‎Young and Innocent (1937) directed by Alfred Hitchcock • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Young and Innocent

1937 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

A Brilliant Melodrama

Derrick De Marney finds himself in a 39 Steps situation when he is wrongly accused of murder. While a fugitive from the law, De Marney is helped by heroine Nova Pilbeam, who three years earlier had played the adolescent kidnap victim in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. The obligatory "fish out of water" scene, in which the principals are briefly slowed down by a banal everyday event, occurs during a child's birthday party. The actual villain, whose identity is never in doubt (Hitchcock made thrillers, not mysteries) is played by George Curzon, who suffers from a twitching eye. Curzon's revelation during an elaborate nightclub sequence is a Hitchcockian tour de force, the sort of virtuoso sequence taken for granted in these days of flexible cameras and computer enhancement, but which in 1937 took a great deal of time, patience and talent to pull off. Released in the US as The Girl Was Young, Young and Innocent was based on a novel by Josephine Tey.

Nova Pilbeam Derrick De Marney Percy Marmont Edward Rigby Mary Clare John Longden George Curzon Basil Radford Pamela Carme George Merritt J.H. Roberts Jerry Verno H.F. Maltby John Miller

Country

Language

English

drama crime

83 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Silversaxophone ★★★★ 4

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…
Review by Ruth ★★★ 2

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.
Review by Steve G ★★★ 2

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…
Review by loureviews ★★★★ 1

#35 in the Reverse Hitchcock project.

This is better than I remembered and I think I was harsh in only giving it three stars to begin with. Young Nova Pilbeam (who died last year aged 95) is marvellous as the Chief Constable's daughter who decides to help wrongly accused Derrick De Marney after his film star friend is found strangled on a beach.

This film has one of Hitchcock's famous standby plots, the 'wronged man', but is played straight and true in this one. The man on the run and woman to help was revisited in his next film, "The 39 Steps", and despite the lack of big names the stars do have a lot of chemistry.

JH Roberts plays…
Review by Jared ★★★½

A capable blend of romance, drama, and thrills with flashes of real Hitchockian brilliance; Young and Innocent, like so much of his early work, hints at a brilliant artistic future but doesn't stand out too much on its own. He shows a knack for unraveling these characters without forsaking the levity of the whole picture, and the script is uniquely charming. Nice performances all around, and the finale is wonderfully done. A quintessential innocent man on the run film, and I'd recommend it for those looking to dig into the master of suspense beyond the classics.

Hitchcock Marathon
Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★½ 3

It's the standard innocent man on the run scenario that was done much better in The 39 Steps, but since they're both Alfred Hitchcock films, calling one better by no means require the other to be bad. In fact Young and Innocent, while a much more lighthearted film then Steps, is quite good.

The plot is simple but when a film is done this masterfully it doesn't detract from the enjoyment at all. Every single character that appears in the movie feels like they would be an interesting person, even if it's just a man selling a train ticket. The dialogue is snappy and witty. Characters have quirks sprinkled through out the film.

The 18 year old Nova Pilbeam, in…

Recent reviews

Review by Joseph ★★★

I like British Hitch and I got it with this
Review by Keegan Hewlett ★★★★

The sort of classic Hitchcock film that I love. Hits many similar beats to his other early works but is nonetheless well made and fun
Review by Josh Daws ★★★★

Alfred Hitchcock's brilliance as a director never fails to astonish me. Even his weakest film (of those I've seen so far), The Skin Game, had some good qualities, and Young and Innocent, a film mostly forgotten in the wake of his later masterpieces, is just as perfectly crafted, if maybe not as ambitious or subversive. It takes a similar premise to The 39 Steps and deglamorises it, making it more plausible and realistic, following a man who goes on the run after being falsely accused of murder, attempting to solve the mystery and identify the true killer in the process. Right from the opening scene, you can tell that every shot, every edit, every line, every facial expression, is there for a reason. There's no fat, no indulgence here, just lean, exciting, staggeringly accomplished craftsmanship.
Review by Jared ★★★½

A capable blend of romance, drama, and thrills with flashes of real Hitchockian brilliance; Young and Innocent, like so much of his early work, hints at a brilliant artistic future but doesn't stand out too much on its own. He shows a knack for unraveling these characters without forsaking the levity of the whole picture, and the script is uniquely charming. Nice performances all around, and the finale is wonderfully done. A quintessential innocent man on the run film, and I'd recommend it for those looking to dig into the master of suspense beyond the classics.

Hitchcock Marathon
Review by Frank Showalter ★★★

Constable’s daughter Pilbeam aids fall guy fugitive De Marney in finding the real culprit behind an actress’s murder. Early British thriller from Hitchcock starts strong, drags in the middle, then recovers with an impressive finale.
Review by Bill ★★★

There's something undeniably special about an old black and white film, especially when it's a Hitchcock film.

This movie wasn't quite I was expecting; it's kind of all over the place. The tone of a scene can change without reason, there isn't a lot of character or plot buildup, but once things get going, it does get better.
Review by Ken Scheck ★★★½

A man at the wrong place at the wrong time is accused of murdering a young actress when he is found running from the scene after she was strangled by the belt of a raincoat, but he claims his raincoat was stolen. He then goes on a quest with the reluctant help of a young girl (and daughter of the Chief Inspector of the Police) to find the stolen coat to prove his innocence and find the real murderer. It is a decent thriller from Hitch, but it isn't a brilliant piece of art. Well made and entertaining for the most part however.
Review by Angelo Palpal-latoc ★★★½

A man wrongfully accused. A firstly unwilling female accomplice. Classic Hitchcock.
Review by 4treyu ★★★½

Buscando por el fondo de las obras de Hitchcock se encuentran películas aburridas como esta. No llevan mucho del encanto y talento de su director que se lo ahorró y aplicó a las obras magistrales que vinieron después.