Alfred Hitchcock

The Bollox

I have decided to start watching some classic films, and I thought who better to start with than ol' Alfie.

I watched Strangers On A Train and was very impressed. the film seemed a little rushed at the start, but once it got into a flow it got a lot more engrossing and exciting.

I am looking for more of his gems. I haven't seen Psycho in full :eek: so that on top of my list, but what others are meant to be great? I have heard a lot about Vertigo so that's also up there.

I looked at his list of films on IMDB and came across Lifeboat. one of the reviewers commented that it is one of his un-sung masterpieces and I want to know if anyone can vouch for this opinion. the synopsis sounds very intregueing: a mötley Crew meet on a lifeboat after their ship it is sunken by a Uboat. the survivers drag on board a man who turns out to be the crew member of said Uboat.

humanji

You can't really go wrong with any of his films. The two that I think stand head and shoulders over the others are The Lodger and Rope. Pretty much all his films have stood the test of time (which you can see when you compare the likes of Disturbia to Rear Window). Makes me want to go out and buy the box set now

Just be warned not to read the user reviews of The Lodger on imdb if you haven't seen it. They have nothing but spoilers!

Oh, and just looked at Hitchcocks imdb page. Never knew he did a version of Juno and the Paycock

Running Bing

Well your gonna get a two [page thread now which basically recommends you watch every single film of his:D


My recommendation is start with the masterpieces:

Psycho
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Vertigo


They are the absolute musts. They are'nt just the best of Hitchcock, they are amongst the greatest films ever made. If you like those then you could move on to some of his other films which are also great but seem a bit less palatable to modern audiences. These include:

The man who knew too much(close to putting this under masterpieces but I dont think it is quite on the same level as the above)
The Birds(Its a classic and I love it but a lot of people are left feeling disapointed and feel it has aged badly)
Rebecca(another adaptation of a Daphne Du Maurier novel. Slower paced and not as action packed as some of his other films but it really is an absolute classic)
Marnie(OK it is a film about psycho-analysis and it is quite slow moving so will not be everyones cup of tea, but there is a lot in there and you will be rewarded for your patience)


I could easily go on to recommend Sabatoeur, the 39 steps, rope, lifeboat, notorious, the lady vanishes, Torn curtain(I really like this one. others dont seem to rate it that highly), suspicion, shadow of a doubt(Many rate this as amongst his best but personally I didnt love it) and although not a great movie spellbound contains an amazing dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali that is worth the price of admission alone.


Thats the thing about Hitchcock, he has such an immense array of quality films it is hard to recommend and everyone has their own personal faves. That is not even going into some of his earlier stuff like "the lodger" and "the ring"which are quality(But they are silent films and are not the best places to start for someone just looking to dip their toes into the world of Hitchcock). I would say definately start with the four masterpieces I mentioned and then have a gander at some plot synopsis of other films and see what appeals to you.

Wacker

I'm a bit of a Hitchcock nut, and yet I haven't seen many of the films mentioned in this thread. He did so many! My thoughts on the flicks already mentiones:

Psycho: His best. It absolutely terrified me, but it was enjoyable. It is pretty much the only horror film I like actually.

Rear Window: His second best. It features the sexiest performance ever, by the incredible Grace Kelly. I love all the little sub-plots going on in this flick; Miss Lonely Heart, the newly wed couple, the pianist with writer's block, etc.

Notth By Northwest: Not an a par with the two above, but very cool. Very well paced, giving it constant tension. Cool score too.

Vertigo: Excellent film. Really strong performances from Kim Novak and James Stewart. San Francisco always makes a great location.

The Birds: Indeed, it has not aged too well, but there are still some very scary scenes (particularly the bit with the climbing frame). Tippi was seriously gorgeous in it though.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: A poor man's North By Nothwest, in my opinion. Good, but not great. The same could be said for Torn Curtain, and Topaz. All had a few
scenes of great tension, but didn't seem to 'click' overall.

Rebecca: I really liked this one, even if very little happens in it. Laurence Olivier is that good.

Suspicion: A poor man's Rebecca. I didn't think too much of it really.

Marnie: Not a whole lot of love for this one either. I just didn't find the subject matter that engaging. Also, Tippi looks way better as a blonde!

Rope: Ambitious idea, having just nine cuts in the whole film. Great character from Jimmy Stewart.

Dial M for Murder: Another adaptation of a play, but this one worked better, in my opinion. Good intricate plot, and it has Grace Kelly in it too. I honestly love that woman.

Spellbound: That Salvador Dali dream sequence did look cool, and both Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman are excellent. I disliked this one however, mostly as I find the whole notion of psycho-analysis rather annoying.

Strangers on a Train: I liked it, but his films around that time got a little formulaic (Wrongfully Accused, Stagefright, I Confess). Stagefright is the best of that group, in my opinion. The ending was truly brilliant.

