The Alfred Hitchcock Discussion Thread

[titoli]

This guy need his own board, not a measly thread. Well, here goes (in reverse chronological order)

Family Plot 7/10
Frenzy 8/10
Topaz 6/10
Torn Curtain 4/10
Marnie 9/10
The Birds 9/10
Psycho 5/10
NxNW 10/10
Vertigo 11/10
The Wrong Man 8/10
The Trouble With Harry 2/10
The Man Who Knew Too Much 7/10
To Catch a Thief 9/10
Rear Window 10/10
Dial M for Murder 8/10
I Confess 5/10
Strangers on a Train 9/10
Stage Fright 4/10
Under Capricorn 8/10
Rope 9/10
The Paradine Case 3/10
Notorious 7/10
Spellbound 6/10
Lifeboat 8/10
Shadow of a Doubt 3/10
Saboteur 6/10
Suspicion 8/10
Foreign Correspondent 7/10
Rebecca 9/10
Jamaica Inn ?
The Lady Vanishes 9/10
Young and Innocent 7/10
Secret Agent 6/10
Sabotage 5/10
The 39 Steps 10/10
The Man Who Knew Too Much 7/10

Further back than that I don't much care  . . .

[Groggy]

Psycho hasn't aged all that well.

I'd have to disagree although it's been ages since I've seen it, so allow that to qualify my opinion. I don't think my knowing the twist(s) going in really affected my liking of the film, as I thought it was great. The film would pass your criteria for me, then.

For me, the film worked primarily from direction and the fine performance of Anthony Perkins. He deserves all the credit he gets for this particular performance; he makes Norman an extremely sympathetic and believable character, and knowing that he's the murderer actually enhances the performance/character for me. The movie drags a bit in the middle section but after Arbogast's murder it picks back up again afterwards. The ending with the psychologist strikes a false note but it's not a fatal blow.

[Groggy]

IMDB Post which may be of interest:
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/board/nest/120977094

[moviesceleton]

The 39 Steps - 7/10 can't remember much though
Secret Agent - 7/10
Young and Innocent - 6/10
Suspicion - 8/10
Shadow of a Doubt - 8/10
Strangers on a Train - 10/10
Rear Window - 9/10
To Catch a Thief - 7/10
The Man Who Knew Too Much - 7/10
Vertigo - 10/10
North by Northwest - 9/10
Psycho - 6/10
The Birds - 8/10
Marnie - 7/10
That's fourteen, for the time being. One I'm most interested to see now is Rope.

The top 5:
Strangers on a Train
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Shadow of a Doubt

[cigar joe]

My ratings of the 22 of his films that I've seen to date:

The 39 Steps - 6/10
Rebecca - 6/10
Notorious - 7/10
The Paradine Case - 5/10
Rope - 8/10
Dial M For Murder - 6/10
Rear Window - 8/10
To Catch a Thief - 5/10
The Trouble With Harry - 5/10
The Man Who Knew Too Much - 7/10
Strangers on a Train 8/10
Vertigo - 8/10
North By Northwest - 9/10
Psycho - 8/10
The Birds - 5/10
Marnie - 7/10
Torn Curtain - 4/10
Topaz - 6/10
Frenzy - 8/10

[Groggy]

I don't know how it's possible CJ, but we've seen the exact same films.

[titoli]

Rope - 7\10 (humor? Where?)
Lifeboat - 8\10

[dave jenkins]

Rope - 7\10 (humor? Where?)

Obviously it doesn't come across in the Italian dub. You're missing half the film.

[titoli]

Obviously it doesn't come across in the Italian dub. You're missing half the film.

Your're missing the fact I told you I would have watched the dvd. These characters strive so much for clever talk to result irritating. Stewart is simply untolerable (he, an intellectual, with those sibilating "s"'s?). I presume you watched it long time ago.

[dave jenkins]

Stewart's is a secondary character. The humor is coming out of the mouth of John Dall.

[titoli]

Yes, but it is exactly the kind of "humor" (I'd rather define it an aggressive banter) you'd expect from his character; and the lines are telephoned. Stewart isn't a secondary character, rather a co-protagonist. And his "funny" lines are as lame as Dall's.

[dave jenkins]

I like his twitting of Mrs. Atwater, though. Titoli, do us all a favor, go out and buy yourself a sense of humor.

[titoli]

Titoli, do us all a favor, go out and buy yourself a sense of humor.

That's exactly the kind of line that I find sucking and that makes you laugh.

[Groggy]

Titoli doesn't even know what humor is.

[Groggy]

Jinkies, I'd note that your ratings of these movies seem wildly inconsistent. I remember you strongly sticking up for Topaz, more than a 6/10 would deserve, and you didn't like Frenzy last time we talked but are giving it an 8/10 here. Did you give those a rewatch and change your mind or what's going on?