Nonureva Really Surprised!

GazerRise Fantastic!

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Rainey Dawn The Girl Was Young is aka Young and Innocent - the latter seems to be a more appropriate title for this film.The Wiki has this film listed as a thriller - when it is not. IMDb has this film listed as a mystery - when it is not. What it is: A cutesy romantic drama that happened between two people because a man has been falsely accused of a crime and he goes on the run. He bumps into the police Chief Constable's daughter and they start liking each other - she tries to help him as their on screen romance unfold in a sweet, young and innocent way.The movie is not a bad film - but it's not really the crime thriller or mystery it's made out to be. It's tags: Drama, Romance & Crime.5.5/10

MisterWhiplash Maybe not with the same quota of laughs as The Lady Vanishes or the same level of daring-do as 39 Steps, Young and Innocent (called The Girl Was Young somewhere, I guess) was another of Alfred Hitchcock's films about a murder, a chase, and plenty of intrigue and double crossings and such. It's also hard to find a good print, unfortunately, as it's fallen into the public domain and has yet to get the Criterion treatment. Luckily this story of a policeman's wife and a writer on the run - the latter is accused of committing the crime of a murder (a woman who is found on a beach right near the waves, an evocative image as any).Two things really stand out here, years after seeing the film: first are the performances from Nova Pilbeam and Derek DeMarney. They're not any kind of marquee names from the period like Robert Donat or Vivien Leigh, but they get into these characters the best they can and make themselves a charismatic couple with chemistry and good timing. The other thing is a particular reveal during a ballroom dance sequence. It's sometimes very hard to ever get particular shots that Hitchcock pulls off out of your mind, and there's one in this film for sure: as people dance and the band plays on, Hitch and his DP fly over the audience - not so high ala the shot in The Birds or something, but high enough that we can view over the people dancing - and we suddenly see that there is a character in the line of sight: a band member (the drummer, I believe) who is the actual culprit! If one wasn't sure who it exactly was at this place, the clues being what they are, now we know.How Hitchcock uses his camera to create a visual grammar for that moment - in words for the audience to really go "Oh!" in a moment - is a testament to his cunning and clever abilities as a storyteller. That's a moment of pure cinema that stands out in this very good (if not totally great) effort.

illbebackreviews Following the classic Hitchcock themes that he was well known for in "The 39 Steps" and his later works, "Young and Innocent" is a well made movie with strong tension, great characters, exciting premise built up terrifically within the opening minutes and is an exciting adventure of a wrongly accused man attempting to his clear his name from wrongdoings. Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney are absolutely terrific in the lead roles, having great chemistry back and forth, a romance story that is both interesting and necessary and a script that easily allows them to convey their thoughts. It is said that this is indeed Hitchcock's favourite British film and whilst this is a little far stretched, it is to me, one of his most exciting and overlooked films.

TheLittleSongbird Not one of Hitchcock's best films, but certainly one of his most overlooked. Despite being seemingly treated as a minor entry, Young and Innocent does show a master at work and is lots of fun as well as nail-biting. It's only let down by the presence of the black-face band towards the end which will leave a bad taste in the mouth nowadays for most, up to then Young and Innocent was actually without fault. As always with Hitchcock it is a very well-made film and has Hitchcock written all over it, that's how strongly his direction and unique touches come through. It is in Young and Innocent that has one of his most ingenious touches, which is the travelling shot to the murderer's twitching eye, chilling and audaciously shot, proving that not only was Hitchcock the unparallelled master of suspense but one of the masters of film technique too. The music is haunting, the atmosphere tense and nail-biting to the end and the dialogue snappy and not giving anything away. The story moves quickly and without a pacing lull, with many memorable scenes, the children's party scene will effectively jangle the nerves as will the scene in the mine. The climax is also suspenseful and nerve-shredding, helped partly by that travelling shot but mostly because of the atmosphere. The story also succeeds in how you care for the lead characters every single step of the way, and the acting is strong. Derrick De Marnay and Nova Pilbeam(much improved from her acting in The Man Who Knew Too Much) are likable leads, and the supporting cast don't put a foot wrong either, nobody gives one of the all-time great performances in a Hitchcock film but they didn't try to. To conclude, a great film and deserves more attention. 9/10 Bethany Cox