Editing Young and Innocent

{{Short description|1937 film by Alfred Hitchcock}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013 }}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Young and Innocent
| image          = Young and Innocent poster.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Alfred Hitchcock]]
| producer       = [[Edward Black (producer)|Edward Black]] (uncredited)
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Gerald Savory]] (dialogue)
* [[Alma Reville]] (continuity)
}}
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]]
* [[Edwin Greenwood]]
* [[Anthony Armstrong (writer)|Anthony Armstrong]]
}}
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[A Shilling for Candles]]''<br>1936 novel|[[Josephine Tey]]}}<ref name="HitchcockGuide"/>
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nova Pilbeam]]
* [[Derrick De Marney]]
}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jack Beaver]] (uncredited)
* [[Louis Levy]] (uncredited)
}}
| cinematography = [[Bernard Knowles]]
| editing        = [[Charles Frend]]
| studio         = [[Gaumont-British]]
| distributor    = [[General Film Distributors]]
| released       = {{Film date|1937|11||London|1938|02|17|US|df=y}}
| runtime        = 83 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}

'''''Young and Innocent''''', released in the US as '''''The Girl Was Young''''',<ref name="HitchcockGuide">{{cite web|url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-young-and-innocent-1937|title=Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: Young and Innocent (1937)|work=Brenton Film|date=25 June 2020 }}</ref> is a 1937 British [[Crime film|crime]] [[thriller film]] directed by [[Alfred Hitchcock]] and starring [[Nova Pilbeam]] and [[Derrick De Marney]].<ref name="HitchcockGuide"/> Based on the 1936 novel ''[[A Shilling for Candles]]'' by [[Josephine Tey]], the film is about a young man on the run from a murder charge who enlists the help of a woman who must put herself at risk for his cause. An elaborately staged [[crane shot]] Hitchcock devised, which appears towards the end of the film, identifies the real murderer.<ref name="HitchcockGuide"/>

==Plot==
On a stormy night, at a retreat on the English coast, Christine Clay, a successful actress, argues passionately with her jealous ex-husband Guy. Not accepting her [[Nevada#Divorce|Reno divorce]] as valid, he accuses her of having an affair. Finally, she slaps him and he leaves the room. His eyes twitch violently.

The next morning, writer Robert Tisdall is walking along the seaside when Christine's dead body washes ashore. He recognizes her, and runs for help. Two young women arrive just in time to see him racing away from the corpse. The police quickly decide that Tisdall is the only suspect. Christine was strangled with the belt from a raincoat; his raincoat is missing and he says it was recently stolen. He admits having known Christine for three years since he sold her a story. 

Scotland Yard detectives grill him all night. They suggest he was having an affair with Christine. When they tell him she left him a large sum of money in her will, he faints. He is revived with the aid of Erica Burgoyne, daughter of the local police Chief Constable. Tisdall is assigned an incompetent [[Solicitor#Solicitors and barristers|solicitor]], and is taken into court for his formal arraignment. Doubting if his innocence will ever be established, he takes advantage of overcrowding in the courthouse to escape. He gets away by riding on the [[running board]] of Erica's [[Morris Motors|Morris car]], revealing himself to her after the car runs out of petrol.

He helps push the car to a filling station, pays for petrol, and convinces her to give him a ride. Though she is initially fearful and unsure about her passenger, Erica eventually becomes convinced of his innocence and decides to help him. They are eventually spotted together, forcing both to stay on the run from the police. Tisdall tries to prove his innocence by tracking down the stolen coat: if it still has its belt, the one found next to Christine's body must not be his.

The duo succeed in tracing Tisdall's coat to Old Will, a homeless china-mender. But Will was not the thief; he was given the coat by a man with "twitchy eyes", and with its belt already missing.

After becoming separated from the others, Erica is taken in by the police. Upon realizing that his daughter has fully allied herself with a murder suspect, her father chooses to resign his position rather than arrest her for assisting a felon. Tisdall sneaks into their house to see Erica, intending to surrender and assert he kidnapped her, but she mentions that the coat had a box of matches from the Grand Hotel in a pocket. As Tisdall has never been there, he surmises perhaps the murderer has a connection to the hotel.

The following evening, Erica and Will go to the hotel together, hoping to find him. It is revealed that Guy is the drummer in band in the hotel [[ballroom]], performing in [[blackface]]. His eyes are twitching.

Recognizing Old Will in the audience, and seeing policemen nearby (who have actually followed Will, hoping he would lead them to Tisdall), Guy performs poorly due to fear. He is berated by the [[Conducting|conductor]] and, during a break, takes medicine to try to control the twitching, but it makes him very sleepy. Eventually, in mid-performance, Guy passes out, drawing the attention of Erica and the police. Immediately after being revived and confronted, he confesses his crime and begins laughing hysterically.

