» International Silent Classics

Before he became known as the Master of Suspense in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock had already established himself as a precociously talented filmmaker in England. HITCHCOCK: BRITISH INTERNATIONAL PICTURES COLLECTION brings together five features he directed for the production company. Four of them are visually dynamic silent films: the atmospheric boxing drama THE RING (1927), sprightly comedies THE FARMER'S WIFE and CHAMPAGNE (both from 1928), and a love triangle set on the Isle of Man, THE MANXMAN (1929). These lesser-known Hitchcock films were made by the director between the success of THE LODGER (1927), a murder mystery centering around a serial killer, and BLACKMAIL (1929), which was released in both silent and sound versions. Also included in this set is the 1931 sound feature THE SKIN GAME, a melodrama about feuding families.

In 2012, the British Film Institute released their restorations of the surviving silent films directed by the British auteur between 1925 and 1929 before he made the transition to sound films for the rest of his storied career. Once completed, the restored films toured theaters and now have eventually made their way to digital publications. With these restorations of Hitchcock’s early work, we are afforded a privileged view into both a master director coming into his own as well as a unique period of British cinema history in the midst of transitioning from silent to sound film. (For more information about this BFI restoration project, see: https://www.fiafnet.org/images/tinyUpload/Publications/Journal-Of-Film-Preservation/Restoring%20Hitchcock.pdf.)

From a very early age, Alfred Hitchcock knew he wanted to be in the filmmaking business. He read the trade papers and went to the cinema and knew that's what he wanted to do. He landed his first job in the industry at age 20 in 1919 as a title card designer. From there, he began co-writing scripts and working as an art director and then a production manager. By 1922, he was set to direct his first film, NUMBER 13 (1922), but financing ran out after only two reels had been shot and production was shut down. Undeterred, Hitchcock continued to work in the industry moving from the Famous Players-Lasky studios to Gainsborough Pictures where he worked closely with director Graham Cutts as a set designer and producer.  

Several of these films were co-productions shot in Germany. When Alfred Hitchcock arrived in Berlin in 1924, F.W. Murnau (PHANTOM, 1922) was filming his silent masterwork, THE LAST LAUGH (DER LETZTE MANN). Hitchcock leapt at the chance to watch the great German director at work. Murnau taught Hitchcock the value of painstaking preparation, including meticulous notes and storyboards. Murnau told him that "What you see on the set does not matter…All that matters is what you see on the screen." Hitchcock once remarked that “THE LAST LAUGH was almost the perfect film. It told its story without any subtitles – from beginning to end entirely by the use of imagery, and that had a tremendous influence on me.”

In 1925, Hitchcock was given another opportunity to direct a film, THE PLEASURE GARDEN. It was a commercial failure but Gainsborough Pictures studio head Michael Balcon liked Hitchcock and gave him other opportunities to direct. With THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG, made in 1927 in England, Hitchcock has his first hit and his first true “Hitchcock Picture.” In that same year, he signed to the newly-formed British International Pictures, where he became the highest-paid director in England. He made nine films for the production company, including BLACKMAIL (1929), his first “talkie” picture.  After his time at British International Pictures, his star rose quickly. He made several more films in Britain, including hugely successful films such as THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934), THE 39 STEPS (1935), and THE LADY VANISHES (1938). In 1939, he signed a contract with David O. Selznick, moved to America and became the beloved Master of Suspense.  

But it was his time at British International Pictures where he honed his craft, and while most of those films are little known, they are a hugely important part of Hitchcock’s training as a film director. These films represent an artist in the making. He was a director for hire, not necessarily making the films he wanted to and was not given full reign to do as he liked. They do not contain many of the plot elements – suspense, crime, wrong man motifs and McGuffins – that were later associated with his filmmaking practice. Nevertheless, these fiims demonstrate Hitchcock’s command of the medium: engaging stories, control of his actors’ performances, mastery of framing and mise-en-scène, skillful montage, and the unique visual style that would soon bring him to the attention of Hollywood. Each film has at least a few Hitchcockian flourishes with a signature style he would rely on for the rest of his career. For example, CHAMPAGNE opens with a shot of the dance hall through the champagne glass, and in THE MANXMAN, as the close up of a ship’s sail glides by, the cinematic canvas opens onto a long shot of boats arriving in the harbor.

A centrally important bonus feature comprises the audio recordings of the Hitchcock/Truffaut interviews, in which the two auteurs exchange viewpoints about each of the five films in this digital edition. Additional appreciation of individual films is provided in the audio commentaries by film critic Nick Pinkerton (THE RING), and film historian Farran Smith Nehme (CHAMPAGNE and THE MANXMAN).