Movie Update 34: Alfred Hitchcock

A bit of the master's earlier British work, a movie from his golden age, and the last one he ever did.

The 39 Steps


I think this is considered one of Hitchcock's better early films, but I thought it was merely pretty good. A man gets involved in a spy conspiracy after a woman asks him for help, and he has to uncover the secret of what the 39 steps are before he gets captured or worse by the people behind it. The main character runs around a lot but the way the mystery gets solved is kind of silly and there really isn't much to the movie besides him running away. North by Northwest is pretty similar, but I think it was done much better.

Dial M for Murder


I think Hitchock was definitely at his best in the 50s, and Dial M is another feather in his cap. It actually came out the same year as Rear Window, but while it's not as good as that movie, it's still a solid thriller, and one that similarly takes place almost entirely in a single location. A man tries to put the finishing touches on a very elaborate scheme to murder his cheating wife, but of course the plan goes wrong and he desperately tries to cover his tracks while the police sniff around his apartment. It's a very cerebral film, and it's very easy at a number of points to go "wait, what?" as the little tricks and traps the characters place for each other start going off constantly. It comes together very well by the end, though.

Family Plot


Sort of an odd note for Hitchcock to go out on, Family Plot is half mystery and half sort of weird comedic thing. Certain bits that you wouldn't expect to be played for laughs are, but other moments are pretty dark. It stars a psychic and a cab driver/investigator who get a lucrative job to find an old woman's long lost relative, who turns out to be a murderous jewel thief. Espionage and hijinks ensue. Family Plot is not a bad movie at all, but it's definitely an unusual way for one of the best filmmakers ever to end his career.

Sabotage


A woman begins to suspect that her husband is a terrorist, but not before a lot of bad stuff happens to her. There are a couple nicely tense moments, but ultimately the only thing I'll probably remember about it is that it's the origin of the old clip from Inglourious Basterds in the scene where the narrator explains the combustible properties of nitrate film. It's quite short, and simply put, not much at all happens.

Movie Update 30

Here are some Alfred Hitchcock movies! And a couple others too I guess!

Blackmail


Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film is a pretty decent one. It features a lot of elements that would become his signatures - normal people in great distress, tension building as the result of bad decisions, dramatic climaxes in famous locations. It also seems remarkably dark for the period, with the plot kicking into full gear as the result of murder to avoid a sexual assault. It still feels like a silent movie in some ways, with many scenes going on for ages with little happening, but Hitchcock shows a lot of ability in not just his first attempt at a sound picture, but one of the first ever.

Chicago


Chicago is a pretty poor choice for Best Picture, not just in its year but probably most. Laughable, even. But it's not a bad movie. I have a feeling the voters wanted to give the award to a musical again, and the most acclaimed one since Cabaret was a decent opportunity. It's actually sort of the opposite of that film stylistically, with most of its musical numbers being fantasies in the protagonist's head rather than regular performances at an actual music club, but that's not really terribly important. The plot is simple and I have no idea why I'm actually supposed to be sympathetic with Renée Zellweger's character, and some of the pieces being a bit simple for the medium of film. But the acting is pretty good and there's an energy to the movie that's enjoyable to watch. Definitely not bad.

Easy Virtue


An even earlier Hitchcock movie, still stuck in the silent era, and unfortunately this one doesn't show a whole lot of skill from the Master. My main problem with the movie is that nothing happens in it. It begins with a woman going through a messy divorce, and then she meets a new man somewhere else, but eventually her past catches up to her. There's nothing really interesting about any of it, the fallout isn't exactly dramatic and the movie doesn't even really seem to care if you're sympathetic or not. All it really seems to be saying is that women shouldn't do inappropriate things if they want to be happy. Which uh... okay?

Foreign Correspondent


Released the same year as Rebecca, Foreign Correspondent isn't as good, but it's still a solid example of what Hitchcock could pretty much do in his sleep. A reporter gets caught up in a web of spying and secrets that could eventually lead to a World War (paralleling the one that was actually happening), but his ability to tell the truth is compromised when he falls for a girl who's a little too close to the conspiracy. It's one of the weaker American films I've seen by him, but I eventually warmed up to it, especially after its surprisingly exciting climax. It's really more comedic than his work tends to be, maybe because Joel McRea is the lead, and it took me some time to adjust, but it's a fine little international caper.

