Is anyone a Hitchcock fan?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

I have REALLY gotten into his films lately. Last weekend, I happened to catch "The Rear Window" on TV and got totally sucked in.

So this past weekend, I decided to rent "North by Northwest." WOW. Fantastic stuff!

Next weekend, it's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and possibly Fritz Lang's "M" if I can get a copy (since Peter Lorre is in both and I heard M is absolutely incredible...).

I had no idea Hitchcock had so many films, too. I could list about five to seven of them before, but now that I've looked on Amazon and IMDB, I see he made a hell of a lot more than I knew.

Oh after The Man Who Knew Too Much will be Vertigo. We always wait until it's dark and make the whole house TOTALLY dark (no lamps) and get a big bowl of popcorn.

I think dialogue was both wittier AND cornier back then, by the way. And I found the Cary Grant/Eve Marie Saint stuff in North by Northwest downright HOT.

[jeff30997]

1. I love The Rear Window. One of my favorite with...

Vertigo and Psycho.The guy was brilliant.

[pacalo]

2. Be sure to check out "The Birds" & "Psycho". :)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

6. Those are definitely on the list!

I want to watch ALL of his films.

[Beaverhausen]

3. Oh yeah! Rear Window and NXNW are my favs

but you really can't go wrong with Hitch.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

4. It's funny

I thought they both started rather slowly and gained steam slowly but the last 1/4 of them (especially North by Northwest, WOW!) was SO DAMN GOOD. It's like you reach a point in his films where you KNOW you are hooked and are literally sitting on the edge of your couch, mouth hanging open, yelling, "OMG, HE KNOWS SHE WAS USING A GUN WITH BLANKS!!"

LOL.

[MrSandman]

5. "The Trouble with Harry"

One of the greatest comedies of all time.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

8. Is that a Hitchcock film?

I hadn't heard of it! And it's a comedy? Definitely going to have to check that out!

[Dookus]

9. ah, you must see it!

Shirley MacLaine's first film, also featuring Jerry Mathers as NOT the Beave.

[MrSandman]

11. Yes, yes, and yes.

from mid-50's.

[pagerbear]

13. Oh yes! Love that movie!

Shirley MacLaine's first movie! And a young John Forsythe (woof!).

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

7. A true Master

if you think about it, rarely did he show any violence. It was much more effective when suggested. I like every movie he did.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

14. Yep **SPOILERS**

I can even let my almost 10 year old watch them. I haven't seen any real blood yet. A dog was killed in Rear Window, but you don't see it. A guy falls off Mt. Rushmore, but you don't see him land. Etc.

And I want to see "M" (not a Hitchcock, but a Fritz Lang film) because supposedly he did such a good job with NOT showing the violence. Peter Lorre plays a psychopathic child killer but for instance, you see only a red balloon getting caught in power lines while a mother screams, etc. Supposedly the cinematography is sublime.

[MrSandman]

23. Even the guy that got shot

in NXNW walks away.

On edit...Roger Thornhill

[pagerbear]

33. Oops--replied to wrong post,but leave it here anyway.

Can't remember the title! The one where Joseph Cotten plays the uncle and his teenage niece figures out his secret! Somebody help!

[Dookus]

37. Shadow of a Doubt

[miss_kitty]

47. that was a young young Martin Landau falling off the mt in nxnw n/t

[pagerbear]

10. Please! There is no "The" in the title of "Rear Window"

Sacrilege! That's one of my all-time favorite movies! I love his others, but I really think that's his masterpiece.

Be sure to see Spellbound and Rope, too. And Saboteur--I promise you'll never look at the Statue of Liberty the same way again! Rebecca is wonderful! Dang, there are so many terrific Hitchcock movies! Every now and then one of the movie channels will have a Hitchcock weekend--those are terrific!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

16. Oh sorry

I am a newbie to the Hitchcock stuff, sorry!

I especially love all the rich settings. In North by Northwest, I enjoyed seeing the interior shots of the UN, etc. And I was just at Mt. Rushmore last month! (I was NOT scaling the faces, however!)

[SideshowScott]

22. Ohh Yeah Saboteur!! Great film! The Statue of Lib sceane is great!

And done without commputers I might add..Today that whole sequence would have been done on a workstation..I really think why movies SUCK SUCK SUCK nowadays is beacuse they realy too much on Commputers and not skill.
My other fave scene is when the warehouse catches fire and you see that one guy slumping in the flames wow!

[Dookus]

12. He was probably

the greatest director ever.

He learned his art directing German silent films. He learned to tell a story using visuals.

So much of what now seem like film cliches were NOT cliches when Hitchcock invented them. He created much of the glossary used in film today.

[SideshowScott]

15. Hitchcock is the MAN!!

Hands down none of these new " Hot " Directors can hold a candle to Hitch..Watch " The 39 Steps " and you will see shots that directors are now useing commuters for. The fact he never won an oscar is the shame of tinsiltown. The man was a pure genuis and his films are just as good as anything thats put out today even better. He is one of the greats up there with Kubrick. In fact so many directors try to be Hitchcock will say something right there.. The Usual Suspects is one example. The Movie is fantastic but if it was not for Hitch there would be no Kyser Soase
Fave Hitch films
The lady vanishes
The 39 Steps
Lifeboat
Strangers on a train
The Birds
Rear Window
Rope
The man who knew too much
North by Northwest
Psycho

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

19. Thanks for the recommendations

I was even impressed by how the opening credits for NXNW were done--there was a reflection of traffic in a mirrored skyscraper and the words came down slanted like the cars. It seemed very modern for when the film was made.

[SideshowScott]

27. No problem Just about every Hitch film is great..

Oh yeah there was some clunkers but no other diector has that many classics under his belt..I watch any hitch film and nearly scream " Hitchcock is THE MAN!!" when i see a scene of pure genuis
also watch " Shadow of a doubt " another great film..
One of my faves is the 39 steps a action moive before action movies
also watch
dail m for murder
virtigo
spellbound
frenzy

[Beaverhausen]

17. Brian DePalma is a huge Hitchcock fan

several of his films are almost homages to Hitch especially

Body Double
Blow Out
even The Untouchables: that scene in the train station with the baby carraige going down the stairs - GREAT!!!

[Englander]

49. "The Untouchables"...

Scene at the train station is a homage to ancient,silent,Russian film, "Battleship Potemkin"

:) :)

[flamingyouth]

18. The better question: Is anyone NOT a Hitchcock fan?

I mean, really? The man was an evil genius! :D

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

21. Before last weekend

I had NEVER seen a Hitchcock film. I always heard about them, but just never watched one.

The only reason we watched "Rear Window" (better pager? LOL!) is because our Britcoms weren't on PBS and they were showing that instead. We caught it at the beginning and couldn't stop watching.

AFter that I said "DAMN, I got to watch the rest of his movies! Where the hell have *I* been?" LOL

[flamingyouth]

24. North by Northwest! Do not wait!!!

Rent it and watch it now! :D

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

25. I watched it last night!

You didn't read the original post at the top did you? ;-)

I LOVED NXNW. Abso-frigging-lutely LOVED it. I thought the beginning was a touch slow and I NEVER bought that the woman playing his mother could be his mother (she only looked slightly older than him!), but the plot was incredible, the dialogue was fantastic, the stuff between Cary Grant and Eve Marie Saint was hotter than hell (mmmmm Cary!) and the ending was fantastic.

[flamingyouth]

30. BWAH! Um, no, I didn't read the top post!

Just the subject! :7

[redqueen]

20. I am

You're in for a treat watching them all for the first time. :)

[sir_captain]

26. Check out the avatar!

I highly, highly, highly recommend Vertigo--in my opinion his best film. Another one of his films that's less known but truly fantastic is The Lady Vanishes, which is one of his earlier British films.

In terms of The Man who Knew Too Much, I actually prefer the second one he made (he remade his own movie once he arrived in Hollywood) but it's worth seeing both versions for comparison purposes.

