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In one of the lesser offerings from director Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Wilding plays a Brit visiting colonial Australia. To the dismay of his uncle (Cecil Parker), the new governor of the colony, Wilding’s character gets caught up in the affairs of an ex-con (Joseph Cotton) and his wife (Ingrid Bergman), who also happens to be a childhood friend of Wilding’s. While the rest of Sydney society scoffs, Wilding tries to rescue Bergman from her severe alcoholism and ends up falling into a love triangle. Dark secrets about Bergman and Cotton’s past are revealed and an emotional saboteur (Margaret Leighton) is uncovered in their household — all of which threatens any possible happy future.
Under Capricorn is more of an old-fashioned melodrama than Hitchcock’s usual suspense-thriller, though the director does provide a little atmosphere here and there, and tries to keep the camera moving as much as possible. Unfortunately, the trio of main characters are ultimately neither interesting nor engaging. Their inter-relational drama becomes ponderous and outstays its welcome after a two-hour run time that curiously concludes happily, even though a tragic ending would seem vastly more appropriate. Only Wilding and Leighton, as the housekeeper with her own agenda, have any compelling screen presence. Bergman overdoes it as a drunk haunted by her past, and Cotton is too stiff to let any charisma charm the audience. The two are brooding, self-tortured masochists that are frankly unpleasant to spend any time with.