Rumble Fish


Boy, Francis Ford Coppola's post-70s career is hard to get a bead on. It almost seems like he's a different person. A lot like Tetro, Rumble Fish is a black and white film with splashes of color that partially exists to examine the director's own relationship with his older brother. Matt Dillon plays a young punk who looks up to his brother, played by Mickey Rourke, and who has difficulty finding a way to fit in with the world around him. He hangs out with friends at a pool hall, gets into gang fights,  and treats his girlfriend played by Diane Lane like crap. Eventually things start going badly for him, and I can't say I really minded. It's just kind of a weird movie, but some parts worked well enough that I wasn't bored.

Movie Update 21

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul


A German film that is somehow both very deliberately filmed and very quickly over. It tells the simple story of an older cleaning lady and a Moroccan immigrant laborer who find each other so nice that they decide to get married. They quickly realize the problems this causes when they are both ostracized and ignored by those they know, though the woman Emmi receives the brunt of the mistreatment. Eventually most people come to understand their relationship, though it happens just as it begins to splinter on its own. I really liked the plain way the movie was shot and acted, though it was a bit too sterile for me to really connect with any of it.

The Battleship Potemkin


I sort of assumed this movie would just be boring Bolshevik propaganda, but it's actually one of the most watchable silent dramas I've seen. It has a pretty short running time, and it tells the fairly interesting story of a battleship's crew rebelling against their horrible conditions, and the support they received from others. The sequence on the steps of Odessa is one of the most famous in film history, but it's far from the only memorable scene in the movie. It's just very well shot and edited together for something from the 20s, and unflinching in its depiction of their side of the story. Certainly something that can be enjoyed outside of film school.

The Manchurian Candidate


Partway through this original adaptation of the novel, I was sort of shocked by what I was seeing. An adequately filmed, mostly exciting fight scene in a movie from 1962! I had forgotten that From Russia with Love did the same thing only a year later and with better execution, but still, it was nice to see. It was just part of a pretty good political conspiracy thriller, featuring an elaborate plot by the Communists involving brainwashing of Americans who don't sound like Americans and manipulating dumb politicians. The story cuts a few corners to get where it needs to go, but ultimately it's a great, pretty early example of a darker sort of thriller that would eventually become more popular. Frank Sinatra didn't come off as a very good actor, but at least he had Janet Leigh to bounce off of.

Notorious


The other Alfred Hitchcock films I've seen to this point were either great or Psycho, so it was interesting to see something in between. Notorious didn't quite have the visceral thrills or shocking twists of some of his better work, but it's still a really well-done film, with some excellent sequences and one of his best casts. The most famous scenes involve a remarkable shot panning from the top of a stairway to a key in a woman's hand and a romantic moment that skirts regulations about the length of on-screen kisses allowed through a clever loophole, but the moments that struck me most were when its main characters were in the utmost danger while they were doing nothing but standing or walking calmly. With how bloody and loud movies tend to go these days to be exciting, it's fun to be reminded of how much Hitchcock could do with so little. Probably a really good second-tier movie for him.

Movie Update 8

I watched half of these in a single day when they were about to expire from Netflix streaming. That was pretty wacky.

L'Avventura


Although I didn't particularly enjoy watching it, this was a pretty interesting film. The focus on the actual composition of the images a lot of the time seems unusual for the period, and the way the plot changes away from what you'd expect it to do over time does as well. A woman goes missing during a get together, and her fiancee and friend grow close as they look for her. Monica Vitti is certainly a beautiful woman, and she manages to keep the movie from getting boring mostly by herself. Apparently Italy can do low-key stuff after all.

Cleo from 5 to 7


It starts out pretty great with an overhead color shot of a tarot reading, but I thought the rest of it didn't quite live up to that inventive beginning. Still, a pretty good movie despite the lack of real action. Cleo is a singer who is afraid that upcoming test results will show she has cancer, and the film follows about an hour and a half of her life in real time as she meets with a few people and deals with the possibilities of the future. Very simple, but mostly watchable nonetheless.

