Young and Innocent (1937) - Alfred Hitchcock

The gigantic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in the early 30s, as many filmmakers to him contemporaries, produced films adapted to the then not so novel advent of sound movies, having already been at the time nearly a decade since the great sound revolution. The master of suspense, unlike other cinematic titans, could adapt himself very well to the great revolutionary change, having produced superb exercises of silent films, it did not take long for him to also make masterpieces in the early talkies. Always true to his style, adherent to adaptations of literary works to film, this time translates a novel by Josephine Tey, on a picture perfectly framed in almost every Hitchcockian guideline. It presents the great Hitch a typical story in him, when a young man finds a corpse on a beach, by punctual circumstances he is considered as the murderer, a trial is started for him, and everything is against him, being his only hope to find a coat as proof of his innocence, taking desperate search for it, having as only ally the daughter of the police chief who seeks him. The film excels in many ways, already contains the main vertex, corners that will accompany the British cinema, it is a wonderful example of the genius of this extraordinary filmmaker, who knew to stand out in the two major eras of cinema.

                   

The film begins with a couple in a hard discussion, in a house, after which the man seems to withdraw from the place. Then, on a beach, the corpse of a girl appears on the bank, Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) finds it, but when he ran out for help, a couple of girls see him running, they also see the corpse, and think he murdered her. He is taken to the police where he learns that the deceased, an acquaintance of his, has left him a substantial amount of money in inheritance; everything involves him even more; at the police station, Colonel Burgoyne (Percy Marmont) is in charge of the case, and there, also Robert meets Erica (Nova Pilbeam), daughter of Colonel. Robert gets to obtain her trust, when the trial of the alleged murderer is done, everything seems irreversible for him and his sentence, but manages to escape, he meets Erica, who will transport him in her car, fleeing the police. Robert says that a garment, a coat, would be capital to prove his innocence, and they embark to look for it. Various forays start, as both young fellows inevitably get closer and closer; they go to a family reunion of her, the police is always about to catch them, and they always manage to escape. Finally the time is up, they attend a party where, amid the hubbub and music, Erica gets a clue that will be vital to identify the real murderer, and save his beloved Robert.

The film does not waste a second, the initial moment presents two characters talking in a noticeable English accent, arguing angrily, and also that initial sequence ends quickly, without major expplications in this regard being given. It is a great start for the film, the typical Hitchcockian start, in which precisely because of the absence of further guidelines or indications, the intrigue has already been generated, the mystery has been engendered when we see the individual withdraw from the house after the brawl, turns to look at the woman, has a tic winking the eye, something that only at the end, or in a second viewing of the film, is possible to understand. Remarkable opening of the film, close-ups draw us into history, the hard discussion is done, and is a great resource that it ends with the man retreating, through the door we see, an intense storm that is taking place, which intensifies the observed effect of dispute; the man turns, looks at the camera, we appreciate the tic in his eye, the sequence is over. Extraordinary and very classic filmmaker's film startup, which will further be enhanced when the sequence immediately afterwards is of the female body on the beach, everything has been raised in less than five minutes. A film that oozes Hitchcock, is the story of a young man in the wrong place at the wrong time, a victim of circumstances, will be locked in Kafkaesque situation, when all the evidence would incriminate him of a murder he did not commit; it is one of the classic Hitchcockian elements, the false culprit, that suddenly is immersed in surreal nightmare. We observe the romance between the protagonists in the film flow, the idyll that is strengthened during the delirious situation, an element that the Hitch's cinema connoisseur will recognize as a perennial watchword in almost all features of the filmmaker. Not a few moments of comedy has the movie, scattered throughout the film and providing that comic load typical of several films by the British, and many of those moments will be personified by police and its incompetence, the way Robert and Erica scurry always on their noses; the officers and their absurd errors and disabilities, are ridiculed, and are part of that hilarity.

We also observe the typical Hitchcockian shots, characters driving the car, and the camera, emplaced in front of the vehicle, gets a midplane of them driving, something unmistakable for the connoisseur of the director's oeuvre, images that recall, just to give an example, North by Northwest (1959). Because of the latter mentioned details, romance, humor, and even some technical resource as protagonists shots driving the car, the film feels fully identifiable as a work of its author. Of course we add to that the general plot, an intrigue, an investigation to unravel this mystery, while the male protagonist has the unconditional support of an attractive woman who becomes more than a simple accomplice, an almost traced plot of mentioned feature of 1959. It is thus a film by Hitchcock 100%, an embryonic Hitchcockian film of course, but his main edges are already here, many of the guidelines will refine and perfect, as usual, over the years and upgrades, such as the arrival of Cinemascope, color and other advances. But the seed was already deeply rooted in the art of British director, as if the blueprints of a construction were properly diagrammed. The music accompanying film is rather light, contributing to maintaining that -despite the delicate and serious circumstances we witness- cool environment, as the film itself and the attitude of the young protagonist, to whom Erica scolds precisely for this attitude with such a risky situation ahead. It is quite interesting that since the beginning of the film the camera shows remarkable looseness, freedom in its movements, and the first sequence to give a sample of this is the judgment, fluidly surrounding the room where the process is carried out; but not only that, because, aside from the aforementioned slides, and the supernal travellings performing, we appreciate also zooms in and out, zooms into action to enrich its quite varied and nurtured audiovisual language. After nearly a decade of the arrival of sound to the movies, the master filmmaker already deploys quite well in what would be one of his filmic cornerstones, freedom of movement of his camera, his artistic tool.

A good example of the effectiveness of his resource, becomes the sequence of Erica having dinner with her family, where close-ups of her and that ease of movements create a tense atmosphere, because she is learning some unfavorable details regarding the young man she is interested in. The great corollary, the magnificent and great compendium of huge shown display of the camera is in the final sequence, the party with the band that Erica attends, where slides and looseness of the camera reaches its peak, the climax moment, the summit moment. It is certainly the best imaginable colophon, condenses all previously appreciated, the commented freedom in movements, travellings reaching every angle, the zoom in and out, these zooms stand out more than ever when we get approached from a distant general shot containing the whole party, to a closer shot, to the very eye of the murderer winking. And that's where we deduce who the real culprit is, wordlessly we have discovered it, and Hitch as well builds the harsh environment of uncertainty and urgency, when the lens immediately takes us back with Erica, we already know the truth, our concern is that if she will be able to discover it among all the confusion, confusion fed by the diversity of perspectives, when we see the murderer's approach alternating with her approach, certainly a masterfully embodied suspense. Our dear great Hitchcock, always wordlessly informed us, and at the same time generated the greatest suspenseful, and closes it in a big way when Erica attends the passed out murderer, consistent and connected detail as we saw her in response to Robert when he fainted at the police station. Finally, the murderer has that tic in the eye, no doubt, is the man of the initial discussion, no longer loose ends, all came together in an ending perfectly articulated by the director, the dosed dispensing of information is vital and in the end all of it is connected. The film is made with daytime shots, also very good night shots, dark and contrasting shots, which added to that eloquent camera work, set interesting aesthetic moments. A very important scene within the picture for director is the sequence of the Blind Man's Bluff game, which was censored in its premiere in some countries, Hitch considered key in his film, and perhaps can be seen as an allegory of the protagonists constantly fleeing from authorities who appear to have blindfolded, always just about to find the target, always staying one step away. Tremendous feature by Hitchcock, in his extensive filmography, is not always considered among the highest points, but it is certainly a very significant jewel, already depicting almost every big mark of its creator.