Rent Rich and Strange (1931)
3.2 of 5 from 60 ratings
1h 23min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
A charming romantic comedy with Fred and Emily Hill (Henry Kendall and Joan Barry) inheriting a fortune that gives them the opportunity to shed their boring existence in London and live a life that until now they could only dream about. So together they decide to book a world cruise; something they had always wanted to do but could never afford. With all their troubles behind them, or so they think, they embark on their voyage without a care in the world. But it is a very different life on board a cruise liner from the one they've been used to at home. The people are different... they're not so friendly, and some are so snooty they don't even talk. But undeterred they make the most of their time on the high seas and cocooned in their new life of privilege find themselves getting that romantic feeling again, although the results of this long forgotten pastime lead to comical consequences. - Actors:
- Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, Percy Marmont, Betty Amann, Elsie Randolph
- Directors:
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Producers:
- John Maxwell
- Writers:
- Dale Collins, Alfred Hitchcock, Alma Reville, Val Valentine
- Studio:
- Whe Europe Limited
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Romance
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Cinema Afloat: Part 2, Alfred Hitchcock's British Films, Films by Genre, A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of Rich and Strange
Hitchcock curiosity. - Rich and Strange review by Steve
This is one of three films Alfred Hitchcock made in 1931 and my favourite of the oddities he directed between his sound breakthrough with Blackmail in 1929 and his emergence as the Master of Suspense with The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1934. It is unique among his work.
A married couple bored with suburbia and the rat race come into money and take a cruise around the world in search of excitement before concluding... that they are happy to be a boring suburban couple! Joan Barry is quite appealing as the wife, though Henry Kendall is a bit of a disaster as her spouse.
The key moment is the scene where a Chinese sailor gets a foot trapped in a rope and is very slowly lowered into the sea to drown- yet another man in Hitchcock falling to his death- while the rest of the crew passively observe. It is perhaps the most shocking, eerie and bizarre sequence in any of his films.
As with The Ring in 1927, Hitch had more control over story development... and again it flopped! It is strange indeed. Although a talkie, much of it is silent, and features title cards. It evades genre definition, being too desolate for comedy. It has a mood unlike any other film he made; not so much of suspense, but of sadness.
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