Last Of His Silent Features ...

Second Of Seven Hitchcocks: The Manxman (1929)

A silent (Hitchcock's last) from that period before he dealt strictly with mayhem topics. It's a three-cornered romance where the right guy gets the girl, but loses her when the wrong guy comes back from presumed death at sea and claims prior right to marriage. What's worse than third act excess of confession and penance? The Manxman was based on an English novel distinctly of its day. Characters won't state the obvious that would save them and us pain. Hitchcock thought the story "banal" and tried salvaging with eye-appeal locations. This must have been torture getting through before lovely prints came available, these lately on display via HD streaming on Dish Network, Netflix, VuDu, other places. Pre-thrill Hitchcocks are like school assignment; you need to get through them once in order to appreciate fully classic stuff to come. For technical skill alone, The Manxman gives basis for AH standing as England's lead director by the late 20's.