(For Day 6 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write a poem based on a line from a favorite book. So I drew some inspiration from a line in 84 Charing Cross Road, in which Helene Hanff offers to include her pen pal in her murder mystery scripts: “You want to be the murderer or the corpse?” So my poem blurs the line between villain and victim based on first impressions.)
Despite the common maxim told
Of judging books and covers seen,
It’s still a fact that people mold
Opinions and the views they hold
Before the truth can quite unfold.
A first impression sets the scene,
And then the slate is far from clean.
You see a man in overcoat
Within the baleful mist’s embrace.
His gaze is sullen and remote,
And deathly rumors round him float.
Before a word can leave his throat,
You’re sure that murder’s in his face.
And who’s to prove if that’s the case?
Assumptions lead one far astray
Or prove correct our own dismay.
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MPA rating: Not Rated (PG thematically but little objectionable shown)
Here then is a silent, black-and-white classic, so no one thinks I only review recent movies. The third film made by Alfred Hitchcock and his first big success, The Lodger is a forerunner of many a murder mystery in which the arrival of a mysterious newcomer coincides with eerie happenings. In this case, the titular Lodger (Ivor Novello) arrives to the Buntings’ London home in search of a room to rent, just as the news of a serial murderer known as the Avenger has the city in a panic. He catches the eye of his landlady’s (Marie Ault) daughter Daisy (June Tripp), but her parents and policeman beau (Malcolm Keen) see only suspicious activity from the awkward stranger.
The Lodger is a film created and designed for a different time, which has to be taken into account when watching silent films from almost a century ago. I can see naïve moviegoers who had only ever read mystery books watching this movie with bated breath at the creepy atmosphere, but honestly, it’s rather underwhelming, boring even for modern viewers like me. That’s not to say it’s not worth the watch; indeed, Hitchcock’s early work still boasts some haunting imagery and inventive camerawork for the time. And Novello’s title character, pale with stage makeup and a creepy stare to rival Johnny Depp’s Tim Burton roles, is just ambiguous enough to leave you wondering who he really is. The Lodger may be dated, yes, but every genre needs its forerunners. It’s a film worth seeing and certainly preserving for historical value alone.
Best line: (The Landlady, noticing money on the mantle) “You should lock that money up, sir, it’s tempting providence.” (The Lodger) “Providence is concerned with sterner things than money, Mrs. Bunting.”
Rank: Honorable Mention
© 2021 S.G. Liput
722 Followers and Counting
Rebecca is dead, but her room is the same.
The servants still miss her and whisper her name.
Her husband is grieving, and tries to move on,
But Mrs. de Winter is not fully gone.
Her secrets remain, as do Mr. de Winter’s,
Secrets that torture him daily like splinters.
His new wife is innocent, nervous, and shy;
She shouldn’t learn them, nor understand why.
But secrets have habits of being found out,
Casting suspicion and panic and doubt.
Rebecca is dead, Mrs. Danvers knows well,
And yet Manderley is still under her spell.
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We are watchers on the wires;
We are tenants of the skies;
Symbols of when man aspires;
Keepers of the flinching eyes;
Witnesses of every creature,
Evil, good, and in between,
Whether as a nimbus reacher
Or a prisoner to preen.
We are victims cursed by weakness,
Kept by cage or mortal mesh;
Though you know us by our meekness,
We will feast upon your flesh.
We are biders of the ages;
We are conquerors in wait.
When our wingéd warring rages,
You will comprehend too late.
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Rhyme and Reason 