==Main cast==
{{div col|colwidth=28em}}
* [[Nova Pilbeam]] as Erica Burgoyne
* [[Derrick De Marney]] as Robert Tisdall
* [[Percy Marmont]] as Colonel Burgoyne
* [[Edward Rigby]] as Old Will
* [[Mary Clare]] as Erica's aunt Margaret
* [[John Longden]] as [[Inspector Alan Grant|Inspector Kent]]
* [[George Curzon (actor)|George Curzon]] as Guy
* [[Basil Radford]] as Erica's uncle Basil
* Pamela Carme as Christine Clay
* [[George Merritt (actor)|George Merritt]] as Detective Sergeant Miller
* J. H. Roberts as the Solicitor, Henry Briggs
* [[Jerry Verno]] as Lorry Driver
* [[H. F. Maltby]] as Police Sergeant
* John Miller as Police Constable
* [[Syd Crossley]] as Policeman
* [[Torin Thatcher]] as the owner of Nobby's Lodging House
* [[Anna Konstam]] as Bathing Girl {{small|(uncredited)}}
* [[Bill Shine (actor)|Bill Shine]] as Manager of Tom's Hat Cafe {{small|(uncredited)}}
* [[Beatrice Varley]] as Accused Man's Wife {{small|(uncredited)}}
* Peter Thompson as Erica Burgoyne's bespectacled brother {{small|(uncredited)}}
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film was the first of two Hitchcock made for producer Ted Black, the other being ''The Lady Vanishes''.<ref name="edward">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-ted-black/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 December 2024|access-date=1 December 2024|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black}}</ref>
==Reception==
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film a "Pleasing, artless vehicle" for Nova Pilbeam, who was "charming" in her role and concluded, "If the pic is not Hitchcock's best effort, it is by no means unworthy of him."<ref>{{cite journal |date=8 December 1937 |title=Young and Innocent |magazine=Variety |page=17 }}</ref> [[Frank Nugent]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it a "crisply paced, excellently performed film."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nugent |first=Frank S. |author-link=Frank Nugent |date=11 February 1938 |title=The Screen |journal=The New York Times |page=27 }}</ref> ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote, "Innumerable small touches show Hitchcock's keen and penetrating observation and his knowledge of human nature. Comedy, romance, and thrills are skilfully blended."<ref>{{cite journal |date=November 1937 |title=Young and Innocent |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=4 |issue=47 |page=242 }}</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' wrote, "Good melodramatic entertainment. Because of the novelty of the story, the interesting plot developments, and the expert direction by Alfred Hitchcock, one's attention is held from the beginning to the end."<ref>{{cite journal |date=19 February 1938 |title='The Girl Was Young' with Nova Pilbeam |journal=[[Harrison's Reports]] |page=30 }}</ref> 

[[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'', however, wrote that it was "rather exasperating and disappointing to me. It begins with a smart murder, but wanders off through the English rural landscape in a fashion so lacking in that sound common sense we like in our mysteries, or like to feel is there anyhow, that one's interest fades away."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mosher |first=John |author-link=John Mosher (writer) |date=12 February 1938 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |page=72 }}</ref>

Aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports 100% approval of ''Young and Innocent'', with an average rating of 7.6/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_and_innocent/ |title=Young and Innocent (1938) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=21 January 2017}}</ref>

==Changes from the novel==
[[File:Girlwasyoungposter.jpg|thumb|upright|American theatrical release poster with alternate title]]

Significant changes were made in adapting the book for the film. The novel is a [[whodunit]] centred on the Scotland Yard inspector, who is Tey's regular character Alan Grant.<ref name="HitchcockGuide"/> The storyline involving Robert Tisdall, Erica Burgoyne, and the missing coat is similar to the film story, but in the novel it is only a subplot and ends part way through the book when Erica finds the coat and it is intact. Grant then focuses on other suspects, none of whom (including the actual murderer in the novel) appear in the film. Christine Clay in the novel is not divorced, but is in an unconventional marriage to an aristocrat.

==Hitchcock's cameo==
[[List of cameo appearances by Alfred Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock's cameo]] is a signature occurrence in most of his films. He can be seen outside the courthouse, holding a camera, at 14 minutes into the film.

==Copyright status and home media==
''Young and Innocent'' is copyrighted worldwide<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide#slaying-the-public-domain-myth|title=Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: Slaying the public domain myth|website=Brenton Film|date=8 August 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-dial-c-for-copyright|title=Alfred Hitchcock: Dial © for Copyright|website=Brenton Film|date=30 August 2018 }}</ref> but has been heavily [[Bootleg recording|bootlegged]] for home video.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/bootlegs-galore-the-great-alfred-hitchcock-rip-off|title=Bootlegs Galore: The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rip-off|website=Brenton Film|date=8 August 2018 }}</ref> Despite this, licensed releases have appeared on [[Blu-ray]], [[DVD]] and [[video on demand]] services worldwide from the likes of Network Distributing in the UK, [[MGM Home Entertainment|MGM]] and [[The Criterion Collection]] in the US, and others.<ref name="HitchcockGuide"/>

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Spoto |first=Donald |title=The Art of Alfred Hitchcock |edition=Second |publisher=Anchor Books |location=New York |year=1992 |pages=63–69 |isbn=978-0385418133}}
* {{cite book |last=Spoto |first=Donald |title=The Dark Side of Genius |edition=Centennial |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |year=1999 |isbn=978-0306809323 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/darksideofgenius00spot_0 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0029811|Young and Innocent}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/young-and-innocent-am16231 ''Young and Innocent'' at AllMovie]
* {{tcmdb title|96491|The Girl Was Young}}
* {{AFI film|8664}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes}}
* [https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-young-and-innocent-1937 ''Alfred Hitchcock Collectors’ Guide: Young and Innocent'' at Brenton Film]

{{Alfred Hitchcock|state=expanded}}{{Alma Reville}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young And Innocent}}
[[Category:1937 films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films based on crime novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock]]
[[Category:1930s crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films scored by Jack Beaver]]
[[Category:Films scored by Louis Levy]]
[[Category:British crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1930s British films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]