The Lodger (1927)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Malcolm Keen, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney.

Hitchcock’s first thriller—and easily the best of his silent features—based on the book of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. Mysterious Novello takes a room for rent at the home of Ault and Chesney amid a string of murders by Jack the Ripper (for dramatic license, adjusted here to being a fictional version called “The Avenger”); before long, the homeowners and policeman Keen suspect that the lodger is that very killer. The influence of German Expressionism on Hitchcock is unmistakable, resulting in an unusually shadowy and atmospheric British export; plants the seeds of a few of the director’s calling cards as well, including a wrongly accused man, an obsession with blondes, and a cameo appearance. As in his later film, Suspicion, more ambiguity at the conclusion would have been beneficial (the ending was changed from that of the book) and some of the performances are rather unexceptional, but it’s still a must for fans of the director or moody suspensers in general.

73/100