Downhill (1927)

Film: Downhill (1927)

Stars: Ivor Novello, Ben Webster, Norman McKinnel, Robin Irvine, Annette Benson

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

(Throughout the year, in connection with our 'Saturdays with the Stars' series, I am watching every gap I have in Alfred Hitchcock's filmography in what we're calling 'Sunday Leftovers.'  Every two weeks, I'll be watching a Hitchcock film that I've never seen before as I spend 2021 completing his filmography)

We are continuing on our look at the film's of Alfred Hitchcock, and are still (despite the fact that we're in March) in his Silent Era, a place we'll be for at least a couple more weeks-I haven't checked & want to be surprised when we move to sound).  This week's film is once again not a thriller or horror film in any way, though perhaps our lead character might characterize it as such his vantage point.  Hitchcock two films after his breakout success with The Lodger was not yet "Hitchcock!" and as we talked about yesterday, it wasn't until The Lady Vanishes in 1938 that Hitch would become the "Master of Suspense," moving to Hollywood and basically getting to write his own ticket for the rest of his career.  That doesn't mean, of course, that there aren't signature touches from the director, or that this isn't a good film, because it is.  For my money this is our best "Sunday Leftovers" screening so far.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie starts out with something of an unusual premise, and one that doesn't quite hold water to a modern viewer, even if it would've at the time.  Roddy (Novello) is a champion student & athlete at his prestigious boarding school, while Tim (Irvine), his best friend, is a poorer student there on scholarship who lives in his shadow.  When the two boys meet Mabel (Benson), a "promiscuous" waitress, Tim sleeps with her getting her pregnant (or is she pregnant...the film is never quite sure about that which is where the "holding water" for me doesn't work since this isn't confirmed?), but Roddy claims the child so that Tim doesn't leave school, since Tim can't afford expulsion like Roddy can (him being wealthy).  Unfortunately for Roddy, his father is humiliated & fights with Roddy, who then leaves the house on principle, working first as an actor, and then after an unsuccessful marriage that bankrupts him, as a male gigolo.  He is at death's door before some friends ship him back to his home, hoping for a reward in the process, and Roddy comes to his old house, where his parents (who understand what he had done now) welcome him back with open arms.

Downhill is a dark film with a happy ending.  The movie shows the ways that one man's decision to behave honorably can impact his life forever.  Roddy repeatedly throughout the film behaves the way we think he should-he helps his friend, he believes his wife, he defends his honor-but is constantly punished for it, which is pretty bleak for a film of the 1920's, and almost certainly would've been difficult to do a in a post-code era.  The film is also one of the earliest films (along with The Lodger) where Hitchcock cast a queer man in the lead role (we'd see this later with Farley Granger, John Dall, and if Hollywood legend is to be believed, Cary Grant), and Hitchcock uses that.  Novello exudes a pretty gay man quality with his expressive, sensitive eyes, and while the older women he's romancing as a gigolo are women on the screen, having them appear overtly masculine gets across the point that Hitchcock is trying to make here.

Downhill has a lot of cool artistic choices, using shadow-and-light in the ways that were popular with German expressionists like FW Murnau & Robert Wiene at the time, and it's a compelling narrative.  I liked the movie-I thought Novello was excellent in the lead role, even if he's forced to learn a lesson that doesn't feel fair (though the fact that Hitchcock never acknowledges that isn't fair is a true sense of realism in the picture).  Though its treatment of women is super problematic, the movie otherwise has aged pretty well, and while it's not his most famous silent film, it's one of his better ones for my money.