The Farmer's Wife

Starring: Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker, Gibb McLaughlin, Maud Gill, Louie Pounds
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Comedy, Romance
1928

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After the death of his wife, a farmer (Jameson Thomas) eventually decides he must remarry. He identifies three potential matches, but wooing them proves to be more difficult than he expected.

Review:
Tim: Ah, a romantic comedy- from Alfred Hitchcock? I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't watched this movie with my own eyes. I love that this movie exists. Hitchcock has gained such a fantastic (and deserving) reputation as a master of suspense and horror. However, especially early in his career, he made a more diverse movie-making experience. I really think it's important for true Hitchcock fans to go back and watch some of these early films. This one is a fairly lightweight romantic comedy, but there are moments when you can see the genius behind the camera. Still, as a whole, this is a fairly generic film coming from a still inexperienced director.

What I most enjoyed about this film is realizing how similar this is to many romantic comedies still made today. In some ways, the genre hasn't changed much in the last 80+ years. Our protagonist is a widower farmer who decides that he must remarry. He sits down with his pretty and loyal housekeeper, and the two make up a list of four possible women he could marry. He decides to set out and woo them. The plan doesn't go very well, as each of the women rejects him for some reason or other. In true romantic comedy fashion (spoiler alert!!), he eventually discovers that his real love was right under his nose the whole time. I love that this exact formula has been repeated hundreds of times in various movies since this one came out in 1928 (and I sincerely doubt this was the first to follow that). The whole thing is incredibly predictable, as the movie doesn't even try to hide how the whole film will wrap up. The obviousness of the whole thing ruins the viewing experience just a bit, but not too horribly.

It is fairly interested to watch the farmer as he fails as wooing various women around him. There's certainly a lot of humor in these exchanges, and this film provides a good amount of comedy (silent film comedy, obviously). One thing I didn't like though, is that I was not a huge fan of our protagonist, Farmer Sweetland. The film could have made him a very sympathetic character, to the point where, at the end of the film, we'd be just as desperate to see him find another wife. However, after each encounter with a woman who rejects him, he flies into a rage and yells or utters mean things to them. To a certain extent, this explains his frustration at the rejection and is understandable. However, it makes him a bit unlikable. If a woman doesn't want to marry him, that does not give him the right to demeanor her. It almost felt like he wasn't deserving of any of them. I know this is all besides the point, but it bothered me a little.

The cast was fairly good. Jameson Thomas was definitely a silent film star, but I was very impressed with his screen presence. While I did not always like him as Farmer Sweetland, my eye was constantly drawn back to him. He gave a very good performance. I also loved Lillian Hall-Davis as his housekeeper. She brought an unexpected amount of warmth to the role. Her quiet performance is one of the most vital of the film. It did not surprise me to read that at the time, she was Alfred Hitchcock's favorite actress- she certainly shone on screen (It was sad to hear she struggled with the transition to talking pictures, suffered from depression, and committed suicide a few years after this film). I thought Hall-Davis was wonderful here. I also really liked Gordon Harker as the Handyman, Ash. Harker's performance is way too over-the-top, but he was quite funny, and really had some humorous scenes throughout the film. His visual gags are quite funny, especially as he works to do his job with pants that are far too big. He was a great addition to the cast.

The Farmer's Wife is certainly a decent romantic comedy, and it's fun to see some of the stronger moments in Alfred Hitchcock's film. However, at 129 minutes, the film feels far too long. There's several scenes that are not central to the story, yet go on and on and on. While they provide some levity, they drag the movie out too long. Hitchcock needed to trim some of these down to get them to a more manageable level. While I didn't love this movie, it was certainly interesting and fairly entertaining. It's a good example of an early, non-classic film from a terrific director.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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