Under Capricorn (1949) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this months episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron look for love and money in the land down under as they discuss Under Capricorn.

Written by: 

Based on the novel Under Capricorn (1937) by Helen Simpson

Based on the play by John Colton and Margaret Linden

Adapted by Hume Cronyn

Screenplay by James Bridie

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotton, Michael Wilding, Margaret Leighton, Cecil Parker, Denis O’Dea

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Trailer:

Watch the Movie (it’s on Youtube for free):

Our Favourite Trivia:

Director Cameo: In the town square at the start of the film, his back is to the camera and he’s wearing a coat and a brown hat. Later, he is seen again as one of three men on the steps of Government House.

The title Under Capricorn refers to the Tropic of Capricorn, which bisects Australia. Capricornus is a constellation, and Capricorn is an astrological sign associated with the goat.

Burt Lancaster was the original choice to play Sam Flusky, but the part went to Joseph Cotten instead because Lancaster was deemed too expensive.

Alfred Hitchcock was not surprised by the critical and box-office failure of this movie, freely admitting that it was an ego-driven project made only because Ingrid Bergman was, at the time, the biggest movie draw in America and available.

This was Hitchcock’s second film in Technicolor, and as he did on Rope (1948), he began to use the “ten minute take” of continuous one-reel shooting. However, as the process proved to be far more difficult here than in the enclosed apartment-set drama, only a couple of sequences were ultimately shot that way.

This was Alfred Hitchcock’s third movie in a row that failed at the box office. His previous box-office failures were The Paradine Case (1947) and Rope (1948). His next movie, Stage Fright (1950), was also a box-office failure.

It is thought that the audience had imagined Under Capricorn was going to be a thriller, which it was not, and this ultimately led to its box-office failure. However, the public reception of the film may have been damaged by the revelation in 1949 of the married Bergman’s adulterous relationship with, and subsequent pregnancy by, the married Italian film director Roberto Rossellini.

Margaret Leighton appeared with her future husband Michael Wilding in this movie. After their marriage in 1964, they worked together several more times, but, by his own admission, Wilding preferred retirement, and was happy just to be a supportive audience member for his wife.

According to Michael Wilding’s autobiography “The Wilding Way”, on one occasion while he and Ingrid Bergman were in the middle of a passionate love scene, director Alfred Hitchcock let out a howl of pain, then in the most gentle tone said “Please move the camera a little to the right. You have just run over my foot.” The x-ray revealed later that the camera’s weight had broken Hitchcock’s big toe.

In his autobiography “Vanity Will Get You Somewhere”, Joseph Cotten referred to this movie as “Under Corny Crap”. Supposedly he had also done so on-set, invoking Alfred Hitchcock’s ire; intentionally or otherwise, Hitchcock did not use him again for six years.

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Next up, we’ll be discussing “Young and Innocent”

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