The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Encyclopedia
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a silent film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
in 1926 and released on 14 February 1927 in London
and on 10 June 1928 in New York City
. The film, based on a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes and a play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes, concerns the hunt for a "Jack the Ripper
" type of serial killer
in London
. The wrong man is accused of the crime and is forced to try to prove his innocence.
That night, Daisy Bunting (June), a blonde model, is at a fashion parade where she and the other showgirls heard the news of the murder. The blonde girls are horrified; covering their hair with dark wigs or hats while Daisy laughs at their fears. She returns home to her parents, Mr and Mrs Bunting, and her policeman sweetheart, Joe, who have been reading the details of the latest Avenger crime in the day's paper.
Later that same night a new tenant (Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting and inquires about the room they are renting. Mrs. Bunting (Ault) takes him to the room on the top floor of her house which is decorated with portraits of beautiful young women, all blondes. The man is rather reclusive and secretive, which puzzles Mrs. Bunting. However she does not complain after he willingly pays her a month's rent in advance, and asks only for bread, butter, and a glass of milk and to be left in peace.
Mrs. Bunting leaves her new tenant and tells her husband the good news, showing him the small fortune she has been paid. Upon returning with the lodger's meal, she is surprised to find him turning all the portraits of the women around to face the wall, and he politely requests that they be removed. Mrs. Bunting enlists Daisy to remove the portraits, and upon first sight an attraction begins to form between Daisy and the lodger. The women bid him goodnight and return downstairs, where they hear the lodger's heavy footsteps as he paces the floor.
Over the course of the following week, the relationship between Daisy and the reclusive lodger gradually heats up, and Joe (Keen), newly assigned to the Avenger case, begins to resent the closeness developing between them. The following Tuesday, Mrs. Bunting is awoken late in the night by the lodger leaving the house. She is suspicious and searches his room in his absence, finding a cupboard that has been locked tight. In the morning, another blond is found dead just around the corner from their house.
Joe and his fellow policemen, after weighing the latest clues, observe that the murders are moving towards the Buntings' neighborhood. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bunting voices her fears to her husband that the lodger is the Avenger, and the two become fearful for Daisy's safety, agreeing to prevent her from spending further time alone with the stranger. Daisy remains oblivious to any danger, and the next Tuesday night, she and the lodger manage to sneak away on a late night date. Joe tracks them down, and confronting them, is told by Daisy that it's over between them. The heartbroken Joe is left to ponder his fortunes while the lodger and Daisy head home. As Joe sits, he begins to piece the events of the previous weeks together and convinces himself that the lodger is indeed the murdering Avenger.
With a warrant in hand and two fellow officers in tow, Joe returns to search the lodger's room. In the locked cupboard they find a leather bag containing a gun, a map plotting the location of the Avenger's murders, newspapers and a photograph of an attractive blonde woman. Taking the lodger's emotional reaction as an admission of guilt, Joe surmises this woman was the Avenger's first victim. The lodger is arrested despite Daisy's protests, but manages to escape and runs off into the night. Daisy follows and finds him, still handcuffed, coatless, and shivering in the fog. He explains that the photograph found in his room was his sister, a beautiful debutante who was murdered by the Avenger at a dance she had attended with her brother. He then vowed to his mother on her deathbed he would not rest until he had brought the killer to justice.
Daisy brings the lodger to a nearby pub to give him brandy to warm him, hiding his handcuffs with a cloak. The locals, suspicious of the pair, pursue them, quickly gathering numbers until they are a veritable lynch mob. The lodger is surrounded and beaten, while Daisy and Joe, who has just heard the news from headquarters that the real Avenger has been caught, try in vain to defend him. When all looks lost, a paperboy interrupts with the news that the real Avenger has been arrested. The mob releases the lodger who falls into Daisy's waiting arms.
Alfred Hitchcock cameo: Alfred Hitchcock appears sitting at a desk in the newsroom with his back to the camera and while operating a telephone (3 minutes into the film). This is Alfred Hitchcock's first recognizable film cameo and was to become a standard practice for the remainder of his films. Hitchcock's cameo came about as the actor supposed to play the part of the telephone operator failed to turn up and Hitchcock filled the breach.
murders.
