Young and Innocent (1937) User Reviews

Wonderful Hitchcock Fare

[twm-2 · 8/10 · 19 August 2004]

A truly charming film from the Master of Suspense. Being a rather huge Hitch fan, I recently sought out some lesser known films from his early period. Of those I viewed ("Number 17," & "Murder!" among others) this one was my favorite--among the best of his Pre-Hollywood films. There is the usual mixture of humor and suspense, some nice camera work (including a wonderful precursor to the "key-in-hand" shot of "Notorious"), and most importantly, Nova Pilbeam. I'm not sure how this actress managed to play her scenes SO appealingly, and yet managed to have fallen SO completely off the acting radar. How many people today have her name rattling about their cerebral attic? Virtually none, I'd hazard, and yet she is terrific here--worth the effort of finding the video for her performance alone.

This film certainly is not in the same league as Hitch's best, but still is vastly superior to the average suspense film coming out of Hollywood today--or any other day, for that matter.

well worth catching

[rupie · 7/10 · 22 March 2001]

I hold with what seems to be the majority opinion here, i.e. that this early Hitchcock effort is a neglected gem. Though certainly not as well-done as some of his more noteworthy movies, I found it to be thoroughly captivating and entertaining, with the blend of suspense and humor that one finds in, say, "To Catch a Thief" or "Family Plot". Derrick deMarney as the romantic lead does a particularly fine job; sort of a foreshadowing of the kind of thing Cary Grant later did so well.

One thought is that the title is perhaps a bit of a double entendre; we always associate the phrase "Young and Innocent" with a female, but the story is really about the attempt of the lead character - a young man - to prove his innocence. Then again, is he really the lead, or is the story about the girl after all? I'm sure Hitch intended this touch of ambiguity.

Once again I have to thank American Movie Classics for bringing us another worthy movie from the past. Hitchcock fans should not miss this one (come to think of it, the only dog that I have seen from Hitch is "The Paradine Case").

Early and Delectable

[marcslope · 8/10 · 20 March 2001]

Sort of a blueprint for any number of later, more bloated Hitchcocks: The man falsely accused of murder; the sympathetic miss who helps him, the set pieces in creepy places. This one has a lighter, more picaresque feel than most of the Master's movies, with irrelevant but diverting supporting characters, Maguffins, an unstarry cast, and an unusual dollop of humor. It's also blessed by a screenplay that leaps nimbly from improbability to improbability, as much as its more famous contemporaries, like "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes."

The light tone throughout tips us off that everything's going to turn out all right, so there's less suspense than we associate with Hitchcock. Still, it's beautifully photographed (with one really stunning crane shot), beautifully paced, and enjoyably acted. The unstoried Nova Pilbeam is a standout: She's the ideal Hitchcock heroine, blonde, slender, and spirited.

Quintessential British Hitchcock

[Snow Leopard · 14 May 2001]

"Young and Innocent" is one of the best of Alfred Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood movies. It contains all of the features that characterized the finest of his British movies, and is (as many others have commented) a film often undeservedly overlooked amongst Hitchcock's large collection of classics.

The actors would all be unfamiliar to most contemporary American viewers, but it is a fine cast that does full justice to a good story, and that responds well to Hitchcock's expert direction. Derrick de Marney is engaging as the unjustly accused hero Robert Tisdall, and his character is balanced nicely by good performances from the rest of the cast (several of whom appeared in more than one of Hitchcock's British movies).

As is often the case with Hitchcock's British pictures, the title is capable of multiple interpretations. At the least, it could refer either to the hero, to the heroine, or to the overall atmosphere and themes of the movie. Young Tisdall is being chased by the law, but we know from the beginning that he is innocent, and his knowledge of that innocence enables him to remain upbeat and even playful despite the dangers and complications he faces. Erica (Nova Pilbeam), his reluctant friend and helper, is innocent in a different sense. In the story she finds her youthful naivete, especially the assumptions she has acquired in growing up as a chief police constable's daughter, challenged by the real world - perhaps for the first time in her life. Pilbeam is not a glamorous heroine (and this may be one of the reasons why "Young and Innocent" is unjustly neglected), but she was a good choice to portray the youthful earnestness and resulting moral dilemmas of her character.

Despite the film's short length, it is filled with classic Hitchcock touches of detail, artistry, and humor, many of which are more low-key than those in his more familiar Hollywood films. It is worth watching several times in order to catch and appreciate all of the details. Three sequences are especially worth noting: (i) the renowned tracking shot at the climax of the film, which is not only a fine technical achievement but also an ideal way to set up the suspenseful conclusion; (ii) the birthday party in the middle, which encapsulates in very subtle ways most of the themes and contrasts of the movie, and (iii) the sequence towards the beginning involving the hero's conference with his lawyer, his court appearance, and his escape, a sequence which is filled with comic details too numerous to catch all at once (including one of the director's most humorous cameos).

