Easy Virtue

Plot synopsis:
Larita (Jessica Biel), a glamorous American widow and successful racecar driver, meets young John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) in Monaco. They marry, and he takes his bride home to meet his family at their dauntingly large rural mansion, where seven generations of Whittakers have been gentleman farmers. There she meets her icy cold mother-in-law, Veronica (Kristin Scott Thomas) and disheveled, sad-eyed father-in-law, Major Jim Whittaker (Colin Firth).
Veronica, already predisposed to dislike her new daughter-in-law ("John's floozy") is further disappointed to find that she is a brash American who, like the Major, speaks fluent French. Larita also meets John's former girlfriend and neighbour Sarah Hurst (Charlotte Riley), who is gracious about the marriage. Larita remains calm in the face of her new mother-in-law's disdain, even being so bold as to reveal having been previously married.
Time passes, and to Larita's disappointment, John is not eager to leave the estate (portrayed by Flintham Hall, Nottinghamshire) so that they can find a home of their own. Larita is bored and miserable in the countryside and hates blood sports like hunting, and indeed any of the entertainment country English people seem to enjoy. She reads Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence, which shocks her husband's female relatives, and she doesn't want to play tennis. She also dislikes Veronica's stuffy decor, her constant entertaining of her friends and the overcooked food. Worse still, she suffers from hay fever. She tries to get along with her mother-in-law, but Veronica refuses to accept her and naturally resents her attempts to bring some American traditions into the situation.
Larita makes some inadvertent gaffes, accidentally killing the family chihuahua and giving some joking advice to the younger daughter, Hilda (Kimberley Nixon), that unfortunately results in embarrassment to, and enmity from, the daughters. Sarah comes to the Whittakers' parties, and to play tennis, accompanied by her brother Philip (Christian Brassington), on whom Hilda has a crush. Philip, however, is infatuated with Larita, which further angers Hilda. To Veronica's horror, she and her hunting party discover John and Larita making love in an outbuilding. Larita finds herself increasingly isolated and demoralized by her mother-in-law's derision, verbal attacks and dirty tricks. Larita's only sympathetic friends are the Major and the servants, whom she treats better than Veronica does. Larita retreats to the Major's workshop to help him work on his motorcycle. Still troubled from having lost all his men in the war, Jim Whittaker has lost interest in his home, and any love between him and his wife has long since gone.
The Whittaker estate has fallen on hard times. John, once in the shadow of his dragon-lady mother, loses his independence and seems immature to her as he is drawn into family life. In addition, John's affection for Larita seems to be waning, as he complains about his wife to Sarah, who finds his overture inappropriate.
Finally, Hilda obtains a newspaper cutting revealing scandalous secrets about Larita's first marriage to a much older man who was dying of cancer: she had helped him die using poison. John withdraws from Larita, while the Major scolds his daughters for their cruelty. At Veronica's next big party, John refuses to dance with Larita, so the Major dances a tango with her. She determines to leave the marriage, and on her way out of the mansion, she apologizes to Sarah for having interrupted her relationship with John. She hopes that Sarah will take John back. Veronica and her daughters confront Larita one last time, and an argument ensues in which Veronica and Larita trade barbs, and Larita advises the daughters to leave and see the world while they still can. Larita finally leaves after casually destroying a priceless bust, but the Major goes with her. Furber (Kris Marshall), the family butler, wishes them well.

Tags: flashback

Review:
This silent Alfred Hitchcock drama gets decent mileage out of a rather simple story.
Isabel Jeans stars as a young woman who, because of a messy divorce in her past, is unfairly considered a woman of "Easy Virtue", and she must struggle constantly against the ways that her past affects how she is perceived by others.
One of the best is Hitchcock's treatment of Jeans responding to a marriage proposal - it's quite innovative, and a nice way to avoid the often banal treatments of romantic scenes.This is nothing like the movies for which Hitchcock is usually remembered, and it's really not even among his best silent work.
Coward and Hitchcock seem to ask us the connection between slandered reputation and "easy virtue." In "Blackmail" the jester (the painting) seemed to scoff at the so-called justice meted out by the law keepers in final sequence.Visually the most poignant shot (repeated twice) in the film is the shot of the judge's wig from above his head as he looks up.
"Easy Virtue" is an early and impressive Hitchcock in which the master displays a range of innovative filmic devices (such as the way we learn about a marriage proposal by watching the eavesdropping hotel switchboard operator rather than by seeing the man or woman talking on the phone).
