Silent classic from Alfred Hitchcock, considered by many to be the first "true" Hitchcock film in that it's more like his later suspense films than the rest of his silent work, and it features some of the themes that would pop up again and again throughout his career. The story is about a serial killer known as The Avenger killing blonde women in London. A stranger checks into a boarding house and soon after he becomes a suspect for the killings. It's a great film, with some of Hitchcock's best direction of his early years. Stylistically, he's clearly been inspired by some of the talented German directors of the time. The cast is good, with Ivor Novello giving some of the best wide-eyed "silent movie stares" you've ever seen from a male actor. Novello would star in a Hitchcock-less remake of this just five years later. Another remake would be made in 1944 with Laird Cregar as the star. That version is different in some key ways from this one. It's also the only version besides this one that's worth watching.

Alfred Hitchcock made many great films. This was the film that made Hitchcock.The streets of London are wild with fear as a crazed killer who calls himself "The Avenger" waylays young blondes. But all is well at the Bunting household, with pretty blonde daughter Daisy lining up a marriage with a police detective and a new free-spending lodger taking their spare room. But the lodger's habit of going out on the nights when The Avenger strikes, coupled with his apparent interest in Daisy, makes for an uncomfortable journey into fear.The things with Hitchcock that made him great are on display here, his ability to keep you guessing, create twisted rooting interest, and find humor in suspense. June Tripp (billed just as "June" in the credits, as it was her stage name) plays Daisy with that playful capriciousness Hitch loved from his leading ladies.But "The Lodger" is more than a calling card for cinematic greatness to come. It's a fine piece of film in its own right, stylistically unique from its opening shot of a woman's face in close-up as she registers the shock of her imminent murder. Rather than allow us to see the killer, the film then moves us into a sequence showing the media taking hold of the story, a scene reminiscent of David Fincher's "Zodiac" for the way the tumult and not the crime becomes our focus."Always happens Tuesdays, that's my lucky day," a busy paper-seller comments cheerfully about the crime.Ivor Novello as the Lodger is a wonderfully beguiling figure, beauty etched with despair. He always seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, yet somehow resilient as photographed by Gaetano di Ventimiglia as a kind of saintly Nosferatu. Look at him one way and you think: How could he be... Look at him another and you think: How could he be anyone else?Hitchcock and screenwriter Eliot Stannard play with this aspect of the story, and with Novello as such an appealing man of mystery, work up an interesting duality around him, which is best personified by the supporting role of the detective, played with deceptive subtlety by Malcolm Keen.The detective, Joe, is a bully and a lout, and not much of a cop. He suspects the lodger early, but it's not clear whether this is from instinct or jealousy when he sees how Daisy has taken to the new guest. When Joe rounds on the lodger, our thoughts, like Daisy's, are likely to favor the lodger as the injured party. But if he's the Avenger, shouldn't we root for Joe?That's another Hitch calling card, of course, the police, almost always ineffectual or hostile. Here it rises above a trope in a riveting conclusion that helps make "The Lodger" unforgettable.I do agree with some of the criticism of the film being slow; it did seem that way especially the first time I saw it. But with every subsequent viewing, I found myself being more pulled in by every scene, despite now knowing how it turns out. That's another Hitch trademark, the good film that gets better when you see it again and again.

The Lodger is not without its faults, the music does feel too bombastic at times and the ending is too tacky and too conventional. However, the film looks great, the foggy atmosphere, crisp black and white photography and expressionistic images add a lot to the suspense and story and enhances it too as well as holding up terrifically well. There's also a scene with Novello and June's kiss, and it is beautifully done. The story, loosely based on the infamous Jack the Ripper, is suspenseful and compelling with the suspenseful moments appropriately eerie. There are a few darkly funny moments too that are done subtly and the thriller aspects do thrill and are done audaciously. Hitchcock directs splendidly and in his distinctive style helped by a story that serves him well, the innocent in danger theme was a favourite of his and it shows. The acting is good, Ivor Novello especially in a performance that is ambiguous and creepy but also extravagant and sympathetic. June is alluring and Malcolm Keen has a character that is not as sympathetic and he doesn't hold back. Marie Ault and Arthur Chesney give solid support. All in all, a great film, the best of Hitchcock's silent films and possibly one of the best silent films as well. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Saw this today as part of a double bill with Underground, directed by Anthony Asquith, and I have to say, this didn't come off across as well as it's partner. It's a perfectly good and engaging story about a lodging house and the going's on around it, and Ivor Novello shines out in a way that took me by complete immersion.Yet, the score by Nitin Sawnhey was lacking in my opinion. Two uses of vocal tracks really disrupted things, and generally the music was all a bit bombastic and busy. Which is a shame as the movie itself was quite entertaining, although it can't really be said to have had you on tenterhooks necessarily.The underlying alienation, the money-grabbing opportunism, the fear of the other aligned to the curiosity of us all, are very enjoyable aspects of this golden-hued feature. Definitely worth a watch.