Number Seventeen
| Number Seventeen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | John Maxwell |
| Screenplay by | Alfred Hitchcock Alma Reville Rodney Ackland |
| Story by | Jefferson J. Farjeon |
| Based on | play Number Seventeen |
| Starring |
John Stuart Anne Grey Leon M. Lion Donald Calthrop Barry Jones Ann Casson |
| Music by | Adolph Hallis |
| Cinematography |
Jack Cox Bryan Langley |
| Edited by | A.C. Hammond |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Wardour Films |
|
Release date
|
18 July 1932 (London) |
|
Running time
|
64 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Number Seventeen is a 1932 thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on a stage play by J. Jefferson Farjeon, and starring John Stuart, Anne Grey and Leon M. Lion. The film is about a group of criminals who committed a jewel robbery and put their money in an old house over a railway leading to the English Channel, the film's title being derived from the house's street number. An outsider stumbles onto this plot and intervenes with the help of a neighbour, a police officer's daughter.
After being available only in poor-quality prints for decades, the film was released in high quality by French media company Canal+ in 2005.
Detective Barton is searching for a necklace stolen by a gang of thieves. In the beginning, the gang is in a house in London, before going on the run.
The film starts off with Detective Barton (John Stuart) arriving at a house marked for sale or rent. The door is unlocked and he wanders in. An unknown person with a candle is wandering about and a dead body is found. When confronted the mysterious person claims innocence of the murdered person. Barton (who introduces himself as Forsythe) asks the stranger what he has in his pockets (handkerchief, string, sausage, picture of a child, half a cigarette), before the shadow of a hand is shown reaching for a doorknob. The stranger (who later introduces himself as Ben) searches the body of the dead person and finds handcuffs and a gun which he takes.
The detective returns from investigating the weird sound and finds the handcuffs which the stranger left on the ground. A person is seen to be crawling on the roof through shadows, who then falls through the roof. This is a woman called Miss Ackroyd (Ann Casson) who is revived and cries out for her father. She explains that her father went onto the roof and that they are next door in number 15.
The bell tolls half past midnight and the dead body has disappeared. Three people arrive at the windswept house, Mr. Ackroyd (Henry Caine), Nora (Anne Grey) (who is deaf and dumb) and a third person. Ben draws out the gun. Ben accidentally shoots the governor. Mr. Ackroyd draws out a gun and asks him to search the gentlemen, Ben and Miss Ackroyd. The telegram is revealed to Mr. Ackroyd. Sheldrake (Garry Marsh) gets the diamond necklace, which he has hidden in the upper portion of a toilet. Ben causes a commotion and is locked away with Sheldrake.
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Wikipedia