The Mountain Eagle is a 1927 British silent film, and Alfred Hitchcocks second as director following The Pleasure Garden. The film, a romantic melodrama set in Kentucky, is about a widower (Bernhard Goetzke) who jealously competes with his crippled son (John F. Hamilton) and a man he loathes (Malcolm Keen) over the affections of a schoolteacher (Nita Naldi). The film was mostly produced at the Emelka Film studios in Munich, Germany in autumn of 1925, with exterior scenes shot in the village of Obergurgl in the State of Tyrol, Austria. Production was plagued with problems, including the destruction of a village roof and Hitchcock experiencing altitude sickness. Due to producing the film in Germany, Hitchcock had more directorial freedom than he would have had in England, and he was influenced by German cinematic style and technique. The film was screened for the producers in October 1926 who did not approve of it, and it wasnt until after the success of Hitchcocks The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog that they released the film in May 1927. The film was poorly received and criticised for its lack of realism, and Hitchcock himself was relieved that the film was lost. Six surviving stills of The Mountain Eagle are reproduced in François Truffauts book, and further stills have been found to exist. In 2012, a set of 24 still photographs were found in an archive of one of Hitchcocks close friends. The Cine Tirol Film Commission has described it as the most wanted film in the world, and the British Film Institute has the film on the top of their list of missing films and is actively searching for it.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 A lost film 4 Production 5 Reception 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Plot[edit] The film is set in Kentucky. J. P. Pettigrews (Bernhard Goetzke) wife died giving birth to his son Edward (John F. Hamilton), who was born a cripple. Pettigrew loathes John (Fear o God) Fulton (Malcolm Keen) who was also in love with Pettigrews wife. Pettigrew witnesses his now grown son making love to schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi) and confronts her about the relationship. He attempts to take her in his arms but Beatrice rejects his advances. Pettigrews son Edward sees this and flees the village. Pettigrew is incensed at both Beatrices rejection and the loss of his son. He attempts to have Beatrice arrested as a wanton harlot. John forestalls Pettigrews plan by marrying Beatrice and taking her to his cabin where they fall in love. Beatrice becomes pregnant. Pettigrew seeks revenge by having John thrown in prison for murdering his (missing) son. A year later, John breaks out of prison and attempts to flee with Beatrice and their child. However, Beatrice falls ill and John must return to the village for a doctor. There he finds that Edward has reappeared. Johns affairs are now cleared up and he is legally free from the charge of murder. Pettigrew is subsequently accidentally shot and no longer a threat to John and his family. Cast[edit] Nita Naldi, the female love interest of the film. Nita Naldi as Beatrice Malcolm Keen as John Fear o God Fulton John F. Hamilton as Edward Pettigrew Bernhard Goetzke as J.P. Pettigrew Ferdinand Martini A lost film[edit] This is the only feature film directed by Hitchcock that is considered a lost film, which means that no prints of the film are known to exist.[2][3][4] Six surviving stills are reproduced in François Truffauts book.[5] More stills have recently been found to exist, many of which are reproduced in Dan Auilers book.[6] A lobby card for the film was found in a box of broken frames at a flea market in Rowley, Massachusetts. In 2012, a set of 24 still photographs were found in an archive of one of Hitchcocks close friends. Although these images gave clues to the film and its story, they were taken on the set rather than being stills from the film itself.[7] They were auctioned off in Los Angeles for $6,000 (£3,700).[8] Hitchcocks notebooks were also found which documented his journey to Obergurgl, by train, horse and cart, and by foot.[8] Production[edit] The village of Obergurgl in the State of Tyrol, where the exterior footage of the film was shot Both The Pleasure Garden and The Mountain Eagle were produced in co-operation with Emelka Film Studios in Munich, Germany.