The story is based on a play by Noel Coward and (contrary to the other posted IMDB comment on the film) I believe the movie is excellent.
Of course, the jury can't see beyond its Victorian preconceptions (if she's alone with him all day, of course they've slept together) and it finds her guilty.Now a disgraced woman of "easy virtue," Larita takes to the Riviera where she ensnares a rich young suitor (after he hits her in the eye with a tennis ball).
Unfortunately, she doesn't tell him about her checkered past and naturally Larita's family hates her on sight.This story takes on a range of highly relevant divorce issues.
Very few early films (silent or sound) ever dealt so candidly with the harsh realities of divorce; "Easy Virtue" compares favorably to the outstanding "One More River" (1934) in its straightforward and quite moving treatment of the issues..
Attractive Isabel Jeans (as Larita) is in divorce court, after a scandalous incident results in the death of a painter for whom she was sitting.
"Easy Virtue" may be considered rather ordinary, albeit a Noel Coward play directed to film by Alfred Hitchcock.
Farebrother has a pleasantly sharp tongue, asking, "John, who is this woman you have pitchforked into the family?" She shoots to kill.****** Easy Virtue (3/5/28) Alfred Hitchcock ~ Isabel Jeans, Robin Irvine, Violet Farebrother, Ian Hunter.
In Alfred Hitchcock's Easy Virtue, a woman has some explaining to do when the family of her second husband finds out there was a first husband.
Easy Virtue is one of Hitchcock's interesting but not great films, that is neither among his best or worst.
When it comes to his silent films, Easy Virtue is perhaps one of his weaker ones, with his best being The Lodger and his weakest being Champagne.
The sets and costumes are lovely to watch, while Violet Farebrother plays her role with tremendous gusto and Isabel Jeans brings a lot of charm to hers.
And some have made a good point about the benefits of having dialogue instead here, I have great appreciation for silent films but Easy Virtue was the sort of film being a comedy-social drama where dialogue would have helped it come alive.
A very little seen Hitchcock, and a decent British silent film, from a Noel Coward play.
It must have looked good when it was new.The courtroom sequence has some typical Hitchcock touches - views through the judge's monocle.
But I am spoiled and have seen much more moving films on this subject matter that frankly it was an arduous labor to sit through Easy Virtue till the end.
This sophisticated melodrama from a Noel Coward play is clearly unsuited to Hitchcock's particular talents: the initial court-room sequence is the best, allowing the director to experiment with camera technique (especially his creative use of the dissolve to jump from the present into the past and back again); the rest is a succession of clichéd situations, making it a rather tedious whole.
With this, I've only 3 more extant Hitchcock Silents left to watch - THE PLEASURE GARDEN (1925), DOWNHILL (1927) and CHAMPAGNE (1928); his second film, THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE (1926), is believed lost..
The silent Hitchcocks which have been restored/well mastered onto DVD are hugely more enjoyable so I sincerely hope someone gives Easy Virtue a restored DVD release soon.
That is mainly due to it being a silent film of a Noel Coward play.
One of Alfred Hitchcock's best films and an underrated classic of the silent era!.
Easy Virtue is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films.
But when John's family starts to find out a few things about Larita's past her relationship with her new husband starts to become strained.
This makes me wish that the film had a little bit better closure and had gone on for just a little bit longer.All of the actors in the movie do a great job with Isabel Jeans playing Larita with true excellence.
Robin Irvine manages to do a nearly perfect job as John so basically all of the actors are great including minor ones.Each and every one of the sets in this film are great and the only noteworthy special effects shot, a man firing a gun, is done very well for the time.
The plot is based off of a 1925 play and it ends up working very well here in the movie, the film is a pretty good length although it could have used a little bit more footage at the end, the acting is stupendous, the music is great and fits the movie well, and finally the special effects are great.
Now I could probably watch "Nosferatu" or "The Phantom of the Opera" with no music, but those are good movies with great story/plot/action.
Easy Virtue (1928) ** (out of 4) Isabel Jeans plays Larita Filton, a woman who is abused by her drunken husband who thinks she is having an affair with a painter.
This is a pretty tame and rather lame silent from Hitchcock and it's only real asset is those wanting to seek out the director's early work.
The most interesting scenes are the early ones in the court where Hitchcock brings some nice style to the film when we get the various flashbacks, which then cut back to the court.
I think Easy Virtue would have worked better if we wouldn't have known Larita's background until John's family discovered it.
