Main Cast: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Phyllis Konstam, Edward Chapman, R.E. Jeffrey, Miles Mander
Release Year: 1930
Country: UK
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
Alfred Hitchcock's second all-talkie thriller, Murder stars Herbert Marshall as pompous actor-manager Sir John Menier, a send-up of George DuMaurier. Summoned for jury duty, Sir John is one of 12 people who must decide the fate of Diana Baring (Norah Baring), a young actress on trial for murder. Though the girl is found guilty, Sir John believes that she's innocent and sets about to prove it on his own, exercising his actor's prerogative of adopting clever disguises in the course of his investigation. Along the way, he is obliged to entertain a pair of lower-class clods, Ted and Dulcie Markham (Edward Chapman and Phyllis Konstam), who help him stage an elaborate re-enactment of the crime. Based on Enter Sir John, a novel and play by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson, Murder was simultaneously filmed in a German version, with Alfred Abel replacing Herbert Marshall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
There is little mystery as to the identity of the killer is in this early thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, but the master still delivers enough to make the film a worthwhile viewing. Based on the play Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson and adapted for the screen by Hitchcock and Walter Mycroft, Murder! is really just a standard-issue mystery at its core. However, the director's touches and good performances add enough to the film to make it stand slightly above average. The film is broken into four sections: the murder, the trial, the investigation, and the cat-and-mouse game used to flush out the real killer. The first three parts are routine and slow, but the finale is suspenseful in trademark Hitchcock fashion. It is topped off by a shocking conclusion that the director pulls off in grand style. Herbert Marshall toplines the picture as a tormented gentleman whose guilt over helping put a young lady in the gallows prompts him to find the real culprit in the murder case for which she was convicted. Marshall hasn't got the charisma of a Cary Grant or a James Stewart, but he does a solid job playing a man whose anguish hides his feelings for the girl. Esme Percy plays the dour villain with a sullen style that seems best explained by his behavior in the conclusion. Norah Baring is very good as the death-row babe although Hitchcock may have erred by keeping the character out of the picture until more than halfway through. Some of the recognizable Hitchcock elements that turn up in Murder! include his usual amusing array of primitive psychobabble and a great shot in the opening murder sequence in which the camera pans over and slowly reveals the reactions of the witnesses, the stunned prime suspect, and finally the murder weapon and the victim. A German version titled Mary was filmed simultaneously on the same sets. Hitchcock can be seen nearly halfway through the film walking in front of the victim's complex. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
Donald Calthrop - Ion Stewart; Esme Percy - HandelFane; Esme V. Chaplin - Prosecuting Counsel; Violet Farebrother - Mrs. Ward, Jury Member; Clare Greet - Jury Member; Hannah Jones - Mrs. Didsome; Gus McNaughton - Tom Trewitt; Una O'Connor - Mrs. Grogram; Joynson Powell - Judge; Amy Brandon Thomas - Defending Counsel; S.J. Warmington - Bennett; Marie Wright - Miss Mitcham; Kenneth Kove - Matthews, Jury Member; Drusilla Wills - Jury Member; William Fazan
Credit
John Mead - Art Director, Frank Mills - First Assistant Director, Alfred Hitchcock - Director, Emile de Ruelle - Editor, Rene Harrison - Editor, John Reynders - Composer (Music Score), Jack Cox - Cinematographer, John Maxwell - Producer, Clemence Dane - Screen Story, Alfred Hitchcock - Screenwriter, Walter Mycroft - Screenwriter, Alma Reville - Screenwriter, Clemence Dane - Play Author, Helen Simpson - Play Author
This film stars Mallika Sherawat, as a married woman who gets caught up with another man (Emraan Hashmi), and when the other man is murdered, she is wrongfully accused, when its actually the husband that has killed him.
Anu Malik, the music composer of this movie composed a song called "Jana Jane Jana". The chords and melody of the above song was copied from "Nishwa Korechho Amay", a song by a Bangladeshi band called Miles. The Arabic portion of Kaho Na Kaho is actually a stanza from the 2000 hit single Tamally Maak performed by Egyptian heartthrob Amr Diab, also the tune is 100% copied from "Tamlly Ma'ak". The song "Bheege Honth Tere" is also a total copy from the Pakistani hit song by Sheraz Uppal
