Juno and the Paycock (1930)

Film: Juno and the Paycock (1930)

Stars: Marie O'Neill, Edward Chapman, Sidney Morgan, Sara Allgood, John Laurie, Kathleen O'Regan, Barry Fitzgerald

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 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 Sunday, I'll be watching a Hitchcock film that I've never seen before as I spend 2021 completing his filmography)

One of the recurring themes I've realized as we have done this "Sunday Leftovers" series about Hitchcock, specifically looking at the films I hadn't seen, is that early in his career Hitchcock had a wide variety of effort that he put into what feels like (in retrospect) "director-for-hire" work.  Generally I find that some of his work that is clearly not something he was "invested in" becomes pretty generic.  This is most evident with a movie like Juno and the Paycock, generally considered to be one of Hitch's least representative films, one of his least-known pictures, and well, one of his worst.  I honestly had no idea going into the movie what to expect, but was a bit confused by the weird tonal shifts between comedy & drama the film takes, and the revolving door of main characters & focus.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie initially is centered around Captain Boyle (Chapman), who is a roustabout who lives in Dublin with his long-suffering wife Juno (Allgood), who refers to him as a "paycock" (meant to be a peacock) because he's "useless and vain."  They have two children, Johnny (Laurie) and Mary (O'Regan), Johnny being handicapped and (unbeknownst to his family) a traitor to the Anti-Treaty side of the war, as he's just sold out a supporter who was subsequently killed, and Mary being a good girl engaged to a local bloke.  Their lives change when a solicitor comes to tell them that a relative of the Captain's has left him a small fortune, which changes all of their lives.  The Captain & Juno buy fancy things for the house, they brag to all of their friends about their recent fortune, and Mary dumps her boyfriend for the handsome solicitor.  When it turns out that the inheritance isn't coming due to a clerical error, their lives are town asunder as all have lived without control in a way that only money can save them from.

This is a weird movie, because until the point of them losing their inheritance, it's intended to be a comedy, though it's not funny.  The movie is filled with long acts, with Hitchcock basically setting up a camera and filming it like a taped stage play (it is based on a play, for the record), and unless you're into a specific brand of dated Irish humor, you're not going to be into this story (I wasn't).  This all changes when the inheritance runs dry though, as it suddenly becomes a cautionary drama.  Johnny is found out by the IRA (and subsequently killed), the Captain has to give back all of his belongings & ends up in total ruin, and Mary reveals that she's pregnant with the solicitor's baby, and as he's run off, she's going to become an unwed mother.  The film ends in a bizarre place where Mary & Juno are trying to come to terms with their faith, leaving their fates to God, and basically just disregarding the Captain from their lives...except the Captain himself has not died or even left them, he's just not around for the final act.

This sort of inconsistency doesn't work for me, but it's throughout the film.  The opening scene has Barry Fitzgerald playing an assassinated orator for pretty much no reason.  Though he's the most recognizable figure in the film today, this was his first film at the time, so I get why he has a small part, but it's never really explained as to his significance to the story.  On stage, Fitzgerald played the Captain, and I kind of wish he would here as there's a lacking in charisma from Chapman in the role.  But overall, this movie reads as a genuine mess, and if there are Hitchcockian touches, I certainly didn't find them lounging in this rubble.  Next week we're going to watch a film called Murder!, which I know nothing about other than the title, but I'm going to feel much more confident this is up Hitch's alley.