East of Shanghai

Before becoming the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock made this odd little romantic comedy that's a bit biographical. Fred Hill (Could be short for Alfred H.) and his wife Emily depart their dreary middle class life to go on a world cruise via a rich uncle. Fred gets mixed up with a sexy con artist while Emily courts a rich older man. There are a ton of Hitchcock touches (Fred is to meet the con artist in room 22. All around are references to the number 22. Fred and Em argue about each other's affairs while a Salvation Army band plays across the street, and in a truly exciting sequence, Fred and Em's ship begins to sink. The camera never leaves their stateroom (Shades of the camera never leaving the crashing plane in "Foreign Correspondent") An unusual, sometime entertaining work. A must for Hitchcock fans. Others just looking for a scary Hitchcock film to rent should go with a more familiar title