Alfred Hitchcock Collectors Guide: Stage Fright (1950)

• The Master of Suspense meets femme fatale Marlene Dietrich
• Hugely underrated murder mystery that wrongfoots its audience
• The director returns for another feature shot in his native London

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Writing on a Classic: Stage Fright

French poster (alt)

Contents

• Synopsis
• Production
• Essays, etc
• Preserved transfer
• Restored transfer
• Soundtrack
• Related articles

Synopsis

TCM intros

“★★★1⁄2. Keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Delightful entertainment.” – Kate Cameron, New York Daily News

In Alfred Hitchcock’s world, theatres are where danger stalks the wings, characters are not what they seem and that “final curtain” can drop any second. The droll Stage Fright springs from that entertaining tradition. Jane Wyman plays drama student Eve Gill, who tries to clear a friend (Richard Todd) being framed for murder by becoming the maid of flamboyant stage star Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). Filming in his native England, Hitchcock merrily juggles elements of humor and whodunit and puts a game ensemble (Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell, Kay Walsh and daughter Patricia Hitchcock) through its paces. No one turns a theatre into a bastion of dread like Hitchcock and Stage Fright is proof positive. – Warner DVD (2004)

Production

“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Hitchcock.”

Marlene and Maria – Life

The film’s German title is Die rote Lola (The Red Lola) but the only red is on Dietrich’s bloodstained dress and neither she nor anyone else is called Lola. Rather, it’s a shoehorned reference to Dietrich’s international breakthrough, Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel) in which she played Lola Lola. That film was directed by master of expressionistic lighting and composition, Austro-Hungarian Josef von Sternberg, who had decamped to Hollywood to further his career over a decade earlier. They embarked on a passionate affair – both were married at the time and Dietrich had a young daughter – and Sternberg quickly persuaded his lover to join him in America.

• US: Criterion 6-DVD and 6-BD Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood (2018)
• UK: Universal 18-DVD Marlene Dietrich: The Movie Collection (2006)
  • Powerhouse 6-BD Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount 1930-1935 (2019)
• France: Elephant 6-DVD and 6-BD Dietrich-Von Sternberg: Les années à Hollywood 1930-1935 (2023)

The pair wasted no time in making a string of highly successful, now iconic films for Paramount, where the studio marketed her as their ‘exotic’ answer to MGM’s Swedish import, Greta Garbo. All of this meant that by the time Dietrich was one of Stage Fright’s “marquee lures“, Hitch uncharacteristically gave her free rein to light her own scenes as he acknowledged she’d picked up a thing or two about cinematography from her former mentor. “No Dior, no Dietrich!” the star reputedly demanded of Hitch when approached for the role, before later claiming she only wore haute couture because it was expected of her, and “I would like just once to wear rags.” Sure, whatever you say. Just one of her pieces of jewellery she wore in the film, a diamond and ruby bracelet, was recently auctioned for a cool $4.5 million.

• Story of a Dress: Stage Fright, or When Dietrich Demanded Dior – Laurie Brookins
• Costume as a Storytelling Tool in Stage Fright and Strangers on a Train – Bridget Shields

“Come on, Hitch: I can’t even afford shoes!” Ms Dietrich tries to tap the Master for more bling.

Illustrierte Film-Bühne, Der Stern, press sheet

The screenplay is based on Man Running by Selwyn Jepson, first serialised in Collier’s in 1947, republished as Killer by Proxy and known as Outrun the Constable in the author’s native UK. Pretty rare for a Hitchcock, neither noirish film nor source have any remakes or adaptations in other media. It started out as the third film from Hitch’s short-lived production company Transatlantic Pictures, but when its first two, Rope and Under Capricorn, foundered at the box office, Stage Fright was acquired by Warner Bros. Hitch was still very much in experimental mode and tellingly, it includes several of its predecessor’s characteristically long takes.

During the postwar rebuilding of Europe, several countries passed capital control laws aimed at restricting revenues generated within their borders from flowing overseas and further depleting their weakened economies. In order to free up ‘trapped’ profits, Warner initiated various productions filmed abroad but with imported American stars; Stage Fright has Dietrich and Wyman amid an otherwise all-British cast. Another notable example is Paramount’s Roman Holiday (1953), filmed entirely in Rome with American leads Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert acting alongside a few Brits, including Audrey Hepburn, and an otherwise predominantly Italian cast. Stage Fright is the second of four features Hitch shot in England after emigrating to the US in 1939, along with Under Capricorn, The Man Who Knew Too Much remake and Frenzy.

Locations: London on Location, H Zone

Even better than the real thing: Marlene Dietrich and Richard Todd in concept art by T.J. Kuck

Stage Fright doesn’t generally enjoy a high reputation among Hitch’s films but it’s thoroughly undeserved and, as with several others,  much of the blame can be attributed to it being unfairly slighted in Hitchcock/Truffaut:

F.T. Applying the yardstick you used a few days ago, it seems to me that the reason for which the story is of no interest is that none of the people in it are ever in real danger.
A.H. I became aware of that before the shooting was completed, but by then it was too late to do anything about it. Why are none of the people ever in danger? Because we’re telling a story in which the villains themselves are afraid. The great weakness of the picture is that it breaks an unwritten law: The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture. That’s a cardinal rule, and in this picture the villain was a flop!
F.T. The better the villain, the better the picture… that’s an excellent formula! It’s true that the reason why Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train were so great is that Claude Rains, Joseph Cotten, and Robert Walker were your three best villains.