Jules and Jim


A French film about a friendship between a man from France and one from Germany, which is disrupted and poisoned over many years by a woman who enters their lives and turns out to be a pretty significant nutcase. It's amazing how generally enjoyable the movie is to watch despite the amazing amount of dysfunction that's put on screen. It's almost hard to believe that the book it's based on was at least somewhat autobiographical. But still, a well acted, interesting film. Francois Truffaut plays around with a lot of different techniques, and his use of things like freeze framing is pretty innovative. The kind of movie that makes you glad foreign cinema exists, because I have trouble imagining it getting made here.

The Kid


The first full length film directed by Charlie Chaplin is a pretty enjoyable one, though I don't think it had the skill of some of his later work, and there just aren't a ton of comedic set pieces of much note. The tramp finds an abandoned baby in an alley, and instead of doing the proper thing, he ends up trying to raise it himself. Years later he uses the kid as an accomplice to commit crimes for petty cash, and forces him to fight another child. Later when the proper authorities try to return the child to its mother, he kidnaps him and tries to keep him from his biological family. I know it's a comedy and there's a very sweet, loving relationship between the tramp and the kid, but hey, that's what happens in the movie.

King Kong


The original film, which it turns out Peter Jackson was quite faithful to. After seeing that this seems like kind of a student project summarizing a bigger story, but it is pretty noteworthy for the effects, which must have been pretty impressive in 1933, because I haven't seen much from a long period after that that looks significantly better. The combination of stop motion and compositing has a lot of obvious flaws today, but still manages to sell the dangerous adventure everyone goes on pretty well. There are some aspects of the movie that it could do without, like casual sexism and racism, but it's pretty darn watchable for when it was made. And the ending really is pretty affecting, even if Jack Black managed to deliver the final line better than the first guy.

Love in the Afternoon


The first film from Billy Wilder I didn't truly like. I mean, it's not bad at all, and it's remarkably successful for what it is. The problem is that it's a romantic comedy that's not very funny or romantic. When it goes for laughs it usually works, but the film is mostly preoccupied with the central relationship between Audrey Hepburn (who I can confirm is gorgeous but probably as responsible as anyone for the trend towards ultra-skinny women) and Gary Cooper. The problem is I don't know why I should be rooting for them. Cooper seems like a fine actor, but he's too old here for me to understand why she's attracted to him, and his personality doesn't help at all, with him being an aloof womanizer for the vast majority of the picture. Just kind of a weird movie.

Pickpocket


Not quite as good as A Man Escaped, but Robert Bresson shows a lot of the same skill at creating a ton of tension and excitement out of very quiet protagonists performing perilous yet otherwise simple tasks. Several of these movies were kind of existential, and this definitely fits that. There's a certain dryness to the movie, but it lends it an air of realism that works well with the simple plot. A very well put together film, with a few lasting images throughout.

Rebecca


This is pretty easily the earliest Alfred Hitchcock movie I've seen, and for some reason my expectations weren't that high. In some ways, it's very much a product of its time. But I ended up loving it about as much as my other favorite Hitchcock films. The story takes a while but eventually goes to some pretty unexpected and shocking places, Judith Anderson is totally creepy, and George Sanders is as always amazingly slimy. Really good stuff.

North by Northwest

So yeah, Hitchcock was pretty darn good at this directing thing. The other movies of his I've seen to this point have been mostly similar, dark and mostly reserved suspense thrillers. Northwest is different from those; a bit lighter in tone, more out in the open, and closer to the action end of the thriller spectrum. It's also quite funny, with most of the best one liners I've seen in one of his films. As far as just a good time at the movies goes, Northwest is one of the best examples from any time in the medium's history.

Cary Grant is pretty much a perfect choice for the lead role of Roger Thornhill. He's an ad executive who gets mistaken for a secret agent, and eventually falsely accused of murder and put on the run. At first he just wants things to return to normal, but eventually it gets personal when a woman gets involved. His performance brings a lot of humanity to the central plot, which could have gotten silly and out of control if someone wasn't there to ground it. You can buy Thornhill being caught up in all this because Grant makes you. The supporting cast is good too, although less recognizable.

It's pretty astounding how many classic set pieces they were able to cram into just a couple hours, and Hitchcock films them all beautifully. The airplane at the crossroads is obviously great, with the shot where Thornhill realizes what's going on perhaps my favorite by Hitchcock that I've seen. Though it's hard to surpass the cleverness of the way he manages to leave an art auction without getting grabbed by the bad guy's men. The climax is outstanding too, with just the right amount of tension, betrayal, humor, and excitement, although the quick resolution was honestly a bit jarring at first. Still, it works for the kind of movie they were trying to make, I guess. Not my favorite film of his, but definitely the most fun so far.