Any Hitchcock fan should thoroughly enjoy "Young and Innocent". Beyond that, any fan of thrillers who can look past an unfamiliar cast, and who is willing to look for the subtle touches that characterized the great director's British work, will also find the film a satisfying experience.

Sweet, fast, joyous British Hitchcock...

[secondtake · 7/10 · 2 May 2010]

Young and Innocent (1937)

The title is appropriate to the point of being redundant, because in nearly every Alfred Hitchcock film the key theme is an innocent man accused. In this case, accused of murder, and the young man is a charming English actor, Derrick De Marney. As the police begin their hunt, he runs into the police chief's daughter, played by Nova Pilbeam, a tomboyish answer to Katherine Hepburn, and the real star of the movie.

This is a late British Hitchcock film, and it feels slightly raw around the edges, but it's so fast and likable and well constructed, you have to love it. In fact, the suspense of getting caught is balanced by some downright slapstick scenes that are brief and hilarious. And a reminder that this is a romp, the whole thing a beautiful, spritely entertainment. Never mind a killer is on the loose, because if one man is innocent of murder, another, out there somewhere, it not.

This is 1937, and by 1939 Hitchcock has moved to the U.S. to do Hollywood movies (including the amazing Rebecca in 1940), and so Young and Innocent and The Lady Vanishes (which has a similar quaint feel) wrap up his long British period. It says a lot for a movie to say I could watch it again, not because it's technically astonishing, but because it's just a joy, and very sweet. Never mind a little corniness or an inevitable ending, it's good!

A wonderful film, don't miss it

[dif1959 · 7/10 · 26 September 2005]

This is a good Hitchcock film, but on the lighter side. The acting may be disputed (certainly many dispute about it!), but in my opinion it is a very solid, entertaining, and well-acted picture. It does have much of Hitchcock about it (not surprisingly) and is well worth watching. All of the classic Hitchcock elements are there, and they fit together wonderfully: the musical score, the camera work, the twists and turns in the plot, the thrilling scenes, the build-up, the director himself ... and not to forget the story! This is built up very carefully, and contains many, many interesting side-glances and elements. But one needs to watch the film very carefully, or more than once, in order to find these. It is indeed a sort of '39 Steps', and a precursor to several later Hitchcock films, but in its own way it occupies a place rather different than any other Hitchcock film. I am referring to a certain 'bucolic' atmosphere, which is perhaps only equalled by 'The Trouble With Harry'. The parallels to this film have perhaps not yet been adequately explored.

Was becoming well trod territory for Hitchcock even then.

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 29 January 2023]

Another wrongfully-accused-man-on-the-run tale from Hitchcock, this time starring Derrick De Marney as a singer accused of murder. He escapes custody with hopes of clearing his name, and gets some unexpected help from Erica (Nova Pilbeam), the daughter of a police inspector. With Percy Marmont, John Longden, Edward Rigby, Mary Clare, Basil Radford, George Curzon, George Merritt, Bill Shine, and Torin Thatcher.

This was becoming well-trod territory for Hitchcock even back in '37, and De Marney & Pilbeam don't quite have the screen charisma of Donat & Carroll, but this is still enjoyable if one keeps their expectations in check. There's some miniature work featuring some trains and cars, and suspenseful mine collapse. The finale, with a band in blackface, may keep this one on the lesser-shown list. Pilbeam was 17 when this was filmed, while her romantic onscreen partner De Marney was 31.

Lively Comic Chase From Hitchcock

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 18 August 2008]

A young man (Derek De Marney) is accused of murder and jailed. His lawyer is a greedy nincompoop, so De Marney escapes, dragging along the innocent daughter (Nova Pilbeam) of the chief constable (Percy Marmont). There follows the sort of comic yet thrilling Chase that Hitch's fans are familiar with from others of his film like "Saboteur" and "The 39 Steps." Nova Pilbeam -- great, imaginative name, by the way -- realizes along the way that De Marney is innocent and she falls in with him as they track down the one or two clues they have to the identity of the real murderer. The chase takes them through a flop house run by a surprisingly young Torin Thatcher. There they meet the only man, a bum, or (excuse me) a vagabond, who can identify the murderer. Not that the absurd character remembers what the killer looks like, just that he had a spastic twitch in his eyelids.

Their last clue takes the couple to a semi-elegant supper club with a band playing in the background. Fasten your seat belt because here comes one of Hitchcock's bravura shots. The innocent, puzzled pair are seated at a table, looking around the hopelessly crowded dance floor for someone with a twitch. The camera pans slowly over the mob of dancers as if they were objects stored in Citizen Kane's warehouse, then droops down, passes through the dancers, approaches the band stand, noses through the musicians in black face, to an enormous choker of a close-up of the drummer's face. The drummer spots the investigators peering around. His eyes twitch spastically.

The drummer/murderer, luckily, is not one of Hitchcock's suave and unflappable villains, not like the four-fingered guy in "The 39 Steps." This murderer is a nervous wreck. It isn't that De Marney and Pilbeam discover who he is, so much as that he gives himself away. He begins banging the drums and cymbals out of synch, helplessly falling over the instruments, collapsing while the other musicians stare at him. The police drag him away, cackling maniacally. The end.

