Score: 5/5

Film Synopsis

“The Lodger” is a suspense story about a ruthless serial killer, an innocent man caught in the crossfire of an investigation and pure young love.
The film begins with the newest news of a serial killer’s latest crime, the murder of a young blond woman. The serial killer has become all everyone is talking about in London. The police have trouble keeping up and fear and mistrust are in the air of the British capital. In the midst of all of the confusion and fear a family, the Buntings (two older parents and their young blond daughter Daisy – June Tripp) is offering a room of their home for rent.

Daisy’ s boyfriend, Joe (Malcolm Keen) is a policeman, freshly assigned to the murder case. He is deturmend to katch the killer, known as “The Avenger” and plans to use the money he urns from solving the case to by a ring and propose to Daisy. One evening, a young man strongly resembling the “Avenger”, at least based on the police description, comes to the family’s home and requests a room. The young lodger (Ivor Novello) is quite odd and reclusive, which immediately raises suspicion.

When he enters his room, he requests that all pictures (of blond women) hanging on the walls be removed because he doesn’t like them. The parents send their daughter to remove the pictures, and attraction starts to build immediately between her and the odd guest. As the days go on, the lodger and Daisy get closer and closer, much to the dismay of Joe. One Tuesday evening another “Avenger” murder makes headlines. The lodger is seen by Daisy’s mother leaving that same night and coming home late, which raises her suspicion and makes her think that the man is “The Avenger”. She tells this to her husband and they try to stop the lodger and their daughter from spending time together. Joe and his colleagues come up with a plan to catch the serial killer and, by analyzing his movements they notice the murders are moving towards the Bunting’s neighborhood. This and the suspicions of Daisy’s mother lead Joe to believe that the mysterious lodger is indeed “The Avenger” and he shows up with officers at the man’s room to search and arrest him. They find a gun, news clippings and a photo of the Avenger’s first victim. Unable to defend himself, handcuffed, the lodger manages to escape and run away into the night. Daisy follows him and finds him shivering, sitting handcuffed on the side of the road. The lodger explains himself and tells Daisy that the “Avenger’s” first victim was his sister and that he had promised his dying mother that he would find the killer and bring him to justice, which explains the findings of the police in the young man’s bag.

Daisy and the lodger get noticed by people in a bar and soon a mob forms around them and the lodger gets beaten. Meanwhile, Joe and the police find the real Avenger and the case finally gets solved. Daisy, powerless to save the lodger from the angry mob is horrified. Thankfully a newspaper boy happens to be nearby and yell out the news of the “Avenger’s” arrest to the mob, which saves the lodger. The story ends showing the lodger fully recovered and together with Daisy, happily in love.

This masterpiece is a suspense thriller about young love, jealousy, a wrong judgment call, and a horrific mistake. While today the story may seem quite boring and predictable, we must not forget the era when this film was made. In 1927, the film industry was still experimental, with new technology, utilization of the equipment and new bold artists willing to explore the magic of film making rising quickly. The film, under Hitchcock’s creative leadership, has all the ingredients for of a true suspense thriller, complete with a murder mystery, which gets more and more complicated as the film progresses, a misunderstood innocent protagonist, and a developing love story. Again, while in this modern day and age some may not be able to enjoy this silent masterpiece, in its day the story must have had audiences overwhelmed with fear and suspense. No, I am not the only one with this opinion, “The Guardian’s” Peter Bradshaw’s review of the picture confirms my opinion. The critic wrote: “This restoration of Hitchcock’s 1927 silent melodrama offers gripping prehistory not just of his own work, but the Hollywood thriller itself.”

Interesting bits about the film

The film techniques used in this movie (close-ups on facial expressions, the translucent floors showing the character, etc) are quite unusual compared to today, but it is exactly that which fascinated me about the film. “The Lodger”, at least in my mind Is the perfect example of a movie being limited in production, and yet still able to attract audiences around the world. Just how limited in resources the film was can be seen on the screen in the first couple of minutes of the film. As the news of the “Avenger” murders break, a man is seen sitting at a desk shuffling papers of reports coming in. It is quite hard to notice due to the actor facing away from the camera and the fact that the scene is only a couple of seconds long, but the actor on the screen is actually Hitchcock himself. Apparently, according to imdb, the filmmaker had to fill in for an actor who failed to show up at the shoot and later quit the project altogether.

In the name of love

As far as key actions in the film are concerned, there is one In particular that comes to my mind, that clearly shows the notion of what love was capable of in the 1920s. Daisy showed that it did not matter to her what others were saying, and against all odds she left in search of her love, ultimately finding and saving the lodger from the cold and giving him a chance to tell his stay in an effort to resolve the mystery.

Secondly, there is also a key action by the lodger himself which is also fueled by love. In one of the scenes, the lodger goes, out, only to return hours later, knowing that he could run into the Avenger. This could have cost him his life had he been successful in finding the criminal. This action put a target on his back, ultimately leading people to believe that he is “The Avenger”.

The verdict

While aged and by today’s standards, quite poor quality of production, the film is a piece of history and in my mind should be shown to every film buff, enthusiast, beginner filmmaker, or just a simple audience as it embodies the traits of what, in my mind constitutes a true suspense thriller.