A London couple, Fred and Emily ("Em") Hill, live a mundane middle-class existence, but Fred is dissatisfied. Then they receive a letter informing them a wealthy uncle will advance them as much money as they need to travel the world now rather than after his passing. So Fred quits his job, and they travel across the channel to France and visit Paris's hot spots. Next, they book passage on an ocean liner departing Marseille for the Orient. However, Fred quickly becomes seasick, leaving Em alone on board. She becomes acquainted with Gordon, a dapper, popular bachelor of mature years. Later, after he recovers, Fred is smitten with a German princess. As the voyage progresses, Fred and Em spend more and more time with their new paramours, to the virtual exclusion of each other.
Upon arriving in Singapore, Fred and Em's marriage is in a shambles. Em prepares to leave with Gordon for his home in Kuala Lumpur. However, before boarding the train, Gordon tells her that Fred's princess is actually a con artist, using him until his money runs out. Em decides she cannot allow Fred to fall into this trap, so she abandons Gordon to warn her husband. But it is too late. Fred discovers his "princess" has just left for Rangoon, with £1000 of his money. Fred and Emily have only enough left to book passage home to England on a tramp steamer. Later, the ship is badly damaged in a collision in fog and is abandoned by the crew, but Fred and Em are trapped in their cabin as the ship sinks and prepare themselves for the end. However, they awake in the morning to find the ship still afloat, and that they can escape through a porthole. A Chinese junk arrives, and while the crew proceed to loot the ship Fred and Em rescue a cat and board the junk. Later, they discover the crew have cooked the cat and served it to them for dinner. Fred and Em finally arrive home with their love strengthened and ready to settle down.
Elsie Randolph as The Old Maid, a fellow ship's passenger who annoys everyone
Production
The film exhibits techniques developed by Hitchcock in his later films. Most notable are the shipboard sets, including a recreation of a full-size ship in a water tank. The director also experimented with camera techniques and shot compositions, most prominently in the film's innovative opening sequence, which shows city office workers leaving work at the end of the day. This dialogue-free scene was made on a specially constructed set and filmed in a single continuous pan shot, and is followed by an extended comedic sequence depicting Fred's workaday travails as he travels home on the train.[citation needed]
Reception
Released during Hitchcock's period between The Lodger (1927) and his breakthrough hits The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The 39 Steps (1935), Rich and Strange was a failure at both the British and US box office.[citation needed] The film's lack of commercial and critical success is often attributed to the fact that there is dialogue for only about a quarter of the film, and that many features of silent films remain, including scene captions, exaggerated acting styles and heavy makeup. Hitchcock's experiment in pre-sound emotive performances over dialogue was possibly another contributing factor.[citation needed] An early scene of Fred leaving work for home via the London Underground is very reminiscent of Chaplin and highly dissimilar to typical Hitchcock staging.[citation needed]
Copyright status and home media
Rich and Strange is copyrighted worldwide[2][3] but has been heavily bootlegged on home video.[4] Despite this, various licensed, restored releases have appeared on DVD from Optimum in the UK, Lionsgate in the US and many others.[1]
