Murder! (1930)

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Alfred Hitchcock’s first sound film is emblematic of his usual content, if not his his trademark style and suspense. Murder! centers around an actress (Diana Baring) found in a fugue state next to a bloody fire poker and a murdered acquaintance. After she’s convicted of the crime and sentenced to death, a skeptical juror (Herbert Marshall) — a fellow actor in a local troup — takes it upon himself to discover who the real killer is. In addition to murder most foul, the screenplay (credited in part to Hitchcock’s long-time collaborator and wife, Alma Reville) also features a character wrongfully accused and a sexually ‘ambiguous’ prime suspect (Esme Percy).

While the storytelling staples are there, the exalted Hitchcock polish is still in its nascent stage. Certain scenes boast ambitious camera movement and unusual points-of-view for the time, but Murder! doesn’t fully escape the feeling of a photographed stage play — something Hitchcock would eventually succeed at doing more than any other filmmaker alive. And in terms of suspense, the movie really only delivers in its climax — a satisfying one involving a circus trapeze act. Even though it’s not quite up to Hitch’s later standards, Murder! is still an interesting step in the filmmaker’s evolution. Lead actor Herbert Marshall (The Letter, Midnight Lace) gives the film’s least theatrical and most affecting performance, demonstrating an early example of the more realistic method for which Marlon Brando would become famous.