The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

[huntergrayson]

Do we have a thread? I did a search to no avail, but that function is always squiffy.

Anyways, there's a TCM Marathon starting RIGHT NOW of many of his greats. But it begins with "Aventure Malgache" which I don't think I've ever heard of and I took a class on his films! It's a tale of the French resistance, in WW2, in French, by Hitch!

Greatest. Director. Of. All. Time.

There's no comparison.

Even though he is the "Master of Suspense", the reason why he is the greatest is that he's also a master of so many other different tones, like humor and romance. Think of the witty comic banter in NxNW or the swoony sophisticated romance of Notorious. Hitch's films are so rich and complex because he isn't *just* a suspense/horror director - there's action, suspense and terror but also black humor and love/sex.

Seriously, you guys, I *own* nearly all his films but if "North by Northwest" is on TV, I have to stop everything I'm doing and watch it.

I also am so lucky to have seen a good chunk of his work on the big screen, rather than merely on video.

So, what are your favs? Vertigo, North by Northwest and Notorious are my holy trinity.

[Smilla]

My favorites are Torn Curtain, (shirtless Paul Newman) Notorious, (which was the first Hitch film I actually like) Vertigo, (the only Jimmy Stewart I can stand) Rope, (for its subtle, dark humor) North by Northwest and Family Plot (his last, and possibly most underrated). I also like The Birds, mostly because it scared the shit out of me.

[huntergrayson]

Seriously, I am Vertigo's bitch. I have a headcold and need a nap, own the film on DVD, have seen it on the big screen at least three times (once in a graveyard, which was awesome) and happened to turn on the TV in right as Madeline was jumping into the bay. And yet I can't stop watching. I always try to visit Fort Point when I go to San Francisco.

"Only one is a wanderer, two together are always going somewhere."

Also, one of the greatest scores OF ALL TIME. When I saw Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde", I had great fun thinking of Vertigo during the overture (some of Herrmann's motifs were drawn from the opera).

Allegedly, Sharon Stone's outfits in Basic Instinct are supposed to mirror/parallel/imitate the outfits that Madeline wears. I'd have to see Basic Instinct again though to check.

[Deleted]

Hitch easily was one of the most consistent directors in terms of making enjoyable, watchable, compelling films. And man, could he ever churn them out!

My faves are North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train (Robert Walker was Hitch's creepiest psycho ever), his first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The 39 Steps (what an ending!).

[millie77]

I fell in love with Hitchcock's movies in jr. high school and I love them to this day. I agree with y'all. He was a genius, able to make smart, compelling films that were also hugely entertaining -- no mean feat. He could do funny, sexy -- and his suspense can't be beat. I've seen plenty of "scary" movies, but that scene in Rear Window when Grace Kelly is in Raymond Burr's apartment still puts me on the edge of my seat.

One of my top favorites has to be Shadow of a Doubt. Uncle Charlie is just such a fabulously creepy, suave and evil villain and I love Teresa Wright -- and Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn as the murder-obsessed pals completely oblivious to what's going on under their noses. North by Northwest is another -- it's just so fun. Also a huge fan of Rear Window (the first one I ever saw) and Notorious (sexy as hell).

[SweetOblivion]

Suspicion and North By Northwest are my favorite Hitchcock films. Both are brilliant and masterfully suspenseful.

On a shallower note, nobody will watch NBNW with me anymore because, when it gets to the part where Cary Grant says, "Now, what do you suppose a man can do without his clothes for 20 minutes?", I squeal. Loudly. Usually followed by screaming and fanning myself. George Clooney, you got nothing. NOTHING!!

In film school, I loved learning about the ways Hitchcock would sneak those kinds of things past the censors. Sometimes he did it in broad daylight.

[Deleted]

I showed my students NBNW once and they were screaming with joy at the double entendres between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. Screaming! They couldn't believe that a director could get away with that in the '50s.

[huntergrayson]

If you look carefully, you can see that Eva is actually saying the line "I never make love on an empty stomach" but they dubbed over "discuss love on an empty stomach" as a concession to censors. Still, the double entendres in that film are ridiculous!

Has anyone seen the NxNW BluRay yet? I've yet to get a player but want to know how it looks.

[normadesmond]

Even more than the racy double entendres, I'm flabbergasted by the amount of homosexuality Hitchcock managed to cram into his movies. While some have charged him with homophobia - and he clearly had a thing for gay villains - by no means are all of his gay characters villains, and by no means are those gay villains (or anti-heroes) unsympathetic. In fact, they're delightful. Who doesn't sympathize with Robert Walker's Bruno Anthony in Strangers on a Train when he pops the balloon of the loud, bratty kid at the amusement park? And then there's the fact that he cast Farley Granger - who was gay in real life and whom Hitchcock definitely knew was gay and subtly implies may be portraying a repressedly gay man - as the object of Walker's affection. That would make SoaT a movie where both "hero" and "villain" are gay.

In The Lady Vanishes, he includes a scene of a pair of male travelling companions who are blatantly presented as lovers, and both Rebecca and Suspicion contain various suggestions of lesbianism. Apparently, he wanted to spell out the lesbianism Mrs. Danvers, Mrs. Van Hopper, and Rebecca herself, but so alarmed the studio Hitch was forced to remove some lines from the script because he made it too obvious.

[pathtaken]

I love The lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps.
The villains are so evil and the little romance stuff is sweet.

The Birds was ruined for me by my kids ripping it MST3K style last time it was on TCM.
Did Hitchcock have mommy issues? The mother in The Birds
had some serious problems with her hot son.