The Ferret

I recently saw Strangers on a Train and loved it. I've seen Rear Window(liked), Vertigo(really liked), Birds(liked), North by Northwest(liked), and Notorious(dissapointing but not bad).

I know there are a lot of Hitchcock fans here so instead of a topic just on Strangers on a Train, i thought it'd be more interesting to see what people think of 'THE MASTER'. I've never had any special interest in him but after Strangers.. i think i should revisit some of the above and see more.

Basically, what i'm looking for here is a mix of all things Hitchcock. Anyone here feel he's overrated, favourite director, etc. Favourite Hitch movies/why, thoughts on the man, whatever.

The villian, Bruno, was amazingly creepy and was one big reason why i liked the movie so much. The whole carnival scene has to go down as one of my favourite scenes. I find it's hard to take Hitchcock too seriously, but that's not a bad thing. His movies create a sense of suspense and danger without making you worry too much. The mix of fun and suspense is balanced so perfectly. Anyways... this is starting to drag on so, what are your thoughts/recommendations/complaints?

natevines

Don't get me wrong, I love Hitchcock, but sometimes the flagrant unrealism of his films and characters bothers me a bit. Of course, his films are first and foremost entertainment, and at that they succeed wonderfully.

wendersfan

I think Hitchcock was a great director, but I see him as somewhat overrated, since IMO he's one of the few directors who made English language films that were fairly well-known (even today) that has a clear continuity of themes running through his work. In other words, he's probably the best known auteur that many people are aware of...

Rear Window is my personal favorite of his films, since it's one of the greatest attempts by anyone to tell a complicated narrative in almost purely visual terms. It also dissects the psychology of the mystery or crime film viewer quite nastily. Unfortunately it doesn't address at all the theme which I think Hitchcock mined most often and possibly most successfully, that of an innocent man wrongly accused or whose identity has been mistaken.

Clearly Vertigo is the Hitchcock film that has, at least currently, the best critical following, and I must admit that it grows on me every time I watch it. Another favorite of mine (and the director's personal favorite of all his American films) is Shadow of a Doubt, which can in some ways be taken as an ur-David Lynch film.

I'd also like to recommend a couple of excellent books on Hitchcock, the first being Hitchcock's Flms Revisted by Robin Wood, and the second, Hitchcock by French director Francois Truffaut. The latter is especially illuminating, since it consists mainly of an extended dialogue between Truffaut and Hitchcock, in which the two masters discuss every film Hitchcock made.

Geofferson

I've always been a big fan of Hitch. I haven't seen all of his movies (haven't seen Family Plot yet), but he is - in my opinion - the most effective director to take the medium of film and use it to his advantage. His direction (grandiose set pieces, use of light and dark, use of camera angles and lenses) has not been surpassed only imitated countless times.

That said, my favorite Hitchcock films are: Strangers on a Train, Spellbound and Frenzy.

Chew

Hands down, Hitchcock is my favorite director. I've seen nearly all of his "talkies" and have only been bored with a couple of them. There's always something that grabs and keeps my attention. It was a happy day when the latest boxset was released (where's Lifeboat? ).

My favorites are far too numerous to mention, but I'll list the grossly underrated Foreign Correspondent to those already in this thread. The shot of the windmills, the tension in the windmill with just the wind and the creaking, the umbrellas, the planecrash. Great stuff.

fliggil

He's always been up there as one of my top 5 or so favorite directors, of the dozen or so of his movies I own, I'd probably say North by Northwest, Vertigo and Saboteur are my favorites. Even the films I've seen or own that don't thrill me as much (Frenzy, Topaz, Family Plot specifically) I still enjoy them. The man had a great sense for innuendo and suspense, even if a lot of people think the 'movies aren't believeable,' well, aren't movies supposed to help suspend belief?

wendersfan

One of the things that has continued to intrigue me is how much love North By Northwest gets. I love Cary Grant as much as the next guy, but that movie has always seemed to me a pretty lightweight effort, especially compared to some of his other works from that era.

The Ferret

Yeah i guess just because it's Hitchcock. It's good, but to me there are similar movies, like From Russia with Love, that are better and don't get the same praise.

chente

Speaking of lightweight Hitchcock, I love To Catch a Thief. Grace Kelly is great in that one.

