FILM · 1949 · UK
Under Capricorn
17 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (17)
- #001
This was Sir Alfred Hitchcock's third consecutive film to fail at the box office. His previous box office failures were The Paradine Case (1947) and Rope (1948). His next film, Stage Fright (1950), also failed at the box office.
- #002
Margaret Leighton appeared in this film alongside her future husband Michael Wilding. After they married in 1964 they worked together several more times, though, as he himself admitted, Wilding preferred retirement and was happy to be a supportive spectator for his wife. In this film Michael Wilding played Charles Adare and Margaret Leighton played Milly.
- #003
In 1958, Cahiers du Cinema (the French film magazine) selected this film as one of the ten best films of all time.
- #004
Alfred Hitchcock was not surprised by the film's critical and box office failure; he openly acknowledged that it was an ego-driven project made only because Ingrid Bergman was at that time the biggest film star in America and available.
- #005
Sir Alfred Hitchcock began using the continuous single-reel "ten-minute take" he had enjoyed developing on Rope (1948), but here the process proved far more difficult than in a closed-apartment drama, so in the end only a few sequences were shot that way.
- #006
Many French critics regard this as one of Sir Alfred Hitchcock's best films.
- #007
The narration at the beginning of the film was by Edmond O'Brien.
- #008
Although it was well received in France, it was still a box office failure in the US when it was released. It ranked 90th at the box office for the year.
- #009
Burt Lancaster was the first choice to play Sam Flusky, but because Lancaster was considered too expensive, the role went to Joseph Cotten instead.
- #010
Cinematographer Jack Cardiff explains how the film's long takes were achieved in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010).
- #011
The film is set in 1831.
- #012
In 1949 many critics insisted that Ingrid Bergman's Swedish accent made her unsuitable for the role of Lady Henrietta, but her co-star Michael Wilding argued in his autobiography that she altered her natural speaking voice to have an Irish-style touch. Lady Henrietta is presumed to be of Anglo-Irish nobility, though such ladies would more likely have had an English accent.
- #013
David Buttolph composed original music for the US trailer.
- #014
Playwright James Bridie wrote the screenplay for this film together with Sir Alfred Hitchcock so that the actions of the four main characters (Lady Henrietta, Milly, Charles Adare and Sam Flusky) would mirror one another.
- #015
The wicked maid Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca" (1940) can be seen as a precursor to the maid Milly in "Under Capricorn." The latter, however, is a far more complex character and is motivated mainly by resentment of class distinctions rather than by repressed lesbian desire or possessiveness.
- #016
In Brazil the film is titled Sob o Signo de Capricórnio, which translates into English as Under the Sign of Capricorn.
- #017
The shrunken head on the bed is a precursor to the mother's skeleton in "Psycho" (1960).
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work