I don’t revisit Hitchcock films too often. Despite his meticulous, masterful craftsmanship, many tend to be a little talky. I remember my parents remarking on this when they showed me The Birds for the first time and I’m sure I was itching to see another avian attack rather than people arguing endlessly in some restaurant.
He was already a major filmmaker by the time he made Stage Fright, yet this is arguably the beginning of his golden period, although Strangers on a Train is more likely the real signifier of his status shift.
It’s a delectably fascinating tale from which Hitch milks maximum tension. Very few directors can make the simple act of moving across a room in silence so tense. He was also continuing his interest in experimentation, as in a subjective focus-pulling scene involving a pair of glasses.
Jane Wyman is a tough cookie and has to adapt quickly while surrounded by ruthless and frankly, craftier adversaries. Even her father, the utterly fabulous Alastair Sim, has her number every step of the way. Sim had the innate ability to seem like the smartest man in the room and is constantly p’wning everyone. Dietrich is luminous (literally, as she was allowed to direct her own lighting) and her final scene is extraordinary.
The only flaw which hinders SF from being a true classic is a final scene of confession between Wyman and her accused beau Richard Todd. It’s a gripping moment, yet it feels tacked-on and likely enforced by the Production Code at the time despite the fact that Wyman’s affections toward him have changed. It’s as if the filmmakers have to make this man a monster rather than just a flawed jerk who will likely be punished either way. Otherwise, it’s a very fun watch.
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