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IMDbPro

Champagne

  • 19281928
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
55,424
2,785
Betty Balfour in Champagne (1928)
Comedy
A spoiled heiress defies her father by running off to marry her lover. However, Daddy has a few tricks up his sleeve.A spoiled heiress defies her father by running off to marry her lover. However, Daddy has a few tricks up his sleeve.A spoiled heiress defies her father by running off to marry her lover. However, Daddy has a few tricks up his sleeve.
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
55,424
2,785
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • Alfred Hitchcock
      • Walter C. Mycroft(story by)
      • Eliot Stannard(scenario)
    • Stars
      • Betty Balfour
      • Jean Bradin
      • Ferdinand von Alten
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • Alfred Hitchcock
      • Walter C. Mycroft(story by)
      • Eliot Stannard(scenario)
    • Stars
      • Betty Balfour
      • Jean Bradin
      • Ferdinand von Alten
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 38User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos75

    Betty Balfour in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour and Jean Bradin in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour in Champagne (1928)
    Alfred Hitchcock in Champagne (1928)
    Ferdinand von Alten in Champagne (1928)
    Gordon Harker and Ferdinand von Alten in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour and Jean Bradin in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour and Ferdinand von Alten in Champagne (1928)
    Betty Balfour and Ferdinand von Alten in Champagne (1928)
    Jean Bradin and Gordon Harker in Champagne (1928)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Betty Balfour
    Betty Balfour
    • The Girl
    Jean Bradin
    Jean Bradin
    • The Boy
    Ferdinand von Alten
    Ferdinand von Alten
    • The Man
    • (as Theo Von Alten)
    Gordon Harker
    Gordon Harker
    • The Father
    Alexander D'Arcy
    Alexander D'Arcy
      Vivian Gibson
      Vivian Gibson
        Clifford Heatherley
        Clifford Heatherley
        • The Manager
        • (uncredited)
        Claude Hulbert
        Claude Hulbert
        • Club Guest
        • (uncredited)
        Hannah Jones
        Hannah Jones
        • Club Servant
        • (uncredited)
        Phyllis Konstam
        Phyllis Konstam
          Gwen Mannering
            Balliol and Merton
              Jack Trevor
              Jack Trevor
              • The Officer
              • (uncredited)
              Marcel Vibert
              • Maitre d'Hotel
              • (uncredited)
              Sunday Wilshin
              Sunday Wilshin
                Fanny Wright
                  • Director
                    • Alfred Hitchcock
                  • Writers
                    • Alfred Hitchcock
                    • Walter C. Mycroft(story by)
                    • Eliot Stannard(scenario)
                  • All cast & crew
                  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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                  Storyline

                  Edit

                  Did you know

                  Edit
                  • Trivia
                    In a press conference for Family Plot (1976),Alfred Hitchcock revealed that this movie is his least favorite of all he had made.
                  • Goofs
                    When the captain issues orders, a shadow falls across the backdrop that is supposed to represent the sky.
                  • Quotes

                    The Manager: What brought you in here?

                    Betty: [smiles] Teeth!

                    The Manager: We're only interested in legs here.

                    Betty: I must have come in the wrong door - but it's all the same to me if you can give me a job.

                  • Connections
                    Featured in Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009)

                  User reviews38

                  Review
                  Top review
                  5/10
                  "I've always understood that simplicity was the keynote of good taste"
                  Champagne was among the last of Hitchcock's silents, and made at a period when Hollywood was already turning fast towards the talkies. Perhaps because of this, the young and naive Hitchcock appears to be cramming in as much visual technique as possible.

                  Right from his first picture, Hitchcock had loved the point-of-view shot. Champagne makes heavy use of what I call "extreme" point-of-view shots – that is, ones which really draw your attention to the fact that we are seeing a character's-eye-view, for example where we see the actor's hands in front of us, or the camera moves as the character walks. To this end Hitchcock even had giant props built to wave in front of the lens. There are also copious other techniques which aim to literalise the experience of the characters – for example shaking the camera around when the ship is rocking. Although the later Hitchcock would sometimes use such tricks (far more subtly) to draw the audience into the character's world, here and now it's just a bit of overt stylisation that in no way enhances the film.

                  Trickery for trickery's sake is often worse than useless. When Betty Balfour is told her father has lost his fortune, there is a superimposition of a room spinning. If Balfour is good enough, she could convey what is going on inside her character's head. I think I speak for most audience members when I say I would rather look at a good acting performance than a post-production special effect.

                  It's a pity Hitch felt he needed to dress up his shots so much, because even at this early stage he had good timing for basic point-of-view and reaction shots, allowing him to smoothly reveal intentions and opinions. His basic film grammar is good enough to keep down the number of intertitles. By the way, the difference between a picture like this and those made around the same time in the US (which tend to be very wordy) is not that the Hollywood directors were bad at visual storytelling, it's that their pictures were often full of unnecessary title cards, whereas in Europe the goal was generally to keep them to a minimum.

                  It's a mercy too that the acting in Champagne tends to be fairly naturalistic, the only touches of theatricality being for the sake of comedy. None of them is exceptional, but none of them is really bad either. I'm not quite convinced though by Gordon Harker as a millionaire, but perhaps this is because I'm so used to seeing him playing earthy working class types.

                  All else I have to say about Champagne is that it is just a bit dull – a comedy drama that is not enough of one thing or the other. A reasonable plot, a handful of good gags, but ultimately lifeless. At this point Hitchcock was really just saying, through his camera, "Look at me! I'm the director! Look what I can do!" when he should have been turning all those audience-involving techniques into gripping entertainment - as he later would.
                  helpful•10
                  4
                  • Steffi_P
                  • Feb 9, 2009

                  FAQ2

                  • Is this film in the public domain?
                  • Every copy I've seen has been terrible. Which is the best version to buy?

                  Details

                  Edit
                  • Release date
                    • August 20, 1928 (United Kingdom)
                  • Country of origin
                    • United Kingdom
                  • Languages
                    • None
                    • English
                  • Also known as
                    • Champán
                  • Filming locations
                    • Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK
                  • Production company
                    • British International Pictures (BIP)
                  • See more company credits at IMDbPro

                  Technical specs

                  Edit
                  • Runtime
                    1 hour 26 minutes
                  • Color
                    • Black and White
                  • Sound mix
                    • Silent
                  • Aspect ratio
                    • 1.33 : 1

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                  By what name was Champagne (1928) officially released in Canada in English?
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