Number Seventeen (1932)

My Review

An early film from director Alfred Hitchcock shows he had quite a distance to go before becoming the Master of Suspense. “Number Seventeen” is a comedy crime drama story of a quirky group of detectives, jewel thieves, and a Cockney hobo’s search for a stolen necklace. The film suffers from a poorly written screenplay, a confusing storyline, and disjointed action sequences. The script was written by Hitchcock, Alma Reville (his wife), and Rodney Ackland, adapted from “Number 17,” a 1925 thriller play by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon.

The cast includes Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, John Stuart, Barry Jones, Donald Calthrop, Ann Casson, and Henry Caine as Officer Ackroyd. The boring “Number Seventeen” was a box office bomb for Associated British Picture Corporation and Wardour Films. It was filmed in England.