Harrison's Reports (1950) - Stage Fright
Details
- article: Stage Fright
- journal: Harrison's Reports (25/Feb/1950)
- issue: volume 32, issue 8, page 30
- journal ISSN:
- publisher: Harrison's Reports, Inc.
- keywords: Alastair Sim, Alfred Hitchcock, Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Scotland Yard, London, Selwyn Jepson, Stage Fright (1950), Warner Bros., Whitfield Cook
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Article
"Stage Fright" with Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich and Richard Todd
(Warner Bros., April 15; time, 110 min.)
Produced in England, this latest Alfred Hitchcock picture is a rambling murder thriller that wavers constantly between comedy that is delightfully funny and melodrama that is rarely more than moderately exciting. The overall result is a spotty entertainment that is too dragged out to keep ones interest constantly alive. The main trouble with the picture lies in the improper development of the involved plot, which is given to wordy situations that slow down the action considerably, and which is not always logical. The performances are competent, the characterizations interesting, and there are individual scenes that reach high points in comedy and suspense, but on the whole the picture lacks the touch that makes for sustained fascination :—
The story opens with Richard Todd, in a desperate plight, enlisting the aid of Jane Wyman, his girlfriend, a student at a dramatic school. He informs her that the police suspected him of murdering the husband of Marlene Dietrich, a musical comedy star, who had committed the deed herself, but that he had become involved in an effort to help her cover up the crime. Jane, in love with Todd and believing him innocent, offers to hide him out at her father s lodge and, despite the warnings of her father (Alastair Sim) not to become involved herself, decides to do a little investigating to clear Todd of suspicion. She becomes mixed up in all sorts of complications as a result of a chance meeting with Michael Wilding, a Scotland Yard detective assigned to the case. In the events that follow, she makes a deal with Marlene's maid to take over her job, and she soon finds herself in a continuous round of predicaments because of her efforts to keep Marlene from discovering that she knew Todd. To add to her troubles, she falls in love with Wilding, who had no idea of her connection with Todd. In due time, however, her activities become known to Wilding, and she is shocked no end when he proves to her that Todd had really committed the murder himself. Taking advantage of her friendship with Todd, Wilding employs Jane to trap Todd in an empty theatre, where he meets accidental death on the stage after a hectic chase.
It was produced and directed by Mr. Hitchcock from a screen play by Whitfield Cook, based on a novel by Selwyn Jepson.
Adult fare.
