Pigeons from hell

No, not the short story, but Hitchcock's The Birds. It feels a little silly these days, but there are some effective moments of suspense when the birds are not attacking. When the main characters board up the house, wait, and try to find news on the radio, it reminded me of zombie films. Maybe Romero was slightly influenced by this?

Another thing I really like is that no explanation is given. Still, overall this is only an average film.

I can rebuild her. I have the obsession...

I had seen Vertigo once previously. Another viewing probably helped me to appreciate it as one of Hitchcock's best and most disturbing films. James Stewart continues to tear down his All-American nice guy image after doing it in Anthony Mann's westerns. It seems he is the one possessed, not Kim Novak. Bernard Herrmann's score is one of his best and Robert Burks provides great cinematography. The story feels murkier than in any previous Hitchcock and the ending doesn't offer any relief.

Very good, then, but not my favorite Hitch.

Hitch + Hitch

The Project moves on - maybe we'll actually finish this year!

Tonight's double feature was Hitchcock's remake of his own The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Wrong Man.

The first was a solid effort but not exceptional. I wonder if the director himself thought it better than the 1934 film. The second was very interesting and not much like his other films. It's low-key and based on a true story. The photography is rather noirish: black & white, shadows & light. It lacks Hitchcock's familiar trickery. Henry Fonda is very good as the wrongfully accused man. The master's frequent collaborators Robert Burks and Bernard Herrmann worked on both films.

Next up, Vertigo, finally. It's been a long time since I last saw it.

Project Hitchcock lurches back into life

After an all-too long break we managed to continue the project by watching The Trouble with Harry. It was very funny but quite different from any other Hitch movie I've seen. Shirley MacLaine featured in her first film appearance.

Half the reason for this blog's existence

Today we watched North by Northwest and Psycho, both in high definition. Northwest is probably my second most often seen film (Rio Bravo being the champion). I always find its charms impossible to resist, and it never feels as long as it actually is. It looks marvelous on Blu-ray.

I believe I'd seen Psycho only once before, and the plot's surprises had been spoiled for me even then. But it still holds great power. With the exception of the psychiatrist's explanation scene at the end, it feels quite modern, or maybe I should say timeless.

After the triple home run of these two and the immediately preceding Vertigo, I don't think Hitch ever achieved similar heights. Of course, most directors never make a single film that's this good.

Eagle-eyed readers will note that I skipped four movies in Hitchcock's filmography. This was because the studio audience had an additional member who had never seen North by Northwest and I wanted to show both BD titles in the same session. We'll get back to those missing ones later.

Grace part three

To Catch a Thief utilizes the familiar story about sending a thief to catch a thief. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, some great dialog between the two, and beautiful Riviera - those alone would be sufficient, but you also get Hitchcock's direction. It's one of his lighter films, and highly entertaining.

Why are you looking that way, man?

Been a few years since I last saw Rear Window, and it's always a great experience. I don't know why any man whose girlfriend was Grace Kelly would spend so much time looking outside, but other than that it's basically a perfect thriller. One of Hitchcock's best, and thus one of the best, period.

Not a perfect murder

Tonight's entertainment was Dial M for Murder. It was the first film out of three in which Hitchcock cast Grace Kelly as the leading lady. Originally shot in 3D, but almost always shown flat, it's a very enjoyable suspense film even though the plot is kind of convoluted. As it often is with Hitch, it's not so much about the events of the script but rather how they are told.

And hey, Grace Kelly.

That's Montgomery Clift, honey!

Sung about by The Clash, and playing a priest in I Confess. It's not among Hitchcock's finest, but that still leaves plenty of room to be pretty good. It takes some time to get going, but towards the end there's enough suspense and twists. Clift plays the role well, even if he has better hair than any priest I've ever seen. The supporting cast is also fine.

This makes it 50 posts. I'm not bored yet, so I'll keep going... Project Hitchcock alone is good for more than a dozen entries!

