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Hitchcock Annual (1993) - Alfred Hitchcock's Easy Virtue (1927): A Descriptive Shot List

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Reading a shot-by-shot description can never, of course, be an adequate substitute for the experience of watching a film. But such a description may nevertheless be useful in a number of ways, especially by allowing a close look at how a film is structured. Quantitative measures must be used carefully, but we can learn something about a film by studying the relative frequency of long, medium, and close shots, the total numbers of shots, intertitles, fades, dissolves, pans, and so o.a. A descriptive shot list also helps to break a film down into scenes, themes, and subthemes,1 and to chart editing rhythms and patterns of shot repetition and variation. For some, this kind of micro- and macroscopic structural analysis is in itself the proper ground of film study; for others, it can be one of the key bases for broader examinations of cinematic technique and meaning.2

In describing Easy Virtue I have tried to be comprehensive and objective, without forgetting that these are both problematic and impossible goals. In my shot list I briefly mention what I take to be the key details of every shot, noting in particular camera position and movement (if any), characters and their position and movement in the frame, setting, and textual matter included in intertitles or inserts. The main purpose of this shot list is to help further analysis, rather than to be an act of interpretive analysis in itself.3 But every description of course involves a judgment about what is and is not significant. While I have, I believe, caught and noted some of the subtleties in Hitchcock's spatial planning (e.g., off-center framing; characters obscuring others in the frame or otherwise having parts of their face or body hidden; unconventional or unexpected reversals of camera angles; the use of height/vertical positioning to indicate status, power, or mood), I am sure that I have overlooked others. Just as I intend this shot description to supplement a careful screening of the film, I expect that this description will be supplemented by further notations made by viewers who see more in the film than I have been able to see.

Describing the shots is not as easy as it might seem. It is difficult to avoid the temptation to read meanings into all the gestures and actions; at the other extreme, straightforward, "neutral" description of visual details can get a bit dry or even cryptic. And even labeling the shots is a surprisingly tricky matter. Since the determining factor is not merely distance of camera to subject but also the overall impression created by the shot, it is not always easy to decide exactly at which point long, medium, and close shots slide into one another; and adding "medium" or "extreme" may give the appearance of more precision but sometimes just adds more dividing lines to become blurred. I have at least aimed for consistency, using the following guidelines, keyed to the presentation of the human figure or figures within a frame:

ELS: Extreme long shot; emphasis on great distance between camera and subject; human figure is small in the frame.

LS: Long shot; human figure is more prominent than in ELS, shown head to foot, but does not dominate background.

MLS: Medium long shot; comparable to what is often called a full shot; includes the complete human figure as the focal point within a setting.

MS: Medium shot; presents less than the entire human figure, usually from waist to head.

MCU: Medium close-up; includes head and shoulders of a human figure.

CU: Close-up; shows head of a human figure.

ECU: Extreme close-up; gives a full-frame view of a part of a face, human figure, or object.

Whenever I indicate a direction in the shot list, it is from the perspective of the film watcher, but when I describe a profile it is in relation to the character (e.g., "right profile" refers to a character with the right side of his or her face turned to the film watcher). I have not described the settings in detail but have simply noted where scenes take place and, if it is not self-explanatory, when Hitchcock shifts from one setting to another. When a camera set-up is repeated, I crossreference it to the previous use of that set-up.

A note on the film text

Easy Virtue apparently no longer exists in its complete state. Ivor Montagu describes a scene that he and Hitchcock disagreed about, an overhead shot of the husband, wife, and lover sitting together in a car, coming back from the theater, that does not appear in any available version.4 An illustration in Truffaut's Hitchcock shows Larita in bed at the Whittaker's in a shot that I have not seen in any print of the film, although this may very well be a publicity shot rather than a frame enlargement.5 And William K. Everson briefly notes that most prints of the film derive from a version distributed by a British firm, Wallace Heaton, that eliminated "a key suicide scene," presumably that of Claude Robson.6

The length of Easy Virtue is described differently in catalogs, reference books, and critical studies. For example, it is sometimes listed as 7,392 feet, and other times as 7,592 feet; and the running time is given variously as 62, 75, 87, "about 99," and "approximately 105" minutes.7 Some of these discrepancies maybe accounted for by running the film at different speeds: a film that runs 90 minutes at 16 fps, for example, would run 60 minutes at 24 fps. But there may well be other differences distinguishing these copies. The 16mm print at the Museum of Modern Art on which I base my description is 2168 feet long, and is identical to the Valencia Entertainment video version I also consulted, which runs almost exactly 60 minutes.

One of the functions of a detailed shot list is to help make differences between various prints easier to notice and critically examine. It may sound odd to refer to the "text" of a film, but there is much to be gained by applying to film some of the methods long applied to printed texts: collating different versions, noting variants, and so on. The purpose is not necessarily to arrive at a single authoritative text, but to acknowledge and make it easier to study versions and mutations of the film and account for authorial/directorial, institutional, and socio-historical reasons for these differences.8 While I have not done a thorough comparative analysis of different prints of the film, I hope that what follows will at least be a useful reference point for further critical and "textual" study of one of Hitchcock's most interesting early films.9

The film title, credits, and cast list, are superimposed over an image of a bellows camera. Uncredited, but mentioned in contemporary reviews and publicity articles are Barbara Gott, as the note-taking member of the jury, Benita Hume, as the telephone operator, and Ben Webster as the presiding judge. Noël Coward was widely reported to have consulted and collaborated with Hitchcock on the treatment and production details, and even to have "agreed to write the titles" for the film (Bioscope, June 30, 1927); and Ivor Montagu apparently helped edit the film.

