ALFRED HITCHCOCK: Downhill (1927)

Retitled When Boys Leave Home upon release in the U.S., Downhill was the second and last teaming of star Ivor Novello and director Alfred Hitchcock. Credited with a nom de plume, Ivor Novello co-wrote the script with actress Constance Collier; she would later appear in Hitchcock's Rope in 1948. It's a misogynistic tale of a wealthy young man led by unscrupulous women to his downfall, hence the title. First he is kicked out of school because a young tart accuses him of either raping or impregnating her; second a young actress he works with on the stage takes him to the cleaner; lastly, a predatory older woman uses him as a gigolo.

Star Novello is ravishing to look at - so handsome! He is shown with his shirt off in one scene! He was gay in real life! Best known for writing and acting  in musicals on the London stage, he penned the WWI classic "Keep the Home Fires Burning", and "hung" out with Noel Coward and Laurence Olivier. His film career lasted until the mid-1930's and he passed away at age fifty-eight in 1951; coronary thrombosis.

The gold-digging stage actress is played with vivaciousness by a Carey Mulliganesque Isabel Jeans. Hitchcock was evidently impressed with her for they worked together after Downhill on Easy Virtue. She appeared in Suspicion fifteen years later in a supporting role.

Along with the performances, Hitchcock's inventive camera work raises Downhill above the mediocre level. The last reel features an effective hallucination scene with characters fading in-and-out of focus from the POV of Novello's character.

The movie can be streamed here via Internet Archive.