It's also exceedingly important not to miss Strangers on a Train--a really creepy movie.

[Beaverhausen]

28. Just saw Strangers on a Train

creepy - and the american and british versions are very different.

apparantly the british version had more of a homosexual undercurrent.

[sir_captain]

43. It does

though it's just through the insertion of a few scenes--it's not really that different...

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

29. I Actually can't wait to see Vertigo

because I have an EXTREME fear of heights, so that will make it even more fun for me.

Heck I could hardly watch the Mt. Rushmore scaling scenes in NXNW becasue it make me sick and dizzy.

And what the HELL was she doing scaling those faces wearing HEELS and GLOVES? LOL!

[Dookus]

35. Vertigo is his masterpiece

It makes me long to live in San Francisco in the late '50s.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

36. Ok I think in light of this and other things I've read

and comments here, we're gonna move "Vertigo" up to THIS weekend. I can't stand it anymore.

[Dookus]

38. yeah

good plan. It's an amazing movie.

Also see To Catch a Thief (good fun with Grant and Grace Kelly) and Notorious (One of Bergman's great roles).

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

39. I was reading about Notorious today

I love Ingrid Bergman; "Casablanca" used to be one of my favorites (burned myself out on it).

I couldn't think of her name in a conversation several weeks ago and I kept saying "Isabella Rossalini's mother!" LOL

[pagerbear]

40. I was trying to remember Notorious, too!

[sir_captain]

44. absolutely

I love his movies, but Vertigo is his real work of art...

[miss_kitty]

31. so you are talking about alfred, not robin? n/t

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

34. Yes, Alfred

[miss_kitty]

46. hahahahaha! i was reading-i like to ask questions that make me look

like i'm not paying attention.
some of the stuff Hitchcock did in his early days as a film maker were really good and rarely viewed, 'The Lodger' 1927 is a good one and is a silent movie, Sabotage, 1936 UK (Not 'Saboteur', 1944 US) is very good, but he made a grave mistake in it, which killed a really good film. i won't say what it was, i don't want to spoil it. the early english versions of 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' 1934 and 'The 39 Steps' 1936 are superb; and you are not treated to Doris Day belting out her signature tune, 'Que Sera Sera' w/ the early version of 'Man'...
'The Lady Vanishes-great film...but 'Murder' 1930 and 'Blackmail' 1929 are also excellent early films.
'Rope' 1948 is excellent, and is famous for having only 4 or so cuts in the film maybe it 6-7, but still it's very a small # and clever. 'Lifeboat'1944 takes place in only a lifeboat, and he had to be clever about putting himself in that particular film, which was a trademark of his
later in his career, he got in early in the film, after he found out people were too distracted trying to find him.
the paradine case is sucky. i could list more, but i am full...you could hardly go wrong with Hitch

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

32. Little factoid I learned from IMDB

when Eve Marie Saint says "I never discuss love on an empty stomach" to Cary Grant on the train in NXNW (when they first meet) that was actually dubbed over later to appease studio execs. She actually said, "I never make love on an empty stomach."

A lot of the dialogue in that scene and the next few made me and my friend look at each other with wide eyes and arched brows. Hotness!

[Ron Green]

42. Check out "Torn Curtain," too...

it's a good Cold War thriller. The bus ride to freedom is one of the great cinematic suspense scenes.

[pagerbear]

48. OMG! I'd forgotten!

[pagerbear]

41. His use of fashion and design in movies was amazing!

Even using these details as plot points (as in Vertigo and Shadow of a Doubt--but I won't give it away). God, what a master! Is there anyone today who can compare?

[Bob2112]

45. Hitchcock GOOD!

Have seen all of the movies on your list and Vertigo is THE BEST. North by Northwest was probably second best. Go to imdb.com and pull off the top 250 movies of all time. I think you would enjoy it. :) -B

[auburngrad82]

50. The new Hitchcock DVDs have great special features

Interviews, original trailers, etc. My favorites are Rear Window, North By Northwest, and The Birds. It's amazing how creepy The Birds is, even today.