FADE OUT.

1. FADE IN to TITLE : "Virtue is its own reward, "they say - - but "easy virtue" is society's reward for a slandered reputation. FADE OUT.

2. FADE IN to CU of newspaper announcement: "Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division. Court II (Mr. Justice Halstead) - At 10 - Defended Divorce case. - Filton V. Filton and Robson." Then one section is highlighted: "Filton vs. Filton." DISSOLVE to [1.00]

3. CU of top view of judge's wig. He tilts his head back to reveal his face.

4. LS of courtroom gallery and balcony filled with people.

5. MS of judge raising eyeglass to his eye.

6. Out of focus courtroom, seen through the glass, but MCU image of the lawyer in focus appears as glass moves closer to judge's eye.

7. MCU of judge moving eyeglass from his face. He raises his hand to rub his eye and yawns.

8. LS (as in #4) of courtroom.

9. MCU (as in #7) of judge.

10. Out of focus MS of Larita.

11. MCU of judge raising eyeglasses to eye again.

12. MS of Larita, in witness box, now in focus (slightly off-center right), show in left profile.

13. MS of the lawyer, slightly off-center right, examining Larita. Her husband sits behind him to the left.

14. MS of Larita, frontal view, in witness box. She bows her head slightly.

15. MS (as in #13) of the lawyer continuing to examine her.

16. LS from point of view of spectators, with back of the lawyer in foreground, Larita in far background.

17. MCU of the lawyer examining Larita.

18. TITLE: "Mrs. Filton, do you wish the jury to believe that the co-respondent never kissed you?"

19. MS. Larita, in the witness box, shakes her hand in denial.

20. LS of spectators moving in their seats. [2.00]

21. MS (as in #11). The judge speaks.

22. TITLE: "Silence, please - or I shall clear the Court."

23. LS (as in #20) of spectators in courtroom.

24. MS (as in #21). The judge speaks.

25. MS. The lawyer turns to pick up a decanter, which he holds in front of him.

26. TITLE: "I must ask you to repeat your statement with regard to this decanter."

27. MS (as in #19) of Larita in witness box. She leans forward and speaks.

28. ECU of decanter. Camera pulls back to show it in hands of husband, pouring a drink in the artist's studio. Camera PANS left and pulls back to show Larita posing. A small statue is shown in the background between them. Husband drinks from glass.

29. LS of Claude, the artist, in left foreground, shown in right profile. Larita poses in the center in the back of the room, and her husband is to the right of her.

30. MCU of Claude painting at canvas. [3.00]

31. MLS of Larita sitting, off-center left. There is a small statue in the background.

32. MS of the husband, slightly off-center, drinking.

33. MLS (as in #31) of Larita sitting, off-center left.

34. MCU of Claude painting, this time showing his left profile.

35. MS (as in end of #28) of Larita posing and Claude pouring another drink, with the statue between them.

36. Closer MS. Larita extends her hand, asking her husband not to drink.

37. MS. The husband stares back at her, continuing to pour.

38. MS (as in #35) of Larita and her husband, continuing to pour and then drink. He then leans toward her and speaks.

39. ECU of the husband's face. The camera pulls back to reveal that he is in the courtroom, and then farther to show the lawyer in the frame. Then the husband stands up excitedly, sits down, and turns in his seat with his hand to his mouth.

40. MS of Larita in witness box.

41. MS. The lawyer turns to talk to the husband, who is still fidgeting with his hand to his mouth. [4.00]

42. LS (as in #16) from behind the lawyer, showing his back and Larita in left background.

43. MS (as in #40) of Larita in witness box. She has her right hand extended and speaks.

44. TITLE: "And so for the next three days, I was unable to sit for my portrait. When I resumed . . ."

45. ECU of Larita's face. The camera pulls back to show her sitting at a makeup table.

46. CU of a pad with a note written on it: "Was the maid always present when Larita Filton disrobed." The hand writing this note is still visible at the bottom of the page.

47. MS of Larita and her maid, who helps fix her dress.

48. MLS. Larita stands and walks through curtains to the studio.

49. MLS from reverse angle of Larita entering studio through curtains, rather dramatically.

50. LS. She walks by Claude to sit in her chair. He walks with her, and then back to his canvas. [5.00]

51. MS of Claude, now shown from left profile, standing next to his canvas. He walks back to adjust the lighting in the room.

52. MS of Larita sitting in the chair posing (off-center left). Light shines more brightly on her.

53. MS (as in #51). Claude, shown in left profile with hands on hips, walks back to canvas after adjusting the lights.

54. LS (as in #50) of Claude in right profile in foreground, Larita in the background. He walks to her to adjust her gown.

55. MS. Claude adjusts her gown and touches her arm, causing her to wince in pain. He continues to hold her hand.

56. TITLE: "That hurts, Claude ... He bruised my wrist after he'd been drinking."

57. Closer MS showing Larita in left profile, turning then to the right and to the left.

58. MS of the decanter and glasses.

59. MCU of Claude with a conce...

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