Rich & Strange

Director: Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock

Overview

The atypical Alfred Hitchcock effort Rich and Strange (1931) is a cautionary fable which lends credence to the old saw "Love flies out the door when money flies in the window." Joan Barry and Henry Kendall play a young married couple who suddenly come into an inheritance. Bored with their working-class existence, hero and heroine embark upon a world cruise, and it isn't long before Barry gets romantically involved with a landed-gentry gentleman. Meanwhile, Kendall is swept off his feet by a phony princess, who tricks him out of all his money. Broke and miserable, Barry and Kendall head home on a shabby cargo boat, only to find themselves in the middle of a shipwreck. The couple is rescued by a Chinese junk, where the solemn crew members dine on their pet cat. By the time Barry and Kendall have returned to their humble suburban lodgings, they've both learned the sagacity of remaining in their own back yard. Partly a sophisticated sex comedy, partly a grim seafaring melodrama, Rich and Strange had the negative effect of confusing the public in general and Hitchcock's fans in particular, and as a result the film, which remains one of Hitch's best early talkies, died at the box office.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/04/2022
UPC:	0738329256838
Original Release:	1931
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Sales rank:	36,830

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Henry Kendall	Fred Hill
Joan Barry	Emily Hill
Betty Amann	The Princess
Percy Marmont	Commander Gordon
Elsie Randolph	Miss Imery
Hannah Jones	Mrs. Porter
Aubrey Dexter	Colonel
Hal Dolphe	Composer

Technical Credits

Alfred Hitchcock

Alma Reville

Val Valentine

Alfred Hitchcock	Director,Screenwriter
John Maxwell	Producer
Alma Reville	Screenwriter
Val Valentine	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Rich and Strange is an off-beat and interesting, if not totally successful, film. Clearly, devotees of Alfred Hitchcock will take to it more than average filmgoers; the latter will probably be disappointed to discover that it is not a thriller, as they might expect from the "master." But if they can get over this disappointment, they will find much to appreciate, including a story that doesn't go exactly where one expects and an odd mixture of the comic and the melodramatic. True, Hitchcock doesn't blend these two styles seamlessly, but that helps to give the film its unique impact. The film is schizophrenic in other ways, especially in its attempt to be both a silent film and a talkie, and this can be disconcerting; but it does allow the director to take advantage of the fluidity of the silent camera. (He also has a delightful time experimenting with a few new effects, such as making the words on a dinner menu fly off the page.) And the opening commuter sequence is a gem. Henry Kendall and Joan Barry are a bit wan as the leads; she in particular has a peculiar delivery, and he has several moments that grate, but they overall they are adequate. Much better are Betty Amann as the gold digging princess and the wonderful Elsie Randolph, whose old lady is both annoying and strangely endearing. If the various components of Rich and Strange never really coalesce, the film is still intriguing and enjoyable.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler