Hitchcock’s ‘The Lodger’ highlights FOLA’s annual Silent Movie Festival

Alfred Hitchcock began filming his mysteries during the heyday of the silent movie era. His greatest silent movie thriller, The Lodger, will be the featured film at Friends of Ludlow Auditorium’s annual Silent Movie Festival. The curtain rises at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20 at Ludlow Town Hall’s Heald Auditorium, 37 South Depot St.

This 1927 British thriller stars Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen and Ivor Novello and marks Hitchcock’s first cameo appearance in a film.

Its plot revolves around the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-type serial killer in London. It all begins with a woman’s scream. She is the seventh victim of a serial killer known as the Avenger, who targets young blonde women on Tuesday evenings. Blonde model Daisy Bunting is at a fashion show when she and the other showgirls hear the news. Daisy returns home to her parents and her policeman sweetheart Joe, who have been reading about the crime in the newspaper.

A handsome, but secretive, young man bearing a strong resemblance to the description of the murderer arrives at the Bunting house, asks about their room to let and pays a month’s rent in advance. The relationship between Daisy and the reclusive lodger gradually becomes serious, making Joe, who is newly assigned to the Avenger case, unhappy.

What follows is the impact of mistaken identity on everyone, especially on Daisy and the lodger, ultimately ending in the film’s surprising conclusion.

Jeff Rapsis will return to Ludlow to provide his original musical background support for the movie, which is free and open to everyone. Donations are appreciated.