BEFORE: This is one of three Alfred Hitchcock films that seems to have been released under two different titles. I'm trying to determine if that was for U.S. vs. foreign release, or what. In the U.K. this was released as "Juno and the Paycock", since it was based on a famous story of the same name, written by Sean O'Casey. Perhaps the distributor didn't feel that American audiences would know what a "paycock" was. I'm not sure I do either, and I remember reading this story in college.
I'm going to use the title that the IMDB uses - the bad news is that these three Hitchcock films with two titles caused some confusion, but on the upside, hey, that's three fewer films I need to watch. Linking from "Blackmail", Sara Allgood carries over.
THE PLOT: During the Irish revolution, a family earns a big inheritance. They start leading a rich life forgetting what the most important values are.
AFTER: Well, I had a major setback tonight in trying to watch this film, and it's all about the thick Irish accents. Usually with thick British accents I struggle for about 15 minutes, and then my brain somehow adapts and I'm able to understand most of what I hear. But the really tough Irish brogue? My brain was never able to adapt, the understanding never kicked in, so most of the time I was left wondering what the heck the characters were saying. Again I had to watch the film with the Wikipedia plot summary in a browser so I could pick up on the plot points.
It's odd that shortly after Hitchcock starting making films with sound that he'd make one where so many of the characters are nearly impossible to understand. This is what I'm able to understand of the plot: a "paycock" is sort of like a peacock, which is what Juno calls her husband because he's vain like one and can't (or won't) work. Also, collectively a lot of bad stuff happens to Irish people - like they're all out of work or on strike or fighting in a civil war, all at the same time.
Things get (briefly) better when the family in question gets news of an inheritance from a deceased relative. So they go on a spending spree, getting all new furniture and a gramaphone, and then throwing a big party - but eventually they learn that there was a mistake made on the will, and as cousins they weren't named directly, so the relative's second and third cousins have all shown up to claim their parts of the inheritance. Soon the bills on the new furniture will be due and the creditors will start showing up...
Meanwhile the daughter's being courted by one man, but then dumps him for another. (There's that lack of faithfulness that Hitchcock believed young women always displayed again...) In a massive contrivance, her new man is also the lawyer who brings the news of the inheritance. Wouldn't you know she gets pregnant (shades of "The Manxman") and her new lover takes off, and her old lover won't take her back in her new condition.
Is there a point to all this family struggle and Irish strife, other than to prove that there is no God? Damn, it's all so depressing, doesn't anything good ever happen to these people? Are we supposed to take delight in all of their misery, or just be thankful that all this isn't happening to us?
Also starring Barry Fitzgerald (last seen in "Bringing Up Baby"), Kathleen O'Regan, John Laurie, Edward Chapman, Maire O'Neill, Sidney Morgan, John Longden (also last seen in "Blackmail"), Dennis Wyndham.
RATING: 3 out of 10 sausages
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