YMMV / Stage Fright (1950)

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The Reveal throws Charlotte's character into a different light. Jonathan murdered her husband for her. He claimed she made him do it but how true is that? Although she doesn't seem sad about her husband's death, she's perfectly nice to her employees, and is it possible Jonathan just did this on his own and Charlotte got caught in the crossfire? Or is Charlotte even more manipulative than she appears? Did she attract Jonathan knowing his history, hoping he would commit the murder for her? She notably drops him pretty quickly once she thinks she's in the clear.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Mostly a standard mid-career Hitchcock suspense film, but Charlotte's songs and Commodore Gill's scene with the wacky "Lovely Ducks" woman seem like they were pasted in from entirely different films. Understandable, though, since it might've seemed odd to audiences to have Marlene Dietrich and Alastair Sim in the film, but to not have her sing or have him do comedy.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Alastair Sim (Commodore Gill) and Joyce Grenfell ("Lovely Ducks") both make strong impressions in secondary roles.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In a couple of years, there would be another thriller about a manipulative actress with a character called Eve.
  • The RADA scene was apparently filmed on location, and signs with the names of actual former students are visible in the rehearsal room. One name listed is Richard Attenborough.
  • Modern viewers might find themselves distracted by the eerie resemblance of Michael Wilding (Smith) to Alan Cumming.
• Once Original, Now Common: The twist here is that Jonathan was lying the entire time, in particular the fact that there was a flashback showing Jonathan's false version of the events, because it broke a long-established cinematic convention that flashbacks were always a true account of earlier events. Audiences were shocked at the time, and felt they had been cheated. The reaction was so negative that Hitchcock himself apologised for it. With the Unreliable Narrator and The Rashomon trope becoming quite common these days, modern viewers would be de-sensitised to such a thing. Viewers might also pick up on how evasive Charlotte's dialogue with Jonathan is.
• One-Scene Wonder: Joyce Grenfell as the pompous lady operating a shooting game at the garden party, touting the "wonderful time shooting lovely ducks" it provides. Kitty Hollywood in her review notes that she almost "walks away with the film". In the credits she's only listed as 'Lovely Ducks'.
• Retroactive Recognition: A plump RADA girl is played by Brenda Cowling, who would later be best known for playing Mrs. Lipton in You Rang, M'Lord?.
• Rewatch Bonus: When you know the twist, you pick up on how self-serving Jonathan's explanation to Eve was, especially trying to paint himself as innocent, but also how much his portrayal of Charlotte is at odds with her true character.
• Romantic Plot Tumour: Subverted brilliantly. Eve's growing romance with Smith seems to take time away from the main plot, but it pays off when Eve's love for Smith is what convinces her to refuse to help Jonathan when she discovers he's a murderer.
• Values Dissonance: The baffled looks that the punters give Eve when she walks into the bar might seem odd to a modern viewer, likewise Eve's hesitation before going in. In those days a young woman wouldn't dream of going into a pub alone. This is underlined by her mother's annoyance that that's where she met Smith.