ALFRED HITCHCOCK

[MissGoddess]

Instead, he breaks it up when there's a change of emotion between the two characters.

Brilliant observations, KR! I'm going to pay attention for this the next time I watch Rebecca, which has always been a favorite of mine, though Hitch fans (critics) tend to pooh-pooh it.

This kind of cutting sounds so intuitive, I wonder how often it is utilized (not just by Hitch)? Can you give any other examples?

[MissGoddess]

I see what your saying about both of those scenes. I have noticed P.O.V. and use of low vs. high angle shots to emphasize who is dominant in a scene. Also, who is in shadow and who is illuminated, as you point out, can be significant. All of this I'm slowly learning, thanks to writers like you and others here at SSO (and TCM).

I think I have to watch a movie AT LEAST three times to get a "fundamental"---no more---understanding of what it's strengths are. I'm talking about movies made by film makers who really cared, even if the execution had become second nature and was in their words, "a job of work". The first time I am getting just the master-shot if you will, the whole general feel and tone of the thing and my own first impressions of how I relate to the subject, stars or characters. Then, the second time I usually focus just on character. The third and subsequent viewings I may have read up a little about the movie or saw it discussed online, and am ready to look for details. Of course, I went many years watching many films over and over again without really breaking them down. It wasn't until I started writing in forums like SSO that I began that exercise.

[JackFavell]

Same here, kingrat, and MissG. Even now, I can start watching something for angles and P.O.V. and suddenly it's an hour and a half later and I forgot what I was doing.

I like your breakdown of that scene... so many young directors would overlook the actual dynamics of the two IN the scene, and instead try to re-enact the murder itself. Hitch does both, but the emphasis is on how Second (thanks by the way. I used to call her 'I", but that doesn't work very well.) is hearing the truth. Maxim is deluded, he thinks he's ruined everything for himself and for her, but his tortured revelation of the truth is monumentally freeing to Second. And this is where the emphasis should be and is.

[JackFavell]

I think the word "subliminally" really captures Hitch's appeal, and it's something no other director delved into as much or as skillfully, though I'd say the best of the classic directors did the same thing, perhaps instinctively, perhaps on purpose. Movies really are about the eyes, and the feelings of characters, not about what they say or even do. These are my favorite films, the ones that somehow express something unspoken. This is reminding me of our recent discussion of the script cuts in The Searchers, where Ford cut reams of dialogue out of the script -where Ethan spoke about his motivations. That is what film is made for.

[RedRiver]

He argues pretty convincingly that Selznick helped deepen the emotional pull of the film, and that Hitchcock's films are subsequently much deeper in emotion than his English films were.

While not pretending expertise, I would say that's a fair assessment. The spy thrillers and murder tales are largely about story and suspense. Personal relations do create a certain tone. That contradicts what I just said. But with NOTORIOUS, VERTIGO, even PSYCHO, the intensity goes way up. Like other great filmmakers, this is the reason Hitch was so exceptional. There's more than one kind of Hitchcock film!

[CineMaven]

Brother Rat...I think you can give the very esteemed Tag Gallagher a run for his money in terms of analyzing a film via it's shots. Wonderful read.

[CineMaven]

ALL HITCHCOCK, ALL THE TIME. WELL...AT LEAST ON SUNDAYS IN SEPTEMBER.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK - THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE
8/13/1899 - 4/29/1980



Probably the most recognizable of all directors is Alfred Hitchcock. He mastered the art of story-telling in a visual and suspenseful way. I can only think it was professional jealousy because of his popularity with the public that prevented Hitchcock from winning a well-deserved Academy Award for direction.

How many masterpieces can one man have? Sit back, relax and watch every Sunday in September on TCM to find out. As for relaxing, uhmmm, you might find yourself on the edge of your seat.

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WEEK ONE

ROPE ( 1948 ) - SUBVERTING THE DRAWING ROOM COMEDY.



