From my favorite movies..

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Two things make Murder! interesting before one even sees it - it's early Hitchcock and the film is 87 years old!It's not your typical Hitchcock story. A famous actor (Herbert Marshall) sits on a jury that convicts a young actress, Diana (Norah Baring) of murder, but he's haunted by the verdict. He had an encounter with this woman some time before and suggested she gain experience by "working in the provinces." He now feels slightly responsible, as she is accused of murdering a young female costar.Enlisting the help of a married couple in the company, he sets out to find out what really happened.Marshall is young and attractive, and Esme Percy as Handel Fane is very memorable. A distinguished stage actor, he actually studied with Sarah Bernhardt, and roles were written for him by Bernard Shaw. His style and look are unusual.This was filmed in a precise manner - the camera focusing on doorways, going along the floor where the murder took place and showing the bloody poker.The climax of the film is pure Hitchcock and astounding. Well worth sitting through this early movie. Hitchcock always is.

A mystery movie adapted from the novel and play titled ¨Enter Sir John¨by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson . It deals with a girl (Norah Baring) silently accepts her prosecution for killing , while the jury is deliberating , there is a lone juror (Herbert Marshall) who believes in her innocence begins an investigation his own and winds up discovering weird happenings .This fine early effort by Hitch has several novelties , as the movie transcends the limitation of its mystery plot by dealing with thought-provoking issues and focusing on the theatrical meditations of reality . An early talkie for Great Britain in which director Hitch features visualization of some typical Hitchcockian themes , being perhaps the most provocative of all early British films , adding the first gay stereotype in popular cinema and the first movie where a person's thoughts are presented by a voice-in-off . The story follows mysteriously the investigation of a murder and the protagonist attempts to keep the condemned girl from being executed to death penalty by hanging . One of the first and best Alfred film to explore the ideas and themes that would become his trademarks , including climatic and memorable scenes . Herbert Marshall gives a good interpretation as the jurist believing in a young woman's innocence and starts organizing the pieces of the crime in order to save her . Look closely for the Master in a rapid cameo about an hour into the film walking past the house where the murder was committed and Una O'Connor , John Ford's regular ; besides , brief acting by Miles Mander .The film belongs to Hitch's first British period when he directed silent films such as ¨The lodger¨ (1926) , ¨The ring¨(1927) , ¨Easy virtue¨ (1927) , ¨The Manxman¨(29) ; being ¨Blackmail¨(29) made as a silent , this was reworked to become a talkie . Following sound movies and early talkies as ¨June and the Paycock¨(30) , ¨Skin Game¨(31) , ¨Rich and strange¨(32) , ¨Number 17¨(32) , ¨The man who knew too much¨(34) , ¨The 39 steps¨ (35) , ¨The secret agent¨(36) , ¨Sabotage¨(36) , ¨The lady vanishes¨(38) , ¨Jamaica Inn¨ (39) until he is hired by David O'Selznick to shoot ¨Rebecca¨(40) in the US .

"Murder!" may be one of the least known of Hitchcock's films and is hardly seen today, yet this early talkie, which he made in 1930, has a lot more than historical interest to recommend it. Herbert Marshall, (very good), is the juror who, after bringing in a guilty verdict, (in a terrific sequence that makes great use of early sound techniques), has second thoughts and starts investigating the case himself.It's based on a play and is set in a theatrical milieu, (Marshall plays a famous actor), and Hitchcock films it accordingly but it is full of great Hitchcock touches that distinguishes it from other British films of the period; it certainly couldn't be mistaken for the work of anyone else. Indeed this is text-book film-making of a high order and is an essential part of the Hitchcock canon.

The second earlier Hitchcock film I've watched, and like SECRET AGENT, I found this one very dated. The problem lies in the pacing alone; at nearly two hours, this is a slow and dragged-out movie which could have done with an hour lopping off so that it moved at a fair old whack. As it stands, especially during the middle part of the film everything feels dragged out endlessly.Not that this is a bad film, because it isn't. I don't think Hitchcock ever directed a truly bad film. The plot comes across like TWELVE ANGRY MEN, although of course it was made decades before that classic. Aristocratic leading man Herbert Marshall (later the bad guy in FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) is one member of a jury who finds a young woman guilty of murder after a body is found at her feet with the murder weapon grasped in her hand. Of course, as is invariably the case with these murder mysteries, nothing is as simple as it seems and Herbert begins a private investigation into the crime.The investigation is where this film gets bogged down after an arresting opening. However, things pick up for the climax, which is stark, stylish, and suitably horrific - a classic Hitchcock ending. Watch out for the scene with Marshall shaving in the mirror, the first example of a voice-over narration representing an internal monologue in cinema. Marshall is great and the supporting cast are fine, and the theatrical backdrop allows for some interesting characterisation with cross-dressing and the like going on. But that pace makes MURDER! one of Hitch's lesser efforts.