Champagne - Alfred Hitchcock

Champagne, also released in 1928 is another charming comedy from Hitchcock, based on his own idea. It stars a very well known comedienne (at the time) - Betty Balfour as a daughter of a wealthy man who runs off to be with the man she loves. The Girl (as she is known in the credits) is entitled. She takes her airplane and has it crash land in the ocean near the ship that The Boy (Jean Bradin) is on. The Father (Gordon Harker - who also played the drunk farmhand in The Farmer's Wife, as well as being in The Ring) believes that the Boy is only after the Girl's money. There is a quite funny scene with the Father in his office, reading the news about the Girl landing and running away. He slams down his hand and happens to hit all the call buttons on his desk, so his whole staff comes running in. He sends them away, and a bit later he does it again. Classic comedy bit. 

The Girl and Boy end in Paris. They are having a great time. She is throwing parties, and shopping like there is no tomorrow. There is a bit of tension as there is a Man who was on the boat, and also in Paris with whom she flirts. Along with this Man, the Boy is not all that happy about her showing off all the dresses she has spent money on. I got the sense that he wanted her to be a bit more reserved. During a party she changes dresses and comes out in a stunning dress - he frowns. She gets dismayed, goes back into the bedroom and changes into what the maid is wearing. She comes back out and plays at being coy and reserved, which upsets the Boy. He leaves, and soon after the Father comes in having found his daughter. Father tells the Girl that the stock market has crashed, and that they are totally broke - no money for extravagant parties, or dresses. The party disbands, the Girl still in the maids outfit. The Father and Girl end up moving to a small room - possibly a studio which is very different from the hotel or apartment the Girl was at up till now. The Girl is taking care of the Father, and tries to cook and bake for him - but not very well. He leaves, and the Boy appears. The Girl tells the Boy that she has to go and get a job. The Boy implies that she will never find one, and if she does she will not be good at it because she is selfish and only wants to have fun. Well, hi-jinx ensue with the Girl trying different jobs and failing. She lands in a job at a cabaret doing...something. It seems like selling flowers, but it also seems like she is trying to promote champagne. Either way, it ends with a happy ending where her Father comes to the cabaret and tells her that it was all a lie. He told her they had no money in hopes of helping her grow up and take responsibility. He sees that she is willing to do that and so all is good. He also sees that the Boy is still there and so the Man admits that he was hired by the Father to keep an eye on the Girl.

This film has another example of Hitchcock working on new visuals. There is a moment where the Girl is trying to think which man she wants to be with and the visual is just an overlap of layered faces. There is also a fantastic transition that starts with the camera focused on a glass of champagne from the point of view of the drinker, then looking up and out through the bottom of the glass to bring the audience into the scene. While I had seen the majority of Hitchcock's catalog previously (before this re-watch), Champagne was one that I was not able to find in any nice box sets of his work. I watched it as part of the Legend Series. There is no cameo in this film.