The pursuit involves some suspenseful moments, particularly a scene in which Pilbeam's old Morris is driven into "the mine works" and begins to sink as the floor of the shaft begins to collapse under the car's weight. I was happy she was saved. She's delicately appealing. I wouldn't have been broken hearted if the dog, Towser, had gone down with the sinking car though. But Hitchcock makes certain we see the dog escape safely. He had a weakness for dogs, having once owned a Beagle named Philip of Magnesia. Dogs appear in several of his films. He seems never to have been much for cats, and he was definitely down on birds.

This is a good example of Hitchcock's British works from the 1930s, the sort of thing that eventually saw him lured away to Hollywood.

A romantic murder-mystery drama about an innocent man accused of murder

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 21 June 2019]

Hitch GIves You Another Great Mystery Thriller dealing with a romantic murder-thriller drama in which a film star is killed by her estranged husband, who is jealous of all of her young boyfriends. The next day, writer Robert Tisdall (Derrick de Marney) who happens to be one such fianceé discovers her body on the beach . He runs to call the police, however, two witnesses think that he is the escaping killer, as he goes on the run . Robert is detained , but owing to a mix-up at the courthouse, he gets aways and goes on the run again , with a Police Constable's daughter named Erica (18-year-old Nova Pilbeam) , proving he didn't strangle the actress .Their only lead is provided by Old Will, who can identify the murderer, a man with noticeably twitching eyes.If they are able to discover the truth, they will find that Robert being incriminated for the murder is no accident .

Somewhat uneven mystery/suspense movie considered to be the successor to "39 Steps" about a Police constable's daughter who helps a fugitive and determined to prove his innocence . This is a rarely seen Hitch movie , being adapted from Josephine Tey's novel titled ¨A shilling for candles¨. Not awesome Hitchcock film but engrossing enough . There are at least three magnificent sequences with suspense and menace hovering in usual Hitchcock fashion , including some crane shots , as first scenes about murder , the car running into a mine that throws down itself , and finally at a hotel with a orchestra playing while camera watches and where everything finally jells . An set-pieces in which fugitives attempt to get away from a party are priceless . It was made at the newly opened Pinewood studios with adequate and appropriate set design . Both protagonists give an average acting , Marney has a most odd of a voice and Pilbeam is too gawky . As their parts and their relationships aren't very credible , at the same time in the movie happen some incidents with no much sense with the result that most of movie is a bit loose and disconcerting .The film belongs to Hitch's first British period , Alfred himself makes his usual cameo appearance : watch out for him in the crowd outside a courthouse . The main cast is well supported by some good actors by the time such as : Percy Marmont, Mary Clare , Edward Rigby , John Longden and Basil Radford .

The film belongs to first Hitch period shot in Great Britain , including silent and sound films ; when he directed silent films such as ¨The lodger¨ (1926) , ¨The ring¨(1927) , ¨Easy virtue¨ (1927) , ¨The Manxman¨(29) ; being ¨Blackmail¨(29) made as a silent , this was reworked to become a talkie . Other films are the following ones : Murder , Juno and the paycock , Skin game , Number 17 , The farmer's wife , Champagne , Rich and strange , The secret agent , Sabotage , The man who knew too much and 39 steps . Following other hits as ¨The lady vanishes¨(38) , ¨Jamaica Inn¨ (39) until he is hired by David O'Selznick to shoot ¨Rebecca¨(40) in the US . Rating : 6.5/10 . Decent and acceptable Hitchcock movie but not extraordinary .

No One Can, But the Drummer Man!

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 3 January 2006]

The argument is always going to pursue Hitchcock's students and fans. Were the films he made in England from 1934 to 1939 his best films (specifically THE 39 STEPS and THE LADY VANISHES) or were the films he made in Hollywood from STRANGERS ON A TRAIN through THE BIRDS his masterworks. I think most Americans favor the latter group, and Englishmen favor the former. Certainly he had huge budgets to play with in the 1940s to 1970s, whereas his budgets in England were terribly puny. But his basic themes got developed in his English films, and he managed to achieve some great effects on those puny budgets.

YOUNG AND INNOCENT is probably frequently confused with RICH AND STRANGE, a really weird film Hitch made about four years earlier. That was about how a marriage survives an inheritance and trip around the world. This one deals with a mystery by Josephine Tey. In the 1930s to 1960s Ms Tey was the equal as a British mystery novelist of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy Sayers. This is based on A SHILLING FOR CANDLES, but most people who remember Ms Tey recall her for two novels based on historical mysteries. One, reset in modern times, is THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR (based on the 1753 mystery of the disappearance and reappearance of Elizabeth Canning in London - a case that literally split English society as equal numbers of witnesses placed her either in a farmhouse as a prisoner, while others insisted she was living with a lover). The second (and better recalled) is THE DAUGHTER OF TIME, which tackles the question of the guilt of King Richard III in the various crimes ascribed to him by Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare - including the murder of his two nephews. Tey's usual hero, Inspector Adam Grant, concludes history lies (the victors determine what is "true") and Richard is innocent. Although it's research value is dated in 2005, it is still a good place to start looking over Richard's reputation and case.

