Leonard J. South, Hitchcock's Camera Operator

January 17, 2006 8:10 AM

"Hitch was always trying to push the limits on techniques and to be different".
Cary Grant chased by a crop-duster plane in a corn field; Janet Leigh screaming in the shower; Tippi Hedren attacked by killer seagulls. The man behind lens? Leonard J. South (1914-2006) , Hitchcock's camera operator. More inside.
posted by PenguinBukkake (13 comments total)

Cool NXNW page
posted by PenguinBukkake at 8:15 AM on January 17, 2006

MeFi thread about the shower scene
posted by PenguinBukkake at 8:17 AM on January 17, 2006

This is good. Thanks.

Camera oprating is yet another under appreciated art form.
Too many people assume that the camera operator and cinematographer are the same thing...

Trivia for Psycho: Beyond the film's controversial potrayal of violence and perverse sexuality it was also the first (major Hollywood) film to show a toilet being flushed...
posted by slimepuppy at 8:30 AM on January 17, 2006

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posted by Faint of Butt at 8:33 AM on January 17, 2006

Excellent post, thanks.

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posted by Rothko at 8:33 AM on January 17, 2006

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And thanks for the great reading.
posted by selfnoise at 8:42 AM on January 17, 2006

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posted by schustafa at 8:45 AM on January 17, 2006

Yep. This is good.
posted by soyjoy at 8:47 AM on January 17, 2006

The thread, that is, not that he's dead, of course.
posted by soyjoy at 8:59 AM on January 17, 2006

Nothing to add to the thread... just wanted to say that P_B's handle gave me a mental image that made me snort out loud at work...
posted by BobFrapples at 9:53 AM on January 17, 2006

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posted by trip and a half at 11:28 AM on January 17, 2006

Fantastic reading, thanks very much. Particularly enjoyed reading about Hitch's ripping off of Clouzot's Les Diaboliques marketing campaign for Psycho, which I didn't know about ...
posted by Len at 4:14 PM on January 17, 2006

Always happy to read more about Hitchcock.

Len, that entire book about the making of Psycho is interesting. I picked it up used last year after reading that same excerpt.
posted by pmurray63 at 7:10 AM on January 18, 2006