Vertigo – Alfred Hitchcock
You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about another Alfred Hitchcock film. What can I say? I simply love the Master of Suspense! He’s my most favorite director of all time and Vertigo is my most favorite film. I find it amazing that I still think about this film from time to time even though I saw it for the first time months ago. It just goes to show the impact tthis movie has had on me and my love of cinema.
For me, there is absolutely no doubt that Vertigo is the greatest film ever made. I’ve watched other highly acclaimed films such as Citizen Kane and Casablanca but they just don’t compare to Vertigo. As with many highly regarded films, Vertigo did very poorly at the box office upon its release and critics gave largely negative reviews. Critics said that the plot was too long, too confusing and represented a departure from the romantic-thriller style of films Hitchcock had previously made.
Nevertheless, over the years, and especially after its re-release in 1983, the film has been re-evaluated and many agree that it is one of the greatest films ever made. I think the reason why it took many years for the film to receive the praise it really deserved is because the film was way ahead of its time. I still find it hard to believe that the film was made in 1958 because it appears to be much more modern than that.
The plot deals with a San Francisco detective John “Scottie” Ferguson who, after suffering an accident during a chase, discovers that he suffers vertigo and as a result, he retires from the police force. In the process, an old acquaintance hires him as a private investigator so that he can follow his wife Madeleine Elster and try to resolve her strange behavior. It appears that Madeleine has become obsessed with a dead woman who died 100 years earlier. This leads to Scottie following Madeleine all over San Francisco until she tries to commit suicide by jumping into San Francisco Bay. He ends up saving her and as they met and get to know each other, they start falling in love. Nevertheless, Madeleine succeeds in killing herself when she jumps off a bell tower, where Scottie is not able to save her due to his vertigo.
It appears that the story is about to end, but there is a twist in Vertigo which I will not reveal here. It’s a twist which only the Master of Suspense could have done. Go and watch it to find out the twist.
Despite the enthralling story and splendid acting, the highlight for me is by far the music. Bernard Herrmann was simply the perfect composer for Hitchcock because he could musically create what Hitchcock could visually create. Herrmann was one of the only people that Hitchcock trusted to create what he wanted to create. You could almost say that their understanding was telepathic. In fact, in one scene, Hitchcock asked Herrmann to compose the music and that he would film the scene in any way so that it would fit the music. He gave Herrmann full creative for that scene (I hope you are able to point out which scene I’m talking about).
I could write all day about this movie. I love it that much! No other movie surpasses this one. It’s perfect in every way. Yet ironically, it’s perfect due to its wonderful imperfections. Vertigo is a celebration of cinema as a form of exquisite art. Hitchcock did not make a better film than this. In fact, no one else has. Five stars!
Shadow Of A Doubt – Alfred Hitchcock
On the weekend, I decided to watch Shadow Of A Doubt (another Hitchcock film) after realizing that I didn’t have anything left to do and wasn’t feeling very sleepy. It was also one of the films that appeared regularly on those Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock films lists you find on the Internet. So by all accounts it was definitely worth a look and for the next 2 hours, I indulged myself in the world of the Master of Suspense
Synopsis
Much like his other films, this one is also a mystery thriller which keeps you guessing and doubting until the very end. The story is about a Santa Monica family who unexpectedly but happily receive the news that “Uncle Charlie” is coming over to the East Coast to visit. Little do they know that their dear old uncle is fleeing from some men who are looking for him, however we and they don’t know why. Their eldest daughter also called Charlie (full name Charlotte), believes that her uncle and herself are quite related given that they have the same name. This raises Uncle Charlie’s suspicion that she may be onto him and when two “photographers” come to visit the family to feature the family in a news article, the truth behind Uncle Charlie and his past starts to get revealed. I certainly do not want to spoil this film, because it gets more exciting and interesting as it approaches the end.
Analysis
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Of A Doubt and it is perhaps an under rated film given that most of the focus are on the films Hitchcock made in the late 50s and early 60s. Hitchcock himself said that it was the probably his most favorite American film.
The highlight of this film is by far is Teresa Wright’s performance as the young Charlie. Just before she made this film, she had been nominated for 2 Academy Awards for acting just before the age of 25. Quite amazing. While being a fine actress, she is also extremely beautiful and her presence really shines through in every scene.
Perhaps the only thing that I didn’t enjoy about this film was the abrupt ending. I felt that it was all resolved too quickly and too easily. While a quick resolution is not uncommon for a Hitchcock film I felt that this one was just too quick. You may disagree with me on this one.
Final Verdict
I’ve chosen to give this a rating of 3 and half stars. In terms of the Hitchcock movies from the 1940s, this is right up there with the best. However, when you compare them with his masterpieces in the 50s and 60s like North by Northwest, this one lags behind.
Nevertheless, Shadow Of A Doubt is still an enthralling and exciting suspense thriller that everyone can enjoy.
