Set in current day (well, 1920’s) London, The Lodger is based on a book about Jack the Ripper. The book and the movie differ particularly in the ending in ways and for reasons that spoil. This is Hitchcock’s third film and first thriller. Having done his first two in Germany, he experimented with expressionist style to good effect.
The story centers around the husband and wife running the house, their fair haired daughter, her detective boyfriend, and of course, the lodger. Detective Joe is obsessed with catching The Avenger and doesn’t care much for this odd stranger, but pretty Daisy likes him just fine. Daisy is billed as being a “mannequin”, meaning she modeled clothes in a department store for rich people.
Hitch did his first ever cameo, and it came by accident. He didn’t hire enough extras for an early newsroom montage, so he sat in, back to the camera. A tradition is born. Assistant director and script supervisor Alma Reville had a quick cameo as well.
The expressive style and tense storytelling make The Lodger a compelling watch. The animated title cards were imaginative. One declaring Murder “Wet from the press”, which I presume to be the 1920’s London version of “Hot from the press”. But this film showed what Hitchcock could, and would eventually do. In fact, it would be years before he produced it’s equal. AMRU 4.
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