Here the hero (Derrick De Marney) is suspected (rather flimsily, actually) of having killed a young woman on a beach. He after all helped discover the body. From the beginning we are aware of another person who is more likely to be the killer, but after a sinister opening we don't see him again.

De Marney flees, and his path leads him into that of Nova Pilbeam. She was an up and coming performer of that period in England, appearing as the kidnap victim in the original THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH in 1934, and then as the ill-fated Lady Jane Gray in TUDOR ROSE in 1936. Here she is the daughter of the local police head (Percy Marmont - he had been an accidental murder victim of Peter Lorre's in 1936's THE SECRET AGENT). She is convinced of De Marney's innocence, and keeps helping him flee (including a comic interlude at the home of her uncle, Basil Radford, during a birthday party. They keep looking up potentially innocent-proving evidence, and find one more ally: Edward Rigby as a helplessly entangled hobo named Will.

And they do find the killer (as does Marmont and his police) in the conclusion, when they track him down to the drummer man - in the first really memorable use of a tracking shot by Hitch. He would next use it again in NOTORIOUS in the party scene. The man is in black face (a racist element that was acceptable in 1937 unfortunately), but we know the key to his identity - his twitching eyes (possibly nervousness, but also possibly by drugs). His eyes do twitch for the audience before they do for the others. And his nerves suffer the torments of the damned when he sees the police in the room and De Marney. Then he goes into a really wild drumming turn (which his boss acidly comments on afterward) - it is like a wild animal at bay, symbolically.

It is not THE LADY VANISHES or THE 39 STEPS, but it an effective film for all that. Definitely worth watching.

Early Classic

[hengir · 7/10 · 17 July 2006]

This 1937 British film is undoubtedly a Hitchcock film and can be no other. It is another innocent man on the run story, a plot he used often, but a plot on which he has done several fascinating variations. In 'Young and Innocent' it is a chase through the English countryside with Derrick De Marney as the accused man, Nova Pilbeam as the reluctant helper and the incomparable Edward Rigby as the gentleman of the road caught up in the plot.

The visuals are wonderful, a man blinking in the lightning storm, a lifeless arm in the waves, the chiaroscuro interior of a barn , the opening and closing close-ups of two different women in different moods, legs dangling past a window, and of course the celebrated tracking shot towards the end that moves from a large view down to a telling detail. Pure Hitchcock.

There are lots of good scenes mixing humour with tension; the family dining scene discussing the murder, the fight in the truckers café, the children's party where the two on the run find it difficult to leave. The last scene is strangely moving as the drummer goes over the top in more ways than one. There are familiar but good actors in the film such as Mary Clare and Basil Radford. The man playing De Marney's lawyer is perfect too. Nova Pilbeam is particularly effective. Not one of Hitchcock's ice cool blondes which is all to the better. 'Young and Innocent' is a valuable entry in the early Hitchcock canon, worth seeing more than once.

Nice Hitchcock touches elevate this film above your usual mystery romance.

[marxsarx · 9/10 · 6 March 2003]

In this near classic from director Alfred Hitchcock, a police detective's daughter and a writer get tangled up in a murder case, and the chase is on! While they are being pursued by the authorities, they themselves are searching for clues that might prove the writer is innocent. Nice Hitchcock touches elevate this film above your usual mystery romance. Nova Pilbeam and Derek DeMarney deliver charismatic performances as the two leads in the film. As usual, Hitchcock has paid careful attention to detail, continuity and pacing of the story, and the result is still entertaining decades later. This is a film which has aged rather well. There are so many delightful scenes in this movie that it is hard to pick a favorite. This film reveals all of the signs of genius that Hitchcock would continue to display for many years after this 1937 outing. "Young and Innocent" is said to be one of Hitchcock's personal favorites from the films that he made in Great Britain before his "Hollywood" era began. In my estimation, "Young and Innocent" is just a hair's width from being as good as the other two early directorial triumphs made by him in his British era which are considered classics: "The Thirty Nine Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes." For Hitchock fans, this is one of his must see films. 86/100.

He didn't just make the 39 bloody steps

[1930s_Time_Machine · 7/10 · 4 January 2024]

It seems that every day THE 39 STEPS is on TV. Someone at the BBC seems to think that before he went to America, Hitchcock only ever made that and LADY VANISHES but this lesser known gem very nearly is just as good .....in fact it's very similar in style, story and feel.

If you like THE 39 STEPS you've probably watched this already but if you've not, watch it now!

Although this is so typical of 30s Hitchcock, it's also typical of his 40s and 50s output as well - all the tell tale signs are there but what comes screaming across more so is that subtle dark humour he infused into every scene. Quentin Tarantino did not invent subversion! Without being silly or comedic, this is a lot more fun than your usual murder mystery.

