An observation about Hitchcock's most well-known movies.... It's true they are all about the suspense leading up to the ending. If you know the ending, the movies tend to drag on slowly. There is no incentive to watch one twice. A few weeks ago they had an Alfred Hitchcock weekend on Turner Classics. They showed all of his most popular movies. The only one I could watch all the way through was Vertigo. It was painfully slow. It's not a fault of his direction, but the type of story he chooses. I need to watch some of his older, less well-known movies. Maybe The Trouble with Harry or Mr. and Mrs. Smith?
Hitchcock's next Movie......"Death by Movie-Bingeing!" 10 Most Rewatchable Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
Article: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope - A Film Ahead of Its Time "An impressive set was built, feature a large panoramic window that provided a view of the Manhattan skyline. This view was created using a massive cyclorama and model buildings that had actual working lights and smoking chimneys. Eight different fiberglass cloud formations were also built to absorb the multiple hues of lights that were to be used to simulate the sunset during filming."
I've watched The Birds many times. But you make a good point about the rest. Only The Birds has action throughout most of it while the others are extended anticipation.
I re-watched part of Suspicion that weekend. I was concentrating on how Cary Grant was able (or unable) to portray a man who WASN'T planning to kill his wife. Maybe the talent of the actors makes a difference too. Some movies I can watch over and over and pick up different things each time. Moonstruck comes to mind. I enjoyed it for the 4th time last week.
Why Alfred Hitchcock Turned Down a British Honor in 1962 Hitch waits for some love from the palace. "When Alfred Hitchcock was designated a Knight of the British Realm toward the end of 1979, henceforth his formal title was Sir Alfred Hitchcock, KBE. His life was quickly winding down, but between bouts of depression and heavy drinking, the old jokester flashed forth. Parlaying the honor into a brief PR stunt for his never-to-be-completed film The Short Night, he rechristened himself The Short Knight. His longtime friend, Universal Studios heavy Lew Wasserman, quickly threw together a celebratory luncheon attended by old friends Cary Grant, Janet Leigh and others. British consul general Thomas W. Aston bestowed the medal." "When a reporter asked him why it had taken the queen so long to bestow the honor, Hitchcock dryly replied, "I guess she forgot." Sadly, he was to enjoy the title for only another four months, whereupon he passed away." "That may be the end of the story. But it isn't the beginning." (MORE)
His Movies are timeless.....it is the people who have changed. Movie viewers today, are driving without their rear-view mirror.
I've said it before...this was special effects before there was such a thing: You watch today's Director's Cuts and there's 3 seconds of "acting" that gets digitally manipulated with digital scenery and loud music. It's infuriating that modern "celebrities" get the money and accolades that they do.
Review Family Plot Roger Ebert April 12, 1976 "Alfred Hitchcock has always preferred visuals to dialog, yet "Family Plot" opens on a talkative note. A medium, the slightly spaced-out Madame Blanche, is holding a seance with an eccentric old lady. They're in the old lady's parlor, surrounded by antiques and heirlooms and an abundance of deep shadows, and the old lady is involved in this incredibly complicated tale about events of years ago." "It appears that her late sister had an illegitimate child and, times being what they were, the child was given up for adoption. Then the sister died, and the child was lost track of, and now the old lady is afraid of dying and wants to make amends by willing her vast fortune to the child. Madame Blanche's assignment: Find the missing nephew. He'd be almost 40 now." "Family Plot" is, incredibly, Hitchcock's 53d film in a career that reaches back almost 50 years. And it's a delight for two contradictory reasons: because it's pure Hitchcock, with its meticulous construction and attention to detail, and because it's something new for Hitchcock -- a macabre comedy, essentially. He doesn't go for shock here, or for violent effects, but for the gradual tightening of a narrative noose." (READ MORE)
Smithsonian Associates is offering a lecture via Zoom on Hitchcock. Wednesday, June 26, 2024 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET $35 for non-members, $30 for members Film historian Max Alvarez traces Alfred Hitchcock’s professional and artistic development from silent filmmaker in 1920s England to a Hollywood commercial force to be reckoned with during the 1940s and ’50s. He includes electrifying selections from the director’s filmography and rare behind-the-scenes archival material illustrating how key Hitchcock productions evolved from page to screen. LINK