Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Juno and the Paycock Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 13, 2025

Note: This version of this film is available as part of the Hitchcock: The Beginning set from Studio Canal.

1934 seems to be some kind of invisible dividing line between Alfred Hitchcock's more recognized output and some of his arguably lesser remembered earlier films. The first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much was released that year, and was followed in relatively short order by at least a couple of Hitch's best remembered British productions like The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, but aside from those titles and maybe one or two others (i.e., The Lodger), even diehard film fans may be relatively unacquainted with other early (or at least earlier) films of one of the most celebrated directors in the annals of cinema. Studio Canal is helping to rectify that lack of renown with an appealing collection that aggregates ten early Hitchcock films, including one that has often been cited (rightly or wrongly) as the first British feature length sound production.

Alfred Hitchcock perhaps understandably never made a musical, but perhaps unexpectedly, the source material of Seán O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock was indeed turned into a quasi-opera by none other than Marc Blitzstein, an effort which came and went spectacularly quickly on Broadway in the fifties but which did offer apparently heart breaking performances from Shirley Booth and Melvyn Douglas. There is more than ample "operatic" content in Juno and the Paycock even without any music, in a tale that sees a roiling family dynamic more or less disintegrate from dysfunction into disaster, all within the context of the wake left by the Irish Civil War. That "Irish bit" may be surprising for a so-called "Hitchcock film", though as some of the supplements on this disc get into, Hitch actually had an Irish mother, which may have played into his motives for filming the play, but one way or the other O'Casey evidently left a major impression on Hitch, as some trivia suggests O'Casey was the model for the so- called "prophet of doom" featured in the diner scene of The Birds .

Prophet status notwithstanding, there is a palpable sense of doom suffusing Juno and the Paycock, something that may have appealed to Irish audiences when the play was first staged in 1924, but which may frankly have kept Blitzstein's adaptation from finding an audience in the waning days of the sanguine Eisenhower Era in the United States. Hitchcock is rather reserved with this effort, directorially speaking, leaving his camera planted for long takes which allow several members of the original stage cast, notably Hitchcock regular Sara Allgood as the long suffering Juno to really dig into their characterizations without any cuts or coverage to hamper the flow.

Juno and the Paycock Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Juno and the Paycock is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.20:1. The main feature begins with a prefatory text card providing the following information:

This restoration was scanned in 4K 16 bit by Silver Salt Restoration - UK, from the original 35mm nitrate negative.

Colour grading and restoration were completed by Silver Salt Restoration - UK, who dedicated over 300 hours to manually clean and carefully remove sparkle, dirt and scratches, repair of missing frames, tears and corrections of several density fluctuation.

This project was brought to you by Studio Canal and supervised by Jahanzeb Hayat and Mariana Ledesma.

Considering the vagaries of fate and curation, it's maybe just slightly amazing that the original negative was available for this transfer, and the results are quite winning. While Hitch tends to use a lot of midrange framings that probably only reinforce how stage bound this adaptation can look, detail levels are commendable throughout, on everything from some of the well worn outfits donned by the older characters, as well as nattier outfits by the younger generation. While there are still some discernable density fluctuations, on the whole the presentation is perhaps surprisingly consistent looking, with generally great contrast and an organic looking grain field. Hitch attempted to slightly open up the proceedings, and my hunch is maybe a couple of outdoor shots are stock footage, as clarity can degrade a bit in these brief moments. Damage is negligible.

Juno and the Paycock Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Juno and the Paycock features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio. The track can show some definite thinness at times in terms of some of the scoring, as in the opening credits sequence, but maybe just slightly unexpectedly, the florid dialogue has some real resonance and a decent midrange. Some of the brogues can be exceedingly thick in this tale, but everything is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English and German subtitles are available.

Juno and the Paycock Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Hitch & The Irish Players (HD; 15:38) features Charles Barr giving some historical background on the troupe and this collaboration.


• Hitchcock / Truffaut: Archival Audio Interview (HD; 3:44) plays to stills.


• Stills Gallery (HD)

Juno and the Paycock Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's rather interesting to see Hitchcock perhaps take a veritable "back seat" to the material here, injecting few if any of his stylistic flourishes into the proceedings, and simply letting O'Casey's thunderous language and the imposing presence of Allgood take over. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.