The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

Alfred Hitchcock directed "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog" in 1927. It is a black & white silent film made in Britain in 1927.

Class notes: It is one of the first true Hitchcock films in that it starts to show his recurring themes such as the symbolism of birds, numbers, religion, portraits, blondes, mirrors and an innocent man accused of a crime.

In our text by Donald Spoto states another theme as "the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death." For the lodger he used Ivor Novello who had expressive sexy Valentino Eyes.

The movie has a Jack the Ripperish murderer in the town that is killing blondes with golden curls. At the same time a family takes in a lodger who is very suspicious. He demands that all the portraits of blond women be taken out of his room. He paces a lot in his room. There is a special effect where the chandelier shakes as he walks past and then there is a glass ceiling showing the man pacing.

Attraction vs. repulsion is another Hitchcock theme. Two contrasting ways people live their lives right and wrong to bring to center. The dipping of his toe into psychology of why and how people behave was ahead of his time and more of a European view.

There are breaks in the film to show an electric sign advertising a musical play, "Tonight, Golden Curls" and another graphic saying Daisy. I liked this effect.

Daisy is the blond daughter of the family lodging the mysterious man. She also has a boyfriend that is a detective (another common theme). Daisy falls for the lodger, the detective puts clues together and feels the lodger is the murderer and hunts him down. Daisy believes him but a mob tries to kill him until the truth is revealed that he is innocent.

Then unlike Hitchcock films, the wealthy lodger and Daisy live happily ever after. The producers made him do it. Our teacher said that would be his last happy ending.