Young and Innocent (1937)

Man on the run from a murder charge enlists a beautiful stranger who must put herself at risk for his cause.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Josephine Tey (novel), Charles Bennett (screen play)

Stars:

Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Nova Pilbeam	...	Erica Burgoyne
Derrick De Marney	...	Robert Tisdall (as Derrick de Marney)
Percy Marmont	...	Col. Burgoyne
Edward Rigby	...	Old Will
Mary Clare	...	Erica's Aunt
John Longden	...	Det. Insp. Kent
George Curzon	...	Guy
Basil Radford	...	Erica's Uncle
Pamela Carme	...	Christine Clay
George Merritt	...	Det. Sgt. Miller
J.H. Roberts	...	Mr. Briggs - Solicitor
Jerry Verno	...	Lorry Driver
H.F. Maltby	...	Police Sergeant
John Miller	...	Police Constable

Storyline

A film actress is murdered by her estranged husband who is jealous of all her young boyfriends. The next day, writer Robert Tisdall (who happens to be one such boyfriend) discovers her body on the beach. He runs to call the police, however, two witnesses think that he is the escaping murderer. Robert is arrested, but owing to a mix up at the courthouse, he escapes and goes on the run with a police constable's daughter Erica, determined to prove his innocence.

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Plot Keywords:

police | escape | beach | murder | boy | 

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Taglines:

The Successor to "39 Steps"

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

23 November 1939 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Coins for Candles

Filming Locations:

Lime Grove Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hand that pulls Nova Pilbeam's character Erica Burgoyne out of the hole in the mine scene was that of her future husband Pen Tennyson; they met on this film. They were married from October 19, 1939 until he was killed in a plane crash on July 10, 1941 at the age of 28.

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Goofs

About 50 minutes into the film, when Erica Burgoyne and Robert Tisdall have taken refuge at night in a small town, by parking her car next to a siding just before where the railroad underpasses a bridge, the entire scene has been staged and shot as an obvious miniature, as revealed by three mistakes: the somewhat jerky motion and unnatural lighting of an automobile (indicating that it was pulled) as it moves across the bridge, above the railroad; the express train speeding under the bridge drags a length of cord behind it, as it disappears from view; the camera tracking in closer to the parked automobile hidden in the shelter of freight trains on sidings, reveals that the figures of Erica and Robert are actually modeled and painted figurines, motionless until the shot suddenly changes to a medium close-up shot of the two actors.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Husband: Christine!
Christine: Don't shout, I tell you! Don't shout!

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Crazy Credits

The screen credits list (seventh in order) a character "Guy", but no character is ever named "Guy" in the movie. The actor matched up in the credits with this non-existent character is George Curzon; Curzon in fact plays the husband of Christine Clay and has a substantial scene with her in the opening scene of the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in E! True Hollywood Story: Alfred Hitchcock (1999)

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Soundtracks

I've Got Something In My Eye
(uncredited)
Written by James V. Monaco and Charles Newman

User Reviews

well worth catching

I hold with what seems to be the majority opinion here, i.e. that this early Hitchcock effort is a neglected gem. Though certainly not as well-done as some of his more noteworthy movies, I found it to be thoroughly captivating and entertaining, with the blend of suspense and humor that one finds in, say, "To Catch a Thief" or "Family Plot". Derrick deMarney as the romantic lead does a particularly fine job; sort of a foreshadowing of the kind of thing Cary Grant later did so well.

One thought is that the title is perhaps a bit of a double entendre; we always associate the phrase "Young and Innocent" with a female, but the story is really about the attempt of the lead character - a young man - to prove his innocence. Then again, is he really the lead, or is the story about the girl after all? I'm sure Hitch intended this touch of ambiguity.

Once again I have to thank American Movie Classics for bringing us another worthy movie from the past. Hitchcock fans should not miss this one (come to think of it, the only dog that I have seen from Hitch is "The Paradine Case").