TheLittleSongbird Not one of the finest hours of the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock, but not one of his weakest either. The Manxman is rather lengthy and does feel too long, the second half does drag with the storytelling getting increasingly old-fashioned and melodramatic and the music did come across as forgettable and somewhat recycled-sounding. The Manxman is great to look at though, with the lovely scenery and very professional photography it is one of Hitchcock's better-looking early films and maybe even one of his better looking films full-stop. The first half is well-paced and compelling where you could relate to the characters and their situations and Hitchcock directs splendidly with a great atmospheric touch. The acting is very good, particularly from Carl Brisson while Anny Ondra is not just beautiful but brings a lot of heart to her character and Malcolm Keen completes the love triangle with an equally likable performance. All in all, interesting and quite good but Hitchcock has done better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Blobsie I had low hopes of this movie when I picked it up for £1 at a local flea market. Hitchcock himself said "It was a very banal picture". It is a poor story - surely no-one is happy at the end ? and to call Malcolm Keen's acting wooden is to give him more praise than is deserved, after all wood can be varied and beautiful. Plus there is a complete lack of rapport between him and Anna - whatever happens he is pop-eyed and worried! When they disappear up the grassy hill at the end you can imagine the inevitable breakdown of the relationship. However the film was redeemed for me by 1) Anna Ondra - she looks gorgeous in every scene and conveys a wide range of emotions with sincerity and 2) the photography - the shots of the fishing village and boats(Cornwall) and especially the beach meeting between Ondra and Keen are stylish and impressive. So I enjoyed it - it's well worth £1!

JoeytheBrit Anny Ondra, eh? What a woman.The plot of Hitchcock's last silent movie reads like a storyline from the unaccountably popular Brit soap 'EastEnders.' Even though she doesn't really love him, Kate (the truly delectable Anny Ondra), a flirtatious pub landlord's daughter, rashly promises to wait for her young beau Pete (a hulking Carl Brisson) to return from Africa where he plans to go to make his fortune after the surly pub landlord refuses him her hand in marriage. She loves Philip (Malcolm Keen), an up-and-coming lawyer who just happens to be Pete's best mate and who also reciprocates her feelings of ardour. Lord only knows what she sees in him though, as he comes across as something of a stuffed shirt and looks like Piers Fletcher-Dervish. Anyway, word comes from Africa that Pete has died, leaving Kate and Philip free to declare their love for one another – something neither had felt able to do when poor old Pete was alive.Of course, this being an opera of the soapiest kind, it turns out the jungle drums got it wrong and Pete isn't dead after all! He returns to the Isle of Man a wealthier man, instantly making himself more acceptable to Kate's father. Now this is where you'd think Kate and Philip would come clean – after all, they thought Pete was dead – but instead they keep quiet about their affair and Kate marries Pete out of a sense of obligation.There's plenty more plot to follow, but suffice it to say that a lot of hand-wringing and soul-searching follows. And either Kate and Phil were still at it after Pete returned from Africa, or Pete's too thick to do the maths and release that he was still ocean-bound when his loving wife conceived.The plot summary above actually makes the film sound more interesting than it really is. Everyone over-acts terribly, and all the characters are too shallowly drawn to be of much interest. The plot grows increasingly silly as coincidence is piled upon contrivance, and the downbeat ending proves an inadequate pay-off.

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.