The Farmer's Wife (1928)

It's not every day that I get to view an unknown Hitchcock, so on that level this British silent was something of a treat.  There is little to link this bucolic comedy with the director who came to be known as the Master of Suspense, other than his even then evident artistic eye and his playful nature.  The story concerns a prosperous farmer whose wife has died and who decides it is time for him to wed again.  His faithful and let it be said very attractive housekeeper is the obvious choice, but apparently not obvious enough to the poor dolt.  Instead he presents himself to four highly unsuitable local females, thinking that they will jump at the opportunity, only to find himself spurned for various reasons -- they are either too independent or too afraid of sex or consider themselves too young for him.  Of course the viewer knows where this will lead, but it takes the farmer the course of the movie to find out.  In the meantime we join him in his amusing quest with the local gentry and bumpkins.  The version I saw ran 97 minutes, but I understand that a 127 minute print exists; I can't for the life of me guess how they could expand this already-thin story.