''Mary'' (1931) is a British-German

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

, directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, and is the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

version of Hitchcock's ''

Murder! ''Murder!'' is a 1930 British thriller film co-written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring and Edward Chapman. Written by Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville and Walter C. Mycroft, it is based on the 19 ...

'' (1930), shot simultaneously on the same sets with German speaking actors. The film is based on the 1928 book ''

Enter Sir John ''Enter Sir John'' is a 1928 British crime novel by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. It concerns Martella Baring, a young actress, who is put on trial and convicted of murder and a fellow actor Sir John Saumarez who takes up her cause and tries ...

'' by

Clemence Dane Clemence Dane CBE is the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), an English novelist and playwright. Life and career After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned h ...

and Helen Simpson, and stars

Alfred Abel Alfred Peter Abel (12 March 1879 – 12 December 1937) was a German film actor, director, and producer. He appeared in more than 140 silent and sound films between 1913 and 1938. His best-known performance was as Joh Fredersen in Fritz Lang' ...

and

Olga Tschechowa Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova (; russian: Ольга Константиновна Чехова; 14 April 1897 – 9 March 1980), known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred ...

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...

reprises his role as Gordon Druce from ''Murder!'', though the character's name was changed to Gordon Moore.

Plot

Mary Baring (renamed Diana in the English version) is a member of a touring acting troupe. When she is found one day with no memory next to the corpse of a colleague, all circumstances point to the fact that she committed the crime. At the murder trial, theater producer, writer and actor Sir John Menier is the only juror who has doubts about her guilt to the end. However, he bowed to pressure from the rest of the jury and finally voted guilty. Driven by his bad conscience, Sir John sets out on his own to find the real culprit. He also feels complicit in her conviction, as it turns out he has known Mary, who once applied to be an actress at his theater - but he turned her down. With two assistants, an acting couple from Mary's troupe, he investigates and comes across Handel Fane, an actor and acrobat with transvestite tendencies who was engaged to Mary. Mary must not know his dark secret that he is an escaped convict (Fane is a mulatto in the original) who must expect to be caught again at any time. When the common colleague wanted to tell her, Fane killed her. Since Sir John has no idea of this motive, but assumes that he is the perpetrator despite the lack of evidence, he wants to corner Fane. He lets him audition for a supposed new play. The text to be presented has clear references to the Mary Baring case. Fane panics and leaves Sir John's office. At a circus performance, which Sir John visits to question Fane again, the latter commits suicide while performing a trapeze stunt. He leaves a written confession. Mary Baring is thus free. She is picked up from prison by Sir John in a car. (The original ends with Mary and Sir John performing together at his theatre.)

Cast

as Sir John Menier *

as Mary Baring *

Paul Graetz Paul Graetz (8 August 1889 – 16 February 1937) was a German actor and star of the Weimar cabaret. Selected filmography * ''The Peruvian'' (1919) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * ''Christian Wahnschaffe'' (1920) * ''Mary Magdalene'' (192 ...

as Bobby Brown *

Lotte Stein Lotte Stein (1894–1982) was a German actress of the stage and screen. Of Jewish descent, she fled to the United States via Czechoslovakia and Portugal, and arrived at the Port of New York on board the S/S ''Mouzinho'' in June 1941. Selected fi ...

as Bebe Brown *

Hermine Sterler Minna Stern (20 March 1894 – 25 May 1982), known professionally as Hermine Sterler, was a German-American actress whose career spanned both the silent and the talkie film eras on two continents. Career Sterler, who appeared in several Hol ...

as Miss Miller *

Ekkehard Arendt Ekkehard Arendt (10 June 1892 – 10 May 1954) was an Austrian stage and film actor. Arendt served in the Austrian Army during the First World War, before moving to Germany to work in the theatre and film industry. He played the role of Handel Van ...

as Handel Fane *

as Gordon Moore *

John Mylong John Mylong (September 27, 1892 – September 8, 1975), also known as Jack Mylong-Münz, born Adolf Heinrich Münz, was an Austrian actor who later settled in the United States. Selected filmography * ''Der heilige Hass, 1. Teil'' (1921) - Rabo ...

as John Stuart

Copyright and home video status

''Mary'', like all of Hitchcock's other British films, is copyrighted worldwide but has been heavily bootlegged on home video. Despite this, various licensed, restored releases have appeared on DVD, Blu-ray, and video on demand from

Optimum Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...

in the UK,

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

and

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

in the US, and many others.

References

External links

*
''Alfred Hitchcock Collectors’ Guide: Mary'' at Brenton Film
1931 films Films of the Weimar Republic Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock British black-and-white films German black-and-white films 1930s German-language films German multilingual films British multilingual films 1931 multilingual films 1930s German films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub