Watch ‘The Pleasure Garden’, Alfred Hitchcock’s first feature film
Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most celebrated and prolific directors of our time, directing movies like Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, and many more. He pioneered a filmmaking style that influenced so many to come after him, solidifying his place as one of the best of all time.
Hitchcock directed so many movies throughout his lifetime that it can sometimes be hard to keep track, but when you look back into his filmography, there is a vast amount to explore. His very first feature film, for example, isn’t one of his most famous, but if you’re a film history buff, it is certainly worth revisiting.
Hitchcock’s very first feature film is titled The Pleasure Garden, and stars silent film actress Virginia Valli alongside Carmelita Geraghty, Miles Mander, John Stuart, Ferdinand Martini, and other film and stage actors of the era. The movie was both shot and released in 1925, with most of the production taking place in Italy and Germany.
The Pleasure Garden is based on a novel by Oliver Sandys, the pen name of writer Marguerite Florence Laura Jarvis. The story of the same name, in addition to the film itself, centres around two chorus girls at The Pleasure Garden Theatre in London.
The film focuses on their relationships and lives within the theatre, which isn’t exactly on par with how people know Hitchcock‘s style and subject matter, but this was, in fact, his very first film. Many people don’t know that the majority of his early films were silent, as was the standard for the time. In fact, much of this film had been lost to history, wear, and tear until The British Film Institute restored it along with eight other films in June of 2012.
As a result of this restoration, 20 minutes of missing footage were added to this film, including “the atmospheric colour tinting of the period.” Additionally, a new score was commissioned for the film’s restoration by a young British composer named Daniel Patrick Cohen, and the new score has been performed live with the film many times across the world. However, this new score hasn’t officially been recorded and released due to a lack of support and funding. However, you can watch the film itself for free online.
This availability is due in part to the culture of bootlegging in the US, which has allowed lower-quality renderings of the film to circulate throughout the years. However, at the end of 2021, The Pleasure Garden actually became the very first Alfred Hitchcock film to enter the public domain in the United States. That said, this only applies to the unrestored version of the film, which is unaccompanied by a score. The restored and accompanied version is still under copyright and will remain as such until 2050.
If you want to take a look at Hitchcock’s very first feature film, you can find it down below.
