it seems like every time i watch a hitchcock film, i'm simply in awe afterwards. he does so much with his actors, his sets, his lighting, score, everything. if you are a fan, you know what i mean, i'm sure.

i just rented rebecca tonight, and there it goes again, just leaving me so...satiated.

i certainly need to see more hitchcock, i've really only seen the basics; vertigo, north by northwest, the birds, rope, rebecca, and strangers on a train. i'll get around to seeing psycho soon enough, i'm sure. and rear window isn's at my video store, which is a shame since i think my two hitch favorites so far both have james stewart in them.

anyways, here's the hitchcock thread. it's a shame it took this long for A&E to have one. i might have overlooked it in a search, though.

Thanks for making this thread, Washing Machine.

Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors as well. He basically defined "suspense" in the world of film.

WM, have you seen Marnie? It's with Tippi Hedren (who did a great job playing the emotionally stolid yet fragile woman from out-of-town in The Birds) and Sean Connery. That was one of my favorites, although it was strange even for Hitchcock. It was something different, and I thought that was fantastic.

I also love Rope, The Birds, North by Northwest, and Psycho, among others. Hitchcock utilized all of the important elements and made brilliant films. He didn't have to go into character development or dig deep into the particulars of conflicts to make his movies great. He would let us wonder and argue about what happened at the end or where a character came from or how a situation occurred at all, and that made them even more intriguing to me.

Many directors after him would be affected by his work and a few have payed homage to him. I still wonder about the briefcase in Pulp Fiction and if, in fact, it was a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock and the use of something unknown to lead the story... It's an interesting theory. Directors making crime thrillers or suspense films probably stole a lot of what they do from Mr. Hitchcock.

Most overrated director of all time. The only film of his I thoughorly enjoyed was North By Northwest. Psycho was very good right up until the scene where the detective explains everything. I think his films are intriguing, but very poorly executed.

North By Northwest is one of my favorite films, nonstop greatness.





You rang?

did you not enjoy rope?

I haven't seen that one, actually.

Hitchcock's awesome. In addition to all the stuff mentioned here, other favorites include: Frenzy, Notorious, and The Lady Vanishes.

Yes. See Notorious immediately. It's my personal fave. Lady Vanishes and the 39 Steps are pretty kick ass too.

i think it's my favorite hitchcock. the premise is that two guys have killed a friend of thiers, upon taking the theories of thier professor (james stewart) about murder and intellect and bastardizing it. the rest of the film is the two guys hiding the dead body in thier apartment and proceeding to invite the corpse's closest friends, family and the professor all to a dinner party. needless to say, tension cimbs throughout the film to see if they can pull it off. james stewart is A+ in it!

it's a good argument for hitchcock as a director, imo. he uses one camera throughout the film (which takes place in one room, more or less) capturing the almost claustrophobic feeling of suspense that one of the characters feels throughout the movie.

Frenzy has one of the most haunting shots of all time. I think those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about.

(Can you hear the scream by the time the camera is back on the street?)

finished rear window, and thoroughly enjoyed it. this one more than anything i've seen of his so far kind of hit home as to how realistic and humanistic a hitchcock movie really is.

ok..here are my personal favourites:
frenzy, notorious, shadow of a doubt, psycho..there´s probably more to add if I check a full list of his films..he was an outstanding director

You have to remember WHEN he was making these films as well. The fact that people can still watch them today without laughing out loud says something. He was an innovator and there are not many directors around today that can hold a candle to him.

Damn. The previous pretty much said it all.

The man is amazing and his films will always be great.

Hey Hollywood...

heh

The Birds?

The Birds did freak me out when I was about 8 years old. I can appreciate it now for the camp value.

I really haven't seen that many of his films, but I do think he was good at leading the audience to believe what he wanted them to believe, even if he did explain it in the end. Hell, people today complain when a movie isn't tied up in a nice bow for them at the end so I can only imagine the market he was trying to work with back then.

I think it says something that when they remade Psycho they basically did it frame for frame. It was pointless, but basically they were admitting that they couldn't improve upon it.

Out of curiosity, which of his films have you seen?

Seriously.

Saying Hitchcock is "the most overrated director of all time" needs to be backed up by viewing more than a couple of his films if your opinion on film in general is to be taken seriously.

I have not seen enough Hitchcock, but the ones I've seen are remarkable, especially for how well they've held up over time.

Rebecca is incredible. I had seen a few of his films before I saw this, but this one cemented him for me. Olivier is brilliant, and so is Joan Fontaine. See this one ASAP.

My favorite is Notorious. I love Ingrid Bergman (Remember the Ingrid Bergman appreciation thread? Let's bring that back.), and Cary Grant plays his most morally ambiguous role. This film is edgy and would be somewhat controversial by today's standards and it was made in 1946.

Some films don't hold up so well, and in my opinion, these two falter for the same reason. Mid 20th century psychology has been largely debunked, and Spellbound and Marnie are so deeply tied to those discredited theories that the films suffer for it today. That said, Spellbound is a really well made film if you can get past the pop-psychobabble.

I'm not so big on his 50's and 60's films, but there are some good ones. To Catch A Thief is pretty good. North by Northwest is overrated I think, but still has an interesting story. I have go back and see The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, and a few others at some point.