Stage Fright DVD cover

Stage Fright is a 1950 Warner Bros. motion picture produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, and Richard Todd. Others in the cast include Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, and Patricia Hitchcock in her movie debut. Image File history File links Stage Fright DVD cover This is a DVD cover. ... Image File history File links Stage Fright DVD cover This is a DVD cover. ... See also: 1949 in film 1950 1951 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film Events February 15 - Walt Disney Studios animated film Cinderella debuts. ... Warner Bros. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British film director closely associated with the suspense genre. ... Jane Wyman (born January 4, 1914) is an American actress. ... Marlene Dietrich in the 1920s Marie Magdalene Marlene Dietrich (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German actress and singer. ... The English actor Michael Wilding (1912-1979) was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, on (23 July 1912). ... Richard Todd (born June 11, 1919) is a British actor. ... Alastair Sim (October 9, 1900 – August 19, 1976) was a Scottish character actor, whose comic appearance ensured him success in a string of classic British films. ... Dame Sybil Thorndike (October 24, 1882 - June 9, 1976) was a British actress. ... Kay Walsh (born August 27, 1914) is an English actress. ... Patricia Hitchcock at age 12 with her famous father. ...

Though Hitchcock lived and worked in Hollywood since 1939, this mystery/thriller, which is mixed with humor, was filmed on location in London. The only members of the cast who are not English are the two top billed stars, Wyman and Dietrich. Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mystery film is a film genre which uses mystery as an element to the plot. ... Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience. ... St Stevens Tower - The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben London (see also different names) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity...

Drama student Eve Gil (played by Wyman), receives a call from a friend, actor Jonathan Cooper (played by Richard Todd), and is asked to come over and pick him up. In her car, the frantic Jonathan, who is in the cast of a West End musical starring a flamboyant stage actress/singer, Charlotte Inwood (played by Dietrich), explains that he and Charlotte are secret lovers and that he is now wanted by the police who suspect him of murdering her husband. He recounts in a flashback that Charlotte was actually the murderer, that she was wearing a blood stained dress he helped her dispose of, that he was seen leaving the scene of the crime and is sure to be charged and convicted. The term West End is most commonly used to refer to the West End of London, England. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... Flashback may mean any of the following: In literature and film, a flashback takes the narrative back in time from the point the story has reached, to recount events that happened before and give the back-story. ...

Eve has long had a crush on Jonathan, but accepts that he is not interested in her romantically. She offers to hide him, with the help of her (at first) reluctant father, Commodore Gil (played by Alastair Sim), and decides to investigate for herself. She bribes Charlotte's shrewd theatre maid and dresser, Nellie Goode (played by Kay Walsh), to pretend she is ill. She then utilizes her acting skills to affect the false identity and accent of a Cockney maid, claims to be Nellie's cousin, Doris, and takes the temporary job of replacing "her cousin" in order to prove Jonathan's innocence. Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. ... A Cockney, in the loosest sense of the word, is a working-class inhabitant of the East End of London. ...

When she meets the policeman in charge of the case, Detective-Inspector Wilfred Smith (played by Michael Wilding), who does not know that she is working as Charlotte's maid, Doris, they gradually begin falling in love. While working for Charlotte and trying to find evidence showing she committed the crime and is framing Jonathan, she also attempts to get Smith to reveal information about the progress of the case at Scotland Yard. As Smith is also keeping an eye on Charlotte, there is a great chance that something will go wrong. New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, often referred to as simply Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ...

She is able to gain the confidence of Charlotte, who goes about business as usual. But the mystery surrounding the murder becomes more confusing and complex as she searches for some evidence. Her relationship with Smith becomes a little strained. She wants to tell him that she is doubling as Doris, but the timing never seems right.

There is a scene at a garden party where Charlotte is singing on stage in a large tent that ends with Commodore Gil getting a child to take a doll wearing a dress stained with blood, his own, up to her and she faints. Eve is there as herself and is hesitant to go and assist Charlotte, as Smith will learn of her deception. The movie ends at the closed theatre. The final scenes have Eve come out of character and confront the selfish and ruthless Charlotte in her dressing room as loudspeakers reveal all that is said to Detective-Inspector Smith and his men; Jonathan having "stage fright" when he comes in and sees the police then flees; Eve in breathless peril when she is with the real murderer alone. Stage fright refers to an anxiety, fear or persistent phobia related to performance in front of an audience. ...

To tell it all here would be a real "spoiler." Stage Fright is compelling and convoluted. It moves along at a crisp pace with a lot of twists and turns, keeping viewers guessing until the end.

Sybil Thorndike is hilarious as Eve's mother, Mrs. Gil, who cannot stand being around her estranged husband, Commodore Gil, and Alastair Sim is also quite good as Eve's droll father. Hitchcock's cameo appearance is as a man on the street turning to look at Eve in her disguise as the maid, Doris. Featured is an original Cole Porter song, "The Laziest Gal In Town," performed by Dietrich in a sultry fashion. Costumes were done by Christian Dior. Cole Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. ... Dior, Christian (21 January 1905 - 24 October 1957), French couturier, born in Granville, and educated for the diplomatic service at the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris. ...

Stage Fright was adapted for the screen by Whitfield Cook from the novel Man Running by Selwyn Jepson. A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ...

Memorable quotes

• Charlotte Inwood: "He was an abominable man. Why do women marry abominable men?"
• Eve Gil: "I'm afraid the murderer might come here, Madam. Might get into the dressing room. Might even murder me, Madam. I'm surprised you're not a bit afraid yourself."
• Charlotte Inwood: "The theatre is the last place he would be seen. Now stop acting like a silly schoolgirl, the only murderer here is the orchestra leader!"

External links

• Stage Fright at the Internet Movie Database