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Stage Fright | Year: 1950 Classification: Drama Directed: - Alfred Hitchcock Actors/Actresses: - Jane Wyman - Marlene Dietrich - Richard Todd A Kind of Battle of Angels I've watched this movie countless times. It is one of my very favorites. It combines all of the hallmarks of Hitchcock mystery thrillers, with the unusual device of a combative pairing of two American film stars, Jane Wyman and German-born Marlene Dietrich. This dark against light struggle between women is not altogether foreign in Hitchcock films; one thinks of the pairing of Suzanne Plechette and Tipi Hedrin in THE BIRDS, but in that film the Plechette character is killed off early. Here, the dark-haired Wyman character who dominates the very first scene, survives until the very last scene. However, the fair-haired Dietrich character has equal screen time, and though they often appear separately, they do sometimes play together in the most unusual way and to the most peculiar effect. Stage Fright is a murder mystery based on the Selwyn Jepson novel, and I would do the new viewer the greatest injustice by beraying even a little of the plot. Outside of the particulars of the homicide in question, this is a movie about deception and betrayal within the context of the Theatre and its tradition; of theatrical people and their lives which, to an outsider, seem to be little more than imposture and artifice. The film then, is an elaborate structure of mirrors, smoke and lies. Among the aspects of STAGE FRIGHT which set it apart from other films of the period, is the exceptional musical score by an obscure composer, Leighton Lucas. So sophisticated and expressive is it at working to enhance the story, one is reminded of later Hitchcock films like VERTIGO. First class work. The costuming is superbe. Dietrich as Musical Star and Comedienne, Charlotte Indood, wears Dior throughout, and the coutourier created for her two dresses which play a key part in the articulation of the crime. Both dresses are made of some ineffably gauzy silken stuff, so insubstantial and smoke-like, that one of them -- a pale, probably blue dress and absolutely plain -- can be balled up with one hand by Dietrich's lover, Richard Todd, and stuffed into his sportscoat at the armhole without beraying even the slightest bulge. That dress' twin is dark, and probably a navy blue. I mention this incidence of the two dresses because although dresses have important messages to deliveer about the women who wear them in Hitchcock movies, in no other film of his does costume, wardrobe and dressmaking play so crucial a part in defining the roles of the actresses, as they go back and forth within the story, altering their appearances and changing their identities to suit their frequently devious purposes. The dark-haired Jane Wyman, who often played in American films with her hair bleached and permed, here plays with a very simple bob. Her makeup is quiet, but not austere. Her clothing is classic, in that it is anglo-saxon clothing as we've seen it for half a centrury or more. It is conservative in cut, modest and discreet. She wears, for example, in the scene where she exellent Hitchcock movie Jane Wyman and Marlene Dietrich star in the suspense-laden thriller STAGE FRIGHT, centering around the London theatre district and a murder involving a famous stage star. Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) seizes the acting oppertunity of a lifetime when her boyfriend Jonathan (Richard Todd) is framed for murder. She poses as the maid and goes to work for her boyfriend's accuser, stage great Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). In her attempts to prove Jonathan's innocence, Eve has to question wether it is true...... Featuring Michael Wilding, Kay Walsh, Alistair Sim and Dame Sybil Thorndike, STAGE FRIGHT is a rollicking adventure from beginning to end. Finally gets the recognition it deserves After years of film/Hitchcock scholars dismissing it (like Truffaut did) or having coniptions about the famous "lie" it contains, it's great to see people are now appreciating this sharp, clever little movie. A recent biographer of Dietrich also correctly identified it as one her best showcases...she is hilarious and very sexy here. As for the "lie"...I think it's brilliant, and it will forever teach viewers not to believe everything the director shows them (Brian De Palma must have memorized this movie). Oh yeah...can we get a DVD please?! Buy Stage Fright at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Stage Fright Search with the Priority Search Engine on Stage Fright This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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