Young And Innocent Film Review: Cinephilia

This quintessentially-English thriller set in Derbyshire, one of the 'Heart of England' shires, is from Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood years. With its all's-well-that-ends-well story and stereotypical characters it is like a mix of Noddy and Big Ears for grown-ups (if you get my drift). Derrick de Marney plays the jolly decent hero mistakenly accused of murder who teams up with Nova Pilbeam to find the real killer, a theme that Hitchcock visited many times throughout his career. Despite being quaintly creaky there are many of Hitchcock's classic stylistic features already in place, such as the slow pans and zooms and including a self-parodying appearance from the director, whilst the climatic revelatory scene involving a black face Palm Court orchestra is an exemplary piece of matin ée style exaggeration. BH

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