This is also a wonderfully joined up film where everything doesn't just get tied up at the end but you get clues masquerading as symbolism of how it will get tied up as it goes along. Such as up the scene near the beginning with the raincoat belt on the beach in the shape of a question mark to its big reveal at the end. Spotting things like this are very satisfying!

It's not 100% as good or as flashy as LADY or STEPS but it's still a big budget Gaumont-British production. If this had been the only film Mr Hitchcock ever made, I'm sure he'd still be famous just because of this.

What about the relatively B-list cast? A good director makes good actors and this is no exception to that rule. 17 year old Nova Pilbeam and 21 year old Derrick de Marney are both brilliant - they make acting look so easy which for us fans of 1930s films, we know is not always that easy!

just a charming British Hitchcock

[dromasca · 5/10 · 2 September 2008]

Here is one of the British period Hitchcock movie, while the director was slowly building his reputation for the jump over the water to become the most famous master of suspense of all times in Hollywood. Squeezed in between the earlier '39 steps' and 'Sabotage' and the later 'The Lady Vanishes' and 'Rebecca' 'Young and Innocent' tries to be easy entertainment, and certainly succeeded to be such at its time although the touch of Hitchcock is not completely missing.

There is less to make it through the time from this film. Maybe the British society changed two much after another big war, and we are nowadays too rough to enjoy the subtle humor and innocence in all meanings of the heroes. And certainly the plot here has too many holes if you take one minute to think about it - the background setting introduction scene has little connection with the rest of the film, there is no credible motivation given for the crime, and we have no clue why the criminal did not just throw away the coat that became the turning point of the intrigue rather than selling or giving it and building such the trail for his own catch. So, the two memorable scenes - the one in the abandoned pit kind of anticipating 'Indiana Jones' and the final orchestra - yes, another orchestra scene - are indeed very good, but not enough to satisfy today's viewer even for a 85 minutes film.

Classic Hitchcock

[Bill-308 · 31 January 1999]

Hitchcock is in a class by himself. I'll give any of his films multiple viewings. The story and structure of "Young and Innocent" resemble "The 39 Steps," with a young woman helping a young man on the run thwart the police and prove his innocence. This film is a standout, though, not because of the story or acting (both charming), but because of a virtuoso bit of directing by the Master, in which the location of the killer is revealed. As I watched the scene unfold for the first time, I remember thinking, "This is what makes Hitchcock Hitchcock." I wish I had never seen any Hitchcock films so I could watch them all again for the first time. His is a brilliant body of work, and this is an often overlooked example of his mastery of the film art.

Fast-moving and enjoyable light thriller

[JamesHitchcock · 7/10 · 28 October 2010]

When this film was released in the U.S. its title was altered to "The Girl Was Young", which implies that somebody in America misunderstood the significance of its British title "Young and Innocent". The word "young" in the title refers not to a girl but to a young man, and he is "innocent" not in the sense that he is naive (which the phrase "young and innocent" normally implies) but in the sense that he is not guilty of the crime of which he is suspected.

The theme of a man wrongly accused of a crime was to become a familiar one in the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and he had already used it in another film from his British period, "The 39 Steps" from two years earlier. The two films, in fact, have many similarities, although "Young and Innocent", unlike "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes", does not deal with espionage.

The body of a young actress named Christine Clay is washed up on a beach somewhere on the English coast. It is discovered by a young man named Robert Tisdall, a friend of the dead woman, who runs off to get help. Unfortunately, he is seen doing so by two girls, who assume that he is the murderer and call the police. Robert is arrested and things begin to look bad for him when it is discovered that Christine was strangled with the belt from an overcoat similar to one he once owned. To make matters worse, it comes to light that Christine has left Robert a large sum in her will. (Why she should have done this is never made clear, given that the two were friends but not lovers. Presumably this detail was inserted to supply a plausible motive).

Of course, Robert is not the real murderer. Hitchcock, generally, did not deal in Agatha Christie-style whodunits in which the identity of the killer is kept from the audience until the very end. Here it is made clear from the beginning that the real culprit is Christine's obsessively jealous husband who, for some reason, is not suspected by the police. The police, in fact, are here shown as bumbling and incompetent, as they often are in Hitchcock's films. Robert's barrister proves to be equally inept, so Robert decides that his best course of action is to go on the run in an attempt to find the evidence which will prove his innocence. Like Richard Hannay in "The 39 Steps" he goes on a cross-country odyssey accompanied by a blonde young woman, in this case Erica Burgoyne, the daughter of the local Chief Constable whose men are searching for Robert. In both films the fugitive's female companion is initially forced to go with him against her will, but later comes to believe in his innocence and falls in love with him.

Like a number of Hitchcock's films, Young and Innocent" combines a basically serious theme- Robert is, after all, accused of a crime which in 1937 could have sent him to the gallows- with a good deal of humour. Some of this humour is satirical, aimed at the incompetence of the police force and court system, although there are other humorous scenes, such as those involving Erica and her three younger brothers or the one at the children's party.

