I committed a bit of a faux pas recently, I bragged on an Internet message board at how punctual I have been with my reviews. While I’ve had a few complications in finding the movies I want to review, I’ve been pretty good at getting the film watched before the weekend ends, thus giving me a day or so to write my flowery prose. Then Netflix went and shipped me a copy of Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, rather then Michele Soavi’s StageFright.
This, as you probably assume, this caused a bit of a dilemma. First off, what the hell do I do for a movie review? Do I pick something different? Or should I just review the film they sent me? But more importantly, how do I write an intro for this?
You see I wanted to write about how I dragged a small group of people to a beer tasting out in St. Louis Park that was taking place at a new specialty beer store that was opening called The Four Firkins. The store was devoted entirely to imported beers and domestic specialty brews. They were having their Grand Opening on Saturday, and to celebrate several local breweries were giving out free samples for people to try. And while Summit is probably the best known of the breweries that were present, I was going because Surly was giving out samples.
Surly is a micro-brewery here in the Twin Cities that absolutely rocks. It is surprisingly difficult to find as few bars have it on tap, but it is a fabulous beer. In the past several months more and more liquor stores have begun to sell Surly, which has made me quite happy, but Surly being given out for free is an event that must be attended.
See I wanted to talk about beer, how I spent over $30 on just two bottles of beer. I wanted to tell you how one of them had a 17.5% alcohol by volume, a content number so high that they must be labeled barley wines to allow for sale in the United States. Or how my other purchase was a monstrous 750ml Abbey Brown Ale from Belgium. I wanted to open one of these beers and imbibe its wondrous nectar during the course of this review, hopefully still sober by the time I finished the review. It was to be a special beer and giallo review. My special Monday morning for *you*… special. And Netflix went and ruined it.
But you know what, I’m going to make the best of this. Sure, I would have preferred beer and buckets of blood, but its not like Hitchcock is a big step down. He’s refined and cultured and would have probably appreciated the mirthy (I don’t know if that is a word, deal!) idea of tossing back a few rounds while attempting to wax poetic about some “art” film.
Stage Fright follows drama student Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) after she receives a call from her friend Jonathan (Richard Todd), who proceeds to tell her a wild story about the affair he is having with actress Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) and how she killed her husband, but he accidentally got himself implicated in the murder and now needs Eve’s help. He then recounts the events of the evening, which led to him being seen leaving the scene of the crime.
Stage Fright has long been regarded as one of Hitchcock’s minor films and it is plainly evident why. While it contains many of his trademark flourishes such as several long shots as well as dark sardonic humor amidst a murky and tension filled plot it struggles to maintain solid pacing. Its two hour running time allows for far too much time for the plot to meander about, and it struggles to increase the tension as the film progresses.
Another odd choice for such an accomplished director is how much humor Hitchcock chooses to add to the film. Hitchcock was always known for his trademark dark humor, and his love of throwing the occasional bit of gallows humor in amongst tragic and horrible circumstances, but Stage Fright is positively filled with humorous moments throughout the entire running time. So many that it is difficult to ascertain if Stage Fright is meant as a true mystery, or more of a farcical representation of one. While the humor is a welcome addition to the genre, it does come as a bit much, and possibly overwhelming to the true motive of the film.
But while the pacing of the film and the stylistic choices might be more then a bit uneven, the acting in Stage Fright is outstanding. Dietrich gives a fantastic performance as the sultry, caustic and rapier tongued Charlotte. She dominates every scene in which she appears and creates a fabulous character that will leave you twisting in the wind with what her true motives are.
Not to be outdone Alastair Sim is utterly marvelous as Eve’s protective father Commodore Gill. I have had little exposure to Sim outside of his iconic performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge, a film that would come out a year after Stage Fright. Sim saunters through the film with such dignity and class that he exudes charm and sophistication. It was a complete role reversal for me and I enjoyed it immensely.
But while Stage Fright leans heavily on two magnificent performances to carry it through the bumpy path it chooses to travail between comedy and mystery, it is during the final sequence where Stage Fright rises up and unleashes the full thrilling fury of a Hitchcock film. Truths are revealed to be manipulations, evil is discovered lurking in the depths of those whose appearance is not what they seemed to be, and the ever so subtle heartbeat in the background pushes the film onward to a truly inspired climax.
