The Farmer's Wife

1928
5.8| 1h40m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 04 January 1930 Released
Producted By: British International Pictures
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Successful middle-aged farmer Samuel Sweetland becomes widowed, then his daughter marries and leaves home. Deciding he wishes to remarry, Sweetland pursues some local women he considers prospects.

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Production Companies

British International Pictures

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The Farmer's Wife Audience Reviews

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Ian (Flash Review)Far from his world-famous films, this is an early silent Hitchcock directorial effort. An older bachelor chap with thick sideburns is on the hunt for an available female suitor so he can remarry after getting antsy after attending a recent wedding. Meeting with a friend, they concoct a list of woman for him to schmooze up. Gags are had by his brusque approach, especially in the era of abundant pleasantries and eloquent formalities and you learn he doesn't handle rejection very well. This being silent, amusements come from exaggerated facial expressions as well as his brash zingers in the title cards. I can now check off another film from the Hitchcock film catalog.
Rainey Dawn In all honesty I'm not big on romantic comedies - very few of them I actually enjoy and love - most of them are quite boring to me and this film has bored me to tears. Maybe one of these days I will go back to watch this film and enjoy it - but I doubt that. There is NOTHING wrong with this movie - it's cute and all - but as I have stated I'm not into most romantic comedies.I'm sorry I do not like this film - I want to because it's Hitchcock but I don't. I like my Alfred Hitchcock thrilling, mysterious and horrifying and this film is definitely totally opposite of my favorite side of Hitchcock.This film is worth while if you enjoy silent movies and/or romantic comedies. It's just not a film for me.3/10
secondtake The Farmer's Wife (1928)Like many of Alfred Hitchcock's more famous films, The Farmer's Wife begins with pure innocence (a beautiful day in the country, followed by two adorable puppies, maybe the cutest things in any of his movies). And unlike almost all of his movies, it remains pure and happy throughout. Even the fact that a woman (the main character's wife, we learn) is dying in the first scenes is no impediment to the joy of life in the beautiful countryside--her last words are a reminder to the maid to "air out the master's pants." Can't you hear Hitchcock laughing?This is no diabolical thriller. The only suspense here is who the man might marry next, and I think we are meant to know the answer to that pretty early on, as well. There is a nice montage of him getting dressed around forty minutes into the film. And just before that a fun trick of imagining future wives and seeing them fade in, sitting on a chair, and then fade back to an empty chair. (This reprises toward the end, as well, and it's briefly hilarious.) Some of the scenes are genuinely beautiful, and others have a candor and quickness to the actions that is fresh and honest. And when everyone leaves for the hunt, the number of cute little dogs used is quite astonishing--over a hundred, I think.Yes, a lighthearted, nicely felt film, a bit slow all along and over two hours long, but there is a feeling of competence here. Is it recommendable? Only if you are really just interested in a calm, sweet tale. The man's quest for a mate is a comedy, with one rejection after another. The acting is generally quite good, especially the many women. The bum caricature isn't a help, and the main man, played by Jameson Thomas, is merely appropriate at being strong and irritable. Some of his lines are pretty funny because he's mean when he doesn't need to be, and the women either squeal or laugh.And how's this for a line to a woman to persuade her to marry him: "You'll only feel the velvet glove and never know I was breaking you in." She says no.
MartinHafer Had this movie been made in the age of the talkies and not at the tail end of silents, it would have no doubt scored a lot lower due to its very simple plot. However, in many silents the plot is more streamlined and this is no surprise. What was a surprise was the leisurely pace that this romantic comedy took to get to its rather predictable but satisfying conclusion. Instead of a 60 to 75 minute film (pretty much the norm for 1928), it was over two hours and was given many beautiful and artistic camera shots that make this a real standout film and very much unlike Hitchcock's later films. In addition, since no one is murdered and there is no terror in the film, it's not at all what many would expect from the director. As for me, I sure didn't mind at all. The only thing I did mind was that I didn't notice a Hitchcock cameo--something that is not in all of his films. If you saw him in the film, drop me a line--it's easy to miss him in those scenes.