The Lodger is one of Hitchcock's greatest films in the respect that it is the first to truely show his talent. This was the film that made the world sit up and take notice of this up and coming director, and now it seems to have been forgotten about. Every other Hitchcock notice board have postings and discussions going on. I'm quite sad actually, that The Lodger is being ignored...
shareThis thread is of interest to me because I have just uploaded two photographs of Edwin Greenwood onto his page. They have come to me from my late Mother, who died ten years ago, as Greenwood was her first husband. Though he was not my father, I remember her talking about him - they were married for five years, and he died three days before war broke out in 1939, and so, not surprisingly, his name is almost forgotten now.
But one of the things I remember her saying, was that the "glass ceiling" device in this film was actually Edwin Greenwood's idea. When I look at the list of his credits, the first is The Co-Optimists of 1929; but I have a photograph of that being filmed, and "the Producer[Greenwood]'s braces" are in evidence in the picture, according to a note typed on the back of it! Evidently the braces which held his trousers up were something of a feature of the man, and so I think it is likely that, although uncredited, he did have a hand in the making of The Lodger in 1927, and my Mother's recollection of what he told her is true.
She was quite certain that he had a lot to do with the making of the first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, and as is shown by stamps in her passport and his, they went (as husband and wife) to Berlin in 1935, ostensibly as tourists; but the real purpose of the visit was to draw out MGM funds from the bank and use it to fund the departure of Jews from Germany. Peter Lorre had got out in time - others were not so lucky.
It was not a visit she recalled with very much pleasure, as the authorities made life difficult for them, and blocked the funds they were supposed to be collecting - so they found a taxi-driver with links to the people who were getting Jews out, and gave him what money they had, for that purpose, and returned to England.
I recently purchased a low budget dvd set entitled Alfred Hitchcock: the Legend
Begins and it contains 18 films. I'm watching them in random order and The Lodger was the third movie I viewed. I was actually impressed with the entire
film. The story was compelling. Compared to another silent film I watched,
Easy Virtue, which was not an enjoyable experience.
The production company producing this 4 dvd set is Mll Creek Entertainment.
It listed for $5.00 at Wal-Mart. The video quality isn't that bad. The most
recent film in this set is Jamaica Inn. There is also two episodes from Alfred
Hitchcock presents and about 50 minutes of trailers from his later films. Worth checking out and owning!
got it also and I am watching in order so The Lodger came up first. I saw this on film about 30 years ago on a course about Hitchcock in high school. This video was difficult , especially the first 20 minutes but then it seems to get better. The movie is quite good but also very slow at times. Silent movies are not easy. ( But I am glad I resaw this one after all these years.) 5 more silent films on the dvd collection so we will see how the Lodger compares to the others.
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Any Hitchcock fan would be interested but it's not as readily available to rent on DVD and buying it is more costly than the average DVD too. It's enjoying renewed interest in the UK at the moment because it features in the BFI's Hitchcock season and has a new score to accompany the film, which is great!
I'm a fountain of bloodshare
In the shape of a girl
Its kinda lame. I don't think Hitchcock was all that slick as he was later to become. He was a quick learner ndai. Who leaves cards with pyramids pinned to bodies? it would take longer to fasten the pin than the killing was worth. And what did the pyramid mean? Was it a symbol for the masons? The police used a heart to pinpoint the locations of the crimes. Our hero used a triangle. Possibly the Hero WAS the killer. Because he knew and used the pyramid angle. The police caught a copy-cat killer. There were alot of anachronisms in The Lodger. The movie seems to be from 1827. It is really old fashioned & redundant.
shareSome of what you find anachronistic and old fashioned was probably imposed on Hitch by the use of Ivor Novello as his leading actor. One thing he learned from this was the limitations of using a big name star.
I'm not trying to break your heart,share
I'm just trying hard not to fall apart
How does the hero know what the triangles mean? On his map there is one big triangle covering the area of the crimes & small triangles which indicate what streets they occurred. If the killer is using triangles pinned to the clothing of the victim, & the hero knows what they mean, surely Hitchcock is telling you he's the real killer. So he killed his sister first. Funny in the flashback our hero was dancing with her awful close for a sister! They all of a sudden she's dead & he's gone! Use your loaf. The triangles stand for the masons - a secret society who are upper class. & the girls are from lower classes. Novello was terrible in this and terrible in Downhill. The man could act. but badly & overdoing it every time. He was a killer & he was looking for another victim when the handcuffs put a stop to it. He had to turn the pictures around because he killed so many he did not want reminders.
shareListen, I replied to your because you posted me (as the last poster) on the thread, which is not about the film's plot but it's lack of interest amongst film fans. I replied only to your points regarding what might have affected your satisfaction of the film because that might contribute to the film being overlooked. I'm not interested in discussing the plot because I agree that the main character as played by Novello was meant to be guilty, I think, but pressure from the film executives led to a different ending.
Why don't you, in future, use your loaf and consider the relevance of your comment to the poster to whom you reply.
I'm not trying to break your heart,share
I'm just trying hard not to fall apart
lay off the poppys
shareHow does he know about the triangles?
A) He was at the first murder scene and saw the first "Avenger" triangle found.
B) It is never stated, or even implied, that the triangle detail was being withheld from the press. Since so many onlookers crowded close enough to the bodies to see the triangles when the bodies are found, there would be no point to the police trying to withhold that detail.
(Edit: On re-viewing the DVD, the detail about the triangles is explicitly shown included in the couple lines of sub-headline before the main body of the story in a newspaper shown on screen. So we *know* that virtually everybody in the city knows about the triangles.)
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The Avenger was a slasher. The search of the lodger's belongings yielded no blades, but rather a handgun. That doesn't fit the Avenger's MO at all, but does make sense for somebody who is hunting a slasher.
Other versions of The Lodger (most notably, the original book) end either with the lodger being the slasher or with answer to that question being purposely ambiguous. However, *this* version clearly intends to show him turning out to be innocent of those murders.
I think the problem is that he has so many great films, that sadly this one got left behind,, it's a good film don't get me wrong,, just his classics,, have so much weight to them,, this movie get's lost in the shuffle.
are you going to bark all day little doggie,, or are you going to bite
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I just watched the Network UK Blu-ray version of The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog", with music by Nitin Sawhney. I could never have imagined that such an old, silent film would keep me on the edge for 91 minutes straight. Amazing! But no wonder, after all it is a Hitchcock!
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