The Alfred Hitchcock Discussion Thread

[dave jenkins]

Under Capricorn coming on Blu:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=22842

[Cusser]

Last night, with Mrs. Cusser out at a horse event, I watched again "Saboteur", hadn't seen it in at least two decades, and that was at the theater.  Since this was released in 1942, and I know tons more WW2 history, wanted to see how the war was addressed.  I enjoyed this a lot, a common storyline (like "All Through the Night") where an innocent guy really has to find the perpetrator to clear himself.  The Statue of Liberty scene is a classic, as is the bickering Cummings and Lane commented on by observers as "they must be so much in love" (similar to scene in "39 Steps).

The Nazi sympathizers were called "The Firm" and had no accents, unlike the commonly used sinister-appearing Conrad Veidt.

[drinkanddestroy]

Last night, with Mrs. Cusser out at a horse event, I watched again "Saboteur", hadn't seen it in at least two decades, and that was at the theater.  Since this was released in 1942, and I know tons more WW2 history, wanted to see how the war was addressed.  I enjoyed this a lot, a common storyline (like "All Through the Night") where an innocent guy really has to find the perpetrator to clear himself.  The Statue of Liberty scene is a classic, as is the bickering Cummings and Lane commented on by observers as "they must be so much in love" (similar to scene in "39 Steps).

The Nazi sympathizers were called "The Firm" and had no accents, unlike the commonly used sinister-appearing Conrad Veidt.

Norman Lloyd is still with us and going strong at 103! 

[XhcnoirX]

Watched Torn Curtain again... Far from Hitch's best movie, but it still has enough scenes that make it enjoyable (for now)... The museum scene followed by Gromek's death scene are just great. As is the busride, and Lila Kedrova's countess in the cafe (difficult to tell as he sleepwalks through the entire movie, but Paul Newman looks transfixed in the scene, watching Kedrova's facial expressions that run the entire gamut within milliseconds).

Gromek's death scene is both one of the high points of the movie as well as a low point, as Wolfgang Kieling's performance is wonderful. He's both funny and menacing and the movie loses something after he's gone. In a way he's replaced by Professor Lindt as an eccentric side character, but he's no Gromek.

Also, the scene where the prima ballerina Tamara Toumanova spots Newman in the audience is plain awkward... The way Hitch uses freeze frames to get across that she spots Newman while doing pirouettes just doesn't work. Was that really the best he could come up with?! Toumanova's far more enjoyable in a very similar role in 'The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes' just a few years later. Was she dubbed in this movie by any chance? The few times she talks the sound seems off somehow.

Anyways... The good does still outweigh the bad, and it's enjoyable enough. Dropping my rating from a 7 to a 7- tho, some of the negatives about this movie stood out more for me this time around. There's potential to drop to a 6 here if I ever watch it again...

[noodles_leone]

Watched Torn Curtain again... Far from Hitch's best movie, but it still has enough scenes that make it enjoyable (for now)... The museum scene followed by Gromek's death scene are just great.

Yup. I'd go even further and that these scenes, especially the Gromek's death, are among the ver best scenes by Sir Hitchcock.

[dave jenkins]

Notorious will get the Criterion BD treatment in January.

[drinkanddestroy]

The New York Philharmonic will play the Psycho score on September 13 & 14

https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1920/psycho-in-concert?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MKT_20190820_ArtoftheScore_JS&utm_content=version_A&source=30747

[T.H.]

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hitchcock-Volume-1-Blu-ray/74755/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hitchcock-Volume-2-Blu-ray/74756/


These region free bluray sets are currently on sale, I ordered both and it was only 26 USD after shipping for 14 Hitchcock movies. Way too great of a deal to pass up even if I own the Essentials Collection 5 movie set.

[cigar joe]

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hitchcock-Volume-1-Blu-ray/74755/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hitchcock-Volume-2-Blu-ray/74756/


These region free bluray sets are currently on sale, I ordered both and it was only 26 USD after shipping for 14 Hitchcock movies. Way too great of a deal to pass up even if I own the Essentials Collection 5 movie set.

That is a great deal.

[drinkanddestroy]

TCM recently had  a series on MacGuffins, hosted by Eddie Muller and Ben Manckiewicz

North by Northwest intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5aUYvo-zS8

North by Northwest outro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I39k9Uik4WY

Psycho intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCvESy5E3RA

Psycho outro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRpd9dYgQ

[noodles_leone]

Vertigo Video Game in the Works, Inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock Film
The upcoming "Alfred Hitchcock ? Vertigo" video game will feature an original story inspired by the classic film.

Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I0NfVIZKUc

More on this:
https://www.indiewire.com/2021/06/vertigo-video-game-alfred-hitchcock-teaser-1234642946

[drinkanddestroy]

Just saw The Wrong Man for the second time

This NY Post article has pics of the real Manny Ballestrero and the real criminal. The resemblance is uncanny https://nypost.com/2016/02/07/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-ruined-this-mans-life-and-inspired-hitchcock/amp/ (much more than Henry Fonda and the ?look-like? in the movie)

And unlike the line at the end of the film that says Rose was completely cured, the real Manny Ballestrero says his wife never fully recovered

[dave jenkins]

Just saw The Wrong Man for the second time

This NY Post article has pics of the real Manny Ballestrero and the real criminal. The resemblance is uncanny https://nypost.com/2016/02/07/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-ruined-this-mans-life-and-inspired-hitchcock/amp/ (much more than Henry Fonda and the ?look-like? in the movie)

And unlike the line at the end of the film that says Rose was completely cured, the real Manny Ballestrero says his wife never fully recovered

Thanks, Drink. I'd never seen the photos of the real people and appreciated getting a look. Also, the embedded link to that episode of To Tell the Truth was pretty interesting.

[dave jenkins]

Another thing that's interesting . . . in the film AH simplified the story so that only 2 eyewitnesses were responsible for the false identification of Manny. In real life, there were 4 witnesses. Eyewitnesses testimony should never be sufficient grounds for prosecution (to say nothing of conviction). There should always be something more (what would have happened if the real guy had never been caught?)

[drinkanddestroy]

Another thing that's interesting . . . in the film AH simplified the story so that only 2 eyewitnesses were responsible for the false identification of Manny. In real life, there were 4 witnesses. Eyewitnesses testimony should never be sufficient grounds for prosecution (to say nothing of conviction). There should always be something more (what would have happened if the real guy had never been caught?)

Today, I doubt eyewitness testimony alone would work. There are surveillance cameras everywhere. And people?s movements are tracked by cellphones, credit cards, Uber, etc. So even in a case where there is no DNA, it?d be easy to exonerate someone based on all the tracking. He could prove he wasn?t at the scene of the crime. But before all this technology, I imagine eyewitness testimony meant a lot. So a mistaken eyewitness could be a killer.