Stage Fright
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
1950
****
Stage fright has it's highs and lows, it's not one of Alfred Hitchcock's better films but that isn't saying much when you appreciate his amazing body of work. That said, here he invented one of my pet hates, the false flashback. He himself later admitted that he regretted it and felt is dishonest towards the audience, a forgivable mistake though, especially when you consider his pioneering work within cinema before and since, trial and error maketh' the man and all that. It is however, directed beautifully. I particularly enjoyed the backdrops of late 1940's London, even to the point that I had to go on google-earth and check them all out after the film. The performances are also very good, Jane Wyman & Marlene Dietrich are both brilliant but for me it's Alastair Sim who really steals the show.