Derrick De Marney is not a very charismatic hero, not in the same class as Robert Donat from "The 39 Steps" or Michael Redgrave from "The Lady Vanishes", although the young Nova Pilbeam, only eighteen at the time, makes a fresh and charming heroine. Nova also played the kidnapped teenager in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" from three years earlier, although her acting career seemed to fizzle out in the forties, and I often wonder what happened to her. (She is, apparently, still alive).

The film does not contain any great Hitchcock set pieces except perhaps for the finale in the Grand Hotel when the murderer is eventually unmasked. (This scene has caused some controversy in recent years because of the presence of a dance band performing in blackface, although this would not have been seen as controversial in thirties Britain). Overall, I would not rate "Young and Innocent" as Hitchcock's greatest film from his British period, but it is still a fast-moving and enjoyable light thriller. 7/10

What Did I do With the Belt? .........

[JOHN_REID · 7/10 · 11 May 2007]

"Young and Innocent" aka "The Girl Was Young" is rarely mentioned in the same breath as The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes but it is nevertheless one of the more underestimated films from the master of suspense with all the ingredients of a Hitchcock classic.

Alfred Hitchcock loved the theme of a man accused of a crime he didn't commit and used this successfully in other films like The 39 Steps which preceded Young and Innocent and later, Saboteur and North by Northwest.

He wanted to introduce a fresh approach in this film with stars that were young and relatively unknown (and cheap). Nova Pilbeam had featured a few years earlier in The Man Who Knew Too Much and was a fairly prominent child/teenage actress and Derrick De Marney had had some moderate success but both actors were not well known overseas.

Hitchcock added his usual array of interesting character studies which typified so many of his films. I always thought that he never wasted a character in any of his films with even the smallest bit part being used effectively. Young and Innocent is no exception with a couple of wonderful cameos from J.H Roberts as the myopic solicitor who advises his client "We mustn't be depressed on a day like this" after he has been accused of murder.

George Curzon as the villain plays an aggrieved, black faced drummer who has been two timed by his actress wife who he "dragged out of the gutter to make a star". Curzon hams it up to the hilt complete with a twitch which eventually leads to him being exposed as the murderer.

Edward Rigby is the quintessential tramp who dons an uncomfortable tux to enter the Grand Hotel in another fine cameo role. Basil Radford and Percy Marmont as the kindly Police Chief are also very impressive in their small roles.

The film closes with one of Hitchcock's most impressive scenes from all of his films. He loved the concept of furthest to nearest with the camera moving slowly from a very wide shot through the hotel to finally focus on the drummer. He used a crane to achieve this in Young and Innocent and it must have been an extremely innovative and logistically difficult task in 1937. He used the concept again in Notorious and other films to great effect.

Young and Innocent has all the charm and humour that typifies so many Hitchcock movies and is set in another world - country England in 1937.

I have always thought that Hitchcock's English films from the mid to late 1930s produced some of his best work and this is a forgotten gem that helped progress him to Hollywood.

Highly recommended.

One-Trick Hitch...But What A Trick!

[slokes · 6/10 · 13 February 2008]

This early talkie from Alfred Hitchcock would stand a little taller in his catalog had it not come two years after his greatest "wrong-man" chase story, "The 39 Steps".

This time the wrong man is Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney), in trouble when a female acquaintance washes up on a quaint English beach while he is walking by - along with a coat belt which choked the life from her and apparently belonged to him. Rather than trust John Law to sort things out, he runs off to find the story behind the belt, taking with him Erica (Nova Pilbeam), the young and innocent daughter of the village police chief.

If "The 39 Steps" is about the man running away, "Young And Innocent" a.k.a. "The Girl Was Young", is about the woman helping him. Young Pilbeam (as of this writing the earliest Hitchcock heroine still alive) radiates unusual low-key beguilement for a Hitch blonde with her strong Martha Plimpton cheekbones, trim build, and fetching eyes. Unlike Madeleine Carroll in "The 39 Steps", she's never not on Tisdall's side in some way, and the suspense of "Young And Innocent" is less for that. But she keeps you watching her.

Poor De Marney is more like a stick of wood, though, reminding me of a grown-up Freddie Bartholomew and not surprisingly called "a boy" a few times. He distractingly treats the whole ordeal as something of a lark.

"I can laugh because I'm innocent," he tells Erica. "You don't believe me. I wish you did." Eventually, of course, she does. There's a fun scene at a children's party the two fugitives are trying to escape, where Basil Radford in a wimple offers unlikely aid. J.H. Roberts' defense attorney gets his client off despite his ineffectuality - easily the funniest incompetent solicitor until Henry Winkler's in "Arrested Development". Hitch's cameo here is rather more fun than most - it's one of his longer bits, and involves some animated expressions.

