1937 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Robert Tisdall finds on the beach the corpse of a woman he knew. Others wrongly conclude that he is the murderer. Fleeing, he desperately attempts to prove that he is not the killer. A young woman becomes embroiled in the effort.
The Girl Was Young, Innocència i joventut, だいさんとうぼうしゃ, 年轻姑娘, På farliga vägar, Jung und unschuldig, Nuori ja viaton, Giovane e innocente, Jeune et Innocent, Inocencia y juventud, Jovem e Inocente, Fiatal és ártatlan, 年少无知, Молодой и невинный, Ung och oskyldig, Voortvluchtig, צעירים ותמימים, Młody i niewinny, Genç ve Masum, Mladý a nezkušený, Νέος και αθώος, 영 앤 이노센트, Mladi i nevini, Молодий і невинний, 第3逃亡者
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“The Young and the Innocent” riffs on Alfred Hitchcock’s theme of mistaken identity by being a mistake to ever have been made.
The movie starts with the murder of an actress, with the man who discovered her body implicated as the perpetrator, when - to his shock - he is found named as a benefactor in her will.
The setup for the script seems like it should play neatly into the director’s stylistic wheelhouse. Indeed it does, but perhaps too well. The picture is mediocre; with better versions on the same theme elsewhere in Hitchcock’s oeuvre. Perhaps the movie is best remembered for its ambition to depict young lovers on the run, a sort of romantic ideal that preceded a…
Action! - The Master & The Fan: Hitchcock's Bumping Road To Mastering Suspense
Don't you hate it when you try to do good and end up getting involved in a murder?
Again, we see Hitchcock at his finest, albeit not to his full capacity, but this was a delightful 80-minute ride as an innocent guy and this woman who happens to be the daughter of his pursuer embark on a mission to establish his innocence, encountering several revelations along the way.
Again, it is not Hitchcock's best work, but it is far superior to his efforts in comedy or romance, although traces of both genres may be found in this story. The performances are good, but not exceptional. What sticks out…
My poetic tribute to the lovely leading lady:
Ah yes, ‘twas a (super)Nova and not a star,
none smarter than she and could work a car,
light on her feet, a twinkle in her eyes,
soft spoken words could catch all the guys,
Thank God for Hitch that saw her glow,
to remember her always for us to know,
an ember breathing; a live fire it seems,
What a woman that Nova Pilbeam!
Now here is the romanticized “wrong man” trope Hitch struck gold with in The 39 Steps, even if Young and Innocent provides little to no suspense or an intimate love story, but Ms. Nova Pilbeam absolutely slays as the independent daughter of the police captain. Her enchanting…
“the night always exaggerates things, doesn’t it? personally, i like the night. it’s much more reliable than the day.”
add this to the list of movies i was enjoying until people started randomly wearing blackface.
Alfred Hitchcock directs this comedy thriller starring Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney, about a headstrong young woman who helps a man accused of murder try to clear his name.
Though similar in premise to The 39 Steps, the film has its own individual charm, with a breezy pace and lots of humour. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable, and they really help to make the film so enjoyable. Alongside them are a cast of colourful and memorable characters, especially Edward Rigby as Old Will, a tramp who helps them out.
Hitchcock was a master at efficiently giving information, and some moments feel like they could have come from one of his silent films, telling the audience all they…
Early Hitchcock thriller focusing on the "wrong man" trope that would of course go on to make up the backbone of much of the director's filmography going forward. The film begins with the murder of an actress. Her corpse is found by a young man, and the police wrongly conclude that he commited the murder - leading to a chase through the British countryside as he seeks to prove his innocence. He is both young and innocent, you see, hence the title. The film is well paced, if not especially suspenseful. The budding romance between the two leads feels a little trite, but it riffs well with the absurd comedic stylings that preside over much of the action. The motorcar…
The title refers to the upstanding young person played by Nova Pilbeam, barely eighteen years old herself, so you can forget the kind of sexual electricity or hanky panky that went on between Robert Donat and Madeline Carroll in The 39 Steps. It also lacks the background political frissons of Hitchcock's previous two thrillers. So it feels less serious, more of a lark. This is despite a shouty opening scene involving a jealous husband and his wife followed by the intense imagery of a body washing up on shore. It quickly settles into comedy, for the most part, and Hitchcock's lightest man-on-the-run story. Except, bubbling beneath it all, is Hitchcock's deepest and most relentless condemnation of the police and, to…
Hitchcock certainly loved to make films with wrongly accused men who have to go on the run whilst attempting to prove their innocence. While The 39 Steps and Saboteur stick the landing, this one is a pretty big miss for me.
The question at hand is the murder of an actress and the man who is seen on the beach discovering her body and his mysterious missing raincoat. It takes Robert Tisdall and Erica Burgoyne on a journey to prove his innocence but it is fairly pedestrian is terms of suspense and twists. And I also can’t forgive the film for its seemingly unnecessary use of blackface which went on for far too long.
This is C-Tier Hitchcock that does…
Young and Innocent has long been one of my favorites among the lesser Hitchcocks. It seems like a warmup for The 39 Steps even though it came afterward. We have Sir Alfred’s beloved wrong-man theme with Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) falsely suspected of murdering Christine Clay (Pamela Carme). He is helped in evading the authorities by Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam), who at first suspects he is guilty. We have a MacGuffin in the form of Tisdall’s missing raincoat, Christine having been strangled by the belt of such. Instead of a villain with part of a finger missing, we have a blinking killer. Instead of a climax in a music hall with Mr. Memory, we have a climax in a…
What a rollercoaster in terms of quality it was for Hitchcock at this point in his career. It would seem he is having trouble finding consistency. This just feels... bland, for lack of a better word. The chemistry between the two leads seems off and the story retreads common ground, but in a less satisfying way. Somehow it's still watchable because of Hitchcock's fundamentally strong approach to the direction, but while I was watching I couldn't help feeling like I was watching a mediocre version of something I've already seen before.
Then we get to the finale, where Hitchcock painstakingly spent two days planning and designing the infamous crane shot. It's a beautiful shot, sweeping from the front of the…
Quintessential innocent man on the run plus love interest from Hitchcock. Whilst he subverted this trope in Stage Fright, it has arguably been his safety blanket to fall back on. Whilst this isn't an outstanding example, it's a solid film nonetheless.
The best thing about this is most certainly the chemistry and charisma of the two stars. It almost lifts this to a more notable regard. Outside that though, the whole murder is a little poorly communicated. Once again, it has shaky beginnings (despite an eyecatching lighthouse scene). There are certainly pacing issues as well. The film works best when we forget the why and just leave our brain behind and get caught up in the emotions and suspense of the piece.
Slightly underappreciated in the annals of Hitchcock (you almost never hear about it), but there is little here to really sell this as a must see. An enjoyable deep cut for Hitch nuts.
Young And Innocent is a crime thriller that sees Alfred Hitchcock try and replicate the formula of The 39 Steps to entertaining effect, if not ever threatening to reach the heights of his 1935 classic.
It sees Derrick De Marney accused of murdering a woman and then fleeing from custody when he realises he has been set up good and proper. Headstrong Chief Constable's daughter Nova Pilbeam takes pity on him and assists him in trying to find the man really responsible for the murder.
It's easy to see Hitchcock would try and replicate the formula of The 39 Steps - his next two films, while relatively well received, failed to drum up nearly as much business and plaudits, and…
