Fave Hitch

[Bungo the Mungo]

Purely subjective choices, right? I mean, we can debate this for many nights, but let's see which of the great man's films give you the most pleasure.

I'm limited by the number of choices allowed in these polls, so if your favourite isn't there, then name it below. The list I put together is of the usual favourites from his golden era, starting with 1951's 'Strangers On A Train'. No 'Rebecca', or 'The 39 Steps' - just 'cos they won't fit. Defend them below, if you want.

Me? 'North By Northwest'. It goes on a little, perhaps, and I've never been entirely convinced (or attracted) by Eva Marie Saint's 'icy' bit - but Cary Grant was never better. And as it hurtles on from ludicrous situation to ludicrous situation, you hardly ever stop smiling.

[secondhandsocks]

Impossible to pick, but today it's The Man Who Knew Too Much, purely for Doris Day singing Que Sera, Sera.

I also love those scenes of Jimmy Stewart wandering around cardboard London.

[marios]

I've always been a North By Northwest kinda guy.

I do love Rear Window and Strangers On A Train but i think i admire (rather than love) Vertigo and Psycho.

[The Modernist]

Vertigo.
One of the greatest films ever made, it has the power of dream. See it and be entranced.
Hopefully the Vertigo thread will appear on here.

[marios]

And as it hurtles on from ludicrous situation to ludicrous situation, you hardly ever stop smiling.

It probably wouldn't work in a modern film, right? We're far too cynical these days to 'accept' something like that in a thriller.

[The Modernist]

And as it hurtles on from ludicrous situation to ludicrous situation, you hardly ever stop smiling.

It probably wouldn't work in a modern film, right? We're far too cynical these days to 'accept' something like that in a thriller.

Dunno about that . Yer average hollywood high concept film is hardly known for its realism.

[toomanyhatz]

I voted Rear Window, though there's a temptation to say Vertigo. I just recognize that'd be more of a sentimental choice in the end- Rear Window's a better-made film.

Rebecca and 39 Steps are in my top five.

[The Modernist]

I voted Rear Window, though there's a temptation to say Vertigo. I just recognize that'd be more of a sentimental choice in the end- Rear Window's a better-made film.
.

How can you say that! Every frame in Vertigo is perfect. It's as well made as film gets, though I can see its tone may be too bleak for some

[Bungo the Mungo]

And as it hurtles on from ludicrous situation to ludicrous situation, you hardly ever stop smiling.

It probably wouldn't work in a modern film, right? We're far too cynical these days to 'accept' something like that in a thriller.

Yes, I think you're right. And we wouldn't find comedic scenes alongside moments of terror, as seen in NBNW. Altho' sometimes I think (thankfully) that Grant himself is still, in some ways, regarded as a role model for Hollywood's young bucks. All the qualities he purveyed on screen are ones that are still aspired to. That stuff doesn't date. The man was a sort of god.

[marios]

And as it hurtles on from ludicrous situation to ludicrous situation, you hardly ever stop smiling.

It probably wouldn't work in a modern film, right? We're far too cynical these days to 'accept' something like that in a thriller.

Dunno about that . Yer average hollywood high concept film is hardly known for its realism.

Yes, but it wouldn't be taken seriously, that's what i mean. People would call it "fun" and "good for a laugh", not a "masterpiece".

[toomanyhatz]

I voted Rear Window, though there's a temptation to say Vertigo. I just recognize that'd be more of a sentimental choice in the end- Rear Window's a better-made film.
.

How can you say that! Every frame in Vertigo is perfect. It's as well made as film gets, though I can see its tone may be too bleak for some

Really? I'd say that about Rear Window before I would Vertigo. Some of the special effects are very dated, though I think Hitchcock intended them to be a bit abstract rather than realistic.

They're both great films, with stunning performances by James Stewart, in any case.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I vascilate between Vertigo and Psycho. Vertigo is probably his greatest contribution to film as high art. Psycho is just a mother of a popcorn film. Maybe the greatest ever.

