Stage Fright (film)
Encyclopedia
Stage Fright is a 1950 British crime film
directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock
starring Jane Wyman
, Marlene Dietrich
, Michael Wilding
and Richard Todd
. Others in the cast include Alastair Sim
, Sybil Thorndike
, Kay Walsh
, Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock
in her movie debut and Joyce Grenfell
in a humorous vignette
.
The story was adapted for the screen by Whitfield Cook, Ranald MacDougall
and Alma Reville
(the director's wife), with additional dialogue by James Bridie
, based on the novel
Man Running
by Selwyn Jepson
.
), an aspiring actress studying at RADA
, is interrupted in the middle of a rehearsal by her friend, actor
Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd
). The frantic Jonathan explains that he is the secret lover of flamboyant stage
actress/singer, Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich
). He claims that Charlotte visited him after killing her husband in an argument. She was wearing a bloodstained dress and Jonathan agreed to go back to her house and obtain another one. He found the body of Mr. Inwood at the residence, took a spare dress from the wardrobe and then tried to simulate a burglary gone wrong, only to be caught in the act by Charlotte's theatre maid and dresser, Nellie Goode (Kay Walsh
). He is now on the run, wanted by the police.
Eve has long had a crush on Jonathan, but accepts that he is not interested in her romantically. She takes him to hide in a house near the coast owned by her father, Commodore
Gill (Alastair Sim
). Persuaded to help, the Commodore then notices that the blood on Charlotte's dress has been smeared on deliberately, not by accident, and he and Eve suspect that Jonathan has been framed. He angrily rejects this, destroying the dress and thus the best evidence they have on Charlotte.
Eve decides to investigate for herself. Posing as a reporter, she bribes Nellie Goode to pretend that she is ill and cannot work for Charlotte for a while. Eve then utilises her acting skills to affect the false identity and accent
of a Cockney
maid, claiming to be Nellie's cousin, "Doris Tinsdale", and takes the temporary job of replacing "her cousin" in order to infiltrate Charlotte's household.
In the course of trying to clear Jonathan, Eve meets Detective Inspector Wilfred Smith (Michael Wilding
). As Eve, she and Smith get quite friendly and she has to go to great lengths to cover the fact that she is also "Doris" the maid when Smith visits Charlotte to ask further questions. As Eve, she is not able to get much from him on the progress of the investigation.
Out to court Eve, Smith visits her and her mother at their home in London. They are joined by the Commodore who drops subtle hints to Eve that Jonathan has left their house by the sea. Meanwhile, in spite of the tragedies that are surrounding her, Charlotte continues to perform at her West End
musical show. She is secretly visited by Jonathan who wants her to accompany him abroad and tells her that he still has the dress with the bloodstain. Charlotte makes it clear that she will not give up her career for a hunted fugitive — in any case she is secretly having an affair with her manager Freddie Williams (Hector MacGregor).
Eve again helps Jonathan escape the police and he hides out at the Gill's London residence. He thanks Eve for her support, but she feels torn since she is starting to fall in love with Wilfred Smith.
When Nellie Goode uncovers the deception that is going on, Eve manages to buy her off with blackmail
money. With time running out, she persuades Smith to accompany her to a garden party where Charlotte is singing on stage in a large tent. During the performance, Commodore Gill gets a little boy to take a doll wearing a dress stained with blood, Gill's own, up to the stage. The sight causes Charlotte to collapse and Williams summons "Doris" for assistance. Seeing Eve attending to Charlotte and the stained doll's dress leads Smith to put two and two together.
Smith confronts Eve and the Commodore over their "amateur meddling". They persuade him to set Charlotte up into making a confession. Once the theatre has closed for the evening, Eve comes out of character and confronts Charlotte near a hidden microphone — Smith and his men listening in to the conversation from the loudspeakers. Charlotte admits her involvement in her husband's death (making her an accessory
) but denies committing the murder itself, blaming Jonathan.
Eve then sees that Jonathan has been brought to the theatre by the police, Smith having guessed that he was hiding in their house. She falls into hysterics, enabling Jonathan to get away. At this point Smith reveals to the Commodore that Jonathan really did kill Mr. Inwood and that he has actually killed before, though he got off on a plea of self-defence.
Hiding below stage, Jonathan confesses to Eve that Charlotte goaded him into killing her husband — but actually in order to make way for Freddie Williams. The story he told Eve when she agreed to hide him was all lies. He has a temper that makes him lash out when provoked. When he threatens to kill her as well, Eve escapes and in the confusion that follows Jonathan is decapitated by the stage's safety curtain
.
since 1939, this mystery
/thriller, which is mixed with humour, was made in Britain with London
locations. The only members of the cast who are not British
are the two top billed stars, Wyman and Dietrich.
