

When school captain Roddy Berwick takes the blame for his friend’s scandal, he is expelled and disowned by his family. Cast out of his privileged world, Roddy drifts through a series of humiliations—from waiter to penniless actor to gigolo—descending ever further into ruin and self-disgust.
Direction
Early Hitchcock already obsessed with guilt and point-of-view shots.
Cinematography
Stunning descent imagery—stairs, shadows, literal downhill walks.
Acting
Ivor Novello's face: aristocratic pride crumbling into hollowed-out shame.

Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ivor Novello was Britain's biggest silent star; Hitchcock despised working with him and called the film 'awful.'
One of Hitchcock's rare 'woman's picture' melodramas, adapted from a stage hit that Novello wrote himself.