I binge-watched several Hitchcock movies this week: , , , and . Time well spent, and here’s a quick sum-up!
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
It’s a day like any other in a small town like any other. A globe trotting uncle comes down to visit his sister and her family, whom he hasn’t met in ages. They adore him, he showers them with gifts. He is the single most important thing that has happened to their family and their town in years …. He is not what he seems.
What makes this story so deeply sinister and so attention-grabbing, is that it could happen to any of us. Do we really know the people we know? And what about that strange lingering unease that tells us that something is wrong — but there’s no hard evidence for it. So you deny it, you drag your feet, you don’t say aloud what you’re thinking. And it could end with a disaster. Hitchcock called this as one of his favorites, and with good reason. A+
Suspicion (1941)
Cary Grant is at his smarmiest best, as the highly unreliable husband to heiress and wallflower Lina (played by Joan Fontaine). It’s a habit with him to keep switching between a heartless fool and a charming repenter. But sooner or later, he’ll run out of tricks. Playing hard to get, extravagance he can’t afford, horse-trading, selling off family heritage, getting an insurance against his wife’s death, hobnobbing with murder novelists and homicide specialists, starting risky business ventures, lavishing gifts on housemaids, watching as his sick friend drinks himself to more sickness….
What game is Johnnie Aysgarth playing? How honest has he ever been, or has he only been maligned by others? It’s hard to tell, and this movie was sheer adrenaline rush as we wonder and believe, suffer and suspect, along with the hapless Lina, again and again.
Fontaine won an Oscar for this role — apparently the only Oscar-winning performance in a Hitchcock film ever. A+
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Perhaps this is a movie that all celebrities should watch, before they decide to spill the beans to their fan-stalkers. Tennis-player Guy Haines decides to talk to the rich Bruno Anthony on the train, and all hell breaks loose.
Bruno, who is fascinated by Guy (and extremely nosey), wonders if they can swap murders — Bruno murders Guy’s cheating wife, and Guy murders Bruno’s tyrannical father. Guy passes this off as an odd joke, nothing more.
Big mistake.
Bruno’s instability keeps the movie zipping along till the climactic chase scene at the end. And what a chase scene that is — replete with a tennis match that doesn’t end, detectives hot on the trail, a lighter that gets stuck in the drains, a carousel tentpole across which gunshots could hurt the kids, and the true-untrue dying declaration of the witness. A-
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Not one of my favorites. The first half is especially slow, as a bunch of snowbound train passengers decide to spend a night at a local inn. In characteristic Hitchcock style, there’s a lot of sly humor as the guests turn the inn into a comical Tower of Babel. These include an American heiress and a glib musicologist who cross swords (and later, their hearts).
But things do pick up in the second half when the heroine wakes up on the train to find her friendly English neighbor missing. And no one’s saying a word — no one else saw her neighbor. Why are they lying? We are talking about World War I, so possibly you can imagine where this goes. B+
Sabotage (1936)
An unnamed foreign country is planning terrorist attacks (“sabotage”) on London. , we are told in this adaptation of Conrad’s The Secret Agent. On Saturday, “lovely fireworks” (read: bomb) are expected at the Piccadilly Circus tube station for the Mayor’s show.
Hitchcock seriously waters down the threat, almost as if its a weather report — so alarm picks up only in the late second half. In fact, the first half is full of odds and ends, with no real suspense or character development. The who’s who is less important than the of the bomb.
Can’t say I am of a fan of this one. It’s not as emotionally immersive as I expect from Hitchcock’s movies (I kept nodding off in the middle.) B-
Have you seen these Hitchcock movies? What did you think of these?
10 replies on “Hitchcock Movies: Shadow, Suspicion, Stranger, Lady & Sabotage”
I haven’t see any of these… 🙈 But I am interested so might have to look into them!
I found a few of these are on YouTube (The Lady Vanishes), see if you like any of them! Hitchcock always helps me forget everything else 🙂
I re-watched The Man Who Knew Too Much with two friends recently. The storytelling was full of holes. Granted, this has never been my favourite Hitchcock. I‘ve been to Marrakesh since I saw this movie last, so it was fun trying to recognize something.
My two favourite Hitchcock movies are To Catch A Thief and North by Northwest. Love them and often watch them again.
I am pretty lukewarm about Rear Window and Psycho.
Completely agreed on The Man Who Knew Too Much — the song Que Sera Sera is awesome, but it’s too damn long and too “full of holes”. Same feeling about Rear Window, which seems to be more about too very good-looking actors, rather than the story….
But I love North by Northwest — and since you like it, I know you will really like Shadow of a Doubt. Do give it a try!
We went through a Hitchcock faze a couple of years ago. Think it’s time for a re-run! Strangers on a train is just so good. I love that plot-line overall. Have you read The kind worth Killing by Peter Swanson?
Elza Reads
No! To be honest, first time I’ve heard about it. *inserts sheepish grin* Goodreads says it’s a “reimagining of Patricia Highsmith’s classic Strangers on a Train”. Very, very interesting. Thank you for the rec, always up for some mystery / psychological thriller stuff.
I really like The Lady Vanishes which I saw in a double header years ago with The Thirty-nine Steps. I like Shadow of a Doubt and Suspicion too.
When I lived in New York, I took a class at the New School that was called Hitchcock’s Influence on Filmmakers. It was fun to see a movie every week, then discuss it. I think that was when I first saw Shadow of a Doubt. I think maybe that was when Twin Peaks was on TV because I remember the professor was a fan. However, I think there are still several Hitchcock movies I’ve never seen or not seen the entire movie.
That sounds like a great course! Can’t say I know much about movie direction, but I think the way Hitchcock slyly leaves clues and witticisms about the plot and characters is superb. I still remember in The 39 Steps, there’s a villain with “hooded eyes” and Hitchcock showcases that by making him look sideways and down at his hands. Genius, I feel.
There was a great moment when I arrived a few minutes late for class, slid into an empty chair, and realized everyone was describing their term paper topics one by one. Desperate, I thought quickly and when it was my turn, I plunged in before the professor could say anything, and said I would compare the books of Rebecca and Marnie with the movies and assess what had been changed and why. When I paused for breath, the professor said quizzically that as I was auditing I did not have to write a paper but he admired my dedication and couldn’t wait to read it. I had good intentions to actually write it but got busy at my daytime job and luckily the professor forgot. But it could have been a great topic!
Yes, that’s true – it would definitely have been a very great topic. Especially comparing Hitchcock’s Rebecca to the latest Rebecca on Netflix (which I’m sorry to say I didn’t like at all, esp. the second half).
P.S. The joys of auditing, I had forgotten all about them! 😉