Stage Fright

This film was literally "made" by two songs performed by Marlene Dietrich, "The Laziest Gal in Town" (lyrics by Cole Potter) and "La vie en rose" (lyrics by Édith Piaf), whether you like it or not. Hitchcock's films are by no means just imbued with only his personality. Or those unreliable narrator-type improvements. But even in her day, it was mistakenly hoped that Jane Wyman could make it alongside Marlene. Well, that was a naive idea. It's not 'cause I wouldn't / It's not 'cause I shouldn't, honey / And, you know, that it's not 'cause I couldn't / It's simply because I'm the laziest gal in town... (13/02/2009)

This film is at times too convoluted for my taste, and I think it's also a bit longer than necessary, but it's still fun and the surprise ending is really impressive. An amazing Marlene Dietrich and an excellent score (if I didn't know it was composed by Leighton Lucas, I would have guessed early Bernard Herrmann). (11/02/2017)

Stage Fright gets off to a decent start, during which you are not bored for even a second, but the final point works at half throttle. Compared to Alfred Hitchcock’s best films, Stage Fright is directorially stilted, but it is nicely above average in the context of the genre and its time. Jane Wyman turns in an enjoyable performance, whereas Marlene Dietrich is overly affected. (12/11/2003)