The rug


There is a scene where Mr. Malcolm visits Sir John in his office, and as he approaches the desk, there is a close up of his feet, which sink deeply into the rug as though it were laid over a soft mattress, but this is never explained. Anyone have any idea what the meaning of this is?

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I am watching the film at the moment and just saw the scene and went back and paused on the walking action. I connected the rug with the broken chair that Malcolm sits in next as well as Sir John's confession in the earlier jury scene that he is relatively poor, at least given his title. So the rug covers over a hole in the floor which is filled in by pillows. But I have no way to confirm this assumption. It certainly is odd. The action directly precedes an establishment shot which shows us a rather grand office with huge oil paintings. So it is a comic or wry touch that endears us to Sir John--he is doing his best in this world to maintain decency despite lack of resources--a metaphor for his character (and perhaps for Hitchcock himself as an artist at this moment in time?. Other thoughts?

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I think that Sir John calls himself "a poor actor" in that he is a mere or lowly actor, not that he is financially strapped or unsuccessful. He seems to live well and be recognized as a celebrity everywhere he goes.

I suspect that the floor giving away under his feet, is a way of showing how nervous Markham is in meeting such a huge celebrity for a job interview. It is a rather crude device and like all the little visual montages and brief cut-ins of shots illustrating the thoughts of the characters, it seems derived from silent movie film-making techniques. This movie was made just one year into the sound era. Hitchcock would get more sophisticated in time.

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"I suspect that the floor giving away under his feet, is a way of showing how nervous Markham is in meeting such a huge celebrity"

Exactly but not just because he's meeting a huge celebrity but because he is meeting someone he admires.

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Yes, I agree with 'divonewyorkese', as well, because others, including Hanel Fane ('Half-Caste') enter said office and strut across those same boards and rug with nary a problem. lol FuturePrimitive666.

"*bleep* it all and *bleep*ing no regrets!"

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That's how the hapless Markham feels when he steps on such a plush, luxurious carpeting; something he's not accustomed to. Same thing with the rocking chair, he's not used to a quality chair going that far back. And Sir John sipping his soup from the wrong, ridiculously small spoon, in order not to embarrass the Markhams.

Hitchcock's humor is abundant in this film, however clumsy or ineffective due to the novelty of the talkie medium. Other examples: Sir John's quiet desperation when he pleads the Markhams for a decent supper at the red lion instead of the hellish (for him) prospect of some cold cuts at the policeman's home; same thing with the moring scene at the same home; and him offering the pen when Fane asks for a chimney poker to "re-enact" the murder. Most of the humor is lost if one doesn't take the period class system in consideration. The film is such a nice time capsule.

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I believe that this scene is meant to exagerate the difference in status between Markham and Sir John. Markham is literally a "poor" actor and used to floorboards or threadbare carpet. Sir John is wealthy and has thick plush carpet which takes markham by surprise. Whatever, it is an odd piece of surrealism in this context.

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yes, i'm just watching the movie now, this scene is actually clever and funny. when markham comes in, there's a shot showing him on one side of the room and sir john on the other. then there's a shot from markham's point of view: sir john looks a v e r y l o n g w a y a w a y, much farther than in the previous shot--we're being told that the room seems much bigger to markham than it really is. then sir john says hello, and his voice, though he's such a long way away, is very loud. when markham replies, his voice can hardly be heard, though he's in the foreground. then when he walks across the rug, as you say, it seems like he's sinking into it. all these things are hitchcock's inventions for telling us how markham actually feels going into that room. and yes, later on he'd be more subtle, but these things aren't that different from, e.g., the glowing glass of milk in Suspicion.

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