Vertigo

Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock are a pretty potent combination. Vertigo is considered by some to be the great Hitchcock's best film, and of the three I've seen, it's definitely one of the best two. I didn't find it to be as pulse-pounding and inventive as Rear Window, but it has a wider scope than that movie and a more complex and interesting plot, and stands up to its reputation better than I thought Psycho did. Stewart as always brings a lot of humanity and sympathy to a character that at times could otherwise seem unlikable, as it's definitely the darkest role I've seen him take. The rest of the small cast was pretty good too, although I didn't know who any of them were.

Unfortunately, like Psycho, some of the more famous and harrowing imagery was spoiled for me before I saw the film properly, but I think it probably damaged my opinion less this time. What really works about the movie isn't the shocking moments, but the mystery about what's really happening and the surprise of some of the later revelations. It has one of the earliest huge twists that change the whole movie I can think of, and stays unexpected and exciting right to the finale. I'm coming to appreciate what Hitchcock did for the whole medium of film more, and I'm definitely interesting in seeing some more of his work.

Psycho

Everyone knows Psycho for the shower scene, and I think it's a bit of a shame that nowadays it's mentioned more for its screeching violins than its quality as an actual film. Hitchcock knew how to spin a yarn, and he was in fine form here, crafting a horror masterpiece. Back when it was made, filmmakers couldn't (or wouldn't) show anything too graphic, so the more violent things always occurred off-screen or were obscured in some way. It's interesting to note that in that famous scene, the knife is never shown entering or leaving her body, it's all implied. The genre was about suspense, not shock value, and audiences were kept entertained by good acting and writing instead of buckets of fake gore. I've never been a fan of that kind of movie (although I do find myself very entertained by a good zombie flick), but Psycho was good.

It takes a while for Psycho to get going, and it's quite some time before anyone actually gets attacked. Hitchcock takes great time to define the first victim, and there's much more emotional impact to a character's death when you've been following them for over half an hour. It's pretty impossible to not know now who the villain is, so I was watching without the added enjoyment of the story twists that were probably pretty crazy back in the day. But I could still appreciate it for the skill with which it was put together. Everything in the movie's a little less scary and more awkward now, but it was still interesting throughout. Like Rear Window, voyeurism is a theme, and it always kind of seems like you're watching something you shouldn't be. If you can stomach old movies and haven't seen it for some reason, take a look.

Rear Window

The last movie I'll watch for my film class that I haven't seen before. Rear Window is really interesting because of how it's different from most movies. It could easily be made into a play. The entire movie takes place in Jimmy Stewart's apartment and the square behind it where he can look into the lives of his neighbors through their windows. Except for a few shots, the entire thing is filmed from inside one room. The focus is on acting and building tension. Because of the perspective, it's made more believable. Only a few people get significant actual screen time inside the apartment, a lot of the characters are only seen and heard from a distance. The cast works very well together and has good chemistry. Stewart is as excellent as he always is, he can handle any dialog and is a really likable guy.

The real crux of the story is the murder mystery. Stewart and his friends become increasingly suspicious of an insurance salesman, who they think murdered his wife. There is a balance going on as they keep discovering new things that sometimes support or refute the theory. They begin taking greater and greater risks to uncover the truth, and Alfred Hitchcock excels at creating tension while keeping the story within the realm of possibility. When you finally learn the truth, it's an odd moment, because a lot of the details are left unexplained. It's a good movie though, and it's gotten me interested in checking out some more work by Hitchcock.

What's interesting is we saw this not long after Disturbia came out. It's not exactly a remake, but it's basically the exact same idea. I haven't seen it, but it might be interesting to see how they handle it. I'm not sure how I feel about Shia LaBeouf. I like him, I guess, but I've yet to see him prove he can do something besides be goofy and actually act. He was decent in Holes, but it wasn't really that challenging a part, and he was just the sidekick in Constantine. Looking at his filmography on IMDb, I've actually seen him in a lot of movies. We'll see where his career goes from here.