Stage Fright

This is a fine movie by Director Hitchcock in which Jane Wyman shines as the aspiring stage actor trying to get to the truth of a murder. It is usually overlooked or forgotten in evaluations of Hitchcock's overall work. Wyman's friend Richard Todd is on the run from the police. In an effort to out the guilty party, she enlists the help of her father, played by the great Alastair Sim. She worms her way into the household of a far more accomplished actor, Marlene Dietrich, impersonating a servant. She also wins the heart of a police inspector, Michael Wilding. She is at the forefront of this entertaining little film as she changes wardrobes and accents, going back and forth from London to her country home. The cast is strong all-round and, in addition to the above, are the talented Dame Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell and Kay Walsh, not to mention Patricia Hitchcock, the director's daughter, who often performed very capably in his movies. The movie is a black comedy that moves along at a great pace, with interesting vignettes and the long takes that Hitchcoock used so effectively. The on-location shooting in London gives the movie a reality missing in Hitchcock's earlier films. I liked this movie very much and with Wyman's acting and Hitchcock's direction, it works well.