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Based off of the 1913 novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, here is a silent film with some positives but also a lot of negatives. The movie is about a serial killer in London who murders blond women and leaves a calling card. The killer goes by the name of “The Avenger”. Jonathan Drew is renting out a room but seems incredibly strange so the family living in the house starts to wonder whether or not he is the killer. Without spoiling the ending I’ll say that not very much really happens throughout the story until the last fifteen minutes which really makes the film drag on. In addition the film was originally going to have an ambiguous ending where it was never revealed whether or not Jonathan is innocent and I really wish that the film would have used the original ending. The acting is mediocre with Ivor Novello as Jonathan (the lodger) who seems really wooden in his portrayal. June Tripp seems to just smile a lot without using any acting skills in her portrayal of Daisy Bunting, the lodger’s love interest in the film. Malcolm Keen on the other hand seems to do a good job as police officer Joe Chandler but he isn’t great enough to be a standout. The best actors in the film are Marie Ault and Arthur Chesney as the landlords and they honestly do a great job even if it isn’t spectacular. For special effects there are very many noteworthy ones. There is a shot where you can see the bottom of Jonathan’s shoes as he walks upstairs and the camera looks up through the ceiling but it still isn’t that amazing. The musical score seems out of place and repeats far too often without enough variety. So overall this film is worth watching if you are really interested in Alfred Hitchcock or the novel but otherwise this film isn’t worth your time. It is truly a mediocre film and shows that Alfred Hitchcock had to work his way up to his later legendary status as a director for films such as Psycho (1960) or The Birds (1963). Score: 6/10Read full review
What I found interesting about watching this silent film was how the film is tinted different colors in different scenes to represent moods and times of the day. Also, the print has been cleaned up to look brand new. Highly recommend to any Hitchcock fans. Enjoy!
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