Movie Review: Downhill/When Boys Leave Home (1927)

Downhill/When Boys Leave Home (1927) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

One of two prep school friends becomes involved with a young lady who becomes unhappy with the affair. When she goes to the school to make an accusation, innocent Roddy Berwick (Ivor Novello) takes the blame for his pal. He's summarily expelled from school. Roddy returns home where his father kicks him out. On his own, he bums around London until he gets an inheritance from his godmother. With the money, he marries an actress. She turns out to be a gold digger who cleans him out, leaving him in an even worse state. Things just get worse for him from there.

The story is very melodramatic and relies on some heavy symbolism. The women in the film (aside from Roddy's mom) cause a lot of trouble and are not depicted in the best light. Visually, the movie has a lot of nice transitions (one passage of time fades from a pocket watch to the face of a clock tower!) and visual moments, early Hitchcock stylings. A good piano score accompanies the film on the Criterion Collection DVD. Novello gives a good performance though he is a bit old to be playing a prep-school student. Overall, I was underwhelmed. It's a typical life story drama.

Slightly recommended. This movie came as a second feature on The Lodger DVD and it definitely has a B-side vibe. The two titles above are the British and the American titles.