Originally, the film was intended to end with ambiguity as to whether or not the lodger was innocent. However, when Ivor Novello
was cast in the role, the studio demanded alterations to the script. Hitchcock recalled:
Ultimately, Hitchcock followed these instructions, but avoided showing the true villain onscreen.
Upon seeing Hitchcock's finished film, producer Michael Balcon
was furious, and nearly shelved it (and Hitchcock's career). After considerable bickering, a compromise was reached and film critic Ivor Montagu
was hired to salvage the film. Hitchcock was initially resentful of the intrusion, but Montagu recognized the director's technical skill and artistry and made only minor suggestions, mostly concerning the title cards and the reshooting of a few minor scenes.
The result, described by Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto
, is "the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death." It would pave the way for his later work.
Hitchcock's assistant, Alma Reville
, married Hitchcock on 2 December 1926, shortly before the film was released.
sexuality. Perhaps for the first time, a truly cinematic eye was at work in British cinema. Hitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by Murnau and Lang
, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and claustrophobic lighting. While Hitchcock had made two previous films, in later years the director would refer to The Lodger as the first true "Hitchcock film".
was broadcast over the ARTE
TV network in Europe on August 13, 1999.
The first live performance was given on September 29, 2000 in the Nikolaisaal in Potsdam
by the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg under the direction of Scott Lawton.
series Suspense, turned into an opera
in two acts composed by Phyllis Tate
and has also been the basis of four other films:
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
in 1926 and released on 14 February 1927 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and on 10 June 1928 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The film, based on a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes and a play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes, concerns the hunt for a "Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
" type of serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The wrong man is accused of the crime and is forced to try to prove his innocence.
Plot
The film begins with the screaming visage of a young blonde woman, framed against a sheet of glass, her golden hair illuminated. She is the latest victim of a serial killer known as "The Avenger", who targets young blonde women.That night, Daisy Bunting (June), a blonde model, is at a fashion parade where she and the other showgirls heard the news of the murder. The blonde girls are horrified; covering their hair with dark wigs or hats while Daisy laughs at their fears. She returns home to her parents, Mr and Mrs Bunting, and her policeman sweetheart, Joe, who have been reading the details of the latest Avenger crime in the day's paper.
Later that same night a new tenant (Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting and inquires about the room they are renting. Mrs. Bunting (Ault) takes him to the room on the top floor of her house which is decorated with portraits of beautiful young women, all blondes. The man is rather reclusive and secretive, which puzzles Mrs. Bunting. However she does not complain after he willingly pays her a month's rent in advance, and asks only for bread, butter, and a glass of milk and to be left in peace.
Mrs. Bunting leaves her new tenant and tells her husband the good news, showing him the small fortune she has been paid. Upon returning with the lodger's meal, she is surprised to find him turning all the portraits of the women around to face the wall, and he politely requests that they be removed. Mrs. Bunting enlists Daisy to remove the portraits, and upon first sight an attraction begins to form between Daisy and the lodger. The women bid him goodnight and return downstairs, where they hear the lodger's heavy footsteps as he paces the floor.
Over the course of the following week, the relationship between Daisy and the reclusive lodger gradually heats up, and Joe (Keen), newly assigned to the Avenger case, begins to resent the closeness developing between them. The following Tuesday, Mrs. Bunting is awoken late in the night by the lodger leaving the house. She is suspicious and searches his room in his absence, finding a cupboard that has been locked tight. In the morning, another blond is found dead just around the corner from their house.
Joe and his fellow policemen, after weighing the latest clues, observe that the murders are moving towards the Buntings' neighborhood. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bunting voices her fears to her husband that the lodger is the Avenger, and the two become fearful for Daisy's safety, agreeing to prevent her from spending further time alone with the stranger. Daisy remains oblivious to any danger, and the next Tuesday night, she and the lodger manage to sneak away on a late night date. Joe tracks them down, and confronting them, is told by Daisy that it's over between them. The heartbroken Joe is left to ponder his fortunes while the lodger and Daisy head home. As Joe sits, he begins to piece the events of the previous weeks together and convinces himself that the lodger is indeed the murdering Avenger.
