The Lodger (1926 / 1927)
B&W – 98m (Ontario, Canada) / 92m (Theatrical) / 90m (2012 Restoration & TCM Print) / 74m (National Film Archive Print) / 67m (VHS)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 – Fullscreen
A.K.A.: The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog
Novel: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Play: “The Lodger” by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Scenario By: Eliot Stannard
Uncredited: Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Prod.: Michael Balcon
Dir.: Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen, Ivor Novello, Reginald Gardiner, Eve Gray, Sir Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville.
Script Supervisor: Elma Reville
SILENT FILM
A landlady suspects her new lodger is the madman killing women in London. The first surviving Jack The Ripper film boasts of the talents of Alfred Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville and actor Reginald Gardiner. As it is a silent film it helps to pay attention when watching the film and not try to multitask. The film is dated and stilted but worth watching for the fact that it was Hitchcock’s first suspense film and the first surviving Jack The Ripper film.
Trivia: This was the first Sir Alfred Hitchcock film in which Hitchcock had cameo. For the opening of the film Hitchcock wanted the Avenger’s murder victim being dragged out of The Thames River with the Charing Cross Bridge in the background. His request to shoot the scene was turned down by Scotland Yard. After several more appeals to the Yard, Hitch got his answer when they agreed to look the other way if he could shoot it in one night. Hitch sent the cameraman and his actors to shoot the scene. After the film was developed they searched frantically for the scene. It was discovered that the cameraman forgot to load the lens on the camera before shooting the scene. The original story had hints of homosexuality and incest but Ivor Montagu changed that by removing title cards, bringing the number from 400 down to 80, at the behest of producer Michael Balcon.
The book is supposedly based on a story told to painter Walter Richard Sickert, writer Patricia Cornwell’s pick for who was Jack The Ripper, by a landlady who made the claim that her last lodger was Jack The Ripper. This was the film debut of Reginald Gardiner. Ivor Novello reprised his role in the first talkie remake of this film: The Phantom Fiend (1932).
Out Of Print on VHS but Available on Blu–ray, DVD & Digital Copy separate and as part of The Criterion Collection
The Phantom Fiend (1932)
B&W – 67m (Full Running Length – beware of shorter prints)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 – Fullscreen
A.K.A.: The Lodger
Novel: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (as Mrs. Belloc Lowndes)
Scenario By: Miles Mander and Paul Rotha
Adapted For The Screen By: H. Fowler Mear
Uncredited: Ivor Novello
Dir.: Maurice Elvey
Starring: Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, A.W. Baskcomb and Jack Hawkins.
A landlady suspects her new lodger is the man killing women in London. Interesting but somewhat lesser version of the Sir Alfred Hitchcock classic. Hitch had the visual flair while this relies on the new addition of sound. Still it does build some suspense. Worth a look.
Trivia: This film is in public domain. Ivor Novello reprised his role from the classic Sir Alfred Hitchcock Film. Hitchcock was asked to direct but declined.
Available on DVD, Digital Copy & on YouTube
The Lodger (1944)
B&W – 84m
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 – Fullscreen (Theatrical Ratio) / 1.34:1 – Fullscreen (Blu–ray Ratio)
A.K.A.: Jack The Ripper
From The Novel: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Screenplay By: Barre Lyndon
Dir.: John Brahm
Starring: Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood, Aubrey Mather, Queenie Leonard, Doris Lloyd, Billy Bevan, Edmund Breon, Ruth Clifford, Herbert Clifton, Cyril Delevanti, Frank Elliott, Herbert Evans, Kit Guard, Gerald Hamer, Lumsden Hare, Forrester Harvey, Stuart Holmes, Boyd Irwin, Colin Kenny, Skelton Knaggs, Anita Sharp–Bolster, C. Montague Shaw, Ethel Sherman, Will Stanton and Frederick Worlock. Cinematography By: Lucien Ballard
A landlady suspects her new lodger of being Jack The Ripper. Splendid remake of the Hitchcock classic and subsequent 1932 remake that also starred Ivor Novello. Cinematography is wonderful! Oberon is stunning and Cregar is menacing. The suspense builds wonderfully and this reviewer will admit to having nightmares based on the ending chase. A must watch!
Trivia: Merle Oberon fell in love with the cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, and they were married the following year. Because of a car accident Oberon was in she had facial scars. Ballard created a way of lighting her that would wash out the scars. This technique is still called: “The Obie”, not to be confused with the Off–Broadway award. Laird Cregar’s screen presence created such a stir 20th Century Fox planned to cast him in many more roles capitalizing on his role here. The first of which was Hangover Square (1945). Unfortunately Cregar suffered a fatal heart attack and Hangover Square was released posthumously. This was filmed in 1943 and released in 1944. This film was remade by 20th Century Fox as: Man In The Attic (1953), which was filmed on the same sets and reused footage of the London police chasing Jack The Ripper on the rooftops. The sequence of the killing at the beginning of the picture was ordered to be placed there by studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck.
Available on Blu–ray, DVD & Digital Copy
Man In The Attic (1953)
B&W – 82m
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 – Widescreen
Novel: The Lodger By Marie Belloc Lowndes
Screenplay By: Robert Presnell, Jr. and Barre Lyndon
Exec. Prod.: Leonard Goldstein
Prod.: Robert L. Jacks
Dir.: Hugo Fregonese
Starring: Jack Palance, Constance Smith, Byron Palmer, Frances Bavier, Rhys Williams, Sean McClory, Leslie Bradley, Lester Matthews, Harry Cording, Lisa Daniels, Lilian Bond, Isabel Jewell, Rama Bai, Chet Brandenburg, Morgan Brown, Noble ‘Kid’ Chissell, Franklyn Farnum, Stuart Holmes, Michael Jeffers, Colin Kenny, Sylvia Lewis, Mickey Martin, Monty O’Grady, Joe Phillips, Bob Reeves, Cosmo Sardo and Ben Wright.
After an enigmatic, self–described pathologist rents the attic room of a Victorian house, his landlady begins to suspect that her lodger is Jack The Ripper. A near miss of a film remake of The Lodger suffers from stuffy scripting and over–acting. Likely best to skip this one.
Trivia: This film is in “public domain”. This is 20th Century Fox’s second stab at The Lodger story. Film debut of Lisa Daniels.
Available on DVD & Digital Copy
The Lodger (2009)
C – 95m
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 – Widescreen
Novel: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Writer – Dir.: David Ondaatje
Starring: Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West, Donal Logue, Philip Baker Hall, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rebecca Pidgeon and Simon Baker.
A couple rents out a room to a mysterious young man, who may or may not be guilty of a series of grisly neighborhood murders. While there are historical inaccuracies in this version, as with any other version, the film is a smart updating of the classic novel. Be aware that this is a premise only remake. Obviously Jack The Ripper was seldom mentioned in 2009. Worth a look as a completion of The Lodger story.
Trivia: Annie Chapman was Jack The Ripper’s second victim, not his fourth victim. Liz Stride and Catherine Eddowes were killed on the same night but in different locations unlike what is stated here.
Rated: [R] – Violent Content, Language & Brief Nudity
Available on DVD & Digital Copy