The Ring [1927]

  The Ring
Alfred Hitchcock
1/2

“One Round” Jack is a show boxer at a circus. The Girl sells tickets to Jack‘s fights. One day, Bob Corby—the reigning Australian heavy-weight champion—shows up and kicks Jack‘s arse. The Girl then immediately falls in love with Bob Corby. But fear not, all hope is not lost; Jack will only have to kick Bob Corby‘s arse a little harder to win back his true love.

I find this a little strange.

Plus points for presenting soothsayers as con artists on the big screen in 1927, but there’s no getting around the fact that this is essentially a sports movie from the middle ages.

Stanley Socks
Now that’s a good band name!
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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog [1927]

The Lodger: A Story of the London fog
Alfred Hitchcock
6/7

Weird story-telling, intensely dramatic acting, even for a silent movie, and one of the best silent film-soundtracks I’ve ever come across. This isn’t the original soundtrack, by the way, but Ashley Irwin‘s composition from 1999. Good job Ashley.  And good job you too, Hitch.

Don’t know where you’d get that in 2018.

If I didn’t know, I’d probably guess this wasn’t from the silent era at all, but rather a recent homage (the protagonist even looks a bit like Crispin Glover). I can tell it isn’t though, from the swastikas in the carpets.

In any case, what I’m trying to say is that the ‘cock  somehow managed to make a film that feels surprisingly modern even after nearly a hundred years. It must have been absolutely mind-blowing in 1927.

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