First Hitchcock film discovered by New Zealand archive

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First Hitchcock film discovered by New Zealand archive

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Alfred Hitchcock, right, is pictured on the set of “Blackmail.” The film is considered by some as the first British full-length talking picture. [AP YONHAP]

LOS ANGELES - Suspense master Alfred Hitchcock is still surprising his fans more than 30 years after his death.

Film preservationists said Wednesday they’ve found the first half of the earliest known surviving feature film on which Hitchcock has a credit: a silent melodrama called “The White Shadow.”

The first three reels of the six-reel film, made in 1923, were discovered by the National Film Preservation Foundation at the New Zealand Film Archive.

“The White Shadow” was directed by Graham Cutts, and the 24-year-old Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and art director.

Hitchcock made his own directing debut two years later with the chorus-girl melodrama “The Pleasure Garden.” He went on to direct such suspense classics as “Psycho,” “The Birds,” “Rear Window” and “Vertigo.”

“The White Shadow” is a “missing link, one of those few productions where we are able to bridge that gap of Hitchcock, the young guy with all these ideas, and Hitchcock the filmmaker,” said David Sterritt, author of “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock.”

“Even though he didn’t direct it, he was all over it.”

Foundation Director Annette Melville said the three “White Shadow” reels - about 30 minutes - were found among films donated to the archive by the family of New Zealand projectionist and collector Jack Murtagh.

No other copy of “The White Shadow” is known to exist.

The film stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters, one angelic and the other “without a soul,” according to Melville.

“At the time, people said the plot was improbable. I’m putting a polite spin on it. Many said it was ridiculous,” Melville said. “It’s a totally crazy, zany plot with soul migration back and forth and all these improbable meetings.”

The influence of Hitchcock, a meticulous planner and control freak once he began directing himself, can be seen throughout the images that have been released from “The White Shadow,” said Hitchcock expert Sterritt.

“The images are just awfully expressive and terrifically interesting to look at,” Sterritt said. “It has a look - I don’t want to call it a Hitchcock look - but I’d call it a more atmospheric and nuanced and effective look than Graham Cutts probably could have injected into a film.”


AP

한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]

시네마테크부산, 히치콕 영화전

시네마테크부산은 스릴러 영화의 거장인 알프레드 히치콕 감독과 클로드 샤브롤 감독 영화감상회를 연다. 30일부터 다음달 17일까지 ‘비밀첩보원’, ‘의혹의 그림자’, ‘현기증’, ‘사이코’, ‘새’ 등 10편(히치콕 감독)이, ‘여자 이야기’, ‘지옥’, ‘의식’, ‘벨라미’ 등 10편(샤브롤 감독)이 상영된다.
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