tadpole-596-918256 Review of Downhill

Downhill (1927)

As director Hitchcock often said, "The root of all Evil is . . . "

[7/10 · 28 November 2020]

" . . . Women," and seldom does he make his case more clearly than in DOWNHILL. True, he gives us the embezzler who tries to come between Norman and his Mom in PSYCHO, the serial thief who gives James Bond the cold shoulder during MARNIE and the harlot who breaks Cary's heart because she's so NOTORIOUS. What about Bob's stable of necktie-wrinkling dames dirtying his dry-cleaning FRENZY or SUSPICION's auto-wrecking wench, not to mention that dizzy ski bum dame cavorting through SPELLBOUND? Then there's that falling floozy VERTIGO vixen villain, plus the terrible torch lady of SABOTEUR and ROPE's "Please play 'Misty' for me" gal. Plus it's so easy to forget REBECCA's fatal female, since that awful amnesiac cannot even remember her own name! However, none of Hitch's other single word-titled films feature as many wicked witches as DOWNHILL. First, there's the gold-digging perjurer Mabel from the bun shop. Then there's that bigamist actress spouse, Julia. Don't forget about Madame M., who rents out Rod for 50 francs a pop. Or the clients of her bordello, whose masculine mustaches are only overshadowed by their weight. With such a horde of horrid harpies, jaded Jezebels and slovenly strumpets leeching away his life, Rod is reduced to rubble.