UNDER CAPRICORN

Largely derided in critical circles, Hitchcock's "Under Capricorn" is, in fact, one of his greatest films; on the one hand it's deeply romantic with an antecedent in "Rebecca" and on the other, a dark, psychological drama as good as anything he's done. It's a Victorian melodrama set in Australia, though it equally could have been set in the American Deep South during the Civil War. It's got a mansion, a distressed heroine, malevolent servants and a hero who used to be an ex-convict. If the Irish backstory is unconvincing, it's a small price to pay. As the once great lady who has taken to drink Ingrid Bergman is quite magnificent, (it's one of her greatest and most underrated performances), and as her husband, the stable-boy who has struck it rich, Joseph Cotten is very good indeed. The 'Mrs Danvers' role of the nasty housekeeper, (here called Milly), is brilliantly played by Margaret Leighton and even Michael Wilding acquits himself well as the visitor from Ireland. In some respects it's the least Hitchcockian of his films, (which may be why it isn't that highly thought of), but rather than dazzle us with tricks he just gets down to the business at hand. This is a good tale, superbly told and surely it 's time it was re-assessed.