Review for Young and Innocent

Hitchcock completists will be thrilled at the prospects of more Blu-Ray releases, especially of his pre-war, pre-USA work like ‘Young and Innocent’ (aka The Girl Was Young).

Despite its vintage, it’s an absolute belter too, as exhilarating to watch today as it was some eighty years ago on its original theatrical release. In fact, it has been argued that the film marked a step-change for Hitch, putting him firmly on the path that would eventually lead away from Britain to Hollywood. But more on that later.

Young and Innocent (U) stars Derrick de Marney (Things To Come, Harpers West One) as Robert Tisdall, a man who turns fugitive after he finds the body of a young actress washed up on a beach and is promptly accused of her murder. What’s worse, it appears to be his coat belt around the woman’s neck making him prime suspect. After being arrested and questioned for hours by police convinced they have got their killer,Tisdall remains optimistic about his release. After all – they’ve got the wrong man. But with a dithery lawyer who seems to be no help at all and all the evidence pointing at him there seems to be no alternative but to make a run for it and somehow prove his innocence.



The coat from which the murder weapon (the belt) was taken had been stolen from Tisdall a week or so earlier. If he could just locate the coat, then maybe he could prove his innocence and find the real killer.

Nova Pilbeam (The Next Of Kin, Cheer Boys Cheer) plays the beautiful young daughter of the local police chief, Erica Burgoyne, and, by chance, she meets Tisdall and believes his story. When he escapes she steps up to help – despite the fact that she is the daughter of the police chief.

The two then set off, with the police in hot pursuit, to find a tramp who was last seen wearing the coat and who is the only person who might be able to identify the man who gave it to him. The only clue they have is that he is a regular at a certain hotel and that he has a distinctive twitch.

The whole thing rattles along at a pace and it’s a compelling watch. Hitchcock keeps the tension up throughout and even to the very end you’re never sure that the real murderer will be found, and the young Tisdall saved from the gallows.

Although this is a classic Hitchcock plot there is romantic lightness to the fil which is not at all typical of his later work and which is probably Hitch bending to the studios will in a way that he wouldn’t have to later in his career.

The theme of a man trying to prove his innocence was a common enough one in Hitchcock’s work (Murder, Blackmail, The 39 Steps, Saboteur, North by Northwest, Frenzy) and there are some other early examples of classic motifs – including a sequence right at the front of the film where birds gather round the washed up body on the beach which could have come straight out of ‘The Birds’.

Hitchcock himself makes a (rather obvious) appearance early on in the film, just as he does in all his later works.


Technically the most impressive sequence is an incredible crane shot at the tail-end of the film which sweeps across a crowded room in wide-shot to an extreme close up of the real killer twitching eyes. Apparently the shot took days to rehearse but it stands up today as a major cinematic achievement despite having been shot at a time where most talkies still looked like static stage-plays.

The picture quality is variable (with some minor signs of print damage) but on the whole very impressive with a high level of detail and with no signs of artefacting even on high contrast black and white shots where the blacks are displayed as exactly that.

The audio is what you would expect from an early talkie but very acceptable with clear dialogue throughout.

The extras are pretty much in line with the previous Network DVD release (part of the Early Years collection). These include an informative introduction from film historian Charles Barr and an excellent 25 minute documentary (produced by Carlton for their release of The 39 Steps) entitled: Hitchcock: The Early Years which was wildly informative and packed with fascinating background including some personal recollections from people who had worked with him during the pre-war period.

All Hitchcock fans will want to get their hands on a copy of this high definition transfer of one of Hitchcock’s most endearing early films. Great stuff!