Champagne

Champagne

Moviecut—Champagne

....in a very typical role. There were a few fresh talents to emerge in Britain after the War and one of these was Betty Balfour. She made her name in a series of popular comedies centred around "Squibs", a Piccadilly flower seller. Soon she was the most popular screen star in Britain, popular enough to be given the lead in "Champagne" directed by up and coming director Alfred Hitchcock. He attempted this as a change of pace from his more recent, somber films ("The Lodger" (1927) and "The Ring" (1927)) but Hitchcock didn't like it. Obviously with Miss Balfour as the star, the film was tailored to her light hearted talent and Hitchcock was out of his element and refused to mold a film around a particular personality ever again. He wasn't the only one who wasn't impressed, the movie wasn't well received by "Variety" who called the story "of the weakest". I did like Betty Balfour. I had only seen her in "Evergreen" where she was distinctly matronly - it was so nice to see her at her best as a fun loving flapper even if the movie dragged. Millionaire Wall Street businessman (Gordon Harker) is so exasperated at his daughter's frivolous ways he is determined to teach her a lesson. He tells her he has lost all his money and forces her to face up to life's realities. Her fiancé, who has long wished that she would ditch some of her fair weather friends, is the only person who stands by her. There is also a certain man about town waiting in the wings. Music is so important to me while watching silent movies and this was of the deadliest. It is like someone saw the name of Alfred Hitchcock in the credits and inserted the most dramatic symphonies they could find. It was for the most part a light hearted comedy and really needed some popular songs of the day. I also think more could have been done with Betty's job hunting - she answered an advertisement to demonstrate toothpaste but found herself in a cabaret selling boutonneires (she couldn't escape from "Squibs"!!). Suddenly "man about town" turns up when she is at her lowest and falls in with her suggestion to whisk her off to New York but even in this early stage of his career Hitchcock had a surprise or two up his sleeve and the "man about town" is revealed as a good friend of her father's who has promised to keep an eye on her. But do those "bedroom eyes" that look at her over the glass of sparkling champagne mean business or pleasure. All will be revealed - but not in this movie!!!

Sadly, not so. I detected the enthusiasm in the reviews of other posters on this board, but I'm far from enthralled by this early effort from director Hitchcock. Admittedly, the Master shows a flair for some of the techniques that would gain him accolades in his later work. I particularly liked his use of the swaying camera to illustrate the rolling of the ship to the ocean waves. The view through the champagne glass was also a nice touch, and decidedly novel way back in the silent era. What I found most disconcerting however were the abruptness of the moods and facial expressions of the central characters, particularly Betty (Betty Balfour) and The Man (Ferdinand Von Alten). Within seconds, their demeanor would go from happy to grim or vice versa, with no apparent change in circumstances within the scene. That only managed to convey an unusual amount of 'huh?' moments, as I tried to imagine myself in the same situation. So a lot of the picture didn't work for me. There was also the simplistic set up of having Betty chase down her boyfriend aboard ship to Paris. Later it's learned that Betty's father is 'busted' due to his investment misfortunes, and The Boy (Jean Bradin) declares that he'll get a job to help them out. Well then, how did the well dressed, impeccably groomed traveler afford to go on an ocean cruise? See what I mean? The continuity of what Hitchcock was trying to convey doesn't hold up under close inspection. And then there's The Man. Hired by Betty's father, his on screen appearance suggested a lecherous womanizer who would use any means to conquer yet another victim. The scene in the cabaret that suggested just that turned out to be a mirage sequence of sorts with an abrupt turnabout. More confusing than necessary I thought, and a curve ball thrown at the viewer. Say, how did Father (Gordon Harker) get 'The New York Advertiser' to post a headline that he was teaching his daughter a lesson? I did get a kick out of his description of The Boy in the telegram he sent to The Man - it described The Boy as a 'boulevard sheik'. As for a recommendation - see it for an early Hitchcock effort and as a curiosity piece. It will help one's understanding of the director's views on his way to greater film creativity and story telling.

Let's see. This very wealthy young lady, Betty Balfour, runs, or rather flies away from home on a lark. Picked up at sea by a ship, she meets two classy gentlemen. One is a villainous looking older type with a mustache (Frederick von Alten), the other a handsome young fellow, a little priggish (Jean Bradin). Her father catches up to her and informs her that in her absence the market has fallen and they are now broke. We next see Betty and Daddy living in reduced circumstances, with Betty doing all the work. Bradin visits them and offers to take her out of "this wretched place." Right away, I didn't like Bradin too much. That wretched place looked more comfortable than where I grew up. Not that it matters -- Betty tells him she couldn't leave Daddy alone in any case, although she and Bradin are clearly attracted to one another. Betty, however, must get a job to support her and her father. She becomes a "flower girl" at a cantina, where she runs into both of the men she met on the ship. The unctuous and oily Maitre De, for whom she works, makes life miserable for her. One thing follows another and she decides to run home to America was the mustachioed von Alten. Bradin catches them aboard ship before they leave. A fight ensues but Daddy bursts in and tells them that it was all a joke. They're still as rich as Croesus! Betty swoons into Bradin's arms! Bon voyage! I got lost a bit here and there in this silent flick. There weren't many title cards and the transitions seemed too quick for me at times. Either the editing was off or my brain is turning into some kind of instant soy burger compound. Add one cup milk and one beaten egg. For instance, Daddy tells Betty they are busted and, whammo, we see her serving him what struck me as a recherché dinner with champagne, while he smiles in his evening clothes. And they're supposed to be POOR. It's also rather too long to be adequately supported by this rather thin and whimsical story. It's not slow. It just meanders along leaving oxbow lakes behind. There were times I didn't understand her motives. Why does she pretend to be jolly in the cantina while the priggish young man who could be her savior sits across the table from her? Or IS she pretending? See what I mean? Interesting experiment. Two samples of people, both naive movie-goers who wouldn't know Alfred Hitchcock from Fred Niblo. Tell Group One that the movie they are about to see is called "Champagne" and was directed by the famous Alfred Hitchcock. Tell Group Two nothing. Then show them the movie and ask them to rate it on a scale from one to ten, ten being best. Prediction: Group One will rate it significantly higher than Group Two. Why else would anyone watch this extended and not particularly engaging film except for their knowing that it was an early effort of Alfred Hitchcock?

