Murder/Lodger: Amazon.ca: Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June, Malcolm Keen, Ivor Novello, Helena Pick: DVD

Product Description

On the DVD

Filmography
Bibliography
Cameo roles

DVD Menu

Side #1 --
- Play Entire Video Selection
- Murder! (play movie)
- Newsreel (play newsreel)
- Felix The Cat in "Two-Lip Time" (play cartoon)
- The Lodger (play movie)
- AUDIO PROGRAM: Suspense Presents- The Lodger Radio Dramatizations- 1940
- Interactive Chapter
  - Filmography
  - Bibliography
  - Hitchcock's Cameo Roles
- How To Use This Disc

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

2.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed quality on this DVD 2fer, Jul 26 2003

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The Lodger was Hitch's fifth film. He had begun to develop many of the innovative techniques that would become a hallmark of his later films. The Lodger has one striking visual image making it worthwhile; as the people downstairs are listening to a man they suspect to be Jack the Ripper pacing above them, the floor becomes transparent and we actually see the character walking across the floorboards. This one sequence doesn't make the film but it illustrates Hitch's visual genius.

4 Years later Hitch made Murder. Again, his unique abilities in visually telling a story were striking. Although the story is quite interesting (and well shot) for its time, it has become a bit of a creaky melodrama with the passage of time. Still, there are a number of visual motifs that would crop up later in Hitch's other better known films.

Comparing either film to Hitch's later mature works would be like comparing a child's performance at writing a trike to his or her later mastery of a 10 speed; while one can see talent it's clear that it hasn't been developed yet.

These transfers are not the best around but given the age of the prints and the fact that the original nitrate negatives are no longer around, it's unlikely we'll ever see a pristine print
of either of these films.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Good film/bad reproduction, Feb 9 2003

By A Customer

"Murder" is a very interesting film, one of the first to explore jury deliberations. The film has the feel of a live play, rather than a film. The acting is very good. The "Lodger" is also interesting for those who want to understand Hitchcock and his techniques. But, it was his first film and shows his youthfulness. However, the Whirlwind DVD reproduction is dreadful. The quality of the images vary from scene to scene. In general, the objects are blurred and out of focus and the imagery is very dark. The sound is not very good either. I have an old VHS version that I taped directly from television and it is of much better quality. In my opinion, don't buy this version but wait for someone else to produce a better quality reproduction.

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2.0 out of 5 stars only for hardcore hitchcockians, Jan 24 2003

By	lady detective "sakura kitty" (east coat) - See all my reviews

i love a good hitchcock film, but the lodger... sorry. silent movies are difficult to get through(and i've taken enough film classes where i've had my fair share)- it's easy to let my mind drift. the more dialogue cards the better, and this one doesn't have many.

the lodger is a story of a murder and mistaken identity. and the premise is interesting enough... a series of murders, the victims all girls with golden curls, a golden curled girl involved with a policeman on the case, her parents rent out rooms, and an awfully suspicious lodger moves in and begins to woo her much to the policeman/parents disdain.

but, it's silent, and it's slow, and there's a novel out there somewhere that hitchcock based the film on. THAT i'd like to get my hands on.

if you feel you must see everything hitchcock made- then by all means- get it, if your just looking for a good film to add to your collection, and you aren't obsessed with german expressionism or hitchcock- skip it.

oh, and p.s. there's a mistake in the editing of this dvd version. at the very end the editors left out a key shot that hitchcock intended as the 'did he or didn't he?' final moment.

i didn't see the other film on the dvd.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary early Hitchcock.
Considered the first true Hitchcock film, 'The Lodger' is the director's most visually audacious masterpiece, made under the heavy influence of German Expressionism. Read more

Published on Oct 16 2001 by darragh o'donoghue