The Mountain Eagle (1926)

The Mountain Eagle is a 1927 British silent film, and Alfred Hitchcock's second as director following The Pleasure Garden. The film, a romantic melodrama set in Kentucky, is about a widower (Bernhard Goetzke) who jealously competes with his crippled son (John F. Hamilton) and a man he loathes (Malcolm Keen) over the affections of a schoolteacher (Nita Naldi). The film was mostly produced at the Emelka Film studios in Munich, Germany in autumn of 1925, with exterior scenes shot in the village of Obergurgl in the State of Tyrol, Austria. Production was plagued with problems, including the destruction of a village roof and Hitchcock experiencing altitude sickness. Due to producing the film in Germany, Hitchcock had more directorial freedom than he would have had in England, and he was influenced by German cinematic style and technique.

The film was screened for the producers in October 1926 who did not approve of it, and it wasn't until after the success of Hitchcock's The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog that they released the film in May 1927. The film was poorly received and criticised for its lack of realism, and Hitchcock himself was relieved that the film was lost. Six surviving stills of The Mountain Eagle are reproduced in François Truffaut's book, and further stills have been found to exist. In 2012, a set of 24 still photographs were found in an archive of one of Hitchcock's close friends. The Cine Tirol Film Commission has described it as "the most wanted film in the world", and the British Film Institute has the film on the top of their list of missing films and is actively searching for it.

Synopsis

The film is set in Kentucky. J. P. Pettigrew's (Bernhard Goetzke) wife died giving birth to his son Edward (John F. Hamilton), who was born a cripple. Pettigrew loathes John ("Fear o' God") Fulton (Malcolm Keen) who was also in love with Pettigrew's wife. Pettigrew witnesses his now grown son making love to schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi) and confronts her about the relationship. He attempts to take her in his arms but Beatrice rejects his advances. Pettigrew's son Edward sees this and flees the village.

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