High point throughout the film was Isabel Jeans's portrayal of Larita Filton, a woman judged by her past.How to rate this movie by numbers?
The camera sees through a judge's monocle to bring the court case into focus, a dangling monocle dissolves into a clock pendulum to indicate passage of time, a marriage proposal and acceptance experienced only through the facial expressions of an eaves-dropping hotel telephone operator.It is a sordid and pointless tale of a woman framed to be divorced from an alcoholic, abusive husband, whose shame follows her into a marriage (from which she has held back the truth), only to have to face it yet again.Like ANNA Christie this plot is abusive and misogynistic, blaming and holding women to account to actions forced on them by men.
One wonders why Coward wrote it or that Hitch filmed it.A bloody bore, despite Isabel Jeans controlled performance, and worth the attention only of die-hard Hitch fans..
The premise of the story is that a woman, the gorgeous Larita, is caught in a scandal when she is divorced from her husband (he was a drunk louse, and the 'Easy Virtue' name comes from the sort of scandal at the time: she went into another man's arms, an artist who cared for her, and then he got into a big fight that ended with a gun going off).In other words, she was found guilty and found a "Correspondent" or whatever that means, so she decides to high tail it to the Mediterranean/South of France and happens to meet a nice young man, John, who just falls head over heels for her...
You can see where this might go.At first I thought this might be somewhat of an unintentional trial run for Hitchcock for Rebecca, also about the terrors that come to a woman when she is brought home by her new beau to the family and the mother doesn't take a liking to her in the slightest.
So in 1928 it was not at all normal and, on the contrary, if one became a scandalous figure for it (for, GASP, possibly favoring another man over a drunken brute!), it could be seen as something unfavorable.But on the other hand, to the stories credit, the way the story ends up rolling out not all sides see this past of Larita's omething that's even they're business, when it does surface (at first her face is a 'you remind me of someone' thing, but it can't be placed until it's seen in a newspaper, somehow the medium change makes it clear which is a clever touch by the way).
I liked the moments where John's father takes Larita aside and says 'do right by my boy, I don't care about what you did before.' It's a mature moment, just as when she tells them all when the big revelation comes out, 'it's my business, I have to live with it, not you' to that extent.So there's some drama to unpack here, but I think for the most part Hitchcock finds a way to navigate this story with entertaining direction and moments that really make you keep attention.
He can't help that some of its contrived to the point that one might see in a modern romantic comedy or drama - i.e. if the main couple just sat down and had a damn conversation it'd be the end of it, and the "I love you without knowing you" seems a little weak, albeit it does end up being part of the commentary on how flawed John is when he is in one place like the South of France vs with his family - but there's many moments for terrific acting Isabel Jeans as Larita and the mother played by Violet Farebrother.I think one can pick apart this movie and see the holes in it, or how the ending is a bit rushed, and at the end of it all its still a credit to how sharp Hitchcock's craft was by 1928, near the tail-end of his work in silent productions, that he could make the camera dynamic (watch for those shots in the courtroom early on that make things seem bent out of shape, the way those views-through-the-monocle for the judge gives an entrapping quality, at least it did for me), and probably puts in some comedy where I can't see it being in the play.
Yet at least it's a story that, for the time, attempts to wag a finger at people who think Divorce = Bad, and Hitchcock tries to overcome the lack of what would usually be necessary in adapting a Noel Coward play, like *dialog*, and can still make some interesting cinema out of it..
Films like "Easy Virtue" really helped with shedding light on the subject in the social consciousness/awareness and divorces became socially acceptable.I'm not big on most "romance" films but there are a few of them I really enjoy and this Hitchcock film is one of them.
I found this one pleasant to watch since it deals with a subject that was still considered to be taboo during the time era this film was made in.A good film if you like romance films, the history of films in general or simply love Alfred Hitchcock.7/10.
In Sir Alfred Hitchcock's silent screen adaptation of Sir Noel Coward's play, "Easy Virtue." Isabel Jeans plays a woman with easy virtue which is explained in the beginning of the film.
Most of the cards were at the end and by then I didn't care what was being said.Apparently some woman got divorced because she got her portrait painted by some artist who disappeared after shooting her husband....or something.
One of Hitchcock's English silent films, based on a Noel Coward play, this demonstrates the difficulty of making a full-length complex-plotted film without dialogue.
Larita escapes from scandal in the south of France, where she is courted by a young man who says he doesn't need to know about her past.
