Downhill (1927)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
People may frown and sneer at me watching silent movies. After all the advancement in acting and sound systems, it can be mind boggling to have one sitting through a full length silent movie as if you are living in a world filled with the hearing impaired or speech challenged people! What is important to me in a film is not the glitz of props and razzmatazz of ornaments draped around the actors but rather, I am a sucker for good stories. Of course, a silent movie is not silent. There is an ascending and descending crescendo of musical score. Only the actors are acting, not speaking to be heard.
I recently watched one of the oldest silent movies that I have watched - Downhill, a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock directed British film.
There is more to silent movies than Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin's antics. As speech expression is a handicap, the players compensate with sometimes, exaggerated, facial expressions and hand gestures. It is interesting to see the fashion sense of the swinging twenties. Actresses have started expressing their independence and escaped domestication by leaving behind the long mane and were seen all spotting well oiled short boy-haircuts. Hats were the favourite fashion of the day but I cannot help but compare their bucket hats with drooping brims to the Penang City Council night-soil workers of 60s, but that is just me!
The fixation to pearly whites had not set in as their teeth (of the actors) appeared stained like a betel leave and nut or paan chewing addict!
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
People may frown and sneer at me watching silent movies. After all the advancement in acting and sound systems, it can be mind boggling to have one sitting through a full length silent movie as if you are living in a world filled with the hearing impaired or speech challenged people! What is important to me in a film is not the glitz of props and razzmatazz of ornaments draped around the actors but rather, I am a sucker for good stories. Of course, a silent movie is not silent. There is an ascending and descending crescendo of musical score. Only the actors are acting, not speaking to be heard.There is more to silent movies than Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin's antics. As speech expression is a handicap, the players compensate with sometimes, exaggerated, facial expressions and hand gestures. It is interesting to see the fashion sense of the swinging twenties. Actresses have started expressing their independence and escaped domestication by leaving behind the long mane and were seen all spotting well oiled short boy-haircuts. Hats were the favourite fashion of the day but I cannot help but compare their bucket hats with drooping brims to the Penang City Council night-soil workers of 60s, but that is just me!
The fixation to pearly whites had not set in as their teeth (of the actors) appeared stained like a betel leave and nut or paan chewing addict!
The story... may appear melodramatic, ala-Indian movie like!
Bretwick, an all rounder school captain is accused of inappropriate behaviour with a school canteen servant. Being a true friend, he takes the blame knowing well his best friend is the culprit and that the friend may lose his scholarship if convicted. Bretwick is then expelled. Coming from a high heeled family, he leaves his affluent life after a tiff with his father for not believing his sincerity.
Working as an assistant with a drama company, he befriends a famous actress with expensive taste. Inheriting a £30,000 windfall from a dead Godmother makes it easier to win her heart who obviously is interested in his bank balance. They marry and as soon as his money runs out, her liaison with her old boyfriend is rekindled. He is chased out penniless.
Starting anew in France as a fifty-francs-per-dance dancer to entertain old bored housewives, he realises the obvious fakeness of mankind. Well, in the 50s in Malaya, this type of job would be called (for the female) 'perempuan ronggeng' or gigolo in modern times. He is in the lowest ebb of life, depressed and homesick.
Bretwick, an all rounder school captain is accused of inappropriate behaviour with a school canteen servant. Being a true friend, he takes the blame knowing well his best friend is the culprit and that the friend may lose his scholarship if convicted. Bretwick is then expelled. Coming from a high heeled family, he leaves his affluent life after a tiff with his father for not believing his sincerity.
Working as an assistant with a drama company, he befriends a famous actress with expensive taste. Inheriting a £30,000 windfall from a dead Godmother makes it easier to win her heart who obviously is interested in his bank balance. They marry and as soon as his money runs out, her liaison with her old boyfriend is rekindled. He is chased out penniless.Starting anew in France as a fifty-francs-per-dance dancer to entertain old bored housewives, he realises the obvious fakeness of mankind. Well, in the 50s in Malaya, this type of job would be called (for the female) 'perempuan ronggeng' or gigolo in modern times. He is in the lowest ebb of life, depressed and homesick.
From Marseilles, 'rats from the docks' type of kind souls, actually, ship him back to England.
He becomes delusional and his entire life appears in front of him. When all avenues were deemed close, in blind instinct, the prodigal son comes back home to the open arms of the parents. Truth is known, everything is forgotten, forgiven and life is reinstated in its previous glory.
Outdoor shooting was still at an infantile stage here, maybe neonatal, as evidenced by jerky penning and limited brisk exposure of shots. It is interesting though to glimpse at the real streets of London. It is the street, not studio as I do not think they had mammoth studios with make believe towns yet! They did not know the importance of spring cleaning and gotong royong, the lanes were strewn with garbage. I think only when Dr Ronald Ross impressed upon people the relationship of clean air and malaria, was proper street cleansing understood. [Malaria, mal=bad, air=air]
Overall, it was an entertaining flick. Just that the Western story lines have changed over the years, Indian movies have got suspended in time still churning out one melodramatic feat after another.
He becomes delusional and his entire life appears in front of him. When all avenues were deemed close, in blind instinct, the prodigal son comes back home to the open arms of the parents. Truth is known, everything is forgotten, forgiven and life is reinstated in its previous glory.
Outdoor shooting was still at an infantile stage here, maybe neonatal, as evidenced by jerky penning and limited brisk exposure of shots. It is interesting though to glimpse at the real streets of London. It is the street, not studio as I do not think they had mammoth studios with make believe towns yet! They did not know the importance of spring cleaning and gotong royong, the lanes were strewn with garbage. I think only when Dr Ronald Ross impressed upon people the relationship of clean air and malaria, was proper street cleansing understood. [Malaria, mal=bad, air=air]
Overall, it was an entertaining flick. Just that the Western story lines have changed over the years, Indian movies have got suspended in time still churning out one melodramatic feat after another.
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