WATCHMOVIES RATING
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Lodger, The 1926
Alfred Hitchock's brilliant THE LODGER takes place in a London beset by a series of grisly Jack the Ripper-type murders. And when the strange and obviously tormented Jonathan Drew rents a room at a boardinghouse, the proprietors' daughter is alternately drawn to and fearful of him. In particular, she thinks he may have committed the crimes--and the police, headed by her jealous fiancé, do too. The police arrest Jonathan for the killings, but he manages to escape. However, a ferocious band of citizens begins hunting him down. It is then that the cops make a startling discovery: Drew is innocent. Now the authorities have to find--and stop--the bloodthirsty vigilantes before it's too late. Although it was Hitchcock's third film, THE LODGER is considered to be the first true Hitchcock movie, emblematic of his visual style and thematic choices. The film combines many motifs that Hitchcock would explore throughout his life's work--particularly, the wrong man theme, as well as the general public's thirst for sex and violence. It was also the first of his films in which he appeared in the role of an extra. Director Alfred Hitchcock made the first of his famous cameo appearances in this film because an extra failed to arrive on the set. He is seen sitting with his back to the camera in a busy office.
The film was rereleased in the U.S. as THE STRANGE CASE OF JONATHAN DREW.
Hitchcock once again focused on a modern-day Jack the Ripper in FRENZY (1972). At that time, he told director Truffaut, who was writing a book about him, that THE LODGER was one film he would really like to do over, because of its powerful story line.
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producer | Balcon, Michael | screenwriter | Stannord, Eliot |
| musicscore | Irwin, Ashley |
duration | 65 |
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color | No |
sound | No |
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genre | thriller |
country | UNITED KINGDOM |
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