Tweekums
As this film opens we see a couple arguing in a seaside house; the next morning the woman is found dead on the tide line with a raincoat belt nearby. Her body is discovered by Robert Tisdall who runs to alert the authorities; he is witnessed by two women who assume he is the fleeing killer. He is later arrested when it emerges that he knew the woman and she'd left him a considerable sum of money in her will. He manages to escape from custody and while the police are searching for him he meets Erica Burgoyne, the daughter of the chief constable, and after some time persuades her to help him find his own raincoat and thus prove his innocence. It won't be easy though as it was stolen and was last seen being worn by a tramp!This is an interesting early Hitchcock film; there was no real mystery as the identity of the killer is very strongly implied at the start and we see that Robert did find the body as he claimed. That doesn't matter though as the film is all about how he will prove his innocence. Derrick De Marney puts in a solid performance as the wrongly accused Robert and Nova Pilbeam is a delight as Erica; the two of them have a good chemistry. The rest of the cast are solid too. While this isn't a comedy there are plenty of laughs to be had; these are gentle and unforced so don't feel out of place. There is a scene where our protagonists drive into a disused mine working and the ground collapses under their car; I was surprised at just how good this scene looked given that the film will be eighty years old this year. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to Hitchcock fans and people looking for a good drama with no really offensive content.
FilmCriticLalitRao
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.
tieman64
Sandwiched between "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes", "Young and Innocent" is an oft neglected thriller by Alfred Hitchcock. Released in 1937, the film stars Derrick De Marney as Robert Tisdall, a struggling screenwriter who is wrongly accused of a crime. On the run from the police, Tisdall sets off to both prove his innocence and locate the film's true culprit.It's a familiar Hitchcockian plot, but "Young and Innocent" nevertheless contains a number of excellent moments. These include an elaborate, now famous crane shot, and an audacious cutaway to a flock of birds, angrily screaming as a corpse tumbles into view.Bizarrely, Hitchcock paints Tisdall as a man who, though innocent of murder, nevertheless feigns innocence in order to win the heart of a naive teenager (directors Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol would flat-out label Tisdall a "weasel" and "male gigolo"!). In this way the film's title has a double meaning: Tisdall, innocent of crime, but unscrupulous enough to prey upon the genuinely young and innocent. 7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.
Syl
Sir Alfred Hitchcock was coming into his own as a film director and genius visionary. Thank God for sound and voices instead of soundtrack. In this film, Nova Pilbeam does a fantastic job as Erica who gets caught up in the murder mystery of actress Christine Clay. The prime suspect suddenly appears to be innocent and wrongly accused of the crime. Erica plays detective despite being young and female. She searches to exonerate the suspected killer. This film may not be one of Hitchcock's classic films but it's fine to watch. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Erica's Aunt (played by the wonderful Mary Clare, a British stage actress). I don't recognize many of the cast members and this film was done in London, England before World War II. This film is fine if you want to view Hitchcock's range of film directing.
AD
