The Ring

This is Hitchcock's first (and only) film based on a screenplay he wrote ... or at least co-wrote. A sports-based romantic melodrama is not really what we think of as a Hitchcock film, and there's nothing all that special about the story, but there's a lot of visual invention in this film and he manages to pull off a handful of really stunning sequences. Hunter turns in an amusingly laid back performance.

81.50

A few good shots but mostly boring.

While it has some great classic Hitchcock storytelling and cinematography, nothing about it really wowed me. It's a solid crowd-pleasing drama from an era that still just hasn't grabbed me enough to get excited about something like this. If the silent era works for you though, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Another Hitchcock silent (and a self-written one, at that). As with most of them, individual moments impress more than the picture overall. Ultimately, it's a very conventional genre film that telegraphs its plot from the get-go, and takes its sweet time acting out what you know is coming. However, an abundance of clever transitions, superimpositions, and such again show Hitchcock's early tendency to make up in visual cleverness for dullness elsewhere.

81.000

The Ring is not a great film. It's entertaining enough, and Hitchcock shows an early predilection toward detail, but his technical and storytelling chops are far from perfected.

When Hitchcock is playing with the images in this silent film of his, such as using superimpositions, it is a sight to behold. The moment the plot takes over however everything grinds to a halt. I have a lot of Hitchcock films to see, but while Vertigo and Psycho could combine these two aspects comfortably, this feels like it was practice for him.

Typical love-triangle fare, and the boxing match at the end was laughable.

54.750

If this weren't a Hitchcock film no one would care much. It's still a decent film with a reasonably good love triangle and some occasional visual flair, but that's about it.

Even here, decades before he became a legend, Hitchcock was serving notice that he was one of the most inventive directors working. This has more than a few clever visual ideas that you never saw in other silent movies