Featured is an original Cole Porter
song, The Laziest Gal In Town performed by Dietrich in a sultry fashion. Costumes were designed by Christian Dior
.
Stage Fright gained some adverse publicity upon its initial release due to the "lying flashback" which is seen at the beginning of the film. However, some film critics, including those of Cahiers du cinéma
, see the flashback as simply being an illustration of one person's version of the events: the events as recounted by the character whose voice-over we hear, which was presumably Hitchcock's intention.
The film has a few extra-long takes, reminiscent of those that Hitchcock used in Rope
(1948) and Under Capricorn
(1949), both films produced by Hitchcock for Transatlantic Pictures
in partnership with Sidney Bernstein and released by Warner Brothers. Stage Fright was originally to be a Transatlantic release, but became a Warners release.
In the biography
of Dietrich by her daughter Maria, she recounts how Dietrich did not particularly like Jane Wyman, perhaps because they were such opposites. Hitchcock, however, may have utilised this animosity to the film's advantage. At one point in the film, Dietrich compliments Wyman for a change in the way she dresses, when Wyman appears at the garden party
.
In the June 4, 1950 edition of the New York Times, Hitchcock stated:
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
starring Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
and Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
. Others in the cast include Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
, Sybil Thorndike
Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...
, Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
, Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock
Patricia Hitchcock
Patricia "Pat" Hitchcock O'Connell is a British-born American actress and producer.-Early life and career:Born in London as the only child of film director Alfred Hitchcock and film editor Alma Reville, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1939, as her father would quickly make his mark...
in her movie debut and Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
in a humorous vignette
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
.
The story was adapted for the screen by Whitfield Cook, Ranald MacDougall
Ranald MacDougall
Ranald MacDougall was an American screenwriter who scripted such films as Mildred Pierce , The Unsuspected , June Bride , and The Naked Jungle ....
and Alma Reville
Alma Reville
Alma Reville, Lady Hitchcock was an English assistant director, screenwriter and editor. She was the second daughter of Edward and Lucy Reville....
(the director's wife), with additional dialogue by James Bridie
James Bridie
James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor....
, based on the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Man Running
Man Running
Man Running is a thriller short story by Selwyn Jepson. The story involves a drama student who tries to help a friend avoid being framed for murder. The Alfred Hitchcock film Stage Fright was based on this story....
by Selwyn Jepson
Selwyn Jepson
Selwyn Jepson was a British author, of the Far House, Farther Common, Liss, Hants.His father was the mystery/detective author Edgar Alfred Jepson , his mother was Frieda Holmes, daughter of the musician Henry Holmes. His sister Margaret , also a novelist, was the mother of Fay Weldon.Jepson was...
.
Plot summary
Eve Gill (Jane WymanJane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
), an aspiring actress studying at RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, is interrupted in the middle of a rehearsal by her friend, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
). The frantic Jonathan explains that he is the secret lover of flamboyant stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress/singer, Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
). He claims that Charlotte visited him after killing her husband in an argument. She was wearing a bloodstained dress and Jonathan agreed to go back to her house and obtain another one. He found the body of Mr. Inwood at the residence, took a spare dress from the wardrobe and then tried to simulate a burglary gone wrong, only to be caught in the act by Charlotte's theatre maid and dresser, Nellie Goode (Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
). He is now on the run, wanted by the police.
Eve has long had a crush on Jonathan, but accepts that he is not interested in her romantically. She takes him to hide in a house near the coast owned by her father, Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
Gill (Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
). Persuaded to help, the Commodore then notices that the blood on Charlotte's dress has been smeared on deliberately, not by accident, and he and Eve suspect that Jonathan has been framed. He angrily rejects this, destroying the dress and thus the best evidence they have on Charlotte.
Eve decides to investigate for herself. Posing as a reporter, she bribes Nellie Goode to pretend that she is ill and cannot work for Charlotte for a while. Eve then utilises her acting skills to affect the false identity and accent
Accent (linguistics)
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
of a Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
maid, claiming to be Nellie's cousin, "Doris Tinsdale", and takes the temporary job of replacing "her cousin" in order to infiltrate Charlotte's household.
In the course of trying to clear Jonathan, Eve meets Detective Inspector Wilfred Smith (Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
). As Eve, she and Smith get quite friendly and she has to go to great lengths to cover the fact that she is also "Doris" the maid when Smith visits Charlotte to ask further questions. As Eve, she is not able to get much from him on the progress of the investigation.
Out to court Eve, Smith visits her and her mother at their home in London. They are joined by the Commodore who drops subtle hints to Eve that Jonathan has left their house by the sea. Meanwhile, in spite of the tragedies that are surrounding her, Charlotte continues to perform at her West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
musical show. She is secretly visited by Jonathan who wants her to accompany him abroad and tells her that he still has the dress with the bloodstain. Charlotte makes it clear that she will not give up her career for a hunted fugitive — in any case she is secretly having an affair with her manager Freddie Williams (Hector MacGregor).