Two great directors

Strangers on a Train has Hitchcock in excellent form. One more and then we get to his Grace Kelly triple.

The Deadly Companions was Sam Peckinpah's first feature film. This one I hadn't seen before and knew nothing about, except that Maureen O'Hara was in it. It's an offbeat western to be sure, with plenty of quirky characters. A promising start.

The 4th decade

Today we started on Hitchcock's fourth decade as a filmmaker with Stage Fright. Some very funny scenes, Marlene Dietrich pretty much playing herself, and a great turn by Alastair Sim as Jane Wyman's father.

Not the Hitch you're used to

Today we watched Under Capricorn. It's basically a period costume drama with few typical Hitchcock touches. Quite worth seeing nevertheless.

Ten long takes

Rope is pretty contrived, but I have always liked it. And did so again.

Test drive

After getting a new toy, I just had to watch something. What better way to try out a shiny Blu-ray gadget than watching a black & white film from 1947 on DVD, I ask? We continued the Project with The Paradine Case, which is not one of Hitchcock's greatest but actually worked well as a trial run, being about a trial (ha ha).

In all seriousness, it was a good candidate because my American disc benefits from some pretty impressive restoration work. When the upscaling performed by the BD player was added to this (I don't claim to know which was the more important factor), the picture quality was very good for such an old film.

Bright stars

Project Hitchcock goes on; tonight's film was Notorious. Bergman and Grant are very, very good, and so is the director. The story was surprisingly topical for 1946, and rather ruthless within the constraints of the Hays Code. Recommended.

Theme-free day

You can surely draw a connection between High Plains Drifter and Spellbound, but it would be too loose to count for anything.

Drifter is a film where Eastwood finally plays a man with no name. In the Dollars Trilogy he actually had a name or nickname in every movie. I'm not sure if it is a great western, but it's an interesting one (you don't often see a town remade into a personal hell). The writer Ernest Tidyman also had a hand in Shaft and The French Connection - not a bad way to start your 1970s.

Spellbound is frankly implausible. But it has Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Hitch regular Leo G. Carroll (six films), a Dalí-designed dream sequence, and some clever touches by the director, so it is far from a waste of time. Both Bergman and Peck would return.

A water tank and a boat

No, not Titanic. Lifeboat is set in a lifeboat - reportedly the smallest set ever used for an entire movie. It's a fine technical achievement, but also works well as a film. The Hitchcock cameo is very subtle (originally he considered floating past the boat as a corpse). Tallulah Bankhead steals most scenes and John Steinbeck provided the original story.

In the name of the Project, we also watched his two World War II propaganda short films, Bon Voyage and Aventure malgache. Made in French with French actors, the idea was to show them in those areas of France where the Germans were already retreating. However, they were shelved and only shown to the public in the 90s. Both are very dull. I don't think I'll watch them again.

Only three decades to go

A bit of backstory: last year I started Project Hitchcock with a friend of mine. Simply put, we are going to watch all of his films which I have collected in chronological order (currently that means 43 titles; I plan to get a few more). With life getting in the way, it has been slow going but now it's moving again.

Last Saturday we watched Shadow of a Doubt, which neither one had seen. Great acting by Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, and the supporting cast, and a nice small town setting which somehow reminded me of Twin Peaks with its immense normality and curious people.

It was released in 1943 and the finishing line Family Plot came out in 1976, so it's going to take a while yet.

Bonus trivia: we have previously watched The Lodger, The Ring, The Farmer's Wife, Champagne, The Manxman, Blackmail, Murder!, The Skin Game, Rich and Strange, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, The Lady Vanishes, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, Foreign Correspondent, Mr and Mrs Smith, Suspicion, and Saboteur. No, I cannot be arsed to hyperlink all of them. You know where to go. If you want details about the numerous DVD releases (their quality varies), you can go to Alfred Hitchcock Wiki.