SYNOPSIS: A well-to-do British farmer decides to take a wifeCOMMENT: This, of course, is a silent movie. one of Hitchcock's earliest endeavors. Because of the Hitchcock name and popularity (and the fact that the copyright has expired), "The Farmer's Wife" is currently available on at least six DVD labels. At the time I wrote my original review, St Clair had the best copy. but it may not be still available from that source. "The Farmer's Wife" features nice sharp photography by Jack Cox, plus several really ingratiating performances (particularly by the really charming Lillian Hall-Davis).The St. Clair DVD is augmented by an adroit music score which makes light work of of the movie's comparatively long running time of 129 minutes. And to my surprise, Hitch proves himself - even at this early stage of his career - to be a master of bucolic, domestic comedy, despite actor Gordon Harker's continuous efforts to impose his own brand of stage-struck slapstick. Fortunately, Hitch keeps Harker firmly in his place. All told, "The Farmer's Wife" is a really enjoyable experience!

Alfred Hitchcock- my personal favourite director- has done better with the likes of Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train and North By Northwest but he has also done worse with Juno and the Paycock, Champagne, Number Seventeen, Jamaica Inn, Topaz and Under Capricorn(though all have their redeeming merits). The Farmer's Wife is neither among the best or worst of Hitchcock, but it is still well worth watching and among the better of his silent films. It is too long, can get pedestrian and somewhat too slight in places(with a beginning that takes a little too long to set up) and the music score can feel repetitive. However, it is well shot and has lovely scenery, one of the better looking films of Hitchcock's silent era. Prepare yourself for a lot of point-of-view camera shots but they are not distracting at all(some may think differently though). Hitchcock directs with assurance and technical skill though he has done better in films more in his comfort zone. With the house party there are many subtle touches where you are thinking "yeah, this is unmistakably Hitchcock". The comedy is funny and charming if occasionally falling on the broad side, thankfully it is not overplayed and played with a degree of subtlety while making clear that the actors are enjoying themselves. The story is not always involving but does have its charms and you will be drawn in by the comedy and the likable if stock characters, it may have its slow spots but stick with it. The ending is very touching. The acting is good, again at times broad but not too much or that continuous. Gordon Harker is the standout and is immensely fun to watch, though Lillian Hall-Davies is suitably sympathetic and Jameson Thomas carries the film competently(his character is not easy to warm to straight away this said). Overall, interesting and providing that you don't expect masterpiece status- this is early Hitchcock where he was still finding his feet/style in a way- is also a good film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

If you loved Sir Alfred Hitchcock and his contributions and services to the film industry, you should see all of his films for study and preservation. This is one of his early silent films. If you have the patience to watch a two hour silent film, it's not that easy. We're so used to speeches and conversations that we forget to watch and see their facial reactions in the early age of cinema. This film is more comedic than dark and dramatic. While the story is more farcical, it is nice to see Hitchcock have a sense of humor since he became more known for the macabre in his films. It is not hard to believe that film audiences didn't laugh and enjoy this film in the cinema in 1928 long before the Great Depression. Still, I would watch it again if I had too. It's not a bad film. You wouldn't know Hitchcock directed it.

I don't know if other reviewers are cutting this film a little more slack than usual because it's directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock, but I had a tough time making it to the end of this dull romantic farce. Stage actor Jameson Thomas – looking much older than his 40 years – plays the gentleman farmer whose thoughts turn to marriage once he recovers from the premature death of his wife. Not that he's in love with anyone in particular – he just wants someone to gaze upon as he sits in front of the fire at night. He's not too fussy either, drawing up a shortlist of women who would have most men running in the opposite direction from them. To his surprise and shame, all four women turn him down for different reasons.The film takes a while to decide upon its tone, starting as a sad drama before taking a left turn into comedy territory with mostly uncertain steps. Farmer Sweetland comes across as too noble a man to lower himself to chasing after any available widow for only the vaguest of reasons, and the country bumpkin dialogue the intertitles put into his mouth just don't ring true. Much responsibility for the humour is placed upon the shoulders of Gordon Harker, who manfully turns down the corners of his mouth and juts his lower lip out; he's sort of funny, but he can't sustain a movie that goes on for more than an hour and a half, but which seems much longer.I suppose there's a certain fascination with watching the young Hitchcock learning his craft, and this film isn't any worse than many others from the late silent era (when audiences were accustomed to a more leisurely style of storytelling), but there's little evidence of the undisputed master of the screen that Hitchcock would eventually become.