At this point, I've seen 52 of the 54 feature films Alfred Hitchcock directed...and so I've decided to find his final two, both of which are silents. I was able to find "The Pleasure Garden" on Amazon Prime....but if you watch it, be sure to turn off your closed captioning if you use it. This is because with it, you get intertitle cards with double captioning....and the newer captions aren't even as good as they often tend to summarize instead of saying what was originally intended.
The story is about two chorus girls. When they meet, one is out of work and desperate...and the nice chorus girl, Pat, gets Jill a job and befriends her. Then, Pat and her boyfriend invite Pat out with them and get her a date as well. Things sure look swell, but you know there has to be SOME drama in order to make the story worth your time! What drama? Well, once Jill sees success, it all seems to go to her head. But things get MUCH weirder later when it all switches to a tropical island...then it just seems to run off the rails!
For a silent film, "The Pleasure Garden" is well made and very well directed. The acting is restrained and convincing and the story is worth seeing...especially in the first portion. While it's nothing like his later films, it's a very good silent and does have some serious melodrama and death in the latter portion.
By the way, this film clocks in at a little more than 59 minutes...not the 75 listed on IMDB. Perhaps IMDB is mistaken (it happens), but more likely the print was cut down over the years...a common occurrence with silent movies.
The story is about two chorus girls. When they meet, one is out of work and desperate...and the nice chorus girl, Pat, gets Jill a job and befriends her. Then, Pat and her boyfriend invite Pat out with them and get her a date as well. Things sure look swell, but you know there has to be SOME drama in order to make the story worth your time! What drama? Well, once Jill sees success, it all seems to go to her head. But things get MUCH weirder later when it all switches to a tropical island...then it just seems to run off the rails!
For a silent film, "The Pleasure Garden" is well made and very well directed. The acting is restrained and convincing and the story is worth seeing...especially in the first portion. While it's nothing like his later films, it's a very good silent and does have some serious melodrama and death in the latter portion.
By the way, this film clocks in at a little more than 59 minutes...not the 75 listed on IMDB. Perhaps IMDB is mistaken (it happens), but more likely the print was cut down over the years...a common occurrence with silent movies.