Johnny Zhivago

Coming out this summer from Fox, it's been announced.

Hitch is my second favorite director, behind Kubrick, and I have 25 of his films on DVD. Still need to pick up four of the Universal titles (Topaz, Torn Curtain, Frenzy and Family Plot) and Lifeboat when it comes out for a nice, even 30.

I love North By Northwest, it may be my favorite Hitch film... True, maybe it is a little "lightweight", but it's great fun. One thing that I've always noticed, doesn't matter which Hitch film you're watching, there's always ONE amazing shot in the film - ala the carnival scene in Strangers and the reflective shot in the glasses.

Since no one has given any love to Rope yet, I'll give it some props. I've always loved that flick...

naitram

Notorious was disappointing? The first time I saw that film I was reeling for days, and couldn't get it out of my mind. So many great moments; the exchange between Bergman and Grant in the beginning party ("My car is outside." - "Naturally."), their exchange at the hotel in South America, the tension between them as the story progresses and their love is strained to the limit, the role Claude Raines plays, the ever-looming mother, the whole ending! Man, what a masterpiece.

But I own 22 of his films on DVD, so I guess I'm considered a heavy fan. I think he just made so many amazing films, and while they may not be as diverse in theme or style as, say Kubrick, I don't consider that a negative with his movies. Just looking at the evolution of his body of work, from the earlier, more intimate works of 39 Steps, Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, to the later big-blockbuster widescreen masterpieces of North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rear Window, and Psycho, I think the adulation he receives is definitely deserved.

I could spout on forever about Hitchcock, frankly every one of those movies I mentioned could illicit pages of discussion. Rear Window was my favorite for quite awhile after I saw it, just exhilerating in it's execution. But the story and acting in North by Northwest are swept along at such an effortless pace that it makes it infinitely rewatchable to me, and the deeply-layered Psycho (it's like 2 movies in one!) are probably the ones I would choose if I was forced to choose only a few to keep.

Even The Birds is just fun movie watching. I know that I can rarely see a very large flock of crows or other black birds without that film springing immediately to mind.

davejt1

Sounds like someone needs to head up to Borders to take advantage of the "Buy 3 Get 1 Free" DVD deal (those titles sell for $14.99 each). Combine that with one of the discount coupons floating around in the Bargains forum and you'd have a pretty sweet deal to complete your collection.

LorenzoL

I have a phobia of birds because of this movie.

The Ferret

I really want to see it again though. It's been a little while, and i did LIKE it at the time. The only problem is no video store around me has it on dvd. Well, the criterion at least, which is understandable since it's OOP. How does the non-criterion compare? I remember liking the tea-drugging scene.

I remember thinking the birds would be completely stupid and unenjoyable, while it was a bit silly, it was a ton of fun.

garmonbozia

mine too, also behind Kubrick..., with David Lynch a close third....

my favorite Hitch film? Vertigo without a doubt....that film so completely mesmerizes me each time I watch it....

my favorite Hitch film from his British period? The 39 Steps...it's just a bunch of fun and IMO from all his films from this period it best established a very typical Hitchcock formula that he re-used many times in later films....

I think the 2 Hitchcock films that don't get nearly enough attention are Shadow of a Doubt (didn't Hitch cite this as his favorite?) and The Trouble With Harry. I loved Harry...great dark comedy....tons of fun....yet everyone seems to pass it off as second or third tier Hitchcock and I hardly ever see it discussed anywhere. Shadow of a Doubt is just dark great stuff.....

Also, almost everyone, Hitchcock included, considers the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much to be superior than the 1934 version. I disagree....I always enjoyed the first version more....not sure why...I just always have. It always seemed like a tighter story and was more exciting to me.

I really wish that some company would put out some reall nice special editions of Hitch's earlier films. I used to have all those Laserlight dvds but I unloaded them figuring better ones would eventually come....yet none have yet!

Not all of Hitchcock's talkie films are worth seeing....I advise everyone to satay far far away from Juno and the Paycock....it was complete agony trying to get through that one.

Cameron

What I love about Hitchcock is he dug himself a groove in hollywood. He made his name more important than the film. People had done this to some extent beforehand....Capra comes to mind....but no one did it better than Hitch.

