Why Alfred Hitchcock once called his own 1932 thriller a complete disaster

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Alfred Hitchcock did not want to direct Number Seventeen, a film he considered riddled with cliches. He famously described the project as a disaster, and it remains one of the few thrillers in his filmography where the director does not make his signature cameo appearance.

Released in 1932, Number Seventeen was based on a 1925 stage play by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon. Hitchcock had returned from a trip to the Caribbean with different ideas, but he was steered toward this project by John Maxwell and Walter C. Mycroft. Hitchcock had actually hoped to adapt John Van Druten’s play London Wall instead, but that project went to director Thomas Bentley. Assigned to work with writer Rodney Ackland, Hitchcock attempted to frame the film as a comedy-oriented thriller, though the final result left many audiences and critics confused.

The plot follows a detective named Barton who investigates a jewel robbery at a house near a railway. The narrative is dense with twists, including a deaf-mute woman who suddenly speaks, a police officer disguised as a corpse, and a climactic chase involving a bus, a train, and a ferry. To achieve the film's ambitious finale, the production made extensive use of miniature sets, including models of the train and ferry. Despite the technical effort, the film was often judged by critics as a failed attempt at serious drama, likely because many viewers were unfamiliar with its comedic roots.

The film's reception has remained largely negative over the decades. In the 1966 book Hitchcock/Truffaut, Hitchcock and François Truffaut discussed the project, with Truffaut noting that while he found it funny, the story was undeniably confusing. Modern consensus on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes echoes this, labeling the film as highly entertaining but practically incomprehensible. Despite its reputation, the film has seen a resurgence in accessibility, including a 2021 Blu-ray release by Kino Lorber, allowing modern viewers to judge the work for themselves.

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