The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

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🎙️ EPISODE 652: 02.24.23                 This one, the second "surviving" Hitchcock movie from the silent film era, is in many ways the film that put him on the map. It still registers as a work of the public domain, but it's gotten a number of recent-ish restorations. So the picture quality is much better than The Pleasure Garden. However, I have a bone to pick with all the various versions floating around on YouTube. Why on earth would you soundtrack the picture with modern music? And modern music that has lyrics in it? Yuck. But that's the I watched (fast-forward to 23:30 to see what I mean). Honestly, only two flicks into this silent era and I'm already regretting my decision to watch and review EVERYTHING the man ever made.

Like I said, this one is visually much more striking than its predecessor. But as a story, it's kind of humdrum. I much more appreciated the wacky twists and turns of The Pleasure Garden. The Lodger is a thriller in so much as young pretty ladies keep getting murdered by a mysterious serial killer called "The Avenger" (umm, is this part of the dang MCU?!) and all the fine and scared people of London just gotta figure out who this crazy dude is. All signs point to the vaguely creepy "Lodger" character who has taken up residence in the home of young pretty lady Daisy and her parents, which means that he is 100% definitely without a doubt NOT the killer. There is a cop character who is courting Daisy and for a second I thought it might be interesting if he turned out to be "The Avenger" but 1927 would never allow such law enforcement slander. It would allow for some pretty cool in-camera editing tricks though...

It hits all the beats you're likely expecting. Daisy and "The Lodger" fall in love but everyone thinks he's the serial killer which is such a buzzkill for their romance. An angry mob descends on "The Lodger" just as the real murderer is captured (all off-camera; we never even see this guy!), but luckily the cop saves him before he's torn apart by some good ole-fashioned street justice. They live happily ever after. The End. But you know what's not The End? This TGI-Hitchcock series! There are still so many fucking movies left to go, like more than 50! Lord help me.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 652A - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 653 ⫸

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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a 1927 British silent thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen and Ivor Novello. The film is based on the 1913 novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes and the play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes. Its plot concerns the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer in London. It was released on February 14, 1927.