Murder!
Encyclopedia
Murder! is a 1930
British
drama film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
and starring Herbert Marshall
, Norah Baring
and Edward Chapman
. It is based on a novel and play called Enter Sir John
by Clemence Dane
and Helen Simpson
. It was Hitchcock's third all-talkie film, after Blackmail
and Juno and the Paycock
.
After being thought in the public domain
for decades, the film's rights were obtained by French
media company Canal+
in 2005. A restored and remastered print of the film was released on DVD
by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
in 2007
.
and should be hanged lest she strike again. One juror, Sir John Menier, a celebrated actor-manager
, is not convinced and, using skills he has learned from the theatre, investigates the circumstances of the case. He enlists the help of Ted Markham and his wife and they re-examine the crime scene.
Sir John discovers who the real murderer is, and tries to lure a confession from him. The action comes to a thrilling climax at the circus.
who was a friend of Hitchcock. Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance
in the film as a man walking past the murder victim's house.
1930 in film
-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and starring Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
, Norah Baring
Norah Baring
Norah Baring , born Norah Minnie Baker, was an English film actress most famous for portraying "Diana Baring" in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Murder! . She is also known for playing the female lead in Anthony Asquith's silent thriller A Cottage on Dartmoor...
and Edward Chapman
Edward Chapman (actor)
Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...
. It is based on a novel and play called Enter Sir John
Enter Sir John
Enter Sir John is a 1928 British crime novel by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. It concerns Martella Baring, a young actress, who is put on trial and convicted of murder and a fellow actor Sir John Saumarez who takes up her cause and tries to prove her innocence...
by Clemence Dane
Clemence Dane
Clemence Dane was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton , an English novelist and playwright.-Life and career:...
and Helen Simpson
Helen Simpson
Helen Simpson may refer to:* Helen de Guerry Simpson , Australian novelist* Helen Simpson , British short story writer...
. It was Hitchcock's third all-talkie film, after Blackmail
Blackmail (1929 film)
Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller drama film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard, and featuring Donald Calthrop, Sara Allgood and Charles Paton. The film is based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett, as adapted by Hitchcock, with dialogue by...
and Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock (film)
Juno and the Paycock is a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Maire O'Neill, Edward Chapman and Sara Allgood.The film was based on a successful play by Sean O'Casey.-Plot:...
.
After being thought in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
for decades, the film's rights were obtained by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
media company Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
in 2005. A restored and remastered print of the film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment and most former Artisan Entertainment releases. Its library of more than 8000 films owes some of its size to output deals with other studios...
in 2007
2007 in home video
-Film releases:-TV show releases:...
.
Plot synopsis
Diana Baring, an actress in a traveling theatre troupe, is found standing over the body of a murdered colleague, and has no memory of what happened. The women were known to have been enemies, and the police arrest Diana. At her trial the jury decides that she is either guilty or has schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
and should be hanged lest she strike again. One juror, Sir John Menier, a celebrated actor-manager
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
, is not convinced and, using skills he has learned from the theatre, investigates the circumstances of the case. He enlists the help of Ted Markham and his wife and they re-examine the crime scene.
Sir John discovers who the real murderer is, and tries to lure a confession from him. The action comes to a thrilling climax at the circus.
Production
The film was made by British International Pictures. It was originally to be released under the same title as the novel Enter Sir John but this was changed to the simpler Murder! during shooting. A number of changes were made from the book including the alteration of the names of the two principal characters. The portrayal of the character Sir John Mernier was loosely based on that of the actor Gerald du MaurierGerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
who was a friend of Hitchcock. Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the film as a man walking past the murder victim's house.
Cast
- Herbert MarshallHerbert MarshallHerbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
as Sir John Menier - Norah BaringNorah BaringNorah Baring , born Norah Minnie Baker, was an English film actress most famous for portraying "Diana Baring" in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Murder! . She is also known for playing the female lead in Anthony Asquith's silent thriller A Cottage on Dartmoor...
as Diana Baring - Phyllis KonstamPhyllis KonstamPhyllis Konstam was an English film actress. She appeared in 11 films between 1928 and 1964, including four films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.She was born in London and died in Somerset from a heart attack....
as Doucie Markham - Edward ChapmanEdward ChapmanEdward Chapman may refer to:*Edward Chapman *Edward Chapman , British comic actor, best remembered for his work with Norman Wisdom*Edward Chapman , British academic and Conservative politician...
as Ted Markham - Miles ManderMiles ManderMiles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
as Gordon Druce - Esme PercyEsme PercySaville Esme Percy was an English film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1930 and 1956. He was born in London and died in Brighton.-Selected filmography:* Murder! * The Lucky Number...
as Handel Fane - Donald CalthropDonald CalthropDonald Calthrop was an English stage and film actor. He starred as the title character in the hit musical The Boy in 1917. He then appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1940, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.He was born in London and died in Eton from a heart attack.He was the...
as Ion Stewart - Esme V. Chaplin as Prosecuting Counsel
- Amy Brandon ThomasAmy Brandon ThomasAmy Marguerite Brandon Thomas was an English film and stage actor. She was the daughter of the playwright Brandon Thomas. She is also known as Amy Brandon-Thomas.-Life and career:...
as Defending Counsel - Joynson Powell as Judge
- S.J. Warmington as Bennett
- Marie WrightMarie Wright-Selected filmography:* The Kinsman * Mrs. Thompson * Murder! * Up for the Cup * Tilly of Bloomsbury * The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss * Sixty Glorious Years...
as Miss Mitcham - Hannah Jones as Mrs Didsome
- Una O'ConnorUna O'ConnorUna O'Connor was an Irish actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a notable character actress in film.-Life and work:...
as Mrs Grogram - R.E. Jeffrey as Foreman of the Jury
- Alan Stainer as Jury Member
- Kenneth KoveKenneth Kove-Selected filmography:* Murder! * The Great Game -Selected filmography:* Murder! (1930)* The Great Game -Selected filmography:* Murder! (1930)* The Great Game (1930* Down River (1931)* The Man from Toronto (1933)* Crime on the Hill (1933)* Asking for Trouble (1942)* Golden Arrow (1949)* Innocents...
as Mr. Mathews, Jury Member - Guy Pelham Boulton as Jury Member
- Violet FarebrotherViolet FarebrotherViolet Farebrother was an English film actress. She appeared in 25 films between 1911 and 1965, including three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
as Mrs. Ward, Jury Member - Clare GreetClare GreetClare Greet was an English film actress. She appeared in 26 films between 1921 and 1939, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.She was born in England and died in London....
as Jury Member - Drusilla WillsDrusilla Wills-Selected filmography:* Murder! * The Lodger * Little Miss Nobody * Britannia of Billingsgate * The Medicine Man * The Big Splash * High Command * A Spot of Bother...
as Jury Member - Robert Easton as Jury Member
- William Fazan as Jury Member
- George Smythson as Jury Member
- Ross Jefferson as Jury Member
- Picton Roxborough as Jury Member
- Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
as Man on Street (uncredited) - Gus McNaughtonGus McNaughtonGus McNaughton was an English film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1930 and 1947.He was born in London and died in Castor, Cambridgeshire.-Selected filmography:* Children of Chance...
as Tom Trewitt (uncredited)