Bad trip

Rich and Strange

(1931)

Yes and yes: an odd and mostly delightful hybrid. Bored schlemiel Fred (Henry Kendall) and his uncomplaining wife Em (the luminous Joan Barry) voyage to the Far East after his uncle gives him an advance on his inheritance. In a comedy wrapped around a near tragedy, their marriage sinks with the rise in their fortunes; as their fortunes go south, and they move from luxury liner to tramp steamer to pirate junk, they remember love. An early Hitchcock talkie, and some of the best bits are silent-style comic visuals in the first couple of reels.