Hitchock Underground
August 7, 2006 12:08 AM   Subscribe

In 1999, to mark the centennial of Alfred Hitchock's birth in the Leytonstone district of London, 17 mosaics were installed in the entrance corridors of Leytonstone tube station. Each mosaic celebrates a different Hitchock masterpiece. True to form, Hitch makes several cameos among the mosaics.
posted by lilbrudder (18 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Similarly, the tiles at the Baker Street station (home of the world's most famous fictional detective) all bear the profile of Sherlock Holmes.
posted by jonson at 12:14 AM on August 7, 2006 [1 favorite]


Beautiful work. Thanks for posting this.
posted by jiawen at 12:56 AM on August 7, 2006


Note that those Hitchcock pictures are at The Joy of Shards, which has some pages on how to make mosaics. Maybe you'd like to make one for a garden walk or an entryway?
posted by pracowity at 2:40 AM on August 7, 2006


And yet they didn't do a mosaic of Hitchcock's favorite of his own films, "Shadow of a Doubt".
posted by paddbear at 3:03 AM on August 7, 2006


jonson: My favourite part of that photo is the "No Smoking" sign.
posted by randomination at 3:19 AM on August 7, 2006


This is such a great post! I am newly inspired to try making a mosaic.

Some movies just lend themselves more readily to a mosaic. You know, such as the "Alien" series, or "Grey Gardens". "Caligula" perhaps.
posted by hermitosis at 6:26 AM on August 7, 2006


Awesome. Something else for me to add to the list of "London Sights I Must See".
posted by donajo at 7:17 AM on August 7, 2006


Very interesting
posted by caddis at 7:38 AM on August 7, 2006


I just spoke to Al here in hell and he loves these. He can't decide which one is his favorite but he's currently leaning towards the Vertigo one. Oh, all artists end up in hell, so don't look down on Al for ending up here with me.
posted by the ghost of Ken Lay at 7:39 AM on August 7, 2006


David Beckham is from Leytonstone, too
posted by matteo at 7:40 AM on August 7, 2006


To be 100% fair he is upset that his name is misspelled throughout this post as "Hitchock." He wanted to speak to the editor and I told him that on the web there are no editors. He stared at me in disbelief and astonishment for a moment then slowly faded away.
posted by the ghost of Ken Lay at 7:58 AM on August 7, 2006


Ken, please give Al my most sincere apologies; I can't believe I left out the second "c" on three separate attempts. Embarassing.
posted by jonson at 8:28 AM on August 7, 2006


I like the one from 'The Birds.' They're all cool.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 8:36 AM on August 7, 2006


Awesome. Thanks. The "Rebecca" and "Strangers on a Train" ones are particularly good. I wish there'd been one depicting a scene from "Notorious," though. And imagine a mosaic of the crop-dusting scene from "North by Northwest."
posted by blucevalo at 10:48 AM on August 7, 2006


There is one, blucevalo.
posted by jonson at 11:02 AM on August 7, 2006


Whoops, didn't see that. Thanks.
posted by blucevalo at 11:08 AM on August 7, 2006


The murals are great, but Leytonstone is not a nice area. If you're a tourist and you want to see the murals, don't take the opportunity to stroll around Leytonstone on your own.
posted by stammer at 1:32 PM on August 7, 2006


oh, stammer - I can't let that go unchallenged. Granted, Leytonstone isn't exactly filled with tourist sites, but it is an eminently liveable and affordable part of East London that may well be only 5 stops from Liverpool Street yet is also right next to Epping Forest.

Indeed - while we are on the theme - why not visit the Alfred Hitchcock Hotel that stands opposite the Hollow Ponds.
It's about 5 minutes walk from the Station. It's only connection with the man himself is that it's, er, named after him. You could imagine yourself in one of his films in the snugs of the bar though.
posted by barnsoir at 11:56 AM on August 8, 2006


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