The Ring (1927)

(On Cable TV, October 2022) My quest to delve deeper and deeper in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent filmography is now hitting diminishing returns—While I can appreciate what he’s trying to do in The Ring (his fourth movie) in capturing the energy of boxing well before other directors refined the techniques, the rest of the film isn’t so special. Romantic melodrama surrounds the boxing sequences, all weighted down by silent drama’s usually turgid pacing and dialogue cards interrupting the flow. Props have to be given to the man himself, though: The Ring remains the only film officially written and directed by Hitchcock—later on he would remain a dominant creative influence on his films, but would credit a screenwriter for dialogue, story and structure. The Ring, however, did not have much dialogue, and the young Hitchcock was in a milieu he understood well (being a regular boxing fan at the time). The result is mildly interesting for Hitchcock fans, but it’s a bit of a slog outside boxing sequences—or even the boxing sequences themselves if you’re not a fan.