Early Hitchcock’s Attempts in Comedy Genre
Critics have continuously been holding discussions about Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematography art. His name is usually associated with horror films and psychological thrillers. Hitchcock is deservedly called a “king of suspense” because of his remarkable success in this genre though he also explored comedy. He started directing in 1922, and his first film was Number 1
3. It was a comedy which was not finished due to financial issues. Six years later, Hitchcock started working at The Farmer’s Wife shooting, one of his first works in comedy genre that received screening in 1928. It was the adaptation of Eden Phillpotts’ play (a British playwright). Hitchcock called the film “a routine job,” considering it to be at the bottom of his film ratings, and was critical when appraising his directing skills in it. In early twenties, the future genius director continued examining himself and investigated the genres in order to choose the one he would feel satisfied and comfortable to work in. During that period, he was working on The Farmer’s Wife. Though romantic comedy has not become his favorite genre, the film gathered numerous positive feedbacks from critics and deserves attention of the silent cinema admirers even nowadays. This paper aims at investigating the way Hitchcock’s seventh film, The Farmer’s Wife, adhere to and at the same time subvert traditional romantic comedy tropes and it is in extended essay writing https://primedissertations.com/ib-extended-essay-writing-service/
Romantic comedy films usually consist of some commonly used models (patterns). Typically, such films contain a love story with happy ending as well as numerous funny episodes and comic situations. This trop obviously fits for The Farmer’s Wife in which the protagonist, farmer Samuel Sweetland, finally finds happiness in hugs of Araminta (Minta) Dench, his housekeeper, after long search.
Two protagonists unequal by social status or different outwardly often appear in romantic comedies. Frequently, the viewer does not even permit a thought of the two being a couple. This pattern is detectable in The Farmer’s Wife because Samuel Sweetland is a rich man, and Araminta Dench works for him; therefore, it is difficult to imagine them being together almost till the end of the film.
Comedy films usually need a conflict situation or an impressive event in their beginning. It may be a divorce, separation, or death of someone very close to the main character. In the film, the farmer’s wife dies, and the protagonist remains single. This episode plays a role of the impressive event and is one of the comedy tropes. Hitchcock manages to add some humor when depicting the dying farmer’s wife in dialogue with Araminta (Minta) Dench. She directs her with the phrase “… and don’t forget to air the Master’s pants” (The Farmer’s Wife). It has a double meaning and is typical for the so-called Hitchcock’s English humor so frequently used in his films.
Love at first sight is rarely met in romantic comedies; therefore, there is always a long search. The main characters may be obviously opposite to each other being rich and poor, beautiful and ugly, smart and silly, good and bad, etc. The two protagonists commonly do not notice each other at the beginning and do not understand that they are meant to be together. They are dating with other people who are more likely to fit for the role of a bride or a groom but definitely fall in love with each other at the end of the film as the main characters of The Farmer’s Wife did.
A romantic comedy usually has an insignificant plot. Hitchcock film’s plotline is rather primitive which may be considered as one more evidence of its belonging to a traditional romantic comedy genre. The director’s best scenes lack dialogues; however, music and nonverbal actions help to increase focus on importance of the moment when necessary. The simplicity of the film is compensated by the dynamic camera work and innovative shooting technique.
Concerning mise-en-sc?ne, the director paid close attention to cinematography and other aspects of production. The possibilities of camera manipulation (through creative camera placement), time (using editing), and psychology (through involving the subjective shots) really impressed the viewer of that time. The film starts with the scene of the farmer’s wife lying in the bedroom very weak, telling her husband that he should marry another woman after her death, and whispering Minta some words about her master’s pants airing. The director afterwards could have given the viewer a title informing about the period of time that had passed; however, contrary to it, he used the montage technique. Minta is laying out the master’s pants time and time again so that the viewer can realize that it has been a long period. These nuances definitely prove that though there was no intriguing scenario in this film, Hitchcock’s technique skills were growing rapidly\. In such a way, Hitchcock used traditional tropes of the genre, while following his own vision of how to communicate with the viewer.
Though the film rightly belongs to the list of romantic comedies, its several features subvert traditional comedy tropes. A deep drama is hidden inside of the self-confident and brutal-looking protagonist as he may seem from the first sight. He is frightened to stay alone and seeks every possibility to avoid it. The scene by the fire-place with an empty chair shows how strong Samuel Sweetland’s desire to fill a gap in his heart is. He imagines women one by one sitting in front of him in this chair and is ready to marry each of them in order not to be lonely any more. The empty chair shots and those of the farmer looking at the chair are used to stress the drama of his wife loss and fear of the future loneliness in his old age.
One more feature that subverts traditional comedy tropes in this film is the music background choice. Traditionally, music accompaniment was created in a "live" way during the shooting of the film. In the majority of early silent comedies, it was a piano that was standing directly in the shooting area. Orchestral music that was chosen by Hitchcock to accompany the film might have been hardly recommended for a comedy, and it would be more appropriate to a thriller or drama.
The final scene of the film is another point that fits for subverting features. There were no kisses as well as passionate hugs but the respectful Sweetland’s utterance, “And if anybody knows a women with a gentler heart and a straighter back and a nobler character, I would like to see her” (The Farmer’s Wife). It proves that The Farmer’s Wife has the patterns which subvert traditional comedy tropes.
In conclusion, The Farmer’s Wife by Alfred Hitchcock both adheres to and subverts traditional romantic comedy tropes. Though traditional romantic comedy tropes prevail, there are some features that subvert them. This fact can be explained by Hitchcock’s passion to experiments and desire to create something new, meet challenges, and to be on the hunt for the unknown. He has never become a romantic comedy master, and he did not set himself such a goal. It is obvious that Hitchcock’s sense of humor has become his visiting card and a secret weapon of his further films’ brilliance and success.