Alfred Hitchcock's "Stage Fright" is less well known than his other films of this era (the film was made in 1950). However, it's very entertaining and quite good, starring Marlene Dietrich, Jane Wyman, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alistair Sim and Sybil Thorndike. Set in the atmosphere of London theater, Dietrich plays Charlotte, a stage star whose husband is murdered in their house. She begs her boyfriend Jonathan (Todd) to help her, as she is certain she will be accused. Worse, she had blood on her dress. Jonathan takes the dress and goes to Charlotte's home to get her another one. However, on the way out, the maid sees him. He panics, Charlotte panics, and Jonathan takes off with the aide of a young actress (Wyman) who's in love with him. She takes him to her father's (Sims) boat so he can hide out. She returns to London and finds out that indeed, Jonathan is the prime suspect. She meets a detective on the case named Smith (Wilding), and the two start falling for one another. He doesn't know that Eve is now living a double life -herself and that of Charlotte's dresser Doris in order to get information.<br /><br />"Stage Fright" moves quickly, and the characters are wonderful. Dietrich is beautiful in her Dior outfits and as Charlotte, she is completely self-involved, calling "Doris" Elsie and every other name except Doris. She wants her widow's weeds cut lower in the front and plans on attending a garden party right after her husband's funeral. Wyman is very good, though she doesn't use an English accent. As Doris, though, she has a very serviceable Cockney. Michael Wilding is handsome and charming as Detective Smith, and Richard Todd as Jonathan is obsessed as well as frightened. Alistair Sim is hilarious as Eve's father, an excellent portrayal of an eccentric man, and Sybil Thorndike is very funny as Eve's airhead of a mother.<br /><br />Dietrich sings several numbers in her inimitable style, and a very young Pat Hitchcock plays a young actress friend of Eve's. All in all, a good movie. Not Hitchcock's best maybe, but certainly better (as far as I'm concerned) than "I Confess."