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Old 04-20-2009, 12:36 PM   #1
Dannyblue
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Hitchcock Movies: What Are Your Favorites?

A fellow Stranger is writing a fic based on a Hitchcock movie, so I thought it would be fun to talk about Hitchcock films, both the really well known ones, and the ones not everyone has heard about.

If I tried to list all the Hitchcock movies I love, I'd be here all day. But one of my favorites is Shadow of a Doubt from 1943, which isn't as well-known as, say, Psycho or To Catch a Thief, but is still awesome.

Shadow of a Doubt is about a young woman (early 20s) who dearly loves (as in darned-near has a crush on) her Uncle Charlie. He's handsome, suave, has traveled all over the world, and she's named after him. And Young Charlie is thrilled when her Uncle Charlie comes to visit her family in their idealic little town.

The problem is that, the first week of his visit, Young Charlie begins to suspect her beloved Uncle Charlie is the serial killer that all the newspapers are talking about. Only, for one reason or another, she doesn't feel she can tell anybody. (For one thing, she doesn't want her mother to know the little brother she adores is a monster.) So she's basically stuck living with a serial killer and trying to pretend everything's fine. Which she only does a so-so job at, but who can blame her.

Here's a clip for those who are curious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX1Kim1N1vg

I love this movie. Talk about suspense. The actress who plays Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) is awesome. Once she realizes what her uncle is, you can practically see her skin crawling every time she has to deal with him. Which is a lot since they are living in the same house, eating meals at the same table, etc.

Anyway, which Hitchcock movies do you like?
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Old 04-20-2009, 02:57 PM   #2
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I love this!

I will admit, I have only seen three Hitchcock movies (in a high school film class): Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window.

Psycho was kind of disappointing, which was a very weird feeling since I had been wanting to see the movie for so long, but I knew so much about it that I couldn't get that shock that most people get the first time they see it.

I thought Vertigo was really weird and boring.

Rear Window I LOVED!!! I really love the everything about it. I was so anxious the whole way through.

...and now I totally want to see Strangers on a Train after Wereleopard's fic.

Has anyone seen the Vanity Fair Hitchcock remake photoshoot? BEAUTIFUL!!! Jodie Fisher does a Birds shoot where shes inside a phonebooth. It looks like an actual still from the movie -- its perfect. Check it out: http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/off...-hitchcock.php
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Old 04-20-2009, 04:17 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by I Heart Dirt View Post
Psycho was kind of disappointing, which was a very weird feeling since I had been wanting to see the movie for so long, but I knew so much about it that I couldn't get that shock that most people get the first time they see it.
Same here. I knew so much about the movie before seeing it that there wasn't much left to shock me, and I felt a little disappointed. But I've grown to love it since. Even though I know what's going to happen, the characters (especially Norman) keep me hooked.

Plus, I love the behind-the-scenes stuff. Back in the 50s and 60s, a lot of "bad B movies" were getting made, some of them about "psychos" going around killing people. They were very popular at the drive-ins and late night creature features, but Hollywood in general looked down their noses at them. And no "real" director would dream of making one.

But Hitchcock looked at them and thought, "Hmmm. I wonder if I could make a movie like that with the same kind of budget, in B&W just like they are, but that is a little more deep and well-crafted." So making Psycho was like a personal challenge for him.

The Hollywood elite thought he was crazy for stooping so low and making this kind of movie. In fact, when Psycho first came out, the big time critics panned the hell out of it, and also ragged on Hitchcock for making something so cheap (both in cost and content). How could he do something so beneath him? Had he no pride, no shame?

Of course, after Psycho became a big hit, they changed their tunes. Some of the critics even did follow-up reviews about how they'd given Psycho another chance and now saw how brilliant it actually was, and how Hitchcock had lifted the genre to another level, etc.

Thinking of all the ass-covering that went on kind of amuses me.
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Old 04-20-2009, 05:42 PM   #4
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I love Hitchcock movies. I used to curl up with my gram on the couch when I was little and watch all of his movies..... My all time favorite is The Birds... I remember reading about the lead actress (Tippi Hedren) being terrified of birds after filming that movie...

some more favs

Marnie ~ starting Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery

Torn Curtain~ staring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews

North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder, and Rear Window......
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Old 04-20-2009, 06:54 PM   #5
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#1 ~ The Birds
#2 ~ Dial M for Murder
#3 ~ North by Northwest
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Old 04-20-2009, 07:15 PM   #6
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Rear Window, North by Northwest and Suspicion are my favorites.

I guess I also have to give props to Rebecca even though it's based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel he did a pretty good job of bringing the psycho-creepiness of Mrs. Danvers to life.

Psycho was a good movie but I think the fact that I saw Psycho II before the original kind of ruined the movie for me. I never liked The Birds
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Old 04-20-2009, 08:07 PM   #7
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The Birds was one of my mom's favorite movies, so I've been watching it pretty much since birth. It's sort of tradition in my family to look at any large flock of birds with suspicion.

Rear Window is also awesome. But you wouldn't think so from the premise. A movie that takes place almost entirely in one apartment because a hero is stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg? And it's all about how he watches the people in the apartment building across the street, and thinks one of them might have killed someone? It sounds like it would be boring as heck, but it isn't.

