We can see the master attempting to hone his craft here. The beginning of the film sets up everything. As a matter of fact, Hitchcock did a great job with exposition in almost every one of his films. So those first ten minutes introduces us to the terror and threat that hangs over the Embankment as a Jack the Ripper type murderer does in his victims. Ivor Novello has trouble keeping a low profile. Considering why he is there, one might think he could try to be a little less suspicious. But then we would not have a movie nor the ultimate mob mentality at work. The young heroin never doubts him, though she really should. He lurks around, runs out at night, and seems like the perfect suspect. All that aside, there is so much mood and atmosphere at work. Hitchcock uses everything that the black and white medium can do to move this picture along. The crowd scene at the end is priceless: Hitchcock's man alone. When he is hung up on the fence, too exhausted to free himself, he becomes a sort of Christ figure; the "Romans" jeering at him. This works better than the later sound version, although that is also pretty interesting. HItchcock is able to pull this off and it must have given him great confidence.
