Juno and the Paycock

Over the weekend, I watched one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser-known films, Juno and the Paycock.

This isn't a traditional Hitchcock movie, although to be fair, the Hitchcock "master of suspense" style that we usually think of didn't really kick off until the first The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps in the mid-1930s. Sure, there were some obvious thrillers earlier, but also things like Rich and Strange.

Juno and the Paycock is based on a stage play by Irish playwright Sean O'Casey. After a brief introduction from an "Orator" (Barry Fitzgerald) who isn't seen again, we get the main action, dealing with the Boyle family, scratching out a meager existence in Dublin, 1921, which is during the struggle against Britain if you remember Shake Hands With the Devil from a few weeks earlier.

Juno (Sara Allgood) is the mother, married to Capt. Boyle (Edward Chapman), whom she calls the "Paycock" (a mispronuciation of "peacock") because he struts his stuff but is othewrise useless. Even more useless os Capt. Boyle's friend Joxer (Sidney Morgan), who doesn't seem to have worked a day in his life. They have two adult children: Mary is involved in industrial action, while Johnny lost an arm by being in the wrong place at the wrong time during an IRA bombing. He's also named names, which could get him in serious trouble.

Into all of this comes the lawyer Charles Bentham. He wrote the will for a cousin of the Boyles, and the will leaves a substantial sum to the Boyles. It's enough for them to redecorate the apartment, as well as get a few luxuries. But there are problems with coming into such money all of a sudden. First, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Another problem is that Mary starts an involvement with Bentham which is going to end badly.

Whether you like the movie likely depends on whether you like the source material. It wasn't quite my thing, especially since I don't care for characters like Capt. Boyle and Joxer. Still, Sara Allgood does quite a good job playing Juno. The print that I watched, on the Mill Creek box set, was quite lousy, which I suppose didn't help; heads were chopped off in several scenes.

The movie is also available on a standalone DVD courtesy of Reel Vault. I have no idea if their print is any better.