Downhill

Alfred Hitchcock’s fifth film features an early variation on his fabled ‘wrong man’plot, as Ivor Novello stands accused of getting a girl pregnant.

Alfred Hitchcock’s fifth feature film as director features an early variation on his fabled ‘wrong man’ plot device, as Ivor Novello is wrongfully accused of getting a young girl pregnant. After going into exile his life takes a downward turn as he descends into a life of prostitution and poverty.

Hitchcock’s second collaboration with Novello after The Lodger was based on a play that Novello co-wrote with Constance Collier. This restoration by the BFI National Archive, as part of its ‘Hitchcock 9’ project, utilises the BFI’s holdings combined with a tinted print from the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam, with the addition of a new score by John Sweeney. Principal restoration funding provided by Simon W Hessel. Additional funding provided by Deluxe 142 and The Headley Trust