The Mountain Eagle
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| The Mountain Eagle | |
|---|---|
 Original Movie Lobby card |
|
| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by | Story: Charles Lapworth Screenplay: Eliot Stannard Max Ferner |
| Starring | Nita Naldi Bernard Goetzke Malcolm Keen John Hamilton |
| Cinematography | Gaetano di Ventimigli |
| Distributed by | Wardour Films |
| Release date(s) |  May 23, 1927 |
| Running time | 57 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Silent Film English intertitles |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Mountain Eagle was Alfred Hitchcock's second silent film as director following The Pleasure Garden. It was released in 1927.
[edit] Plot
The film is set in Kentucky. J.P. Pettigrew's (Bernhard Goetzke) wife died giving birth to his son Edward (John F. Hamilton) who was born a cripple. Pettigrew hates John ("Fear o' God") Fulton (Malcolm Keen) who also loved Pettigrew's wife. Pettigrew sees his now grown son making love to schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi) and seeks her out. During a discussion of her relationship to his son he attempts to take her in his arms but Beatrice rejects his advances. Pettigrew's son Edward sees this and flees the village.
Pettigrew is incensed at both Beatrice's rejection and the loss of his son. He attempts to have Beatrice arrested as a wanton harlot. John forestalls Pettigrew's plan by marrying Beatrice and taking her to his cabin where they fall in love. Beatrice becomes pregnant. Pettigrew seeks revenge by having John thrown in prison for murdering his (missing) son.
A year later John breaks out of prison and attempts to flee with Beatrice and their child but Beatrice falls ill and John must return to the village for a doctor. There he finds Edward has reappeared. His affairs are now cleared up and he is legally free from the charge of murder. Pettigrew is subsequently accidentally shot and no longer a threat to John and his family.
[edit] Production
This is the only Hitchcock directed feature that is considered lost. No prints have been known to survive.
Hitchcock himself considered it a mundane melodrama best forgotten, though fans naturally remain curious. In Francois Truffaut's book Hitchcock/Truffaut (ISBN 2-07-073574-5) Alfred Hitchcock himself described the film as "awful" and said he was "not sorry there are no known prints". Film historian J. Lary Kuhns, however, states in the book Hitchcock's Notebooks ( ISBN 0-380-79945-6) by Dan Auiler that one contemporary writer called The Mountain Eagle far superior to The Lodger.
Exteriors were filmed in Obergurgl, Austria. The Austrian Tyrol stood in for the mountains and hollows of Kentucky. Bad weather during the shooting was a constant source of trouble.
Although this was Alfred Hitchcock's second film it was released three months after his third film The Lodger.
Several surviving stills are reproduced in François Truffaut's book. More stills have recently been found to exist, many of which are reproduced in Dan Auiler's book.
A lobby card (illustrated above right) for the film was found at a flea market in Rowley, Massachusetts. It was found in a box of broken frames and was being used as backing for the picture of another dog. Nothing is known about the dog's purpose in the film. It may been used to assist Edward in fleeing the village or to help film's hero, John Fulton, during his escape from prison or return to the village seeking a doctor. [1]
Although the film was reported to have been released in the United States as Fear o' God the title on the lobby card seems to contradict this. Film historian J. Lary Kuhns has always claimed the film was never released under that title.