[9][5] The film was mostly shot at Emelka in Munich in the fall of 1925,[10][11] and the film exteriors were shot on location in Obergurgl, in what is now the municipality of Sölden in the State of Tyrol in southwestern Austria,[12] the Ötztal Alps standing in for the mountains and hollows of Kentucky. Due to producing the film in Germany, Hitchcock had more directorial freedom than he would have had in England, and influences in the technique and style of German cinema are evident in his early works.[13] Production was plagued with problems. Bad weather during the shooting was a constant source of trouble, and Hitchcock and the crew had an uneasy relationship with the locals. Hitchcock ordered the clearance of snow from a meadow and ordered the local volunteer fire brigade to blast it away, causing the roof of a nearby building to collapse.[8] The mayor demanded compensation of one shilling, but Hitchcock gave the woman who owned the house two shillings to cover the repair work and the inconvenience.[8] Hitchcock offended the locals by refusing to stay at the village inn, and when he was taken ill with altitude sickness, he blamed the sickness on his reaction to the guttural sound of their accents.[8] Reception[edit] The film was initially screened for the producers in October 1926,[12] but they didnt think much of the film and decided to shelve it.[14] However, due to the runaway success of The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, which was released in February 1927, the producers decided to release The Mountain Eagle three months later on 23 May 1927.[12] The film was reportedly released in the United States as Fear o God, but the title on the surviving US lobby card seems to contradict this.[15] Film historian J. Larry Kuhns claims that the film was never released under that title.[16] The film, distributed by Gainsborough Pictures, was neither a critical nor commercial success;[14][12] Leonard J. Leff states that the film impressed neither the distributor nor the public.[17] Like Hitchcocks other early films, the film was criticised for a lack of realism; an early review by Bioscope stated that in spite of skilful and at times brilliant direction, the story has an air of unreality.[18] Hitchcock himself considered The Mountain Eagle to be mundane melodrama best forgotten, and described the film to François Truffaut as awful and a very bad movie[19] and stated that he was not sorry that there are no known prints.[3] After being bitterly disappointed with his first two films, Hitchcock believed that his directing career would soon be over,[20] although he later described Waltzes from Vienna (1934) to be the lowest ebb of his career.[2] Film historian J. Lary Kuhns, however, states in the book Hitchcocks Notebooks by Dan Auiler that one contemporary writer called The Mountain Eagle far superior to The Lodger.[16] The Guardian describes the film as a ripping yarn about a dastardly father, a crippled son, a lovely schoolteacher and an innocent imprisoned.[4] William Rothman considers both The Pleasure Garden and The Mountain Eagle to be equally worthy of study.[21] The Cine Tirol Film Commission has described The Mountain Eagle as the most wanted film in the world.[16] In 1992, the British Film Institute released its first Missing Presumed Lost list of films, and in January 2010 they announced that they had begun actively searching for some 75 missing films, including The Mountain Eagle, A Study in Scarlet (1914) (Sherlock Holmess first screen appearance), The First Men in the Moon (1919) (the first H. G. Wells science fiction film), Dinah Shureys The Last Post, and Where Is Parsifal? (1983), a peculiar comedy starring Ron Moody, Donald Pleasence and Orson Welles.[4] See also[edit] List of lost films References[edit] Jump up ^ The Mountain Eagle. British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 May 2014. ^ Jump up to: a b McDevitt, Jim; Juan, Eric San (1 April 2009). A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense. Scarecrow Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8108-6389-7. ^ Jump up to: a b Haley, Michael (1981). The Alfred Hitchcock album. Prentice-Hall. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-13-021451-5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kennedy, Maev (5 July 2012). BFI launches hunt for missing Hitchcock movie. The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b Yacowar, Maurice (2010). Hitchcocks British Films. Wayne State University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-8143-3494-2. Jump up ^ Barr, Charles (1999). English Hitchcock. Cameron & Hollis. p. 217. Jump up ^ Malvern, Jack (10 November 2012), Lost film stills found, London: The Times, p. 13 ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Connolly, Kate (28 December 2012). Austrian village holds out hope for lost Hitchcock film. The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2013. Jump up ^ Gottlieb, Sidney; Brookhouse, Christopher (2002). Framing Hitchcock: Selected Essays from the Hitchcock Annual. Wayne State University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-8143-3061-6. Jump up ^ Hitchcock OConnell, Pat; Bouzereau, Laurent (2004). Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. pp. 44–5. ISBN 978-0-425-19619-9. Jump up ^ Spoto, Donald (1992). The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of his Motion Pictures. Doubleday. p. Viii. ISBN 978-0-385-41813-3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Strauss, Marc. Alfred Hitchcocks Silent Films. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-8192-7. Jump up ^ Skerry, Philip J. (1 January 2005). The Shower Scene in Hitchcocks Psycho: Creating Cinematic Suspense And Terror. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7734-6051-5. ^ Jump up to: a b Phillips, Gene D. (1984). Alfred Hitchcock. Twayne Publishers. pp. 32–3. ISBN 978-0-8057-9293-5. Jump up ^ Veash, Nicole (25 April 1997). World hunt for lost Hitchcock thriller. The Independent. ^ Jump up to: a b c Most wanted film The Mountain Eagle made in Tirol. Cine Tirol Film Commission. Retrieved 19 August 2013. Jump up ^ Leff, Leonard J. (1999). Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick in Hollywood. University of California Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-520-21781-2. Jump up ^ Haeffner, Nicholas (2005). Alfred Hitchcock. Pearson Longman. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-582-43738-8. Jump up ^ McGilligan, Patrick (19 October 2010). Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. HarperCollins. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-06-202864-8. Jump up ^ Adair, Gene (6 June 2002). Alfred Hitchcock: Filming Our Fears. Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-19-511967-1. Jump up ^ Rothman, William (2012). Hitchcock, Second Edition: The Murderous Gaze. SUNY Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4384-4317-1. External links[edit] British Film Institute 75 Most Wanted entry, with extensive notes The Mountain Eagle at the Internet Movie Database The Mountain Eagle at AllMovie [hide] v t e Alfred Hitchcock Filmography Unproduced projects Themes and plot devices Cameos Awards and honors Feature films Silent films The Pleasure Garden (1925) The Mountain Eagle (1927) The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) The Ring (1927) Downhill (1927) The Farmers Wife (1928) Easy Virtue (1928) Champagne (1928) The Manxman (1929) British sound films Blackmail (1929) Juno and the Paycock (1930) Murder! (1930) Elstree Calling (1930, co-director) The Skin Game (1931) Mary (1931) Rich and Strange (1931) Number Seventeen (1932) Lord Cambers Ladies (1932, producer only) Waltzes from Vienna (1934) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) The 39 Steps (1935) Secret Agent (1936) Sabotage (1936) Young and Innocent (1937) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Jamaica Inn (1939) Hollywood and later Rebecca (1940) Foreign Correspondent (1940) Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) Suspicion (1941) Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Lifeboat (1944) Spellbound (1945) Notorious (1946) The Paradine Case (1947) Rope (1948) Under Capricorn (1949) Stage Fright (1950) Strangers on a Train (1951) I Confess (1953) Dial M for Murder (1954) Rear Window (1954) To Catch a Thief (1955) The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) The Wrong Man (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976) Short films Always Tell Your Wife An Elastic Affair Aventure Malgache Bon Voyage The Fighting Generation Documentaries German Concentration Camps Factual Survey Related Hitchcockian Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1985 revival Alfred Hitchcock Edition Clue Alfred Hitchcocks Mystery Magazine Alfred Hitchcocks Anthology Transatlantic Pictures High Anxiety Number 13 The Blackguard Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho Hitchcock The Girl Categories: 1927 filmsBlack-and-white filmsBritish filmsBritish silent filmsFilms directed by Alfred HitchcockFilms set in KentuckyFilms shot in AustriaLost films Navigation menu Create accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView history
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:45:10 +0000
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