Number Seventeen (1932) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this months episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron faint, fall down and fight over “Number Seventeen”.

Clip:

The Picture:

Picture Title:Number 17

Written by:J. Jefferson Farjion (and based on his play)

Starring:Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, John Stuart, Donald Calthrop, Barry Jones, Ann Casson, Henry Cane, Garry Marsh

Directed by:Alfred Hitchcock

Year Released: 1932

Our Favourite Trivia:

Though the opening credits confirm the picture’s title is Number Seventeen, much of the promotional material (as per graphic above) and many databases refer to Number 17.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock did not want to make this movie. He had wanted to direct a prestige production of John Van Druten’s play “London Wall”, but to punish Hitchcock for the financial failure of East of Shanghai (1931), British International Pictures head John Maxwell took him off “London Wall” and put him on this movie instead. Hitchcock has referred to this movie as “a terrible picture, very cheap melodrama.”

This was Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s last movie as a director for British International Pictures, though he made one more movie for them as a producer: Lord Camber’s Ladies (1932), directed by Benn W. Levy.

The film makes extensive use of miniature sets, including a model train, bus, and ferry.

On its initial release, audiences reacted to Number Seventeenwith confusion and disappointment. The film is not often revived, but continues with generally negative reviews with critics from Rotten Tomatoes noting the film as, “highly entertaining but practically incomprehensible” and as an “unsatisfactory early tongue-in-cheek comedy/suspense yarn”

The Random Draw for Next Picture:

Next up, we’ll be discussing “The Birds” (1963).

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