Hitchcock finds the funny and sets a steady pace, but allows a dodgy story to get away from him more than usual, averaging one contrivance every five minutes. The anti-cop animus is heavier than usual, for example when he sticks a pair of friendly constables in a pig truck. He even allows Erica's dog Towser to disappear mid-scene without explanation. "The Scottie Vanishes"! The finale is the one trick Hitch pulls out of his hat, an utterly masterful one, probably working even better today because of its in-your-face South Parkean political incorrectness. Not going to ruin it, just bemoan the fact that after the big reveal, the resolution itself is another one of "Y&I"'s underdone moments.

But this is a good opportunity to observe Hitchcock's early mastery of the setpiece, and his mingling of suspense and comedy. Just don't ponder the holes too much - Hitch sure didn't!

Master director Alfred Hitchcock shows how patience is always rewarded albeit in the end.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 7/10 · 15 October 2014]

Apart from being a decent crime thriller, "Young and innocent" functions as a character study of its protagonists as Hitchcock shows viewers their presence of mind and ability to understand each other's sentiments. They are perfectly aware of risks they are taking as they are running from police. It is the risk which brings them closer to each other. Their innocence also speaks a lot about their backgrounds as the girl puts her father's reputation in danger as she decides to help a man who has been unjustly accused of killing a famous actress. Mystery and suspense become a key component of this film's scenario as viewers are immediately led to witness what happens after a crime has been committed. This film has been listed under great director Alfred Hitchcock's filmography as "The girl was young" but it is better known to some of his inveterate fans as "Young and innocent". This title makes perfect sense as a guilty person is punished only once for evil deeds. This is not the same in the case of an innocent person who is punished more than once as the threat of having been framed unjustly looms large over his/her head.

Hitchcock before Hollywood

[mjneu59 · 7/10 · 17 January 2011]

Because the Master of Suspense made so many memorable films it's easy to overlook some of his earlier, embryonic gems. But for anyone except a Hitchcock completist this rarely seen relic from the director's English period will hold only academic interest, anticipating (in some cases by several decades) specific highlights from later classics. The film may lack the trademark perversity (and occasional Freudian overkill) of his Hollywood features, but it still shows plenty of humor, suspense, and (by then already a signature) at least one astonishing camera move. The plot itself is pure Hitchcock, with a typically unexpected MacGuffin: the belt of an incriminating raincoat sought by a fugitive wrongly accused of murder. When seen today the only real liability to the film is its absurdly low pre-war budget. Hitchcock was always a thrifty director, but some of the miniature model work shown here is laughably unconvincing.

Underrated but great

[mjb0123 · 8/10 · 19 March 2005]

I believe that this movie is very underrated Hitchcock. Young and Innocent is about another seemingly docile situation that blows up in a young man's face. While wandering the beach, he comes across the dead body of a woman he knew (we saw the brief fight the woman had with her husband at the very beginning of the movie). As he runs to go get help, two ladies think he is running away from the body. As his trial proceeds, he is able to duck out and go on the lam with the daughter of the chief of police. With her help, they go to prove his innocence.

One can't help but feel for the young couple as they go on their adventure. Mainly, Hitchcock really works the camera on this one. There is one scene in particular, a great panoramic shot that comes to focus on a single pair of eyes, those twitching eyes from the very beginning of the movie.

Maybe it is because it doesn't have a big name or didn't have any real "jump out and get you" moments that it is forgotten. It is worth a look and I recommend seeing it, especially if you like old movies.

"A case like this is most exciting"

[Steffi_P · 7/10 · 9 October 2010]

The characteristics of British cinema back in the classic days tended towards a self-referential sense of playfulness. There was exaggeration, but not with the baroque weirdness of German Expressionism, and Pinewood seemed to take itself a little less seriously than Hollywood. Take the thriller. All thrillers, regardless of how high-mindedly they ostensibly dealt with death and danger, are essentially excuses for excitement. The British thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock are simply an open acknowledgement of that fact, and no matter how gruesome or twisted their subject matter are always rolled out with a disrespectful sense of fun.

Young and Innocent is a bit of an odd hybrid for the Master of Suspense™. As with nearly all of his later British works it takes the form of a fast-paced adventure, in which a male and female protagonist are thrown together by circumstance, and is typical of the screenplays of crucial collaborator Charles Bennett. However it differs in that, rather than being about spies and international intrigue, the catalyst for the adventure is a murder, something Hitch would have far more dealings with in his Hollywood career. This aspect makes Young and Innocent a very visually dynamic picture, as the director gets to indulge his streak of morbid sensationalism. The picture opens with a series of startling sounds and images; a couple arguing, faces moving into the frame, a close-up of seagulls screeching as the body is discovered. It's a classic Hitchcock murder – grisly, fascinating but never tragic. This attention-grabbing prelude pays off later on, because once the adventure is underway the details of the slaying fall by the wayside, and yet because of those close-ups we are able to recall them easily when they become important again at the end of the picture.

