Review: Champagne
A film about a spoiled heiress (Betty Balfour) her quarrelling boyfriend (Jean Bradin), her disapproving magnate father (Gordon Harker), and a mystery man (Ferdinand von Alten). I’ve heard more than one film being cited as the film Alfred Hitchcock (whose best films to me include “Strangers on a Train” , “Vertigo” , and “The 39 Steps” ) felt was his worst, but this 1928 silent film seems to get a mention more often than any other. Having seen the film, that actually really surprises me. I liked it. Of his 52 available non-propaganda films, I’ve got it in at #23 in between “Blackmail” and “The Pleasure Garden” . #23 may not seem so high, but it’s an indication of just how many good/great films he made, as well as how many films overall that he made. It’s pretty good. Things pick up right away with a great early shot into a champagne glass with a dance hall girl seen through it. Vintage Hitchcock moment for sure as is a funny bit of swaying camera movement to suggest seasic