With a warrant in hand and two fellow officers in tow, Joe returns to search the lodger's room. In the locked cupboard they find a leather bag containing a gun, a map plotting the location of the Avenger's murders, newspapers and a photograph of an attractive blonde woman. Taking the lodger's emotional reaction as an admission of guilt, Joe surmises this woman was the Avenger's first victim. The lodger is arrested despite Daisy's protests, but manages to escape and runs off into the night. Daisy follows and finds him, still handcuffed, coatless, and shivering in the fog. He explains that the photograph found in his room was his sister, a beautiful debutante who was murdered by the Avenger at a dance she had attended with her brother. He then vowed to his mother on her deathbed he would not rest until he had brought the killer to justice.
Daisy brings the lodger to a nearby pub to give him brandy to warm him, hiding his handcuffs with a cloak. The locals, suspicious of the pair, pursue them, quickly gathering numbers until they are a veritable lynch mob. The lodger is surrounded and beaten, while Daisy and Joe, who has just heard the news from headquarters that the real Avenger has been caught, try in vain to defend him. When all looks lost, a paperboy interrupts with the news that the real Avenger has been arrested. The mob releases the lodger who falls into Daisy's waiting arms.
Cast
- Marie AultMarie AultMarie Ault was a British actress.Born at Wigan, Lancashire, she was a star in many British films of the silent era but is most remembered for her role as Daisy Bunting's mother in The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog directed by Alfred Hitchcock.She also had bit parts in films such as Jamaica...
- The Landlady (Mrs. Bunting) - Arthur Chesney - Her Husband (Mr. Bunting)
- JuneJune TrippJune Tripp , sometimes known just by her screen name, June, was a British actress.Born June Howard-Tripp in London, she worked mainly on stage . She made a handful of films, mostly in the silent era...
- Daisy Bunting, a Model - Malcolm KeenMalcolm KeenMalcolm Keen was an English film and television actor.Born in Bristol, Keen was an early collaborator with the director Alfred Hitchcock, starring in his silent films The Mountain Eagle, The Lodger and The Manxman.Keen was the father of actor Geoffrey Keen, and the two both played Iachimo in...
- Joe Chandler - Ivor NovelloIvor NovelloDavid Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
- Jonathan Drew (The Lodger) - Reginald GardinerReginald GardinerReginald Gardiner was an English-born actor in film and television and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Britain. His parents wanted him to be an architect and he studied at it but he wanted to be an actor and eventually got his way.He started as a super on stage and eventually...
- (uncredited) - Eve Gray - Showgirl Victim (uncredited)
- Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
- Extra in newspaper office (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock cameo: Alfred Hitchcock appears sitting at a desk in the newsroom with his back to the camera and while operating a telephone (3 minutes into the film). This is Alfred Hitchcock's first recognizable film cameo and was to become a standard practice for the remainder of his films. Hitchcock's cameo came about as the actor supposed to play the part of the telephone operator failed to turn up and Hitchcock filled the breach.
Production
The Lodger is based on a novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes, and on the play Who Is He?, cowritten by Belloc Lowndes, about the Jack The RipperJack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murders.
Originally, the film was intended to end with ambiguity as to whether or not the lodger was innocent. However, when Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
was cast in the role, the studio demanded alterations to the script. Hitchcock recalled:
Ultimately, Hitchcock followed these instructions, but avoided showing the true villain onscreen.
Upon seeing Hitchcock's finished film, producer Michael Balcon
Michael Balcon
Sir Michael Elias Balcon was an English film producer, known for his work with Ealing Studios.-Background:...
was furious, and nearly shelved it (and Hitchcock's career). After considerable bickering, a compromise was reached and film critic Ivor Montagu
Ivor Montagu
The Honorable Ivor Goldsmid Samuel Montagu was a British filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, film critic, writer, table tennis player and apparent Soviet spy...
was hired to salvage the film. Hitchcock was initially resentful of the intrusion, but Montagu recognized the director's technical skill and artistry and made only minor suggestions, mostly concerning the title cards and the reshooting of a few minor scenes.
