- I've always thought that silent comedies have aged much better than their dramatic counterparts. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that some of my favorite comedies of all time are silent films whereas none of my favorite dramas lack sound. Is spoken dialogue more essential to drama, or is it simply that the art of dramatic presentation has evolved much more over the last hundred years than comedic sensibilities? Perhaps my sense of humor is just that much more out of date than my sense of drama? Whatever the cause, I mention this bias so that it is not a surprise that I found Alfred Hitchcock's The Ring to be disappointing and slow despite its multiple positive attributes.
- In this particular case, I can point to the central love triangle as one of the film's biggest problems. The situation is that a ticket seller named Mabel (Lillian Hall-Davis) is engaged to marry the carnival boxer "One Round" Jack Sander (Carl Brisson). One afternoon, a heavyweight named Bob Corby (Ian Hunter) struts in to the carnival and takes only one round to knock Jack out. It isn't long before Mabel's affections begin to stray at the constant encouragement of Corby, who even uses his winnings to buy her an armlet. But then Mabel marries Jack despite the fact that she and Corby are still acting a little too friendly with one another. So of course the two boxing champs fight it out to see who gets the girl.
- As rickety and ill-conceived as that plot sounds, The Ring contains just enough artistry that at least I'm glad I watched it. The film's most striking aspect is Hitchcock's extensive employment of ring imagery, ranging from whirling carnival rides to twirling ticket rolls and of course the literal rings around Mabel's finger and arm. Likewise, the film has some fun staging the boxing sequences, wisely choosing to keep most of the fighting offscreen or obscured by crowds until the finale, which includes some innovative point-of-view shots. And let's not forget the times that Jack imagines seeing Corby's face, most notably on a punching bag. The character actors are just ugly enough to be believable and the presence of a well-treated black actor almost makes up for the distasteful egging of another early on in the film. It's not Hitchcock at his best, but it may unfortunately be something like the best that silent drama had to offer.
- This was Hitchcock's only original screenplay, strange as that may seem.
