- The Master’s last fully silent film is a haunting, romantic smalltown drama
- Carl Brisson, star of The Ring, is caught up in another traumatic love triangle
- Secrets and lies prepared imported star Anny Ondra for her lead in Blackmail
- Beautiful southern coastline is uncredited fourth star of a lyrical masterpiece
- Original negative survives, so it’s one of Hitchcock’s best looking British films
- The beautifully restored version looks like it could have been shot yesterday
- Fine film with dozens of muddy bootlegs but only a few quality official releases
- All feature two very different transfers and scores but sadly not its best-ever music
- At a glance: all best physical and streaming versions currently available worldwide
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.

UK Kine Weekly trade magazine ad, 21.1.1929. A very busy design overall and a little overpainted, but what in hell happened to his hand? It’s massive! Unfortunately, as no original posters or lobby cards appear to survive, this is the best known piece of publicity art for the film.
Contents
Production
“Anticipates the interest in voyeurism in his later work.” – Time Out
Pete, a poor fisherman and Philip, a successful lawyer, have been friends since childhood. When Pete falls in love with the beautiful Kate, her shallow and greedy father refuses to consent to the marriage because of Pete’s poverty. Incensed, Pete asks Philip to take care of Kate and sets out for Africa, where he hopes to make his fortune. However, in his absence, Kate finds herself drawn to Philip, and when news reached them that Pete has been killed, Philip and Kate begin to plan their lives together. But unfortunately for the two lovers, Pete did not die… The last of Hitchcock’s silent films, The Manxman is a dark and tense drama from the British master. – Australian Madman 2-DVD (2009)
Thematic anticipations of the director’s later work abound, from Gregory Peck’s tormented-in-love barrister in The Paradine Case (1947) to Kim Novak’s would-be suicide in Vertigo (1958). – BFI
This poetic telling of the travails of star-crossed lovers in a remote fishing community features Dane Carl Brisson in his second film for Alfred Hitchcock after The Ring, and Polish-Czech Anny Ondra just prior to her lead in Blackmail. The third lead is Malcolm Keen, playing his third major Hitchcock role following The Lodger and The Mountain Eagle. It’s based on Hall Caine’s hugely successful 1894 novel of the same name (Internet Archive, Gutenberg), from which he co-wrote a popular play, Pete: A Drama in Four Acts (1898). The Manxman was first filmed in 1916, though that version is now lost. Hitch’s take on it is definitely near the top of his British film heap and once again the original pressbook does it proud. Note the last page details the now extremely rare tie-in 78rpm record and sheet music:
“A special song—not a re-hash of a well-known number—has been written entitled “Kirry Machree” which will be written and sung by countless musical enthusiasts throughout the land. Its haunting refrain is irresistible. It will be featured by all the leading bands throughout the country.”
Bold claims which evidently didn’t in the least transpire but someone, somewhere still owns this vocal waltz; here’s its 1956 US copyright renewal record, with full credits.

The Manxman was set on the Isle of Man but actually filmed in Cornwall, especially in Polperro, a small fishing village
The Manxman: Hitch’s Predilection for Yes and No Answers/Vigilance in the Face of Inexorable Forces – Joel Gunz
The Manxman is possessed of an all-round artistry which is hard to fault: acting, direction, cinematography, etc. are all a joy just to bask in. But its one weak link is the underlying story. As with The Ring, its highly questionable gender politics hold it back somewhat. This time the situation is just as bad but completely reversed: the woman doesn’t get much of a say in choosing her own destiny and the wishes and desires of the men in her life take precedent at every juncture. In fairness, one of them is an unwitting participant in these jeux du coeur and is kept in the dark until the final act.
In case you’re thinking it, this is more than merely my 21st century sensibilities unfairly judging a scenario based on a dated Victorian novel. Rather, it’s about characters who don’t behave the way most normal people would, then or now, and instead constantly make illogical decisions. But then again, as is usually the case, if they did we’d have no film! It’s a pity Hitch didn’t take it upon himself to alter the source to the same degree he did elsewhere, though at this point in his career he perhaps didn’t have the requisite freedom or clout. However, if you can suspend disbelief and accept its central premise, this film is a box of delights and well worth exploring.
