Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Alfred Hitchcock is back!

It seems one of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, 'The White Shadow,' has been unearthed in the land of the hobbits (that's New Zealand, for those who don't know their hobbits). It was found amongst a collection of unlabelled American nitrate prints that had been stashed away for the past twenty-odd years and only now come to light.

Only the first 3 reels of the 6-reel feature film made back in 1923 have been found. Hitchcock was 24 at the time, and was credited as the writer, assistant director, editor, and production designer. This is the earliest feature film with his name on it. Not sure if the rest of the film will ever be recovered though, as apparently no other copies exist.

But what a find this is! I'm a huge Hitchcock fan; he made some brilliant movies and was a true master of the suspense film. The White Shadow, which starred Betty Compson as twin sisters, one of which didn't have a soul, will be shown on September 22 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles. Not sure when/if it'll be shown in Australia, but it sounds interesting...

If they don't find the rest of the film, I wonder who they could get to complete it...?

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