North By Northwest – Alfred Hitchcock
The other day I saw one of the movies I’d been wanting to see for a long time: North By Northwest. Up until 2 months ago, I had not seen a single Alfred Hitchcock movie despite hearing and reading various movie reviews raving about the genius of the man and his movies. It was only a matter of time before I started to delve into his extensive catalogue of movies.
The first Hitchcock movie I watched was Psycho principally because I wanted to actually see that famous shower scene and what it was all about. I absolutely loved the movie and then proceeded to getting my hands on any Alfred Hitchcock movie I could find. North by Northwest was one of the movies I could not get my hands on until a couple of days ago for various reasons. In the meantime I’d seen Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Blackmail, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Rope, Rear Window and The Man Who Knew Too Much. As a result, North by Northwest was the 12th film I’d seen from the Master of Suspense.
Synopsis
North By Northwest deals with the theme of the “wrong man” which was common in various Hitchcock movies. In this case, the protagonist Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant), is mistaken for a government agent by the name of George Kaplin and does not why he is being pursued by mysterious men across America. The only problem is that George Kaplin does not exist, and is simply a decoy to trick another spy trying to smuggle secrets out of the USA. The gorgeous Eva Marie Saint plays the role of the beautiful yet mysterious blonde Eve Kendall who encounters Thornhill and is somehow involved in all the commotion. I certainly do not want to spoil such a brilliant film, so I invite you to go and watch it immediately if you haven’t done so.
Analysis
All in all, an absolutely brilliant Hitchcock movie, which is probably the most complete Hitchcock film in terms of the type of plot, characters, script and twists he is known for.
The most enjoyable aspect of the film for me was the very witty script which contains so many classic one-liners. The memorable one for me is where Cary Grant’s character (the good guy) says to James Mason’s character (the bad guy): “the only role that will satisfy you is when I play dead.” Brilliantly hilarious! Out of all of Hitchcock’s movies, this one certainly has the best script and rightly so.
The range of locations is also breathtaking. The movie starts in the hustle and bustle of New York before moving to Chicago, then to the countryside and finally to Mount Rushmore for the climax. A perfect advertisement to attract tourists to America. In fact, Hitchcock took up this approach in one of the trailers.
The brilliance of music composer Bernard Herrmann is on show once again in this film. In all honesty (and many movie critics agree with me on this one), Hitchcock’s greatest films in the late 1950s and early 1960s would haven’t achieved that status without the ingenious scores from Bernard Herrmann. The pieces during the opening credits and the car scene is the best one here.
The highlight of this movie is by far the “crop duster scene.” Even if you haven’t seen this film, there’s a good chance that you’ve already seen this scene either as an image or video. It is certainly one of the most memorable scenes in Hollywood history and is just behind the famous shower scene in terms of Hitchcock films.
Final Verdict
I give this film a strong rating of 4 1/2 stars. While being a great film, my favorite Hitchcock film is still Vertigo and North by Northwest sits just behind that film on my favorites list.
However, if you are looking for an adventurous, witty and fun experience nonstop from start to finish, then nothing beats North By Northwest.
The Ultimate Guide To Classic Movies
It gives me great honor and satisfaction to finally begin this brand new blog on Classic Movies. The idea for starting up this blog has been wandering around in my head for more than 3 months for a number of reasons.
Firstly, over the last 7 months or so, I have gotten a deep and almost fanatical appreciation for old classic films from the past. The main reason why this has happened is because I did a course at university called The Hollywood System during the first 6 months of the year. As part of this course, we had to watch 1 classic Hollywood film every week and each film was related to the each week’s topic. Before doing this course, I hadn’t really explored old films, and while I loved cinema, my focus was mainly on contemporary movies (those from the last 2 decades or so). However, this completely changed as soon as I watched movies from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and so on. I then realized that movies from this era weren’t “so bad” after all. In fact, by the time I knew it, I realized that most of these Classic Movies were better than most contemporary movies. What had I been missing out on?!
As a result, even after my university course ended, I have continued to indulge myself in old classic films and watching all those great movies that everyone says you have to watch. Nowadays, I rarely, if ever watch a film that was made after 1980. What an incredible change! Now I know why actors and actresses from these eras are revered and held in high esteem many years after their prime.
The second major reason for starting this blog is because I’ve already got a successful blog showcasing my passion for classic songs. In fact, it’s been exactly 1 year since I started that blog and it has grown from strength to strength. Currently, it gets more than 6,000 per month and I expect to grow exponentially in the next 12 months. So I’ve got a fair amount of experience in starting and maintaining successful blogs. The other blog is called All Time Classic Songs, which in turn inspired the name of this blog.
The objective of this blog is to share my passion for classic films to a worldwide audience. The way I envisage doing this is by writing reviews on some of my favorite films. In some cases, I may write a review straight after watching the film for the first time.
If you want to read more about me, please refer to the About page of the blog.
In the meantime enjoy reading my articles about Classic Movies on this blog.
