THE LODGER
US, 1944, 84 minutes, Black and white.
Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood.
Directed by John Brahm.
The Lodger is based on the 1930 novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It had been filmed in 1927 with Ivor Novello, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. There was to be an updated version from Hollywood in 2009, starring Alfred Molina.
This film is one of the best atmospheric films from 20th Century Fox during the 1940s. John Brahm, who also directed Laird Cregar and George Sanders in Hangover Square, is able to create the atmosphere of 19th century London on the Fox sets. There are the streets, the homes, the attics, Whitechapel and its squalor, Haymarket Theatre. There is also the atmosphere of fog, and the dark atmosphere of night.
It is a story of Jack the Ripper, offering a plausible explanation for who the Ripper was, his medical and surgical background, the twisted motivation, the preoccupation with sexuality, the misogyny.
Laird Cregar, unfortunately dead at age thirty-one after going on a risky diet and exercise program, is excellent as Mr Slade, the Ripper. His large presence, often filmed at different angles, and his seriousness, create an impression of a plausible Jack the Ripper. George Sanders is the inspector from Scotland Yard, Merle Oberon the singer-dancer (with some musical numbers) in Haymarket. Cedric Hardwicke and Sara Allgood are her uncle and aunt, Sara Allgood being the landlady for Mr Slade.
The murders are graphic – but not in the visual sense. There are some interesting exposition scenes, especially between Laird Cregar and Merle Oberon, to explain Mr Slade’s devotion to his brother, his disgust at his being led astray by women, especially associated with the theatre, and his revenge on women for his brother.
There have been many theories about Jack the Ripper, many interesting films, but the mystery of Jack the Ripper remains.
1. A classic film from the golden years of Hollywood? Its impact now?
2. Hollywood and the recreation of London, the streets and the shops, homes, the theatre, Whitechapel? The black and white photography, the atmosphere, the day and night, the fog? The musical score? The songs?
3. The impact of Jack the Ripper, fifty-five years after the events? Mrs Belloc Lowndes’ novel? The hypothesis as to the identity of Jack the Ripper? The plausibility of Mr Slade’s being the Ripper? The character, the motivation?
4. Slade’s family, the pictures of his brother, the devotion to his brother, the touch of Dorian Gray? The brother as an artist, fine-looking, the later photo and his disintegration? His being led astray by women, the atmosphere of the theatre? Slade idolising his brother? His being trapped in the complications of sexual revulsion and attraction for Kitty? The compulsion to kill? The style, the regularity? Wanting to be caught or not?
5. The settings for the killings, Whitechapel, the streets and the taverns, the women, the songs, the drinking? The woman lending the accordion?
6. The role of the media, the papers and distribution, the headlines? People’s response to the news?
7. The picture of the police, out in force, the Ripper eluding them?
8. Mr Slade, his appearance, Laird Cregar’s performance, his being well-dressed, his bag and tools, his arrival at the Bontings’, the context of the killings? Choosing his name from the street? His discussion with Mrs Bonting, with Mr Bonting? His room, wanting the attic to work in, turning the pictures of the actresses around? Mr Bonting and his response? His justifying Mr Slade’s behaviour?
9. Mr Bonting, the need for money, his false business deal, his breakdown, at home, reading the papers, analysing the situation? Daisy as the maid, her contributing to life in the house? Kitty, the background in Paris, the London theatre, her two songs? The theatre atmosphere? The visit of Annie Rowley, not whistling in the dressing room, the flowers, Annie’s death?
10. Kitty and her life, hopes, the audiences, her career, the girls, her costumes, getting her hair done, talking with Slade, following him to the university, the confrontations, his explanations to her, in her dressing room, trying to argue rationally, her screams, on the stage, his cutting the sandbags – and their missing her? Her quoting him about his ideas, the water and the deep waters and healing and death?
11. Inspector Warwick, Scotland Yard, the investigation, the theories, going to the theatre, Kitty visiting the Yard, Warwick and his attraction to Kitty? Going to the house, suspicions of Slade, discussions with Mr Bonting, the fingerprints, his left hand, the identification?
12. London, the atmosphere, Victorian England, reference to the queen, Scotland Yard and its methods?
13. Slade, his burning his bag, washing the stains and his story of infection, going to the university, medical background, experiments? His brother’s picture, the clue when the picture was found at a victim’s house? Kitty giving him the ticket, the way that he watched her performance, bewitched, revulsed, confronting her in the dressing room, the chase throughout the theatre? The close-up on him as the police and others advanced on him, his decision to throw himself out the window, his previous visit to the water, going into the water, washed away, drowning in the depths?
14. A satisfying blend of period, thriller, character study?
