Murder

Overview

Alfred Hitchcock's second all-talkie thriller, Murder! (1930) stars Herbert Marshall as pompous actor-manager Sir John Menier, a send-up of George DuMaurier. Summoned for jury duty, Sir John is one of 12 people who must decide the fate of Diana Baring (Norah Baring), a young actress on trial for murder. Though the girl is found guilty, Sir John believes that she's innocent and sets about to prove it on his own, exercising his actor's prerogative of adopting clever disguises in the course of his investigation. Along the way, he is obliged to entertain a pair of lower-class clods, Ted and Dulcie Markham (Edward Chapman and Phyllis Konstam), who help him stage an elaborate re-enactment of the crime. Based on Enter Sir John, a novel and play by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson, Murder was simultaneously filmed in a German version, with Alfred Abel replacing Herbert Marshall.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/09/2015
UPC:	0644827217625
Original Release:	1930
Source:	Reel Vault
Language:	English
Sales rank:	46,378

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Herbert Marshall	Sir John Menier
Norah Baring	Diana Baring
Phyllis Konstam	Doucie Markham
Edward Chapman	Ted Markham
Miles Mander	Gordon Druce
Esme Percy	Handel Fane
Donald Calthrop	Ion Stewart
Amy Brandon Thomas	Defence
Marie Wright	Miss Mitcham
Hannah Jones	Mrs. Didsome
Una O'Connor	Mrs. Grogram
R.E. Jeffrey	Foreman
Violet Farebrother	Mrs. Ward
Kenneth Kove	Matthews
Gus McNaughton	Tom Trewitt
Esme V. Chaplin	Prosecuting Counsel
S.J. Warmington	Bennett
William Fazan	Jury Member
Drusilla Wills	Jury Member
Joynson Powell	Judge
Clare Greet	Jury Member

Technical Credits

Alfred Hitchcock	Director
John Maxwell	Producer

Editorial Reviews

There is little mystery as to the identity of the killer is in this early thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, but the master still delivers enough to make the film a worthwhile viewing. Based on the play Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson and adapted for the screen by Hitchcock and Walter Mycroft, Murder! is really just a standard-issue mystery at its core. However, the director's touches and good performances add enough to the film to make it stand slightly above average. The film is broken into four sections: the murder, the trial, the investigation, and the cat-and-mouse game used to flush out the real killer. The first three parts are routine and slow, but the finale is suspenseful in trademark Hitchcock fashion. It is topped off by a shocking conclusion that the director pulls off in grand style. Herbert Marshall toplines the picture as a tormented gentleman whose guilt over helping put a young lady in the gallows prompts him to find the real culprit in the murder case for which she was convicted. Marshall hasn't got the charisma of a Cary Grant or a James Stewart, but he does a solid job playing a man whose anguish hides his feelings for the girl. Esme Percy plays the dour villain with a sullen style that seems best explained by his behavior in the conclusion. Norah Baring is very good as the death-row babe although Hitchcock may have erred by keeping the character out of the picture until more than halfway through. Some of the recognizable Hitchcock elements that turn up in Murder! include his usual amusing array of primitive psychobabble and a great shot in the opening murder sequence in which the camera pans over and slowly reveals the reactions of the witnesses, the stunned prime suspect, and finally the murder weapon and the victim. A German version titled Mary was filmed simultaneously on the same sets. Hitchcock can be seen nearly halfway through the film walking in front of the victim's complex.

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