Stage Fright (1950)

Kay Walsh and Jane Wyman - Stage Fright

I was initially reluctant to watch this because I had a memory of it being a rather minor Hitchcock film. But it was a blast. Hilarious at times - Hitch was always very funny - but also suspenseful. I don’t mind the lie at the beginning or, as these things are usually called, the twist at the end because it worked. Seeing Richard Todd’s twisted face pondering a third murder was very tense. I don’t get the appeal of older Marlene at all but she was better in this than in Witness for the Prosecution. Jane Wyman and Michael Wilding were fine. But it’s the supporting cast that make this film fly. Alastair Sim. Sybil Thorndike. Joyce Grenfell (!) And Kay Walsh with her severe specs, fag, and Cockney accent that she apparently coached Jane Wyman in - don’t do it, Jane, she’s ‘aving you orn!