Champagne (1928)

Champagne: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. With Betty Balfour, Jean Bradin, Ferdinand von Alten, Gordon Harker. A spoiled heiress defies her father by running off to marry her lover. However, Daddy has a few tricks up his sleeve.

“Thereu0026#39;s not much to this film of Hitchu0026#39;s, a bit like champagne itself but not so mirth-inducing. Maybe you already know it but he went on make better films than this – many of u0026#39;em in fact, but notwithstanding that I still find this one an enjoyable watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSpoilt little rich girl Betty Balfour is taught a salutary if convoluted lesson by her Wall Street father ably played by Gordon Harker on how to behave as befits the daughter of a millionaire. In this exercise he sorts out the problem of the genuineness of Bettyu0026#39;s suitor too. Some of the sets were as flimsy as the plot (almost diaphanous!) but would have made do for the audience that would only see it the once, and some of the photography and ideas were excellent with some, like the view through the bottom of the glass re-used by Hitch years later. Gurning through a wide range of emotions Betty Balfour kept on Bouncing Back in the same manner as Squibs, her famous role, whilst Gordon Harker excelled at playing this type of role before he started parodying himself in the u0026#39;30u0026#39;s and playing up his down to Earth voice and mannerisms. And even Claude Hulbert made a 3 second appearance on the club stairs in one of his first film roles. If nothing else, itu0026#39;s worth a watch for the sinister Hitchcockian twist at the very end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll told, not a great but an interesting film with a pleasant atmosphere, but because thereu0026#39;s so few extant itu0026#39;s definitely a satisfying British silent film.”