Vertigo I never cared a lot for.
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Old 04-20-2009, 09:31 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Morrigan View Post
I guess I also have to give props to Rebecca even though it's based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel he did a pretty good job of bringing the psycho-creepiness of Mrs. Danvers to life.

I never liked The Birds
The Birds is based off of a Du Maurier short story.

Of course, Psycho is a great film but for me it's just been too overused and that takes the thrill out of it.
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Old 04-20-2009, 11:30 PM   #9
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The Birds is based off of a Du Maurier short story.

Of course, Psycho is a great film but for me it's just been too overused and that takes the thrill out of it.
Really? I never knew that...I always figured she was a one hit wonder. lol
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Old 04-21-2009, 06:50 AM   #10
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LOL Morrigan. I used to gobble up Du Maurier books back in the day. Couldn't get enough!

I love North by Northwest, but my all-time fave is To Catch a Thief. The glamor! The intrigue! The setting! So romantic and wonderful. I wanted to be an international jewel thief and/or Grace Kelly (how about GK as an international jewel thief?!) until I was in my 20s. And let's not even get started on how GK met her prince while filming it. : sigh :
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Old 04-21-2009, 10:58 AM   #11
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I don't think I've seen all of Shadow of a Doubt but that clip looked familiar. I've probably caught pieces of it now and then.

I saw Psycho as a child in my pajamas at the drive-in. I had trouble taking showers while alone in the house for years and years. It's probably only been in past ten years that I can use a shower curtain that isn't clear (so I can see someone coming for me) without freaking out at every noise I think I hear. But the last time I saw the movie, I was bored. I didn't remember it being so slow paced in the beginning.

My favorites of the scary/suspense kind are The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, The Birds, Dial M for Murder, The Paradine Case and North by Northwest. For more light-hearted fair I like The Trouble with Harry, To Catch a Thief and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Btw, I thought that photoshoot was amazing! Thanks for the link, I Heart Dirt.

Not a Hitchcock film, but a really great suspense/thriller of the same genre/feel is Midnight Lace. Be sure to catch it the next time it's on TV.
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Old 04-21-2009, 11:39 AM   #12
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Not a Hitchcock film, but a really great suspense/thriller of the same genre/feel is Midnight Lace. Be sure to catch it the next time it's on TV.
I'm torn when it comes to Midnight Lace. On the one hand, I do like it overall. On the other hand, the heroine (played by Doris Day) gets on my nerves a little bit at times. She spends so much time screaming and hysterical, not that you can totally blame her since she's being stalked in an even more disturbing way than your "average" stalking. (If any stalking could be called average.) But a part of me just wants her to pull it together and suck it up and go Xena on her stalker's ass. Which isn't really fair considering the era when the movie was made (the early 60s). Still...

Here's a bit of trivia. Playing a character that spends most of her time terrified completely freaked Doris Day out. She reached a point where she was nervous and scared even away from the set, and she swore never to make another movie like this again.
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Old 04-21-2009, 12:27 PM   #13
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Really? I never knew that...I always figured she was a one hit wonder. lol
Another of her short stories, Don't Look Now, was adapted to film by Nicholas Roeg, and it's possibly one of the greatest thrillers of the '70s.

Du Maurier seemed to have had quite a run of small writings turned into big pictures.
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Old 04-21-2009, 01:20 PM   #14
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I saw Psycho as a child in my pajamas at the drive-in. I had trouble taking showers while alone in the house for years and years. It's probably only been in past ten years that I can use a shower curtain that isn't clear (so I can see someone coming for me) without freaking out at every noise I think I hear. But the last time I saw the movie, I was bored. I didn't remember it being so slow paced in the beginning.
Oh. My. God. I feel the same way. At least once a week, while showering (lol, that makes it seem like I shower once a week) the thought that someone could be behind my shower curtain creeps into my head and I have to check and make sure no one is in the bathroom with me before continuing lol. But I'll really good at freaking myself out for no reason lol.

And what is Psycho II? Like the remake? I tried to watch it like seven years ago but couldn't get into it, and now it just seems totally ridiculous that Vince Vaughn is supposed to be Norman Bates and Anne Hatche is Marion Crane.
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Old 04-21-2009, 01:39 PM   #15
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And what is Psycho II? Like the remake? I tried to watch it like seven years ago but couldn't get into it, and now it just seems totally ridiculous that Vince Vaughn is supposed to be Norman Bates and Anne Hatche is Marion Crane.
Psycho II was an actual sequel with Tony Perkins once again playing Norman. The movie you are thinking about was just called Psycho, and was a shot-by-shot, let's-not-change-anything remake. Which makes you wonder why they bothered since, aside from being in color and starring different actors, it was exactly the same.

There were three actual sequels, all starring Perkins. And the third (and last) sequel wasn't too bad. It was about Norman remembering his childhood with Mother. And let's just say it will make you totally understand why Norman was so screwed up.

They actually tried to do a TV show in the 80s called The Bates Motel, if you can believe it. Tony Perkins refused to do it, and it didn't last long. I actually remember seeing the 2 hour pilot, but don't actually remember what happened in it.
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