Sweet...sick...tantalizing...twisted. Acting out illicitly in plain sight. We, the audience, are co-conspirators with Brandon. He's showing off to us, the audience, to show us how clever he is. Tell the truth: are you yelling "David's in the trunk!!!" to expose this heinous plot, or are you hoping Brandon gets to the trunk before the maid opens it at the cocktail party.

Interesting dynamic between the real triangle: Brandon - the egomaniacal sociopath; Phillip - the heart, the conscious and the weakest link; Rupert - the Teacher, who talks in the abstract until he sees how his words have power. I love the chess match of wits between Rupert and star pupil, Brandon.

I love the artifice of "Rope" in set and language and acting styles.

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"SPELLBOUND" ( 1945 )



Hitchcock tackles the profession of psychiatry. And ain't love crazy anywhooo?

What more can a gal ask for? Gregory Peck on your couch. << Sigh! >> And he might be a murderer. Who better to unlock the key to a man's mind but Ingrid Bergman. Throw in a little Dali, doors opening to the mind and voila...

The movie's a little talky, but it's all a MacGuffin anyway.

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"MARNIE" ( 1964 ) - PATHOLOGICALLY VIRGINAL.



Here's the second time Hitchcock use psychology as a motif in his film. He includes all the elements one might experience for $50.00 an hour on a shrink's couch. Childhood trauma, a girl and her horse, kleptomania / stealing, fear of men, a parent's approval. Is she the last of the Hitchcock Blondes?

Tippi Hedren is perfect as the repressed woman. The joke to me is casting the most alpha, über-male of the 60's, Sean Connery ( 007 ) to be the iceberg in ( f )rigid waters to run Marnie aground. She represents a challenge that's beyond being a girl who...just ...says ...no.

Purists quibble and rag on the rear screen projection and painted backdrops. But I say you do that at the risk of not seeing the forest for the trees. A shout-out to Louise Latham. ( "Marnie you're achin' my leg." )

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THE BIRDS ( 1963 ) - HITCHCOCK GETS HIS HANDS ON MOTHER NATURE.



If you insist on needing a reason or an explanation for every little thing, you're never going to have any fun. All you need to know is a blonde comes to town and all hell breaks loose.

Suspense is around every corner in Bodega Bay: On the monkey bars, at a birthday party, at the house and the spectacular onslaught at the diner/gas station.

Rod Taylor is rugged, handsome and helpless in the face of the birds. Tippi Hedren need not worry about playing second fiddle to the ghost of Grace Kelly. She's gorgeous in her own right and has a bit of an edge that the Princess lacks. And then there's Suzanne Pleshette who contrasts Hedren. Her silent resignation cuts me to the quick. Her final act of bravery is a heartbreaker.

"The Birds" - Mother Nature gone wild.

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"SHADOW OF A DOUBT" ( 1943 ) - THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.



Why Hitch, the sly old l'il devil! He takes the snake out of the Garden of Eden, and plops it right in the middle of a small Northern California town in the guise of Joseph Cotten.

It's great to watch the journey of Teresa Wright. The scales of complacency and innocence are removed and replaced with courage and knowledge. She confronts evil, and fights for her family.


...And all under the California sun.

Oh and let me give a warm shout out to "Lost Woman" Janet Shaw, too, who speaks volumes in just one scene.

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"PSYCHO" ( 1960 ) - A BOY'S BEST FRIEND IS....



Hitchcock's masterpiece. He threw in everything including the kitchen sink ( ...and the bathroom shower ) to create this unsettling, unnerving and unseen before 1960 journey into the macabre. ( You can make up your own case for "Peeping Tom" released in England the month before. )

Hitchcock twists and turns the plot with a magician's knack for distraction. I love all the players in this all the way down to Lurene Tuttle ( "...Periwinkle blue." ) Each of the main characters gets more than they bargain for when they run into young Norman Bates. You know, I sometimes ponder Anthony Perkins getting this script for the first time and reading it. What a hat trick by Hitchcock to simultaneously cement and entomb Perkins' place in movie history.

