough Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 89 min (Hypercube restored) 70 min (2012 restoration)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1