The Manxman

1929 "The screen's supreme masterpiece!"
6.2| 1h40m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 21 January 1929 Released
Producted By: British International Pictures
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A fisherman and a rising lawyer who grew up together as brothers fall in love with the same woman.

Genre

Drama, Romance

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The Manxman (1929) is now streaming with subscription on Freevee

Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Production Companies

British International Pictures

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The Manxman Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
JohnHowardReid This Alfred Hitchcock outing is no longer covered by copyright and is thus available on at least 5 DVD labels. I recommend the St Clair Vision DVD, which has a reasonable music score and at least 9/10 image quality (probably 10/10 considering the movie was photographed by Jack Cox. Jack absolutely doted on grays, but hated pure blacks and pure whites). Mind you, "The Manxman" has little to recommend it, other than its novelty value. All told, it is a dreary movie with very few Hitchcock touches. What is worse, it's way over-acted by the main players, particularly smiling, over-hearty Carl Brisson and determined-to-be-dull Malcolm Keen.On the other hand, I enjoyed Anny Ondra;s performance, despite the fact that she was tied up, pouting and glum, in a web that took forever for the various characters to pace through. All told, "The Manxman" relied on a familiar (but fatally flawed in this account as the hero is believed dead), melodramatic plot, set against a realistic background on the Isle of Man.
Rainey Dawn I'm not big on most romance films - but this one I like. I've seen this one before, forgot about it, and watching it again it dawned on me that I have seen this one. I find it intriguing. Love triangles happen in real life and I would hope they don't end up in a tragic situation as in this film.The biggest questions when dealing with this love triangle is: "Is Kate really in-love with both men at once" (you know, finds something she loves about both of them)? OR is Kate really just a 'player' (using both men)? It seems to me that Kate is actually in-love with Phil but likes Pete as a good friend - so why did Kate flirt so hard with Pete? Why didn't Kate just tell Pete 'I'm in-love with Phil, and you are our good friend'? This whole thing/story happened because Kate flirted hard with both men but really only fell in-love with one man, Phil, and lead Pete on in the very beginning. Kate is to blame for all of this - left Pete hurting badly - not to mention Phil who was like a brother to Pete.Good film - I enjoyed this one.8/10
bkoganbing Fans of Nathaniel Hawthorne might recognize elements of The Scarlet Letter in the plot of The Manxman. For those of us on this side of the pond who don't know, a Manxman is one who is a resident of the Isle of Man where the main industry is commercial fishing.This was Alfred Hitchcock's last silent feature and it's a triangle story about Philip and Peter and the girl they're both crazy about Anny Ondryx. Philip wanted to make something of himself so he studied hard and became a lawyer. Peter was content to be a fisherman, but when Anny's father says that no daughter of his is going to marry some guy with no prospects that she rates better, Peter leaves the Isle of Man to seek fame and fortune and leaves Philip to Anny. She's been kanoodling with both of them, but it's Philip's child she's bearing. But it's Peter she's marrying. Peter is played by Danish film star Carl Brisson and Philip is portrayed by Malcolm Keen. Although the film doesn't have the tragic end of The Scarlet Letter, Keen does a Reverend Dimmesdale like mea culpa as the climax.Some of the scenes of the Isle of Man were quite nicely photographed and I'm told not much has changed in the over 80 years since The Manxman came out. Fans of the master of suspense will recognize very little touches of Hitchcock that they've come to love. The Manxman is a rather turgid melodrama put over by its talented cast.
MartinHafer The "Manxman" in the title refers to a person from the Isle of Man--an independent part of the British Crown but technically not part of the United Kingdom. This large island is located between Britain and Ireland and actually produces its own money and has its own particular language (though English is commonly spoken). Outside the UK, I doubt if that man people are familiar with this place or would recognize the three-legged symbol (the "triskelion") on its flag. Just a bit of history to put the whole thing in perspective. Plus, it's the only film I can recall having seen that's set on this island.The film begins with two friends living on the island. Pete is a poor fisherman and Philip is from a well to do family. They both are in love with the same girl, though because Philip is such a nice guy, he stands aside and says nothing. However, the girl's father won't have Pete for a son-in-law because he's so poor, so Philip goes off to sea to earn his fortune. Unfortunately, word soon comes to everything that Pete has died, so Philip announces to the girl that he loves her. Coincidentally, it turns out she always loved Philip as well, so they plan on marrying. Then, out of the blue, Pete returns--he didn't die while at sea after all. The first thing he does is ask the girl again to be his bride. Heartbroken but feeling responsible since Pete asked her first, she agrees. Unfortunately, unknown to her and Philip is that she is carrying Philip's baby!! Yikes.Well, after the baby is born, apparently Pete couldn't figure out that the kid was his and Philip moves to England to start life anew. However, soon she follows him--leaving poor Pete stuck at home with the kid. What a mess, but in spite of this Pete keeps up a brave face and tells everyone she's on holiday. Later, he comes to see Philip to ask him to help find his wife--little did he know that she was with his best friend all along.If you think about it, this plot is very much like a soap opera and is nothing like the films for which Hitchcock became well-known. As far as the film goes, it is pretty interesting but the plot suffers from one problem. When Pete returned from sea, had they just told him the truth--that they fell in love AFTER they heard he was dead--then the whole mess could have been avoided. Sure, Pete would have been upset but would have no doubt understood. However, aside from this obvious solution, it's a pretty interesting film and is well made, though a tad predictable. As far as the acting goes, it's pretty good for a silent--without an serious over-emoting.By the way, Hitchcock's next film (also 1929) turned out to be Britain's first sound film. While this was well behind the US move to sound, it was still early compared to the rest of the world.