Young and Innocent (U.S. title: The Girl Was Young) is a British film (1937) directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Nova Pilbeam, and . It is very loosely based on Josephine Tey's novel A Shilling for Candles (1936).

There were significant changes made in adapting the book for the film. The team of screenwriters took the main suspect of the novel, Robert Tisdall, and his unexpected, initially reluctant supporter, Erica Burgoyne, and left out all the other characters, including Tey's Inspector Alan Grant and even the murderer. In other words, the episode focusing on Tisdall as a fugitive from justice was elaborated and blown up into a full-length film, whereas the subplots and distractions of Tey's novel -- which make it a whodunit -- were omitted.

Plot summary

Christine Clay, an actress who owes her career to her husband, is severely criticized by him for playing around with other men. He makes particular reference to Robert Tisdall, a young man staying with (or at least near) them at their country retreat somewhere on the English coast. One night, Christine smacks her husband's face. He keeps himself calm except for his eyes, which twitch uncontrollably, then proceeds to strangle her with the belt from a trenchcoat he has stolen. For some reason, he is never suspected by the police.

Just when Christine Clay's body is washed ashore, Robert Tisdall happens to be walking along the cliffs. A belt is found next to the body. He runs away to get help or call the police and is seen doing so by two young female swimmers. He is arrested and becomes the main suspect, also because the actress has left him a large sum in her will. After talking to a hopelessly inadequate solicitor, Tisdall doubts if his innocence will ever be established. In the corridor of the courthouse, while there are many people waiting for and attending different trials, he can make his escape. Soon he is joined by Erica Burgoyne, who gives him a lift in her dilapidated Morris. The two get more and more involved with each other -- not romantically at first -- so that the police think she is his accomplice. All Tisdall wants, however, is prove his innocence by getting hold of the coat (plus belt) that was stolen from him.

During their flight, they briefly stop at Erica's aunt, whose seven year-old daughter Felicity is having a birthday party (playing, among other games, Blind Man's Buff). Finally, in a lodging house frequented by tramps, Tisdall encounters the man he has been looking for: Old Will, a sociable china-mender wearing Tisdall's coat, sans belt, which he readily gives back to him. Furthermore, he agrees to help him and Erica Burgoyne find the murderer and clear Tisdall of all suspicion.

In the pocket of the coat they find a box of matches from the Grand Hotel, which eventually leads them to the real murderer of Christine Clay -- her own husband, the man with the twitching eyes. Since that nervous tic is the only thing Old Will can remember about the man who gave him the coat, they go to the hotel to find him, where he is employed as the drummer in a jazz band which performs in blackface . Recognizing Old Will in the audience, and observing nearby law enforcement, the husband has a nervous breakdown mid-set and passes out. He confesses his crime immediately after being revived. In the end, Robert Tisdall and Erica Burgoyne are united, with Erica's father smiling benevolently.

External links

• Young and Innocent at The Internet Movie Database