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The Manxman

  • 1929
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
The Manxman (1929)
Tragic RomanceDramaRomance

A fisherman and a rising young lawyer, who grew up as brothers, fall in love with the same girl.A fisherman and a rising young lawyer, who grew up as brothers, fall in love with the same girl.A fisherman and a rising young lawyer, who grew up as brothers, fall in love with the same girl.

  • Director
    • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Writers
    • Hall Caine
    • Eliot Stannard
  • Stars
    • Anny Ondra
    • Carl Brisson
    • Malcolm Keen
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    3.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • Hall Caine
      • Eliot Stannard
    • Stars
      • Anny Ondra
      • Carl Brisson
      • Malcolm Keen
    • 59User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
    • 63Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos28

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    Top cast9

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    Anny Ondra
    Anny Ondra
    • Kate Cregeen
    Carl Brisson
    Carl Brisson
    • Pete Quilliam
    Malcolm Keen
    Malcolm Keen
    • Philip Christian
    Randle Ayrton
    • Caesar Cregeen
    Clare Greet
    Clare Greet
    • Mrs. Cregeen
    • (as Claire Greet)
    Kim Peacock
    Kim Peacock
    • Ross Christian
    • (uncredited)
    Nellie Richards
    • Wardress
    • (uncredited)
    Wilfred Shine
    • Doctor
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Terry
    Harry Terry
    • Wedding Guest
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Alfred Hitchcock
    • Writers
      • Hall Caine
      • Eliot Stannard
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews59

    6.23.5K
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    Featured reviews

    7jpsgranville

    Overlooked, uncharacteristic Hitchcock gem

    Though immortalised for his thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock always wanted to try his hand at other genres, especially in his earlier British films. This film and 'Jamaica Inn' are two cases in point.

    Above all what he wanted to do was to engage the audience with the emotions of the characters, and this he successfully achieves with what is essentially soap opera material with his usual technical mastery - such as the stern father seen from the fiancée's perspective through the glass of a window, or the girl's diary where she turns the pages and finds her true love's name gradually dominating her life. The locations are also uncommonly rich and beautiful for a Hitchcock film - more so than 'North by Northwest' or 'Vertigo' - with Cornwall very atmospherically standing in for the Isle of Man!

    It was Hitch's last *total* silent ('Blackmail' came out in both sound & silent versions),and showcases the first Hitchcock blonde of sorts, pretty little Anny Ondra, whose career was sadly numbered once talkies came along - in 'Blackmail', her Swedish-accented voice was dubbed by Joan Barry.

    Knowing it's Hitch, you expect a big action finale or an attempted murder of some kind, but it never happens. In terms of style I actually find Anthony Asquith's similar 'A Cottage on Dartmoor' much more exciting. But viewers should wash preconceived notions aside, and just enjoy the film for what it is.
    9Sorsimus

    Formidable!

    This film is one of the finest examples of how refined a medium silent cinema actually was. There is nothing clumsy or primitive in this one, the complicated, almost "soapy" story is told extremely fluently in images alone (with the help of the odd caption).

    Granted it does not exhibit the same sort of liberated camera movements than Sunrise or The Crowd, but nevertheless The Manxman has sustained a degree of freshness totally missing from most of the early talkies.
    8didi-5

    excellent love triangle on the Isle of Man

    Hitchcock's final silent, 'The Manxman', has two stars you'll see elsewhere in his films - Carl Brisson, from 'The Ring', and Anny Ondra, from 'Blackmail'. It's a tale of three friends, a promise, a search for riches, and forbidden love. Malcolm Keen plays the friend who finds his loyalties tested while he strives to make good in his chosen career of the law.

    Beautifully shot and quite modern in tone, this boasts a lovely performance from Ondra, while Brisson convinces as a fisherman who trusts too much and sees too little. At times this story seems to veer towards the tragic, but has an ending which does work. The Cornish scenery which stands in for the Isle of Man is lovely, while the Hitchcock trademarks are clearly there. Well worth a look and very enjoyable.
    7Steffi_P

    "I resign this – this dignity that I strove for"

    Hitchcock's final silent film is another drama focusing on a love triangle – his primary plot basis in these early days before he became the master of suspense.

    In many ways The Manxman can be seen as something of a loose remake of The Ring (1928), following a similar story of a love triangle between a man, his wife and his best friend, with similar characters and circumstances and the same lead man in Carl Brisson. However while that earlier boxing drama eventually pulled its punch (excuse the pun), The Manxman is a far harsher affair, with a ruthless disregard for its characters' fates that prefigures film noir.

    As was Hitchcock's style from his earliest works, his aim here as a director is to place the audience inside the scenario, no matter how uncomfortable it makes them. The film is almost entirely composed of point-of-view shots, and an unusually large number of them in which an actor looks straight into the camera. Time and time again Carl Brisson's big innocent face stares out at us, as if implicating us in the guilt of the other two leads.

    This also happens to be one of a small number of Hitchcock pictures which is very beautiful to look at. There are plenty of exquisite location shots and great use of natural lighting, in ironic counterpoint to the darkness of the story.

    While not quite the best of them, The Manxman is perhaps the most confident of Hitchcock's silent pictures. Whereas the majority of his silents relied too much upon rather obvious expressionist camera techniques, The Manxman is shot much more straightforwardly, and yet it still has a smooth, flowing style and isn't cluttered up with too many title cards. For me though, Hitchcock didn't really become an interesting director until he started making talkies.
    7Hitchcoc

    Intrigued by the Seriousness

    I was pleased with this. I'm a great fan of Hitchcock, but I've not seen many of the early films. This one did not disappoint. It is the sad eternal triangle. It's a time when a man's oath to his best friend supersedes all, even if it means giving up the woman he truly loves. The young lady in question is of the lower classes and beautiful. It would be normal for her to marry the laughing sailor. The lawyer is actually above her station. When news comes that the betrothed has died, it would be natural for her to marry the lawyer. However, he is fraught with contradictions. His father was a failure and he is in line for a judgeship. He gets her pregnant but won't fess up. The sailor returns from the sea. News of his death was incorrect. So now we have the problem. She loves the lawyer. She doesn't love the sailor. But she has given her word to wait. Instead of being honorable, the lawyer wants it both ways. It has a pretty harsh ending which I won't spoil. I thought for a film of 1929 this was pretty good.

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    Related interests

    Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
    Tragic Romance
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Two key lines in this movie have no intertitles, the viewer having to lip-read them. (At around one hour and four minutes) Kate reveals to Philip, "Philip, I am going to have a baby." Four minutes later, she reveals to her husband Pete, "I am going to have a baby."
    • Goofs
      (at around 1 min) Philip puts his right hand in his pocket, but it is not in the pocket in the subsequent shot.
    • Quotes

      [first title card]

      Title Card: "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

    • Alternate versions
      There is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, " THE MANXMAN (1929) + BLACKMAIL (1929)", distributed by DNA Srl (2 Films on a single DVD), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
    • Connections
      Featured in My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (2022)

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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 16, 1929 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Isle of Man
    • Language
      • None
    • Also known as
      • Nezvesta
    • Filming locations
      • Polperro, Cornwall, England, UK
    • Production company
      • British International Pictures (BIP)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $130
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 50m(110 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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