Running Bing

Wacker wrote: »

I'm a bit of a Hitchcock nut, and yet I haven't seen many of the films mentioned in this thread. He did so many! My thoughts on the flicks already mentiones:

Psycho: His best. It absolutely terrified me, but it was enjoyable. It is pretty much the only horror film I like actually.

Rear Window: His second best. It features the sexiest performance ever, by the incredible Grace Kelly. I love all the little sub-plots going on in this flick; Miss Lonely Heart, the newly wed couple, the pianist with writer's block, etc.

Notth By Northwest: Not an a par with the two above, but very cool. Very well paced, giving it constant tension. Cool score too.

Vertigo: Excellent film. Really strong performances from Kim Novak and James Stewart. San Francisco always makes a great location.

The Birds: Indeed, it has not aged too well, but there are still some very scary scenes (particularly the bit with the climbing frame). Tippi was seriously gorgeous in it though.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: A poor man's North By Nothwest, in my opinion. Good, but not great. The same could be said for Torn Curtain, and Topaz. All had a few
scenes of great tension, but didn't seem to 'click' overall.

Rebecca: I really liked this one, even if very little happens in it. Laurence Olivier is that good.

Suspicion: A poor man's Rebecca. I didn't think too much of it really.

Marnie: Not a whole lot of love for this one either. I just didn't find the subject matter that engaging. Also, Tippi looks way better as a blonde!

Rope: Ambitious idea, having just nine cuts in the whole film. Great character from Jimmy Stewart.

Dial M for Murder: Another adaptation of a play, but this one worked better, in my opinion. Good intricate plot, and it has Grace Kelly in it too. I honestly love that woman.

Spellbound: That Salvador Dali dream sequence did look cool, and both Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman are excellent. I disliked this one however, mostly as I find the whole notion of psycho-analysis rather annoying.

Strangers on a Train: I liked it, but his films around that time got a little formulaic (Wrongfully Accused, Stagefright, I Confess). Stagefright is the best of that group, in my opinion. The ending was truly brilliant.

Id recommend the 39 steps wacker. Its up there with his best imo and is a truly classic hitchcock.

Wacker

Babybing wrote: »

Id recommend the 39 steps wacker. Its up there with his best imo and is a truly classic hitchcock.

I was talking to a girl in work today who did her thesis on Under Capricorn. I can't imagine doing a whole thesis on just one movie, but there you go. I once helped my neighbour do a 4,000 word project on one movie scene - I picked the Sloth victim scene from Se7en. Wow, who can say 'side-tracked'?

I'll check these two out when I get a chance.

Declan A Walsh

Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense really. My favourite would be without a shadow of doubt : Pyscho. Great story and great acting, particularly Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.

I love "Dial M for Murder" - great story.

Others worth a look in my opinion: The 39 Steps, North by Northwest, Marnie, The Birds and Frenzy. I think the latter was his last film if I'm not mistaken - it's about a serial killer.

Wacker

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Frenzy. I think the latter was his last film if I'm not mistaken - it's about a serial killer.

Frenzy is an interesting one. Good, gritty film. It follows a similair structure to some of the older ones (Strangers on a Train, Stagefright, etc) but it was made when Hitch no longer had his hands tied by the Production Code. One of the scenes is very shocking, even by today's standards.
I actually preferred it the other way, where he had to imply and hint at the violence and evil that was going on. Maybe the Production Code was a blessing in disguise?

I think Family Plot was his last actually. IMDB would tell me inside of twenty seconds, but I'd rather spend that time posting about how I'm unsure!

djkeogh

Well my favourites are

Rope: Fantastic film. James Stewart is a king among actors in my book and he is great in this. The whole setup and tension to it is amazing. Definitely a classic and whenever it's on the telly I will always sit down and watch it.

Dial M for Murder: I've only seen this one recently and was more familiar with the remake "A Perfect Murder". Found this to be excellent as well. The suspense that gets built throughout is amazing.

Rear Window: If you haven't seen this one it really is a tragedy. Absolute classic, often copied but never equalled. James Stewart again on cracking form.

I do like Psycho and in terms of what it did at the time was astonishing. You still don't see too many films have the guts to do what this one does. Still i wouldn't be too keen on watching it again, but certainly worth a viewing.

Really didn't like Torn Curtain, just couldn't get into it.

The man has a serious catalogue of outstanding films, many of which I still have to delve into myself.

Mr E

FYI, I was in HMV a couple of weeks ago, and they had a Hitchcock box set on sale (with most of his best) for €30 or €40. I think there were about 10 or 11 movies in there.

Edit: I believe it was this box set.

galactus

I must confess I haven't seen enough of The Great Man's movies. That said, every one of them I have seen is a gem.

My all-time Hitchcock favourite is probably Notorious (Cary Grant! Ingrid Bergman! Claude Rains!).

As for The 39 Steps: A great movie but I always preferred the 1958 version (even though The Great Man didn't direct that one).
/gets coat!

Rear Window was re-made (poorly) as Disturbia recently of course.