Eve again helps Jonathan escape the police and he hides out at the Gill's London residence. He thanks Eve for her support, but she feels torn since she is starting to fall in love with Wilfred Smith.
When Nellie Goode uncovers the deception that is going on, Eve manages to buy her off with blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
money. With time running out, she persuades Smith to accompany her to a garden party where Charlotte is singing on stage in a large tent. During the performance, Commodore Gill gets a little boy to take a doll wearing a dress stained with blood, Gill's own, up to the stage. The sight causes Charlotte to collapse and Williams summons "Doris" for assistance. Seeing Eve attending to Charlotte and the stained doll's dress leads Smith to put two and two together.
Smith confronts Eve and the Commodore over their "amateur meddling". They persuade him to set Charlotte up into making a confession. Once the theatre has closed for the evening, Eve comes out of character and confronts Charlotte near a hidden microphone — Smith and his men listening in to the conversation from the loudspeakers. Charlotte admits her involvement in her husband's death (making her an accessory
Accessory (legal term)
An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal...
) but denies committing the murder itself, blaming Jonathan.
Eve then sees that Jonathan has been brought to the theatre by the police, Smith having guessed that he was hiding in their house. She falls into hysterics, enabling Jonathan to get away. At this point Smith reveals to the Commodore that Jonathan really did kill Mr. Inwood and that he has actually killed before, though he got off on a plea of self-defence.
Hiding below stage, Jonathan confesses to Eve that Charlotte goaded him into killing her husband — but actually in order to make way for Freddie Williams. The story he told Eve when she agreed to hide him was all lies. He has a temper that makes him lash out when provoked. When he threatens to kill her as well, Eve escapes and in the confusion that follows Jonathan is decapitated by the stage's safety curtain
Safety curtain
A safety curtain is a fire safety precaution used in large proscenium theatres. It is usually a heavy fibreglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium arch. Asbestos-based materials were originally used to manufacture the curtain, before the dangers of asbestos were discovered...
.
Production
Though Hitchcock had lived and worked in HollywoodHollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
since 1939, this mystery
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
/thriller, which is mixed with humour, was made in Britain with London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
locations. The only members of the cast who are not British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
are the two top billed stars, Wyman and Dietrich.
Featured is an original Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
song, The Laziest Gal In Town performed by Dietrich in a sultry fashion. Costumes were designed by Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
.
Stage Fright gained some adverse publicity upon its initial release due to the "lying flashback" which is seen at the beginning of the film. However, some film critics, including those of Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
, see the flashback as simply being an illustration of one person's version of the events: the events as recounted by the character whose voice-over we hear, which was presumably Hitchcock's intention.
The film has a few extra-long takes, reminiscent of those that Hitchcock used in Rope
Rope (film)
Rope is a 1948 American thriller film based on the play Rope by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Sidney Bernstein and Hitchcock as the first of their Transatlantic Pictures productions...
(1948) and Under Capricorn
Under Capricorn
Under Capricorn is an Alfred Hitchcock historical feature film.-Production:The film is based on the novel Under Capricorn by Helen Simpson, with screenplay by James Bridie, and adaptation by Hume Cronyn. The movie was co-produced by Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein for their short-lived production...
(1949), both films produced by Hitchcock for Transatlantic Pictures
Transatlantic Pictures
Transatlantic Pictures was founded by Alfred Hitchcock and longtime associate Sidney Bernstein at the end of World War II in preparation for the end of Hitchcock's contract with David O. Selznick in 1947...
in partnership with Sidney Bernstein and released by Warner Brothers. Stage Fright was originally to be a Transatlantic release, but became a Warners release.
In the biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Dietrich by her daughter Maria, she recounts how Dietrich did not particularly like Jane Wyman, perhaps because they were such opposites. Hitchcock, however, may have utilised this animosity to the film's advantage. At one point in the film, Dietrich compliments Wyman for a change in the way she dresses, when Wyman appears at the garden party
Garden party
A garden party is a social gathering with food provided, in the open in a park or a garden. An event described as a garden party is usually more formal than other similar gatherings, which may be called just parties, picnics, barbecues, etc,...
.
Hitchcock's cameo
Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In Stage Fright he can be seen 39 minutes into the film as a man on the street turning to look at Eve as she rehearses her scripted introduction speech to Mrs. Inwood.In the June 4, 1950 edition of the New York Times, Hitchcock stated:
- "In Stage Fright, I have been told that my performance is quite juicy. I have been told this with a certain air of tolerance, implying that I have now achieved the maximum limits of directorial ham in the movie sandwich. It isn't true. There may have been a 'MacGuffinMacGuffinA MacGuffin is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction". The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is...
' in my film appearance, but not a ham."