Young and Innocent (1938)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Best movie ever!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is a pretty good, entertaining and suspenseful early Hitch, though for some reason it doesn't really stick in the memory. It is mainly feted now for the famous Majestic Hotel ballroom shot, and it is quite clear that after that bit of legerdemain, Hitchcock loses interest and the film is wrapped up unconvincingly in five perfunctory minutes. Lots of other good things though. Nova Pilbeam is charming (Derrick de Marney less so). Edward Rigby is on good scene-stealing form, and Basil Radford's single scene is a masterly tour de force of deadpan comic acting. The two contrasting lunches of the Burgoyne family are also highlights, providing character and comedy while subtly moving the plot along, with Erica's four brothers brilliantly realised. There is lovely photography of the Sussex countryside. The scene where Erica is rescued is genuinely scary, despite being studio-bound. There are some dreadful and wholly unnecessary model shots, but at least they are better than those in The Lady Vanishes. Nevertheless, this feels like a dry run for the latter, rather than its peer.

Maybe not with the same quota of laughs as The Lady Vanishes or the same level of daring-do as 39 Steps, Young and Innocent (called The Girl Was Young somewhere, I guess) was another of Alfred Hitchcock's films about a murder, a chase, and plenty of intrigue and double crossings and such. It's also hard to find a good print, unfortunately, as it's fallen into the public domain and has yet to get the Criterion treatment. Luckily this story of a policeman's wife and a writer on the run - the latter is accused of committing the crime of a murder (a woman who is found on a beach right near the waves, an evocative image as any).Two things really stand out here, years after seeing the film: first are the performances from Nova Pilbeam and Derek DeMarney. They're not any kind of marquee names from the period like Robert Donat or Vivien Leigh, but they get into these characters the best they can and make themselves a charismatic couple with chemistry and good timing. The other thing is a particular reveal during a ballroom dance sequence. It's sometimes very hard to ever get particular shots that Hitchcock pulls off out of your mind, and there's one in this film for sure: as people dance and the band plays on, Hitch and his DP fly over the audience - not so high ala the shot in The Birds or something, but high enough that we can view over the people dancing - and we suddenly see that there is a character in the line of sight: a band member (the drummer, I believe) who is the actual culprit! If one wasn't sure who it exactly was at this place, the clues being what they are, now we know.How Hitchcock uses his camera to create a visual grammar for that moment - in words for the audience to really go "Oh!" in a moment - is a testament to his cunning and clever abilities as a storyteller. That's a moment of pure cinema that stands out in this very good (if not totally great) effort.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was coming into his own as a film director and genius visionary. Thank God for sound and voices instead of soundtrack. In this film, Nova Pilbeam does a fantastic job as Erica who gets caught up in the murder mystery of actress Christine Clay. The prime suspect suddenly appears to be innocent and wrongly accused of the crime. Erica plays detective despite being young and female. She searches to exonerate the suspected killer. This film may not be one of Hitchcock's classic films but it's fine to watch. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Erica's Aunt (played by the wonderful Mary Clare, a British stage actress). I don't recognize many of the cast members and this film was done in London, England before World War II. This film is fine if you want to view Hitchcock's range of film directing.

A man is seen running away from a dead body, when in fact he going to get help. So he says, in this tale of murder, courtesy of director Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, we do see him first encountering the body, and only after that do two young ladies, going for a walk on the beach, find it as well and him running away from the scene of the crime. The body had apparently washed up on shore. But, when the circumstances look bad for the young man (it didn't help that he knew her, but of course), he manages to escape so that he find out who really did it. Of course, he meets the chief constable's daughter, who is "Young and Innocent." There was also another title for which this film was known, The Girl was Young, but by changing it for whatever reason, the title could now be construed to mean both of the leads, but presumably more him, due to the fact he's accused of murder. But also, she's young and naive, which probably was the original meaning. At first, she feels her duty to turn him in and all that good stuff, but of course he gets to her. They travel together with means of looking for his raincoat, which was stolen from him and of which its belt was the means by which the murder victim was strangled. The chemistry between the leads are very good and believable, which makes the film very enjoyable. Despite the fact this older Hitchcock film has gotten overlooked by other Hitchcock films with more stature and shock value, like Vertigo, The Birds and Psycho, this little winner should be seen more often. If you find "Young and Innocent," you won't be disappointed. Let's be young and innocent together!