"Who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?" Get the answer here in "Psycho."

[MissGoddess]

And if you miss any, many of the master's films are also playing on Cozi-TV, if you get that network (albeit with commercials). Seeing Hitch is about the only thing that (almost) reconciles me to September.

[RedRiver]

I love the artifice of "Rope" in set and language and acting styles.

Stewart is exceptional in this. Jimmy is always good, but this characterization is brittle and intense. Terrific acting.

All you need to know is a blonde comes to town and all hell breaks loose.

Terrifying movie! Not the director's best, but almost certainly his scariest. "Can't I take the lovebirds, Mitch? They haven't hurt anyone."

PSYCHO. Hitchcock's masterpiece

That's hard to argue with. I'm a 39 STEPS man. I like REAR WINDOW. But does Hitchcock get any more Hitchcock than in this trend establishing classic?

[JackFavell]

WOW! Love those descriptions. I'm also loving Hitch this month. Just great to see these, and I'm enjoying the order they chose at TCM. Makes you see the movies a little differently when you see them next to one another in odd ways. Two psychiatrist movies up against one another. YEAH! I keep finding pleasing juxtapositions in the scheduling.

[Lomm]

Hoo, man, if there's one director I could go on and on about, it's Hitch. To pick one from above, Rope is wonderful, from the performances he brought out of the actors to the illusion of a single cut of film...so ahead of his time, a pioneer in the literal sense of the word, from his earliest American work onward. Psycho, of course, remains the quintessential Hitchcock. My kids, desensitized in a world of mindless action, were completely drawn in by The Birds, and still talk about it years on after seeing it. Such a fantastic filmmaker. A good friend of mine wrote the book "A Year of Hitchcock", which I highly recommend to any fans of the great director.

[CineMaven]

In honor of Hitch on Sundays in September on TCM, I combed through the archives here at the SSO to find photos...candid shots that have been posted throughout the years on Alfred Hitchcock by our illustrious poster MONGO. Here is Part One of them, in one fell swoop:

And if you miss any, many of the master's films are also playing on Cozi-TV, if you get that network (albeit with commercials). Seeing Hitch is about the only thing that (almost) reconciles me to September.

Thanxxx for the info on repeat performances, Miss G. So what's up with you and September??

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...I'm a 39 STEPS man. I like REAR WINDOW. But does Hitchcock get any more Hitchcock than in this trend establishing classic?

I'm a "Psycho" gal. Uhhhh...I mean, it is an amazing and perfect movie. And "Rear Window" and "The 39 Steps" are none too shabby either, Red. We all have our favorites.

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WOW! Love those descriptions. I'm also loving Hitch this month. Just great to see these, and I'm enjoying the order they chose at TCM. Makes you see the movies a little differently when you see them next to one another in odd ways. Two psychiatrist movies up against one another. YEAH! I keep finding pleasing juxtapositions in the scheduling.

Thanks Jaxxxxxxxon. I created the title cards myself and am trying to discipline myself to write short and sweet and the essence of Hitchcock. I'm noticing the juxtapositions of the scheduling myself ( now that you've mentioned it. ) TCM has put three of Jimmy Stewart four - Hitchcocks back-to-back-to-back this Sunday.

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Hoo, man, if there's one director I could go on and on about, it's Hitch. To pick one from above, Rope is wonderful, from the performances he brought out of the actors to the illusion of a single cut of film...so ahead of his time, a pioneer in the literal sense of the word, from his earliest American work onward. Psycho, of course, remains the quintessential Hitchcock. My kids, desensitized in a world of mindless action, were completely drawn in by The Birds, and still talk about it years on after seeing it. Such a fantastic filmmaker. A good friend of mine wrote the book "A Year of Hitchcock", which I highly recommend to any fans of the great director.

If your kids are drawn in by "The Birds" that just shows to go ya, Hitchcock is a filmmaker for all generations. Do you have an ultimate favorite Hitchcock, Lomm?