There was nothing significant about September 10th this year. It isn't October but like my horror friends, who already have their spirit fired up and even decorations inside and out of their house started, I have those old Halloween Month feelings re-ignited. Sort of kicking of pre-horror month festivities, before the official holiday season for me gets really good and going, I chose as a sort of "inaugural" early start as John Brahm's masterpiece (or at least I think it is), The Lodger (1944), a sort-of retelling of Hitchcock's silent about Jack the Ripper on the loose in London, embodied in the towering, seemingly unimposing (his intellect, speech, and manners are quite gentlemanly and sophisticated while there is something off and creepy about him, as if underneath the aristocrat with soft-tone and cultivated hospitality is a seething darkness and some beast that comes uncaged when certain ladies of the night bring out the worst in him) but enigmatic Laird Cregar, whose eyes and face carefully hold back the undercurrent of rage unleashed when out in the night, as bodies are left behind as the law enforcement seem unable to catch him. But because Cregar is cautious (taking the name Slade from a street sign) and knows how to escape capture, carrying himself as not some madman--unhinged and incapable of behaving himself--but as a respectable member of society that could easily slide into a club of doctors and idle rich. He does tell his lodgers that he's a pathologist using their attic for "his studies", also staying in a let room with the paintings of actresses turned to the wall because "their eyes stare at him". Cregar speaks to his lodgers (Sir Cedric Hardwicke & Sara Allgood), their maid (Queenie Leonard), and the rising stage performer (Merle Oberon) when leaving the confines of his rented quarters. He more or less, though, creeps about, ears attune to the Ripper news and investigation.
Sanders, with that rich voice and debonair air retained from past Hitchcock and the future All About Eve (1950), is the detective from Scotland Yard hoping to unearth the motivation behind the White Chapel murders, not even realizing that he's standing in the living room with him at one point. Sanders has an eye for Oberon, though.
I recall the first time I caught this on cable, during October on AMC of all places, about ten years ago, being taken aback by its incredible sets (design, art direction, costuming, the works) and cast. It is a work of art, in my opinion, and finding it practically through channel surfing, unable to sleep one late Friday into Saturday morning, turning this up was such a happy accident. While this isn't an official review, it is indeed an endorsement if you are looking to add a B&W Jack the Ripper title to your October checklist this year. I did realize while at work today that there just wouldn't be enough room for all the films I'd like to see during the 31 days in October. Using September as an extension for October, I just thought, "Why not?"
With the financial weight of 20th Century Fox behind Brahm, he sure directed with plenty of fine hands behind and in front of the camera, that's for sure. The London fog isn't abandoned, with plenty of emphasized mood, lots of extras to fill up the pubs, dance halls, streets, both during the day and night. I can't recommend it enough. And if you want inventive set pieces and creative use of the camera to follow the action, you are in for a treat.
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