His weekly introductions on Alfred Hitchcock presents made him a household name. people who didn't go out to the movies often knew him.

I also think his comedy though subtle is brilliant. The trouble with Harry is a good watch if you want to see Hitch make a movie just for laughs.

I think you would be pleased jumping into either of the universal box sets, the warner set is great....and the criterion set is good...but you don't get as many films for the dollar.

I'm a fanboy though (I own every film except life boat) and i will pick that up day one. I also suggest reading Hitchcock on Hitchcock.

If I had to pick one obscure title to watch though....check out marnie

fryinpan1

I got Rear Window yesterday. I have never seen it, but I plan on watching it in the next couple of days.

The Ferret

I started Shadow of a Doubt last night but i was so tired i had to stop it 40 minutes in and sleep. Finished it this morning and found it to be somewhat average. I hate watching movies in two parts like that, and maybe that was contributed to my average response, but i was just so damn tired... seeing Joseph Cotton reminded me i need to get Citizen Kane on dvd still.

I'll have to rent Psycho now... it's one of those movies i'm emberassed to say i haven't seen. (I've seen the shower scene/part of the ending)

LorenzoL

I was only 8 when I watched this movie with my parents and gave me nightmare for days. I know, kind of sad but is true and the movie is not even one of the better Hitchcock movies.

kingtopher

I own quite a few Hitchcock films on DVD (21 if I remember correctly) and have seen a few more that I haven't gotten around to buying yet. I like all of them to varying degrees, but I figured I'll just throw in a few comments in response to things that have been posted thus far.

Notorious: I too find this film a touch overrated. And this is coming from someone who loves Hitchcock and enjoys almost everything that I've seen from him (which is a lot). It is a good movie, but I thought it was a lot slower than many of his films, and the beginning especially sort of drags. I was also pretty disappointed with Criterion's video presentation of the film, which looked very grainy even on a 20" TV. It's still a good movie, and I'd never sell my disc, but I prefer many other Hitchcock films.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: I haven't seen the earlier version of this yet, though I really want to. But the 1956 version is another "good, but not great" Hitchcock film. The biggest strike against it, in my opinion, is the lengthy scene on the bus. I'm not sure if it's the color, or just poorly-done blue screen, but Jesus, it looks so fake that it drives me nuts. And it's a long scene, which manages to completely take me out of the movie. Thankfully after that it does get much better.

Shadow of a Doubt: This is definitely my favorite Hitchcock film. I'm a film noir fan at heart, and this is the one that is the most noir-like in Hitchcock's catalog. And that's not to mention the great performance from Joseph Cotten, one of my favorite actors. Incidentally, this movie would also get my vote for Hitchcock's most underrated.

The Ferret

Just saw Psycho for the first time. The first part of the movie leading up to the murder was great, the music in this movie is amazing. The famous murder itself has been spoofed so many times that there was just too much to expect and it came out kinda "yup, this is the murder scene". I also knew about the mother and everything, which probably also kind of ruined it - but with a movie of this status it's impossible to have not heard. That aside I think it was great, the music really elevated the movie. My only gripe would be the murder (also felt there was hardly any blood for someone who just got stabbed 5-10 times although i DO realize it was 1960). Also it felt like it dragged, just slightly after the murder. Overall great, 9/10.

Tomorrow i'm revisiting Vertigo which i look forward to.

The Ferret

I finally got around to seeing Vertigo, and wow. I haven't had a film experience like that since Lawrence of Arabia. I was so engaged the whole movie, and just like Pyscho the music just added to the greatness. The twist in this movie is just as shocking as the Usual Suspects, only it made more sense because of what happened prior. The dramatic conclusion was thrilling, and a lot of shocking scenes that kept things interesting along the way.

This is one of those movies that can instantly become a favourite.

cleaver

Notorious could come out tomorrow and gross $200 million. *cough* Mission Impossible 2 *cough*
I feel like North by Northwest was the first modern action movie. The pacing and certain cuts belies its age.
I think if you watch certain Hayes code era movies, even great ones, and they don't age well. The Psycho remake and MI: 2 indicate that people would still go to see Hitchcock movies.