The film begins with a flighty and spoiled rich lady crashing her plane near a cruise ship. You soon learn that it was NOT an accident--she just missed the ship and thought nothing of destroying an expensive plane to make it to the ship where her fiancé is waiting. They are planning to elope but her father is furious--especially since it all seems like a fun adventure to the daughter instead of serious business. So, to teach her a lesson, the father tells her that he is broke and she'll have to support herself. Well, considering the type person she is, this seems like a great plan (too bad Paris Hilton's parents never saw this film) and the wedding plans soon fizzle. Next they show the formerly rich girl trying to behave like a normal lady--cooking and taking care of her now "poor" father. So, feeling desperate to help support herself and Dad, she applies for work on a cruise ship. Oddly, she really never seems to actually do that much working once on board. However, what does happen is that a wolf gets a hold of her and things look bad--leading to a cute surprise ending. All in all, a very entertaining film and something that might surprise some Hitchcock fans, as it's nothing like his later films. A decent silent light comedy that's worth a look because of its story and high watchability.

This film is a real mixed bag of sorts. The film follows a woman named Betty who is in love with her rich boyfriend. However, Betty also has a substantial amount of money and Betty's father believes that her boyfriend is a gold-digger. Betty takes her father's plane and goes after her boyfriend anyway who is on a ship heading to France. Betty attempts to get married to her boyfriend but they get in an argument and separate after they reach France. After getting back together Betty's father tells her that they have lost all of their money in the stock market which causes Betty's boyfriend to leave again. Will her boyfriend return or is he really a gold-digger? The story isn't very interesting when it comes down to it although I did enjoy the twist at the end of the film. As for the acting, it's actually pretty good. Betty Balfour plays Betty and does a stupendous job at it. She seems to fit into the role very naturally and does a good job at not exaggerating emotions like in most silent films. Gordon Harker plays Betty's father Mark and seems to do a good job at seeming unpleased with his daughter's decision. And finally Jean Bradin plays Betty's boyfriend and he also does a good job in the role. While the acting is good, it doesn't save the film. The special effects in the film are flawed and some of them seem obvious which isn't very good at all. However, the music is stupendous here and does a great job at creating emotions which you don't normally get from films of this time period. The camera angles and shots being used are truly ahead of their time which helps the film. Even though I praised many aspects of the film the plot just feels so basic and uninteresting plus the poor quality of the special effects really hurt the atmosphere and immersion of the film. So while it has many positives it also has many negatives which causes it to equal out to a very mediocre film. Score: 4/10

I'll be doing more of these user comments as I own the whole collection of Alfred Hitchcock. I just received "Under Capricorn" from Chapters and can now say I own all 53 movies. I will only comment on the ones that are not so popular. Anyways, Champagne hardly kept my interest as it was a silent film with not enough written dialog for the viewer to see. I saw a few humorous scenes and two intense scenes and that's all. They weren't very long and the story I felt was weak. There was the man, played by Theo Von Alten who looked through the champagne glass as was to introduce the story and really one of the few Hitchcock touches and it also ended with the man looking through the champagne glass to end the story. I wasn't sure if the man was going to rape/kill the girl, played by Betty Belfour which happened to be intense until she ran away. Also at the end where the man and the boy, played by Jean Bradin were fighting and the boy tried strangling the man. That was short lived as it was explained the man was hired by the father, played by Gordon Harker to prevent his daughter from eloping. The comedy scene was the drunkard not being affected by the waves below the ship but everyone else. Also, the girl seeing everyone else have a good time and wanted to join with her big smile and fast moving hips but her boy wouldn't let her. Also, when the father was reading the papers and smoking his cigar or pipe (I can't remember) he was hilarious I thought. The boy was always low key or pessimistic as he felt he was in control and wanted to arrange the wedding details. This always bothered the girl and always put tension between the girl and the boy. You can say it wasn't a match made in heaven. I only wish the dialog spoken in silence on the screen was displayed more in writing and we could have understood more of the story. Alfred Hitchcock said he believed "Champagne" was his worst movie and I tend to agree.

If you have not seen this movie it is a mistake, I devoured it and was like, this is among the best love stories of all times It has an all around good cast, the best director to hit the face of the Earth, beautiful costumes and cool photography. What else is to say than that of out 1 million movies(all of the movies i have ever seen) this is #1, and if you see it, you'll say the same.