Two review blogs for the price of one! And, I have to admit: Next to Juno and the Paycock, Jamaica Inn looked like a masterpiece. And I'll post the movie I'm talking about that's even worse than these two--all by Alfred Hitchcock--very soon.

Next is 1930's Juno and the Paycock (released as The Shame of Mary Boyle). I got to be honest here: I hated this movie. There's another one coming up on the Alfred Hitchcock collection that I hated as much I did this one and, sadly, they're on the same disc.

Hateful movie. It has 4.8 stars on IMDb, and I think it's been generous.

It's another play that was turned into a movie, and looking over this set, Hitchcock seemed bored with getting the assignments of turning plays into movies. He's not having fun with this movie, and neither do we.

The movie features Irish actors that are, frankly, incomprehensible. The poor sound in this movie doesn't help anyone understand anything that's being said. It's about an impoverished family during the Dublin uprising. The father is lazy, and his wife, Juno, is a hard working woman who loves her two children. The father gets a huge inheritance, and the family start living the wealthy life. Then, he finds out that the inheritance doesn't exist.

Further shame comes when their oldest child, Mary, gets pregnant, and she's unmarried. The father kicks her out, and Juno goes with her daughter. The son is arrested and sentenced to death for participating in the Dublin uprising.

The whole movie is just a mess. It's unwatchable. The only two characters in this movie who are decent are Juno and Mary.

But, do yourself a favor and miss this one. Alfred Hitchcock would concur. He told Francois Truffaut that this movie has "nothing to do with cinema."

Next:

This is the last Alfred Hitchcock movie that he made before moving to Hollywood. And he did not go out with a bang. But, rather, he went out with a half-hearted whimper.

This is 1939's Jamaica Inn (6.3 stars), starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara. I love Maureen O'Hara and was excited to see her in a Hitchcock movie. Instead, I got a weak costume drama that Hitchcock was never able to find his footing in (He also attempted costume dramas with Waltzes from Vienna, which I haven't seen, but it doesn't have a lot of love, and Under Capricorn, which has its moments but is mostly a mark of a director who can't quite get a handle on the costume drama.)

Hitchcock said this movie was an absurd thing to undertake, and he's correct. The movie feels like he's just killing time until his contract is up and he can get out to Hollywood to really make his mark. This movie is included in the Harry Medved and Randy Lowell book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way).

This movie is about an orphan, Mary (O'Hara) who comes to live with her aunt (Marie Ney) and uncle (Leslie Banks) on the Cornwall Coast. Her uncle Joss is the leader of a band of thieves who lure ships off course, kill the crews, and plunder the cargo. When Mary saves the newest member of the band (Robert Newton) from being lynched, the two seek asylum from the local justice of the peace (Laughton, who is the only one watchable in this movie). However, things aren't what they seem: the saved member of the band is actually a Royal Navy lieutenant who is seeking to uncover the mastermind behind the gang, and Pengallan (Laughton) is the mastermind behind the operation.

Hitchcock and Laughton didn't get along during filming. Hitchcock said that he felt caught between Laughton and Laughton's business partners. Hitchcock complained that he didn't so much direct the film as he did referee it.

There is really only one interesting character in this movie: Charles Laughton's character. There is only one moving moment in this movie: when the band of thieves is captured and sentenced to be hung, a 17 year old boy is among those arrested. His wrists are too slender for the handcuffs, so he has to be tied with rope. At first, he protests: he wants to chains like his partners. He says, "Why can't I be handcuffed like the rest? I'm going to be hanged like the rest." Then, he realizes what he said and starts to cry, saying "I'm going to die! I don't want to die. I'm only 17!" It's pretty sad, and it's pretty much the only redeeming moment of this otherwise painful-to-watch movie.

Till next time.

Kat