White Shadow (1924)
Of all the films that were discovered in a New Zealand vault in 2010, this here is perhaps the one that gained the most attention. This here turns out to be the earliest surviving "work" of Alfred Hitchcock who served as assistant director, writer, editor and set designer. Sadly, only three of the six reels survived but at least it gives us an early glimpse of what the future master was doing during this era. The story has Betty Compson playing twin sisters, one good and the other bad, who fall in love with the same man. I won't reveal too much else but I will say that this story has about as many twists and turns that later Hitchcock films would have. It's impossible to really judge this film since the final three reels are still missing. In their place are some title cards explaining how everything ends and I must say that the final reel must have been quite crazy to see back in the day. Again, it's impossible to fully judge this film but from the first three reels it's easy to see that Compson did a very good job with her role as you can perfectly see how different she played the two roles. I thought she was quite good at both but the good girl was the clear winner. The supporting players were also quite good, although no one really stood out. As far as the work Hitchcock did, I'd say the set design was probably the best thing and especially during the scenes located inside the father's house. Perhaps one day the rest of the film will turn up but as is, this film is still going to appeal to silent buffs as well as those interested in the early career of Hitchcock.