Rumours of the director making an uncredited cameo appearance are greatly exaggerated, as is the fanciful notion that certain photos circulating widely on the internet are of Hitch as a baby. So far, I’ve traced one of the main culprits back to a specious tweet and Facebook post in 2014 and 2015 respectively. But it really seems to have taken hold after a better quality copy adorned a 2019 tweet and Facebook post. Blame that one on reckless muck spreaders Mubi.com, who are no strangers to perpetuating Hitch misinformation, such as the persistent myth that his British films, including The Manxman, are all in the public domain.
The photo even made its way into an award winning book, Children (2019), by Swiss artist Olivier Suter, who admitted via email that he simply lifted it from Wikimedia… who got it from Mubi’s tweet. Sheesh. All of this merely proves yet again the old adage that “A lie can travel halfway round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.” The B&W photo’s metadata reveals it to have been taken on 27 March 2009, originally in colour (check for yourself here) and its subject is probably not even male. Leave a comment if you come across that version (or even took it yourself!) but not its November 2022 colorization. Oh, and while I’m at it, another photo commonly described as Hitch ain’t him either.
Restoration
The BFI’s 2012 restoration is transferred at 20fps (100min) and looks near-immaculate in its original B&W. Stephen Horne’s new score for a five-piece chamber ensemble of piano, fiddle, viola, oboe percussion and folk harp is a deft mélange of traditional and classical instrumentation that really complements the film’s beauty and drama. The initial incarnation of Stephen’s sublime score was showcased just once, at the film’s 19 October 2012, Empire Leicester Square, London re-première. Stephen subsequently performed it at three screenings stateside but as a duo with a local harpist, although he customarily played several instruments simultaneously. Neither version was studio-recorded and the concurrent DCP was silent, for accompaniment by other local musicians.
“The restoration team were fortunate in being able to work largely from an original negative of The Manxman held by the BFI National Archive. However, parts of the negative had deteriorated so these sections were compared, shot by shot, with a print made in the 1960s and replaced where necessary. One longer shot, in the scene where Kate and Phil meet in a sunlit glade, was found in another vintage 1920s print in the Archive’s collection, proving the value of keeping all available original materials.
This shot also required extra grading work as the copy had been made on a rotary printer which had introduced light fluctuations every few frames. Careful grading ensured that the film’s original ‘look’ was maintained throughout. The titles were completely remade from reconstructed fonts exactly matching the originals and the material went through the usual painstaking digital clean-up process. Long-term preservation material has been made on 35mm film as well as access prints in both film and digital formats. – BFI programme notes
Update: Stephen Horne’s newly expanded score, from quintet to chamber orchestra, sees his original, already inspired vision fully realised. This time around, it was commissioned for the closing night gala screening of the 2022 Pordenone Silent Film Festival, and performed again for the general public the following day. His original score “had some improvisation, because it’s more free when [I’m] leading from the piano… but was about 70% composed.” To round it out fully, he wrote additional music and interpolated excerpts of traditional Manx folk tunes. It was then orchestrated and conducted by Ben Palmer, and performed by Orchestra San Marco with British soloists Louise Hayter (oboe) and Jeff Moore (violin). A truly world-class combination all round. Alongside notes from the composer, film historian Charles Barr contributes a typically insightful essay to the festival catalogue (p. 45-52).
L’Avant-Scène Cinéma no. 698, Dec 2022 – entire issue devoted to The Manxman, including interviews with Patrick McGilligan and Charles Barr, and Stephen Horne
I was lucky enough to catch both Pordenone performances and, oh my god, it made me see things in the film I had never seen before. Make no mistake: it represents the very pinnacle of silent film scoring. It may or may not be the best score ever – though there’s certainly none to top it – but it is by far the best this film’s ever had. I’d bet my life even the now lost score from the film’s original première couldn’t touch it. Every second of it is so perfectly attuned to the imagery, it’s hard to believe they weren’t both created by the same brain.
This is truly powerful stuff, whether in its understated, sometimes soothing moments, or when it’s thunderingly loud, as it – and the world of the protagonists – is crashing down around our ears. Simply put, this music and this film on a big screen makes for a perfect cinematic experience. Not for the first time nor, I am sure, the last, Stephen Horne’s achingly sensitive accompaniment left many of us in tears.
If copyright holders Studiocanal ever get their act together and release or license The Manxman and their other restored Hitch silents for home video outside of the US, it would be an absolute travesty for it not to include Stephen’s score. Also unavailable at present is this other traditional music-infused French score by the Alain Pennec Band featuring Manx singer Cairistìona Dougherty:
Home video releases

Recommended: this US Lionsgate DVD set is one of the two best quality releases available of The Manxman and Studiocanal’s other British Hitchcocks.