It’s also drawn frequent criticism for the inclusion of an unreliable narrator but perhaps the most persuasive argument for it being “a major film, though in a minor key” is made by one of our undisputedly major commentators:

Film Favorites: Stage Fright – Molly Haskell, Film Comment

Essays, etc

• Stage Fright – Joe Valdez
• Stage Fright – Jeff Stafford
• Stage Fright – Roy Stafford
• Stage Fright – Ian Farrington
• Stage Fright – Maurice Yacowar
• Re-exploring Stage Fright – Andrew Pruim

• Fear, Confusion and Stage Fright – John Orr
• The Duality of Stage Fright/Pt 2/Pt 3 – Ken Mogg
• Stage Fright – Donald Spoto, The Art of AH (1976/1999)
• Stage Fright: The Knowing Performance – Richard Abel
• Stage Fright: Alfred Hitchcock’s Fear of Acting – John Fawell
• Hitchcock thriller makes theatre a crime scene – Chris Wiegand

Preserved transfer

Spanish DVD (rear)

Warner Bros. DVD box sets

• Prime Video HD | YouTube
• US: DVD (2004, reissued 2018)
• UK: DVD (2004)
• Italy: DVD (2004, reissued 2005)

All official releases are from Warner and sport a decent transfer with some very minor signs of dirt and damage. They’re all the same apart from regional subs and dubs, with a “Hitchcock and Stage Fright” featurette (19:21), and theatrical trailer (2:51). An alternate French-dubbed print, released on VHS and in a set, contains several additional or uncut scenes which ought to have been included in the featurette or as extras.

• Germany: DVD (2004)
• France: DVD (2004, reissued 2007)
• Spain: DVD (2009)
• Japan: DVD (2004, reissued 2006, 2009)

Warner Bros. DVD box sets

Thankfully, the copious numbers of Hitch bootlegs finally start to peter out by the time we reach his 1950s films. But there are still more than a few frightfully poor DVD-Rs and pressed discs from the US (Timeless, Triad), Italy (DNA [cropped to “widescreen”!], Quadrifoglio BD-R, Sinister Film), Spain (Llamentol BD-R), Brazil (Classic Line, Silver Screen), East Asia, and others. Basically, don’t touch it if it isn’t from Warner Bros.

Restored transfer

The best disc to date and region 0, so playable anywhere

The identical region 0, US and UK BDs, and limited edition Brazil set feature the same content as the DVDs but with the film itself beautifully restored from a 4k scan of the original negative, and the trailer also upgraded to HD. Note that like all Warner Archive restorations, it’s exclusive to BD and not available to stream anywhere. For catalogue titles, Warner generally issue a single BD with multiple language options that with amended packaging can be distributed worldwide. However, despite the collective DVDs having 20-odd subs; and dubs in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, none were included on the BD which has only original English for both, indicating they’ve no plans to release it elsewhere. The licensed Brazilian region A set includes a new Portuguese dub and subs.

• US: BD (2022)
• UK: BD (2024)
• Brazil: Versátil 2-BD/4-film Hitchcock Essencial (2024) info; 1,000 ltd ed

Soundtrack

Stage Fright’s score was composed by Leighton Lucas with musical direction by Louis Levy, following their work on the previous year’s Under Capricorn; Levy also worked on seven other stellar British Hitchcocks from Waltzes from Vienna to The Lady Vanishes. The score’s only official issues to date feature excerpts including the one-minute title music, which has also been bootlegged via a muffled, crudely snipped copy on the Alfred Hitchcock: The Classic Soundtrack Collection CD/MP3 from UK-based pirates Enlightenment Records.

• 2-CD/bk | MP3/digi bk BD Music Presents… Alfred Hitchcock (2017)
• Cinezik 2-LP Best Scores from Alfred Hitchcock’s Films/alt (2020)
• DC MP3 Best Music from 1950s Thriller Movies (2024)

There are also three excellent modern recordings of the specially reconstructed “Stage Fright Rhapsody”.

• Silva Screen 2-CD/MP3 Psycho: The Essential AH (1999) City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Paul Bateman (5:01)
• Chandos CD/MP3 Film Music of Arthur Benjamin & Leighton Lucas (2012) BBC National Orchestra of Wales cond. Rumon Gamba (4:54) booklet
• Decca CD/MP3 Love Story: Piano Themes from Cinema’s Golden Age (2016) – Valentina Lisitsa w/BBC Concert Orchestra cond. Gavin Sutherland (4:30)

If you live in the UK or have a decent VPN, see how you’d fare on the BBC’s Mastermind with “Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1950s” as your chosen specialist subject.

Writing on a Classic: Stage Fright

Related articles

This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.