[toomanyhatz]

I vascilate between Vertigo and Psycho. Vertigo is probably his greatest contribution to film as high art. Psycho is just a mother of a popcorn film. Maybe the greatest ever.

I know we've had this discussion before, but the very dated ending (the "explanation" by the psychologist) keeps Psycho out of the very top of Hitch movies for me. Other than that it's wonderful, and Anthony Perkins is stunning. Hard to believe he was a teen idol before that movie.

[The Modernist]

Psycho is just a mother of a popcorn film. Maybe the greatest ever.

Quite possibly. I always look forward to showing it to my students, I never get bored with it. And yet it has real flaws.
But i think I'll save that for a Psycho thread, it's a fascinating film to discuss.

[Sneelock]

I took 'north by northwest'.
he uses the right half of his brain a lot in that movie. I think his working relationship with Ernest Lehman gave him the luxury of putting scenes he wanted to put in movies and let somebody else bother about trying to make a lick of sense out of it.

I think Chinese Action Movies tax logic every bit as much as Hitchcock movies, I think it's a matter of taste. some people roll their eyes at phony back projections, other people roll their eyes at guns with an unlimited number of bullets.

in both cases the trick is if it holds your interest or not and I think most of the films on that list pass that test pretty much.

[The Modernist]

and Anthony Hopkins is stunning. Hard to believe he was a teen idol before that movie.

Very hard to believe

[toomanyhatz]

and Anthony Hopkins is stunning. Hard to believe he was a teen idol before that movie.

Very hard to believe

Oops.

Fixed.

[The Write Profile]

Where's Shadow of A Doubt, one of Hitch's own fave films? I think if I'm honest that would come pretty close to being my favourite, it probably turned out to be one of his influential pics in its own way, particularly in terms of the idyllic suburbia/repressed nightmare atmosphere later explored a generation or two later in Lynch's Blue Velvet, among other things. Essentially, it's all about the way the seemingly inane gives way to this pretty misanthropic and unrelenting streak, as the young girl Charlie discovers that her uncle (played by a leering Joseph Cotten) is in fact the "merry widow" murderer.

It's an incredibly well constructed film, the use of doubles throughout (often they'll cut to say young Charlie lieing in the bed in a certain position and then Cotten's character would be doing the same in his own place), the highlighted shadows, the way that the outwardly charming Cotten eventually reveals his 'true self.' The scene where Cotten's character finally boils over and delivers the monologue on the uselessness of rich widows is one of the more despairingly cynical pieces of writing in a Hitch film--it's the way it's shot too, the camera scarcely moves from Cotten's eyes, so it's all rather underplayed because the intent is so obvious to the audience. Also it taps into a ghoulish strain of black comedy in the fact that young Charlie's father seems to be obsessed with 'hypothetical' murders and yet doesn't seem to realise how unnerving his obsession this appears! Great use, unsurprisingly of shadows throughout the film, even when we know little about Cotten's character, there's little inferences that key us into his nature, it's all about the buildup.

Vertigo.
One of the greatest films ever made, it has the power of dream. See it and be entranced.
Hopefully the Vertigo thread will appear on here.

I hope so too, but I can't seem to find it anywhere, it's a shame because there were lots of really good, long posts on it from yourself and masked man in particular. I think I actually put effort into one of my replies as well. If anyone can find the link to it, I'd be most obliged, but the fact is NDL has a (comparatively) quick culling time, so chances are it's been lost in the ether. But if someone could find it, that'd be great.

My top three would be Rear Window, North by Northwest and Vertigo, I think. Might write something about them later.

[Sneelock]

of ones not on the list, I like 'Notorious' an awful lot, too.

[marios]

Where's Shadow of A Doubt, one of Hitch's own fave films? I think if I'm honest that would come pretty close to being my favourite

My top three would be Rear Window, North by Northwest and Vertigo, I think.