Stage Fright (1950)

It's not lauded as a masterpiece like other Hitchcock thrillers, but I think this one about an acting school student (Wyman) who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery when her friend Freddie goes on the run from police, is, from the get-go, fun, romantic, thrilling, and star-studded with Pat Hitchcock, the director's daughter debuting as an adult in her father's films (in 1936's Sabotage, she was a very young extra) and Marlene Dietrich features as a sinister rival for Freddie's affections.

★★★★☆

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Hue and Cry (1947)

In this first Ealing comedy, a mystery adventure set in post-war London and full of derringdo, a young ragamuffin is surprised one day to stumble into a panel come-to-life from his favourite newspaper detective comic strip, but this is not Walter Mitty fantasy: the would-be sleuth and his extensive network of 'Blood and Thunder Boys' make it their duty to investigate and foil what turns out to be a criminal mastermind's nefarious plot.  

★★★★☆

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