The result, described by Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto
Donald Spoto
Donald Spoto is an American celebrity biographer, Catholic theologian, and former monk. He is best known for his best-selling biographies of film and theatre celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly,...
, is "the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death." It would pave the way for his later work.
Hitchcock's assistant, Alma Reville
Alma Reville
Alma Reville, Lady Hitchcock was an English assistant director, screenwriter and editor. She was the second daughter of Edward and Lucy Reville....
, married Hitchcock on 2 December 1926, shortly before the film was released.
Significance
The Lodger introduced themes that would run through much of Hitchcock’s later work: the innocent man on the run, hunted down by a self-righteous society, and a fetishisticSexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
sexuality. Perhaps for the first time, a truly cinematic eye was at work in British cinema. Hitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by Murnau and Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and claustrophobic lighting. While Hitchcock had made two previous films, in later years the director would refer to The Lodger as the first true "Hitchcock film".
Soundtrack
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Hitchcock's birth, a new orchestral soundtrack was composed by Ashley Irwin. The composer's recording of the score with the Deutsches Filmorchester BabelsbergDeutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg
The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg is a symphony orchestra based in Potsdam, Germany. It was founded in 1993 by Klaus Peter Beyer. The orchestra derives its name from the legendary Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg, a city part of Potsdam today, where notable films such as Metropolis, Dr...
was broadcast over the ARTE
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
TV network in Europe on August 13, 1999.
The first live performance was given on September 29, 2000 in the Nikolaisaal in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
by the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg under the direction of Scott Lawton.
Other adaptations
The novel was adapted for the CBS RadioCBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
series Suspense, turned into an opera
The Lodger (opera)
The Lodger is an opera in two acts composed by Phyllis Tate. The libretto is by David Franklin, after the 1913 novel of the same name by Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes...
in two acts composed by Phyllis Tate
Phyllis Tate
Phyllis Tate was an English composer known for forming unusual instrumentations in her compositions. Her musical style has been called avant-garde and she is recognized for appealing to amateur performers and children....
and has also been the basis of four other films:
- The LodgerThe Lodger (1932 film)The Lodger is a British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan and Jack Hawkins. It is based on the novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, also filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927, by John Brahm in 1944, as Man in the Attic directed by Hugo Fregonese,...
(1932) directed by Maurice ElveyMaurice ElveyMaurice Elvey was the most prolific film director in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year....
and also starring Ivor Novello in the lead role - The LodgerThe Lodger (1944 film)The Lodger is a 1944 horror film about Jack the Ripper, based on the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Laird Cregar, features Sir Cedric Hardwicke and was directed by John Brahm from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon.Lowndes' story had previously...
(1944) directed by John BrahmJohn BrahmJohn Brahm was a film and television director possibly best known today for directing a dozen of the original Twilight Zone episodes including the now classic "Time Enough at Last"...
and starring Laird CregarLaird Cregar-Early life and career:Samuel Laird Cregar was the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s... - Man in the AtticMan in the AtticMan in the Attic is a 1953 mystery film directed by Hugo Fregonese. It was released in the United States on December 23 by Twentieth Century Fox...
(1953) directed by Hugo FregoneseHugo FregoneseHugo Fregonese was an Argentine film director who worked both in Hollywood and in Argentina....
and starring Jack PalanceJack PalanceJack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr... - The LodgerThe Lodger (2009 film)The Lodger is an 2009 mystery/thriller film directed by David Ondaatje and starring Alfred Molina, Hope Davis and Simon Baker. It is based on the novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, filmed previously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927, by Maurice Elvey in 1932, by John Brahm in 1944, and as Man in...
(2009) directed by David Ondaatje and starring Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
.
Listen to
- The Lodger on the radio series Mystery in the Air (1947), starring Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
and Agnes MooreheadAgnes MooreheadAgnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...