Happy 114, Mr Hitchcock!
August 13, 2013 12:19 AM   Subscribe

 
I've always loved David Thomson's curmudgeonly take on Hitchcock. He says that since Hitchcock's films are often used to demonstrate the power of cinema, his work seems to be cinema defined.

Need an example about how music affects an audience? The shower scene in Psycho, and Scottie's languid pursuit of Madeline in Vertigo are perfect. Editing rhythms? The Shower scene again. Long takes? The tracking shot at the party in Notorious. Actors playing against type? Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo. Actors playing in their lovely comfort zone? Cary Grant in North by Northwest. Hazy, dreamlike cinematography? Vertigo. Expansive cityscapes? NbNW. Claustrophobia? Rear Window. Dark Comedy? His early British works. And on, and on . . .

However Thomson has a bone to pick with Hitchcock's central artistic intention which was to make the audience terrified. He says that he was a man that was scared of the world, women, and art, so he made his audiences feel that same terror and nothing else.

I'm not sure I agree, but it's a very interesting take on the greatest filmmaker of all time.

(Also, first post!)
posted by R.F.Simpson at 1:07 AM on August 13, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hmm, that made me realise how many Hitch films I actually haven't seen. All of those early ones, for example. And it amazes me that directors don't like the Cary Grant films!
posted by Athanassiel at 2:56 AM on August 13, 2013


I love Shadow of a Doubt and think it is still severely underrated. It's probably Hitchcock's first Hitchcockian film.
posted by vacapinta at 3:10 AM on August 13, 2013 [3 favorites]


[this is good]
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:43 AM on August 13, 2013


It's the last stat that really stuns me - 20% of all DVD sales of Hitchcock films are for North by Northwest alone. It's probably the Hitchcock film I've watched the most, but I'm still surprised there aren't others that sold better.
posted by crossoverman at 5:12 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]


As an Australian, I must loudly protest whatever projection they're using in "Hitchcock's World Map". Also, it makes the Panama Canal look like a huge waste of time and effort.
posted by rory at 5:20 AM on August 13, 2013


I love Shadow of a Doubt and think it is still severely underrated. It's probably Hitchcock's first Hitchcockian film.

vacapinta, there is a feature over at The Dissolve where they take a movie each week and the staff discusses it in depth. This week is "Days of Heaven", but I'm pretty sure I saw that they were going to do "Shadow of a Doubt" either next week or the week after.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:47 AM on August 13, 2013


It's the last stat that really stuns me - 20% of all DVD sales of Hitchcock films are for North by Northwest alone.

And Psycho isn't second, which also blows me away. I guess everyone's seen it to the point that they don't feel the need to own it?
posted by Etrigan at 6:21 AM on August 13, 2013


Y'all better not buy these out before I get one, but Mondo is selling 3 new Hitchcock posters sometime today.


Welcome, R.F.! Now how about that raise?
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 6:21 AM on August 13, 2013


Some very clever ways of quantifying his films...b-b-but the graphic style appears to be an ode to Anatomy of a Murder, and while it is a mid-century crime movie starring Jimmy Stewart, it was was directed by Otto Preminger.
posted by bendybendy at 6:46 AM on August 13, 2013


Shadow of a Doubt is definitely top 3 Hitchcock for me. Joseph Cotton playing against type, the match of evil and idealized American town, the creeping uncertainty. It's just so good.

I really love Foreign Correspondent and am always amazed that it tends to get overlooked. It's so visually interesting, and a little bit manic, and very much of its time. The passion of the message behind it goes beyond just scaring or unsettling the viewer; Hitchcock is trying to open your eyes in as vivid a manner as possible to the danger that is reflected (but not contained) on the screen.

R.F.Simpson: "However Thomson has a bone to pick with Hitchcock's central artistic intention which was to make the audience terrified. He says that he was a man that was scared of the world, women, and art, so he made his audiences feel that same terror and nothing else. "

I have always interpretted Hitchcock's need to unsettle, scare, and creep the viewer out as a a control issue. I don't disagree that he was uncomfortable with or even scared of many things and people, but I also think the movies were his way of capturing his own fright, conquering it, and redirecting it out to the world. His movies are also about managing the terror and coming out on the other side, which is an important distinction.
posted by julen at 6:49 AM on August 13, 2013


Not too surprised by the North by Northwest DVD sales- it's got a more upbeat tone than most of his work- a precursor to Spielberg's caper movies. It's the one that feels the most contemporary overall.
posted by bendybendy at 6:52 AM on August 13, 2013


I go back and forth between Shadow of a Doubt and Rear Window as my favorite of his. There are so many great ones to choose from though.
posted by octothorpe at 7:25 AM on August 13, 2013


I love Shadow of a Doubt and think it is still severely underrated. It's probably Hitchcock's first Hitchcockian film.

Shadow Of A Doubt was Hitchcock's own favorite movie, and Cotton is so fucking creepy in it.
posted by The Whelk at 7:46 AM on August 13, 2013


It's a good infographic and I especially liked the North by Northwest style chart examining the Hitchcockian motifs. But! But, but, but. That Hitchcock font needs to fall down a flight of stairs. It does not please me.
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:15 AM on August 13, 2013


It's the last stat that really stuns me - 20% of all DVD sales of Hitchcock films are for North by Northwest alone.

Maybe the answer is in the comments:
I find it strange that the two biggest Hitchcock DVD sales are North by Northwest and The 39 Steps - I would've guessed that Psycho, Vertigo and Rear Window would be the big sellers?
Maybe it's to do with box sets not counting? I have a Hitchcock box set that doesn't include North... or the 39 Step but includes the others I mentioned anyway.
Hitchcock fans should watch Bates Motel. Vera Farmiga is outstanding as Norma.
posted by unliteral at 6:46 PM on August 13, 2013


Shadow of a Doubt is really his work with the most unsettling depth -- although Strangers on a Train comes close in its own way. I have also seen the arguments for Vertigo being not just his greatest work, but one of the greatest films ever made -- I am not willing to go that far but in many ways it is his most Hitchcockian. Though here I will confess my affection for his earlier British works, especially The 39 Steps -- even though it's gone to the point that I've seen some of the other adaptations of the novel and feel none of them, Hitchcock's included, quite do it justice. But I definitely prefer the 1934 The Man Who Knew Too Much, Jimmy Stewart notwithstanding. And oh! how I adore The Lady Vanishes and Foreign Correspondent.

One big surprise is how well Notorious does in the "top ten" Venn diagram -- I would have posited that few outside of critics even know of it (much like Shadow). But it does have Cary Grant, so there you have it -- even your modern nincompoop of an imitation of a simulacrum of a film fan knows who he is and can recognize his face on a DVD cover (or a streaming icon).

Yeah, somehow, though, I don't believe those DVD sales figures. Either that Cary Grant films aren't the top four, or that somehow The 39 Steps is second place. Bizarre.
posted by dhartung at 10:42 PM on August 13, 2013


A reminder in case you check your Metafilter Recent History more often than you check The Dissolve (like I do), Shadow of a Doubt is their movie this week, and this article explaining why the 1991 TV remake fails where the original succeeds is a joy, and illustrated with comparison clips of both in a way that makes you appreciate living in the Internet Age, and also manages to answer the question with more than just "duh, of course it sucks by comparison."
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:33 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


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