- US: Lionsgate DVD 5-film AH: 3-Disc Collectors’ Edition (2007)
- Kino 3-DVD and 2-BD/5-film H: British International Pictures Collection (2019) – BFI restoration
- Lionsgate
Prime Video HD| screenshots – deleted due to Kino’s acquisition
- UK: Optimum 9-DVD Early H Collection (2007, reissued 2016)
The restoration itself has only been released in the US by Kino Lorber thus far, with a perfectly serviceable new piano score by Andrew Earle Simpson and the only substantial dedicated extra to date, an excellent audio commentary by Farran Nehme. But as you’d expect given its source, the previous transfer looks fantastic too. Certainly, if all extant silents were in a similar condition I’d be more than happy. All of the original transfer’s releases feature a lovely Xavier Berthelot piano score and run at 24fps (83min; 80min w/4% PAL speed-up).
- Italy: Eagle 2on1 DVD (2005) w/Rich and Strange, also in 5-DVD/10-film AH Collection and 8-DVD/15-film AH Portrait
- France: Studiocanal DVD (2007)
- Studiocanal 2on1 DVD (2008) w/The Farmer’s Wife, also in 2-DVD/4-film AH: Les Premières Oeuvres 1927–1929 and 6-DVD/10-film AH: Premières oeuvres – beware: all films have forced French subtitles
- Spain: Universal DVD (2009), also in 4-DVD/7-film H Collection: La primera etapa del Maestro del Suspense (2007)
Lionsgate’s US DVD is very slightly more detailed than the many PAL discs, with their now deleted digital HD stream even more so, and both uniquely have open framing. This means the the entire image is exposed, including its rounded corners, which are usually matted off. I really like it: as long as the correct aspect ratio is maintained and no unwanted studio elements are revealed, under-matting is definitely preferable to over-matting. The UK and French DVDs also include a 10-image gallery and 4½-minute introduction by French actor-writer-historian Noël Simsolo, described in more detail here, but the rest are essentially barebones.
- Benelux: Universal 2on1 DVD (2007), also in 5-DVD/9-film H Collection 3 and 20-DVD/24-film AH set/alt
- Scandinavia: Universal 5-DVD/9-film H Collection: Early Years of the Master of Suspense (2007) info, also in 19-DVD/23-film Hitchcock
- Denmark: Soul Media DVD (2022), also in 13-DVD AH Movie Collection
- Hungary: Caesar Film DVD (2007) Lemezkuckó | Rocky
- Australia: Madman 2-DVD Silent Films of AH/alt (2009) w/The Ring
- Brazil: Universal 2on1 DVD (2010) w/The Farmer’s Wife, also in 18-DVD/23-film AH Collection
There are several bootleg and official DVD comparisons at the invaluable Hitchcock Zone, and these screenshots:
DVD: UK Studiocanal, US Lionsgate | BD: US Kino Lorber
- Intertitle: UK, US | US
- Duo: UK, US | US
- Letter: UK, US
- Duo #2: UK, US | US
- Keen: UK, US
- Ondra: UK, US | US
- Ondra #2: UK, US
- Keen #2: UK, US
Like all other British Hitchcocks, The Manxman has been heavily bootlegged and there’s only been a relatively limited number of official releases to date. Cause and effect, you see. Among a veritable boatload of illicit DVDs and streaming copies, be especially wary of a stripped and ripped anonymous Spanish BD-R, likely from (non-ocean-going) pirates Resen.

Eye of the storm: in the emotional finale, Malcolm Keen is confronted with the pain he’s caused Carl Brisson and Anny Ondra, the two people dearest to him.
Note that at the end of 2024, The Manxman enters the US public domain only, 95 years after its original 1929 release. But there’s more to it than that. It only applies to unrestored prints, not any of the preserved or restored, newly scored versions. In all cases, they meet the threshold of originality and easily qualify as derivative works with full-term copyrights. In the rest of the world, all versions of the film, restored or otherwise, remain copyrighted until at least 2050: Hitch’s 1980 death + 70 years.
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
A fascinating article! Overall I find your website to be extraordinarily useful when trying to get a fair understanding of Hitchcock’s earlier career. The site is also visually appealing, which fits to the fact that we’re inspecting one of the most visually sophisticated filmmakers in history.