The Hitchcock Poll

no better thriller scene than that one imo. few bigger oh shits than when you see she sees they see she sees.

No room, Sebastian.

also: Sebastian, the Hitch fink most deserving of pity?

and a nazi no less!

the way he often remarks on Devlin's looks makes me wonder if HE's got the hots for Dev and is worried Alicia will catch on.

IMO, subject to change at a moment's notice:

best of the best of the best
Notorious
Psycho
Rear Window
Shadow of a Doubt

next best of the best
North by Northwest
Rope
Vertigo

by anyone else, a masterpiece
The 39 Steps
Blackmail
Dial "M" for Murder
Family Plot
The Lady Vanishes
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Sabotage
Suspicion

flawed but great
The Birds
Frenzy
I Confess
Lifeboat
The Lodger
Rebecca
The Ring
Stage Fright
Strangers on a Train
The Trouble with Harry
To Catch a Thief
The Wrong Man
Young and Innocent

good
Foreign Correspondent
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Marnie (sorry, auteurists!)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Murder!
Rich and Strange
Secret Agent
Spellboard
Under Capricorn

hmmm...
Jamaica Inn
The Manxman
Saboteur
Torn Curtain

not good
Topaz (oof)

haven't seen… all the others

Rear Window really is the best of the best of the best. On that, everyone can agree.

Family Plot is a better film than Frenzy?

I have a creeping affection for the creepy Under Capricorn.

And I am about to rewatch The Secret Agent with Gielgud and Lorre. Ta!

now rank his directed TV episodes. "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Crystal Trench" come to mind.

those are good

i can't quite figure out why "breakdown" seems the hip hitchcock TV episode to cite these days. it's effectively disturbing but kind of crude.

speaking of crude, "bang! you're dead" is a fun one

"Lamb to the Slaughter" I read in high school sophomore English.

I forgot how garrulous and moldy Dial M For Murder is. It would have taken a stronger actor than Ray Milland and his terrible accent to redeem this stagebound material. Talk, talk, talk.

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Talk_Talk

spatially it's quite nice

(dont think ive ever watched in 2D)

yes the negotiations of space among Milland, the police inspector and Cummings in that apartment is shrewd in its way.

also like the conceit that it's a sequel to Strangers on a Train

I kept thinking what would Preminger have done with this material and remembered Bunny Lake is Missing.

Just rewatced Dial M for Murder for the first time since high school. Not a great Hitch, but maybe a pretty good episode of Columbo. Why this was his foray into 3D is puzzling, though, given how this may be one of his least visually dazzling films.

the use of the 3D is kinda the point and i can't really name a 3D film i prefer.

I wonder if the final title card for The Wrong Man was forced upon Hitchcock (or if it was even possible to force something on Hitchcock in 1957). It's jarringly false, although the film is allegedly based on a true story, so maybe that's what actually happened. Anyway, take that title card away, and wow, what a depressing ending (admirably so). Reminded me in an odd way of Carrie's ending. Fascinating as a '50s film: one anonymous man in a gray flannel suit has his life turned upside down by another man in a gray flannel suit, wife understands the pointless of it all and sinks into clinical melancholy.

I recognized Werner Klemperer, but had no idea that was Tuesday Weld and Bonnie Franklin as the girls, and Harry Dean Stanton I completely missed.

Notorious really is his best.

I love any Hitchcock poll that doesn't put Vertigo on top.

who gives a fuck what's best? Vertigo is great, so is Notorious, Rear Window etc. Enjoy.

Ingrid is put through some p kinky stuff in the overly maligned Under Capricorn.

I have it in queue at the public library (it's been checked out for two weeks, funnily enough).

xp Counterpoint: Topaz is not great. But Frenzy is.

who gives a fuck what's best? Vertigo is great, so is Notorious, Rear Window etc. Enjoy.

This. Dude has at least six or seven hard-red masterpieces. I don't care if you prefer one over the other. Just prefer a few of them and we're good.

I wanted to like Stage Fright a lot (Jane Wyman is great) but man, what a mess. Or just confusing? I do have the urge to watch it again - at some point - unlike the bottom 5 or 6 of the 32 Hitchcock movies I've seen.

Some howlers in the subtitles for Murder!, such as NEWS CUP IN JAR for New Scotland Yard.

Forgot about Michael Powell working on Blackmail

so how's Stage Fright? Been too long.

Talking on twitter recently to the chap responsible for the great big 600-page Hitch Taschen book and he recommended Young and Innocent as a lesser-known classic. I've never heard of it! Can't wait to check it out now though.

Young and Innocent is grebt. Don’t won’t to say much more to avoid spoilers.

Now I want to buy this book Hitchcock’s Music.

Stage Fright is OK--Jane Wyman's attempt at an English accent is really rough, but Dietrich is great and Wyman is too otherwise, it's solid lower-middle tier Hitchcock imo.

I've warmed to Shadow of a Doubt, despite the script's overemphatic small town Americana and the way Teresa Wright gives every line the expected stresses.

the script's overemphatic small town Americana

Wasn't the script literally written by Thornton Wilder? Anyway, it's a great one, and a great (early-ish) Joseph Cotton role.

Yep.

Cotton is well-cast.

*Cotten

Feel like the relationship between the two Charlies is the apex/epitome of Hitchcock "doubling."

Did you ever watch Stage Fright, Alfred? flappy bird's assessment is pretty accurate.

a meh

Yeah. I remember exactly one line from it, when Dietrich wanted to tart up her widow's weeds.

Which I see I mentioned upthread ten years ago. Time flies.

The Hitchcock Poll

Teresa Wright the GOAT. I actually think she gave a better performance in the Hitchcock Presents episode she did, "Lonely Place" or something, Bruce Dern is in it. it's on streaming sites that are not youtube that are easy to find. Absolutely astonishing performance. Frankly last time I watched SOAD I thought she was a bit too gee-shucks for some of it, but it's necessary for the incest subtext

who gives a fuck what's best? Vertigo is great, so is Notorious, Rear Window etc. Enjoy.

Right as usual, Morbs.

You can enjoy the movies AND enjoy discussing what's best!

"no need to argue about movies when we can all enjoy our different favorites without conflict"

LOL who posted that and what did they do with morbs