One of a few films Hitchcock made in 1927. And, as with The Lodger, featuring Ivor Novello. The basic story is about two young men who have made some sort of pact with each other. One of them has an indiscretion (implied sexual) with a young lady and Ivor Novello takes the fall for it, resulting in him being expelled from school, and his hopes of attending Oxford dashed. The film then follows him as he becomes a stage actor, marries, gets cheated on, and finds his lowest point as someone who dances with female customers for money in a French music hall. More so than other Hitchcock films, at least his earlier ones, this one takes you on an emotional journey. Not that you aren't taken on a similar journey in his suspense thrillers, but this one went beyond mere sensation and explored a single character's journey in a way I don't think you see much of in this era of filmmaking. Part of the reason for the emotional resonance is the natural feeling evoked by homecoming, making this story kind of a riff on the Prodigal Son narrative in the Gospels (although the instigating circumstances are quite different). To this point, Hitchcock also makes use of circles as a visual motif. And to further put the viewer in his shoes, there are a number of uses of first person POV that were probably quite innovative at the time. I went into this with no real expectation, and I came out at the end of it with this being my second favorite Hitchcock silent (so far). Not exactly a masterpiece, but a highly effective dramatic story with some visual panache that bodes well for the other Hitchcock silents I have coming up.
Review of Downhill
