Under Capricorn (1949)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Colton (play) and
Margaret Linden (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Romance

Tagline:

Mystery, murder and passion from the master of suspense!

Plot:

In 1831, Irishman Charles Adare travels to Australia to start a new life with the help of his cousin who has just been appointed governor...

Plot Keywords:

Ex Convict | Governor | Shooting | Housekeeper | Fortune

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Lady Henrietta Flusky
Joseph Cotten	...	Sam Flusky
Michael Wilding	...	Hon. Charles Adare
Margaret Leighton	...	Milly
Cecil Parker	...	The Governor
Denis O'Dea	...	Mr. Corrigan
Jack Watling	...	Winter
Harcourt Williams	...	The Coachman
John Ruddock	...	Mr. Potter
Bill Shine	...	Mr. Banks
Victor Lucas	...	The Rev. Smiley
Ronald Adam	...	Mr. Riggs
Francis De Wolff	...	Major Wilkins (as Francis de Wolff)
G.H. Mulcaster	...	Dr. Macallister
Olive Sloane	...	Sal
Maureen Delaney	...	Flo
Julia Lang	...	Susan
Betty McDermott	...	Martha
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ivor Barry	...	Guard in hall (uncredited)
Martin Benson	...	Man Carrying Shrunken Head (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man at Governor's Reception (uncredited)
David Keir	...	Man Checking Invitations At Ball (uncredited)
Roderick Lovell	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Lloyd Pearson	...	Land Agent (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Colton		(play) and
Margaret Linden		(play)
Helen Simpson		(novel)
Hume Cronyn		(adaptation)
James Bridie		(writer)

Produced by
Sidney Bernstein	....	producer (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Richard Addinsell

Cinematography by
Jack Cardiff

Film Editing by
Bert Bates		(as A.S. Bates)

Art Direction by
Thomas N. Morahan		(as Thomas Morahan)

Costume Design by
Roger K. Furse		(as Roger Furse)
Julia Squire		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Charles E. Parker	....	makeup artist (as Charles Parker)

Production Management
Fred Ahern	....	production manager
John Palmer	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
C.R. Foster-Kemp	....	assistant director (as C. Foster Kemp)
Cliff Owen	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
John Pellatt	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Philip Stockford	....	set dresser
Ted Clements	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Kenneth McCallum Tait	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Peter Handford	....	sound recordist
A.W. Watkins	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Beeson	....	camera operator
Ian Craig	....	camera operator
Jack Haste	....	camera operator
David McNeilly	....	camera operator
Jim Dawes	....	grip (uncredited)
George Pink	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Bert Rule	....	assembly cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Levy	....	musical director

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	associate technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
David O. Selznick	....	actor arrangement: Mr. Cotten
Peggy Singer	....	script supervisor
Jean Dyball	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Hazel Swift	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Transatlantic Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1967) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• VidAmerica (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (video)
• Silver Screen (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Balboa Film Distributors (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (Portugal)
• Warner Bros. (Spain)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) (1949) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Transatlantic Pictures

Trivia:

Margaret Leighton appeared with her future husband Michael Wilding in this film. After their marriage in 1964, they worked together several more times, but, by his own admission, Wilding preferred retirement and was happy just to be a supportive audience member for his wife. In this film, Michael Wilding played Charles Adare and Margaret Leighton played Milly.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the characters gather for the dinner party, fairly early on in the film, the camera tracks backwards across the dining room. The table has been pushed into the path of the camera by the time it comes into view, but the candlesticks are still shaking severely from the jerking appearance of the table (their shaking lessens as the take continues).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Hitchcock's least interesting film. Not surprising that it was a massive flop.

Transatlantic Pictures (Hitchcock's own production company) must've rubbed their hands with glee when they decided to co-produce this film with Warner Bros. For not only did they have the world's leading female actress (Ingrid Bergman) in their film, they also had gifted stars Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding and Margaret Leighton lending support, and naturally the great Alfred Hitchcock at the helm. If ever a film was sure to be a critical and commercial hit, Under Capricorn was it. Such a shame, then, that Under Capricorn emerged as the worst film of Hitchcock's career. The critics roasted it, the public ignored it, and Transatlantic Pictures went bust.

Irish aristocratic lady Henrietta (Bergman) elopes to Australia with her cruel lover Sam Flusky (Cotten). She gradually develops the illness dipsomania, what with her lover controlling her every move with over-bearing authority and their maid Milly (Leighton) plying her with drink. A childhood friend of Henrietta's, Charles Adare (Wilding) turns up and, realising pretty quickly that all is not well, tries to help her regain a sense of stability.

The film is a laughably overwrought costume melodrama, totally ill-suited to Hitchcock's playful, suspenseful directing style. A year previously, the director had made the thriller Rope, using experimental ten minute takes, and in this film he still seems to be in the habit of allowing scenes to go on and on (maybe not ten minutes, but some bits last for six or seven minutes without a single cut). Frequently, the film feels tediously unspooled as a result. The actors seem to over-act much of the time, but it's hard to see how they could've avoided this as much of the screenplay requires them to handle some horribly overripe dialogue and reactions. Under Capricorn is undoubtedly the least interesting film that Hitchcock ever made. Those who try to persuade us that it is a misunderstood masterpiece are, I'm sorry to report, well and truly kidding themselves.