You never know quite what you're going to get when you watch one of Sir Alf's films, and Stage Fright is no exception. Starring, among others, Marlene Dietrich, the film follows a young actress as she tries to tip the police off to the real murderer when all the time the police suspect her closest friend. With the help of her dad she takes on a variety of guises in order to push the police into catching the right person... although being Hitchcock things aren't always quite what they may at first seem.
This is far from Hitchcock's best, far from the best of the 50s in fact, nevertheless it's still a pretty good film standing up easily on its own merits. The cast are good - not just Dietrich but also Jane Wyman and in particular Alastair Sim. The score from Leighton Lucas is workmanlike, yet it still works really well - as does the photography which although not particularly striking does contain the occasional interesting shot or two. I dont want to undersell the film, although i dont really want to make it out as a masterpiece, but as good classic films go you can't go far wrong with this one at all. 7/10
24/07/08 @ 09:21