I understand fully the historic importance of this movie, since it was a very early example of Alfred Hitchcock's work in the suspense genre. That alone qualifies it to be considered a classic. In my opinion, however, that may be the only thing that qualifies this as a classic, and it astonishes me that so many people consider this a masterpiece. All I can observe is that Hitchcock got better as the years went on.
A lot could be said about this. The story revolves around a Canadian man in London who gets involved in some sort of foreign espionage activity and ends up wrongly accused of murder. The movie tries to unravel the mystery. It did not, however, enthrall me. I thought it plodded along with performances that were passable but little more. Some elements of the story mystified me and as a result I found myself losing focus from time to time. The scenes in the Scottish man's house seemed unnecessary. The movie's high rating surprises me, quite frankly. The only reason I can come up with for the high rating is that it's early Hitchcock.
In fairness, this isn't a bad movie. Compared to other movies of the era, it's what might be described as fair to middlin'. I've seen many worse movies from the 30's, but there are also movies from the 30's that seem timeless and can still hold me captive. Overall - 4/10
A lot could be said about this. The story revolves around a Canadian man in London who gets involved in some sort of foreign espionage activity and ends up wrongly accused of murder. The movie tries to unravel the mystery. It did not, however, enthrall me. I thought it plodded along with performances that were passable but little more. Some elements of the story mystified me and as a result I found myself losing focus from time to time. The scenes in the Scottish man's house seemed unnecessary. The movie's high rating surprises me, quite frankly. The only reason I can come up with for the high rating is that it's early Hitchcock.
In fairness, this isn't a bad movie. Compared to other movies of the era, it's what might be described as fair to middlin'. I've seen many worse movies from the 30's, but there are also movies from the 30's that seem timeless and can still hold me captive. Overall - 4/10