The Farmer's Wife

Released Jan 4, 1930

2 hr. 9 min.

Comedy

Drama

Romance

List

91%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

32%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A widowed British farmer (Jameson Thomas) enlists his housekeeper's (Lilian Hall-Davis) help to find a wife.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Rent The Farmer's Wife on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

Matthew B

I have a sneaking fondness for one of Hitchcock's comedies from the silent era, The Farmer's Wife. This early offering, made while Hitchcock was still learning his trade, shows few of the trademark features that we associate with the famous director. It is not a thriller. There are no murders. There is not even a cameo walk-on part for Hitchcock. What we are left with is a charming and underrated comedy, which was very successful in its day, but is little known now. Black-and-white movies are greeted with little enthusiasm by modern audiences, and silent movies do not even appeal to many people who like watching black-and-white films. As a result, most people know the silent era (if at all) from a handful of its more famous works, and many hidden treasures are buried. I will not pretend that The Farmer's Wife is an undiscovered great film. I will not even say that it is one of Hitchcock's best films. I will say only that the film would have been better-known and better-liked if it had been made in the era of talking pictures. One unusual touch (for the time) that Hitchcock employed was to take the stage play outdoors and show us scenes of the countryside. We see the farm and its animals, horse riding, and an assembly of foxhunters and their dogs setting off. Much of this photography was completed by Hitchcock himself after his regular cinematographer Jack E Cox fell ill. This opened up the play and made it seem more like a film. There is no profound message about anything in The Farmer's Wife. It is merely a light and amusing comedy in which a young Alfred Hitchcock showed some of the potential that he would later fulfil when he was given the budget, the stars, and the benefits that later developments in filmmaking would bring. There are many better Hitchcock films, but nonetheless The Farmer's Wife is enormous fun. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Farmer's Wife on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/the-farmers-wife-1928/

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/24/23

Full Review

michael d

Meandering early rom-com.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of Hitchcock's only straight-ahead comedies, he shows such skill in that arena, giving us a charming & sweet little romantic comedy, & a clear predecessor of the modern genre. Thomas as the farmer is a wonderfully endearing yet out-of-touch lead, sifting through a hilarious variety of women sutiors. The misunderstandings, the high-concept silliness, the broad performances, the sharp dialogue, the foolishness of the main characters to recognize their own fate. My favorite of Hitchcock's silent pictures.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

joel h

The Farmer's Wife is an old-fashioned silent comedy, but it's much too long. The story does a number of circles before it finally gets where it's going. Also, the protagonist is kind of a jerk. If I didn't already know this was a Hitchcock film, I would have never guessed it was.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

bill t

Forgettable film known only for being directed by Hitchcock. Widowed farmer thinks it's about time he got remarried, and chooses three possible women. The conclusion to this is painfully obvious from the get go, and you're just screaming to get with it and wrap this thing up. Doesn't help that there's another film in this in a bumbling farmhand being buttle a large party for the first time.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Dreadful pretty much from beginning to end, it's astonishing really how poor Hitchcock's silent films are perhaps showing that he only really came into his own once he had his own material to work with. The main protagonist here is a dick so difficult to warm to and the plot is paper thin. Ridiculously long running time for a silent film as well.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Jameson Thomas

Samuel Sweetland

Lilian Hall-Davis

Araminta Dench, Housekeeper

Gordon Harker

Churdles Ash: his Handyman

Maude Gill

Thirza Tapper

Gibb McLaughlin

Henry Coaker

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

95%

96%

City Lights

TRAILER

for City Lights

100%

88%

Fanny

71%

59%

True Heart Susie

29%

55%

The Flame of New Orleans

97%

90%

My Man Godfrey

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Time Out

Charming comedy of rural manners.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Mordaunt Hall

New York Times

It has been nicely directed with a keen eye for the sunlight and shadows over the winding country roads, and the indoor scenes are always correct as to furnishings.

Rated: 3.5/5

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Hitchcock disliked the film, but it offers an unusual glimpse of the master before he settled into thrillers. Matters of marriage were always much on Hitchcock's mind.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

David Parkinson

Radio Times

Some of the notions about modern womanhood feel quaintly old-fashioned, but this remains an overlooked delight.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 6, 2022

Full Review

Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

...pretty funny, with most of the humor coming from the visuals rather than the relatively sparse intertitles,

Rated: 6/10

Dec 26, 2019

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Hitchcock's seventh (silent) feature is a charming, well acted rustic comedy

Rated: B

Nov 12, 2012

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A widowed British farmer (Jameson Thomas) enlists his housekeeper's (Lilian Hall-Davis) help to find a wife.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Eden Phillpotts, Eliot Stannard
Distributor: Grapevine Video, Super Features
Production Co: British International Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 4, 1930, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 16, 2016

Most Popular at Home Now