Under Capricorn (1949)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding, Ingrid Bergman, Cecil Parker, Margaret Leighton, Denis O’Dea, Jack Watling, John Ruddock, Harcourt Williams, Bill Shine.

Shortly after arriving in Australia, Irish gentleman Wilding becomes involved with a woman from his past (Bergman) and her husband (Cotten), who came to the continent to escape a murder rap back home. The tagline promised “Mystery, murder and passion from the master of suspense!” but this is actually a fairly conventional love triangle melodrama with only a scattering of mild thriller elements mixed in, mostly towards the end. Talky affair is slow-moving for more than an hour, and though the performances from the three leads are all respectable, their conversations are often drawn-out and labored. As in Hitchcock’s previous film, Rope, he utilizes long, single-reel takes, though not as frequently or successfully—the camera is more often static than fluid, making for an astonishingly dull visual showcase from a director known for anything but. Does pick up a bit in the last third, if you make it that far. Hitchcock accurately considered this one of his weakest efforts.

41/100