The Farmer's Wife

Movie Review: The Farmer's Wife (silent)

Year of Release: 1928
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker

Plot outline: After his daughter weds, a middle-aged widower with a profitable farm decides to remarry but finds choosing a suitable mate a problematic process (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. Adapted from Eden Phillpotts's stage comedy of the same name, The Farmer's Wife is a lethargic affair with ingenuous fun. It has been nicely directed with a keen eye for the sunlight and shadows over the winding country roads, and the indoor scenes are always correct as to furnishings. There are old taverns, with queer old persons who loll on the wooden benches, and, in spite of the limited number of words, the most has been made of the subtitles to give the onlooker an idea of the dialect of that section of England. It all takes pace in the days of very long skirts and other peculiar ideas of the Victorian era. Farmer Samuel Sweetland, well-to-do and bewhiskered like a squire, decides that he has been a widower long enough. He discusses with his attractive housekeeper, Araminta Dench, likely women who might make a good wife. This comedy is one that would obviously prove far more amusing in audible form. It would give audiences a chance to hear the Devonshire dialect and also offer further opportunities for fun if the awkward Sweetland and the women to whom he proposes could be heard as well as seen. Jameson Thomas gives an easy performance as Sweetland. Lillian Hall-Davis is attractive as Araminta. The other players, especially Gordon Harker as the surly workman, rise to the occasion. (NYT)

My judgement: *** out of 4 stars