Stage Fright is a 1950 British thriller film noir directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding and Richard Todd.

The story was adapted for the screen by Whitfield Cook and Alma Reville (the director's wife), with additional dialogue by James Bridie, based on the 1947 novel Man Running by Selwyn Jepson.

She is interrupted in rehearsal by her friend and crush, Jonathan Cooper, the secret lover of flamboyant stage actress and singer Charlotte Inwood.

Eve then poses as a reporter; she bribes Nellie to tell Charlotte she is ill and introduce her cousin "Doris Tinsdale" as a replacement.

Smith makes a courtship visit to Eve and her mother at home, where the Commodore drops subtle hints that Jonathan has left the seaside house.

During the performance, Commodore Gill gets a small boy to carry a doll wearing a bloodstained dress onto the stage as Charlotte sings "La Vie en rose".

Dietrich also begins a performance of Edith Piaf's "La Vie en rose" twice, the first being heard before a scene change and later her character is unable to finish it after being startled by a Boy Scout bringing a blood-stained doll to her.

"[4] Stage Fright garnered some adverse publicity upon its initial release due to the "lying flashback" seen near the beginning of the film.

Hitchcock realized that the scene might be misinterpreted after seeing the film edited together, but it was too late to change; he would later maintain that it was one of his greatest mistakes.

[5] Howard Maxford, author of The A–Z of Hitchcock: The Ultimate Reference Guide, notes that some aspects of the Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters case have similarities to the plot of Stage Fright.

[6] Although Stage Fright is based on Selwyn Jepson's short story "Man Running" (also known as "Outrun the Constable"), it differs in some ways.

In Stage Fright, he can be seen 39 minutes into the film as a man on the street turning to look at Eve as she rehearses her scripted introduction speech to Mrs. Inwood.

"[7] John McCarten of The New Yorker agreed, writing that "the picture doesn't lack for comic touches, but none of its episodes ties in very closely with the succeeding one, and the result is disappointing.

"[8] Variety printed a more positive review, reporting that Hitchcock "has a choice cast to put through its paces, and there's not a bad performance anywhere.

"[9] Harrison's Reports called it "a rambling murder thriller that wavers constantly between comedy that is delightfully funny and melodrama that is rarely more than moderately exciting.

"[10] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote that there were "so many beguiling people and moments" in the film "that it's curious the picture as a whole isn't better.

"[11] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Stage Fright is not without effective moments, reminding us how Hitchcock once excelled in the simple melodrama with ordinary, naturalistic backgrounds; but too much of it has the heavy, corpulent quality that made Rope and in particular Under Capricorn so lifeless and unreal.