'The Lodger (1927)' was Hitchcock's first sign of future promise, a truly effective silent thriller, and many of the film-making techniques he experimented with would later form an integral part of his many masterpieces.
Either way, 'Easy Virtue'  his eighth film  is a rare opportunity to see Hitchcock attempt a melodrama, and the results are interestingly mixed.
The story was based on a Noel Coward play, a medium upon which the director would rely heavily for many of his later films.'Easy Virtue' starred British actress Isabel Jeans, who had previously appeared in Hitchcock's 'Downhill (1927)' and would later return in 'Suspicion (1941).'The story concerns a young lady named Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans), who had experienced a difficult and much-publicised divorce when her infidelity with an artist led to her husband being wounded and the artist's suicide.
Frustrated by the constant pursual of photographers, Larita takes a peaceful holiday to France, where she meets a kind and gentle man named John Whittaker (Robin Irvine), whom she soon marries, much to the surprise of the man's family.
Jeans is something of a two-sided character; we understand her plight for happiness, and yet she's got such a sense of arrogance about her that we're much more sympathetic towards her conflicted husband.At just 60 minutes in length, 'Easy Virtue' outstays its welcome by a good quarter of an hour.
The court trial in the film's opening was quite brilliant, with Hitchcock displaying the technical imagination that would ultimately make him great.
If this film had not been directed by Alfred Hitchcock, no one would remember it or even want to remember it!
Don't expect typical Hitchcock touches in this early silent of his called Easy Virture since this isn't even a suspense film but more of a melodrama about a divorced woman who can't escape her past, a past in which her then-husband discovered her painter's infatuation with her, which he mistakes for an affair, and gets shot by him but survives though the painter later commits suicide (which I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't read the synopsis on the DVD case back).
Silent drama from Alfred Hitchcock based on a Noel Coward play.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this average silent drama was based on a Noel Coward's play.
What follows next is predictable - Larita meets another young man, John Whittaker (Robin Irvine), on holiday, the two fall in love and marry impetuously, shocking his proper family who eventually learns of her secret past.
John's proposal and Larita's answer occurs over the telephone, heard by the receptionist (Benita Hume, uncredited) whose expressions tell the audience all they need to know.Ian Hunter (the third and last time he would work with the director) plays Mr. Filton's divorce attorney who, despite the fact that he's a longtime family friend of the Whittakers, is not the source of the disclosure.
"Easy Virtue" was Hitchcock's try at Noel Coward (the play had already had a New York run (1925) of 147 performances with Jane Cowl as the scandal plagued Larita).
Everson points out that the direction of the two films were poles apart with Hitchcock making his film in a far more interesting and exciting way than the other one with it's much more juicier subject matter.The first part of the film was opened out from the play and from the first scene Hitchcock is trying out innovative camera shots - the judge's eye glass becomes the camera lens and singles out the plaintiff's counsel (a youthful Ian Hunter - a Hitchcock regular by the early 1930s) as he tries to blacken the name of Larita (beautiful Isabel Jeans) who, as the decanter is grasped, thinks back to the scene of the scandal.
Interesting For Hitch Fans...And That's It. The sad plight of a twice-wronged woman - first by her husband, then society - gets the silent treatment from Alfred Hitchcock in this early melodrama.
Many of the themes of later Hitch classics come up, and in sometimes arresting ways, but the overall impact is a thud.Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans) finds herself ruined when her brutal husband catches her with a lovestruck artist.
Trouble ensues when he introduces her to them as his new wife, her secret unknown but festering all the same.Hitchcock's silent films are fascinating to watch even when they aren't all that good.
For one thing, he had quite a stock company going by this time: Jeans, Irvine, Violet Farebrother (who plays Whittaker's disapproving mother), and Ian Hunter (who plays the attorney who handles the case against Mrs. Filton) all appear in "Downhill," a film Hitchcock directed the year before.Also, Hitch silents often reveal the unique nature of his approach to cinema in embryonic form.
Jeans likewise personifies every sexy-but-troubled blonde Hitchcock would find such reward in making suffer.What the film doesn't have is an engaging story.
Finally, this is one time the silent medium really under-serves the story, as many scenes play out in long talky pantomimes with minimal dialogue cards.You really get the feeling Hitchcock wanted to explore his growing bag of tricks at the expense of intelligent exposition.
Film buffs can probably spot techniques that Hitch carried on using into the sound era - he was always a visual director.And the story is good, as others have pointed out.