The Hitchcock Poll

Too many to name, but I make a habit of Vertigo, Rear Window, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Frenzy, Psycho, North by Northwest, the second Man Who Knew Too Much, Birds, Marnie, 39 Steps, Lady Vanishes, Sabotage, Foreign Correspondent. (Few duds aside from Topaz and Torn Curtain.)

and let's not forget "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Wow. I totally managed to block that card. Doesn't really change my view on Hitch's filmmaking control, but ... yeah.

and let's not forget "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Or "One More Mile To Go" (aka "Test Run For First Reel Of Psycho")

"39 Steps". I think. Far too difficult to choose tho.

(Few duds aside from Topaz and Torn Curtain.)

mr. and mrs. smith also

I liked Torn Curtain. The bus! Topaz was a bit of a flop. I don't think I've seen anything before 39 Steps.

Oooh watch Blackmail and the original The Man Who Knew Too Much. Both are quite qorthwhile.

Yeah, those seem to be the two that everyone mentions. I will when I can! What about all the others, though?

Oh, and The Lodger I hear talk about. The others, never.

the late sixties films are pretty grim.

Most underrated Hitch: Foreign Correspondent (I'll give you one guess as to why I love it).

the late sixties films are one film

Topaz (... and Torn Curtain)

Frenzy is great though. Pity Family Plot is such junk.

suspicion is the most underrated one.

ok that's very strange. I left out Topaz from the list. Totally my bad, sorry poll. If someone was actually going to vote for it, we can void the poll. :(

Because otherwise, you know, this poll would be official and go on our permanent record.

Family Plot is fun! if you like Barbara Harris.

I like Barbara Harris

I voted for Rope.

Family Plot is fun! if you like Barbara Harris.

Don't forget Bruce Dern!

For my money, it's Family Plot, not Frenzy, that is the best of his pretty awkward final stretch.

Perhaps this is the time to once again ask this question.

Years ago, I read/heard someone relate the following (paraphrased) anecdote:

"I was in the street with Hitchcock one day when a beautiful, well-dressed young woman walked by. After she passed, he turned to me and whispered: 'Wouldn't you just love to smear shit in her face?'"

I think it was told to illustrate something of Hitchcock's approach to his film's leading ladies.

I have never been able to find any subsequent confirmation of this story, though I have just remembered that it prompted a thread of mine on ILM.

"Actors should be treated like cattle. Women should be treated like toilets."

enough with the scurrilous hearsay, off to Cabin #1 with you

Rear Window.

But I agree Vertigo is probably his "best" movie.

really interested to see how this turns out.

It will get about 12 votes total, like every other ILX poll.

this is toooooooooooooooooooooo fucking hard, esp. since with a lot of the later stuff I've only got my middle school memories to rely on (the Criterion stuff is what I've seen more recently).

also, WOAH, I had no idea Strangers On A Train came after Rope.

I'm stuck between North By Northwest, Strangers On A Train, Rebecca and Shadow Of A Doubt.

[/i]It will get about 12 votes total, like every other ILX poll.[/i]

You get the idea.

The problem with Hitchcock: Joel McCrea wasn't in enough of the early American ones, and Thelma Ritter wasn't in enough of the later ones.

Leo G. Carroll was in about 7 though, right?

like douglas sirk, he worked in hollywood most of the the time, so he had to fit to the genres rules, but he liked it probably, and it made his films as great and popular as they are.

-- Zeno, Tuesday, September 4, 2007 3:48 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

'cept for the 20-odd films he made in england...

You mean Hollywood East?

Oooh watch Blackmail and the original The Man Who Knew Too Much. Both are quite qorthwhile.

-- Alex in SF, Thursday, September 6, 2007 4:21 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Yeah, those seem to be the two that everyone mentions. I will when I can! What about all the others, though?

-- Alba, Thursday, September 6, 2007 4:23 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Oh, and The Lodger I hear talk about. The others, never.

-- Alba, Thursday, September 6, 2007 4:24 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

'rich and strange' is the conoisseur's choice.

the other '30s thrillers are good too.

the pre-'man who knew too much' ones get slept on. but even in america, until the early '60s, everyone preferred the british ones to the flabby hollywood ones. the turn-around came when the publicity budget for 'the birds' was used to pay for a full MOMA retrospective and peter bogdanovich's book.

but even rohmer and chabrol liked the english ones -- they liked 'the ring' and 'the manxman' especially.

stunned to recently learn he never won a Best Director Oscar

I wonder if anyone alive has seen The Pleasure Garden.

-- Alba, Thursday, September 6, 2007 3:20 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

i'm fairly convinced it was never released, just trade-shown, in britain. though i have a feeling it was shown in germany. pretty unlikely all the same.

xp

why stunned? The thriller was not judged to be 'art' by Academy standards, at least not til Demme/Lecter, and Rebecca was considered Selznick's picture (esp since it was AH's first).

When they gave him an honorary Oscar he said "Thank you" and walked off.

Selznick's name on Rebecca's credits are bigger than Hitch's.

Sabotage, based on Conrad's Secret Agent (not to be confused with, er, Hitch's Secret Agent), is my favorite of the Brits.

"stunned" may be too strong, obviously the academy doesn't have a track record of rewarding quality or innovation or being massively influential ... I guess that given his prodigious output, mainstream success, and general omnipresence in the film world (altho maybe I only see this omnipresence in retrospect) I had just expected that he would've won at least once

The four nominated for Best Picture were Rebecca (the only one to win), Suspicion, Foreign Correspondent, and Spellbound.

And he did get four Best Director nods.

as i recall, orson welles was among those who said "early hitch yay, later (hollywood) hitch nay."

Welles also said, "Hitch has said he doesn't much like actors; watching his films you just don't think he likes people very muc."

As a sign of his cosmospolitan art-house cred, The Lady Vanishes won Best Director at the New York Film Critics Awards that year.

Welles also said, "Hitch has said he doesn't much like actors; watching his films you just don't think he likes people very much."

Which is a strength.

how so

Watching Rebecca for the first time in a while, I'm struck by Laurence Olivier's proto-Method performance: mumbles, ear pulling, tossing lines away.