As the title would suggest, youth and innocence are written upon the faces of the two leads. Fresh-faced Derrick De Marney is both charming and trustworthy in one of his earliest lead roles, making a likable if not exactly rugged hero. The one to watch here however is Nova Pilbeam, who at eighteen genuinely was a youngster. Perhaps because of her youth, she really embodies the sense of adventure, and makes it seem completely plausible that she would gladly run off with a man accused of murder. In her one emotional scene she does not resort to the hysterics of many actresses of the time, and her believable breakdown into tears reminds me very much of similar performances by Judy Garland. De Marney and Pilbeam are accompanied by Edward Rigby as a lovable old tramp. Rigby is not a bad substitute for Edmund Gwenn (who normally got these roles), and his appearance as British-stock-character-turned-unlikely-hero is really a joy to watch.

And it is things like this Rigby character that are at the heart of Young and Innocent. You just wouldn't get that in an equivalent picture from the US. In Hollywood, a bum is a bum, and he wouldn't just start running round helping the good-looking young leads (unless of course he smartened himself up a bit like William Powell in My Man Godfrey). It's that good-natured willingness to make your "serious" picture slightly undignified in the name of fun.

Lovely little Hitchcock film, unfortunately overlooked

[jem132 · 8/10 · 24 May 2008]

"Young and Innocent" would have to be one of the most overlooked films in the Alfred Hitchcock oeuvre, that is, until recently when the film has enjoyed some much-needed audience attention on DVD. Its a shame that the film has been overlooked until now, as it is actually one of Hitchcock's most easily accessible films and perhaps his warmest film of all. It doesn't have the technical brilliance and emotional reach of "Vertigo" and "Notorious", yet it has a warm, almost bucolic quality, in large part thanks to an excellent performance from the amazing 19 year old leading lady Nova Pilbeam.

The plot resembles "The 39 Steps', in that an innocent man is accused of murder and must go on the run to avoid capture. His innocence is eventually proved by help from a gorgeous blonde accomplice. This similarity to an earlier, very popular Hitchcock classic may well be the reason "Young and Innocent" has been passed by over the years. "Inferior re-hash", they say. But "Young and Innocent" is really quite different in its concerns- the heart of the story is really about a young woman's (Nova Pilbeam's character Erica Burgoyne)emotional growth and discovery of love.

Pilbeam gives a lovely performance as Erica, startling in its complexity and maturity given she was only 19 (I am 19 and I find her performance just amazing). Its a shame that Hitchcock didn't use her in more of his films, she was quite a talent. Derrick De Marney plays her love interest, the "wrong man" in question, and he fares less well. He's never really bad in the role, its just that it is hard to see why such a lovely young woman as Pilbeam would be interested in a nice, yet rather drippy Dee Marney. Marvellous English character actors fill out the supporting cast.

Hitchcock creates a wonderful, warm English countryside feel to this film. It looks and feels innately "real". His technique is as sharp as ever, and "Young and Innocent" flows rather seamlessly. Its a great, entertaining little film that should be better known.

Hardly Valuable In And Of Itself

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 3 November 2011]

Alfred Hitchcock went time and again back to the chase for the McGuffin formula involving a wrongly accused man and a woman tagging along because she's intrigued. The McGuffin being Hitchcock's own coined word for whatever is being sought by hero and/or villain. In this case it's a raincoat and the man that's wearing it. Hardly valuable in and of itself, but they can prove Derrick DeMarney innocent of the crime of murder.

DeMarney is accused and in the tradition of Madeleine Carroll who was physically handcuffed to Robert Donat in The Thirty Nine Steps and later followed by Priscilla Lane and Eva Marie Saint, Nova Pilbeam who also happens to be a cop's daughter gets dragged into DeMarney's quest for innocence. Hence the title Young And Innocent. It could equally apply to both.

Young And Innocent is not as well known on this side of the pond as other Hitchcock work because it contains no players who became international figures like Robert Donat or Michael Redgrave or American imports like Sylvia Sidney and Robert Young. Nevertheless a good chemistry developed between DeMarney and Pilbeam and the audience in the theaters in 1937 would have caught it.

Best scene, ranking as one of Hitchcock's best in terms of suspense and excitement is DeMarney and Pilbeam being rescued from a mine cave in where they sought refuge. Today it will be done with computer graphics, but they can't match what Hitchcock staged back in the day.

As for the ending, Hitchcock liked the ending of Murder so much that he modified it for Young And Innocent. In the former film remember how Herbert Marshall cornered the female impersonator there and the breakdown that followed. Not as spectacular as in Murder and there are no female impersonators in Young And Innocent, but the perpetrator is in a disguise of sorts.

Definitely a must for Hitchcock fans especially those of his early British period where he did not have the Hollywood budgets for his work.

A long journey with an unsatisfying ending

[cricketbat · 5/10 · 31 December 2018]

Young and Innocent takes a long, scenic road to its conclusion, and the journey is only partly worth it. The abrupt ending is also somewhat unsatisfying. Perhaps this Hitchcock movie was more thrilling in its time, but it hasn't aged that well.