Sweet light comedy film not as well-known as 39 Steps or Lady Vanishes, but it has a growing reputation . It lacks the star power of great Hitchcock –although Nova Pilbeam was at the time a big enough name to be billed alone above the title (she was coming off Tudor Rose). Watching her and Derrick whats-his-name gallivant around the countryside is a little like watching two teen stars from Dawson’s Creek or The OC in a feature together; it's really quite sweet.
The support cast is marvellous, including several people who would pop up in The Lady Vanishes and some terrific kid actors. There are lots of good scenes involving kids in this – a game of blind man’s bluff, a dinner. Was Hitchcock making up for blowing up Desmond Tester in Sabotage?
The touch is a lot lighter than the previous couple of Hitchcocks - there’s no international intrigue, it's only a murder, the real killer is not much of a threat. However there are some moments of emotional intensity, such as some of the romance scenes, and the scene where Nova’s copper father says her actions have gotten him in trouble. (The last shot of her introducing her boyfriend to her father has plenty of material for Hitchcock academics to chew over.)
Marvellous shot composition as always. The climax is a bit odd – there is the famous tracking shot leading to the twitching eye of the killer but it’s a bit of a deux ex machina to have him conveniently faint and get the passive heroes out of trouble.
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