Murder! (1930)

IMDb plot summary: A juror in a murder trial, after voting to convict, has second thoughts and begins to investigate on his own before the execution.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, and Phyllis Konstam.

Murder is an early Alfred Hitchcock mystery in which a juror who helped render an actress guilty in a murder trial wonders if he was wrong after all and sets out to try to prove her innocent. About a third of the way through I wondered if we'd get a 12 Angry Men-style situation where he has to go convince all the other jurors they were wrong, but instead we get a bit of a plodding mystery where the audience is always far ahead of where the characters are. The final scene in particular includes one long, dreary section where the protagonist re-explains to us everything we've already found out. There are definitely some entertaining moments, and the climax centers around the same sort of dramatic set piece that makes films like Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest so memorable, but Hitchcock is clearly still learning his craft here and learning how to pace his films. There haven't been a lot of other 1930 films I've seen so far in a similar vein, though, so it might be more of a standout in that year than is now almost a century later.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Murder! < Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Murder! > The Man with One Red Shoe

Murder! < Satantango

Murder! > Crumb

Murder! < Rigoletto

Murder! < Dear Frankie

Murder! < Master Harold and the Boys

Murder! > Burning Annie

Murder! > Brainscan

Murder! > Beach Party

Murder! > Immortal Beloved

Murder! > Paradise

Final spot: #2517 out of 3702, or 32%.