Hitchcock: Reviews & Discussions

I watched a couple 1927 Hitchcock works recently, and here's my thoughts on them.

Downhill (1927)
This film really didn't work for me at all. It centers around a man in boarding school who goes with his friend to see a girl who invites them to a bun shop while her parents are away. In a 1920s sort of way, the man's friend kisses and dances with the girl, and she later accuses them both of improper conduct. For some reason, she names our protagonist as the one who did it (I suppose she was upset he wasn't into her, it's not really explained) and the man is expelled from school. Apparently he and his friend made some sort of pact that's never shown in the film, and is never really elaborated on either. I suppose they made a "hey, if one of us is accused of rape but the other person did it, take the fall, dude!" agreement or something, either way it's completely stupid. So the protagonist returns home, is spurned by his father, and then everything goes, ahem, downhill. He sort of bounces from one ill-explained subplot to another, including one where he's basically a gigolo and is forced to dance with ugly old women in Paris or something. Yeah... I had a complaint with the film that I've never had before with a silent film; it didn't have enough title cards to explain what the hell was going on. Not that the story is very strong to begin with, but it was made even more confusing due to a lack of explanation for a lot of it. Anyways, basically the only thing I liked was that Hitchcock employs some pretty cool camera shots like some neat POV sequences that hint at his talent. Unfortunately, this film is a major dud in the story department. I haven't seen a lot of Hitchcock outside of his big ones, but this is far and away the worst of his that I've seen.

5/10

The Lodger (1927)
Now this is more like it. Later in 1927, Hitchcock made a film far more synonymous with his career where a serial killer in London has been killing blonde women every Tuesday night. While this is happening, a mysterious lodger (who plays the protagonist in Downhill) rents a room. He and the young woman living there begin to fall in love, though his odd behavior and late night walks lead everyone else to believe that he's the killer. Is he? Well, you'll have to watch this to find out, but it's classic Hitchcock in the vein of Shadow of a Doubt or The Lady Vanishes, though not as good as either of those. It's a breezy viewing at just 70 minutes, but of Hitchcock's silent era work this might be his most "Hitchcock" of the bunch. There's some very good editing on display here, and the reveal at the end isn't a cheap one even if it isn't totally amazing either. There's not much depth to the film, but it's a fun, one-time viewing that any Hitchcock enthusiast will enjoy.

7/10

Film Five: Notorious



Notorious is not one of Hitchcock's most famous films but it is held in very high esteem by film scholars and academic types. It's easy to see why. While ostensibly the film is a spy-thriller and does function within the confines of that genre, it's as a psychologically rich love triangle that the film really shines. The film is oozing with symbolic sexuality whether in the form of the "long kiss" sequence or more subtle Freudian imagery. It's impressive to see how Hitchcock portrayed all of this within the limitations of the Hays code. Like I said though, what really works here are the relationship dynamics and the characters. The fact that Devlin is essentially prostituting Alicia to complete a mission gives the story a perverse edge, and there's the added irony that Devlin comes to resent her for this, and not the other way around. Comparatively, for all of Alex's faults, he does seem to genuinely love Alicia and also seems to be a victim of an overly controlling and villainous mother. It is his own weak-will which allows him to be manipulated the way he is, but the character is not a simplistic villain and is in some ways more sympathetic than the hero.

This also features some of the best acting in Hitchcock's filmography. Ingrid Bergman is great in a complex role which requires her to be both powerful and vulnerable, while also struggling with her own self-worth and trying to grow. Cary Grant is doing a riff on his usual charming persona, but there's a darker edge and more bitter edge to Devlin that we don't often get from him. My favourite performance though is Claude Rains, who is likable and even charming to an extent, but also insecure and quite pitiful. He is a man who does and engages in horrible things, but is also fearful and sad. The fact that he gets a shot at genuine happiness that turns out to be fraudulent is almost tragic. Almost. He's still a villain of course, but there's a great degree of moral complexity to the character and Rains brings this out perfectly.

Hitchcock continues to be ambitious with his camera work. There are some amazing shots here, including some impressive movements and tracking shots, but they are never done for their own sake. They always serve to bring attention to elements of the plot or characters, or to accentuate the mood. The film is also a damn good thriller even removing the sexual politics. It's extremely tense watching Alicia navigate through the lion's den and when things do eventually go south the results are gripping. There a lot of great little Hitchcockian scenes, but my favourite here is easily the film's climax. It's one of the simplest set-pieces Hitch probably ever did (it's basically just people walking down some stairs), but the tension is so palpable with so many different, violent outcomes possible depending on the character's choices. And the pay-off to that scene is brilliant. It's the perfect culmination to the film as a thriller and a psychologically wrought love story between these three people. The story closes things out nicely while still letting things mostly play unsaid and it has a really dark cynical edge the more you think about it. In short, it's a pretty perfect mic-drop.

There are a lot of Hitchcock films I love which preceded Notorious, but for my money, this was his first full-on masterpiece.

A+

My thread suffers a bit from the same.

I really liked Rope when I watched it, it's been some time but I enjoyed it.  The one thing that annoyed the hell out of me was the painfully obvious fake piano.  The keys didn't even move!

Good point. The scene where Philip is frantically hitting the keys is pretty amusing in how over the top it is.



This is your thread. I'm trying to keep the legacy alive.

Did a college paper on the episode of Mad About You based on Rope.

That the two main characters are gay and into bondage.

The one in the hallway?

I watched this movie based on Rope first on FearNet and have never found the reason to spoil it's perfection watching the original:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.S.V.P._(film)

Hitchcockathon Film 7: Strangers on a Train (1951)



Strangers on a Train is an interesting beast. On the one hand, the film is VERY Hitchcockian. It's a story about an innocent man who finds himself in over his head in a plot where he's accused of a crime, it explores Hitchcock's perverse fascination with murder, it features a sinister villain with a twisted mother relationship, there's a thick layer of suspense, and the film hangs on some amazing set-pieces. At the same time, this film is a bit of an aberration in Hitchcock's filmography. The film is a lot more noir-tinged than Hitchcock's other works. Hitchcock had maybe tiptoed in noir with something like Notorious, but the distorted angles and deep-rooted cynicism of Strangers represents a deeper plunge. What's more, the film is lacking in a lot of the humour that underlies seemingly comparable Hitchcock thrillers.

I bring all of this up because I think it's interesting to view the film within the context of Hitchcock's work, particularly as I'm marathoning through his films, but ultimately it only matters so much when assessing the film itself. What does matter is how exquisitely crafted this film is. Farley Granger makes for a good hero/victim, but the star here is easily Robert Walker, who makes for a very unnerving villain. He's a genuinely creepy and twisted individual, but he presents himself in a way which is kindly and even charming, which actually makes him even creepy. There's also a certain childlike sense to the character which adds a psychological level and also just makes him more fun to watch. The film is also shot very well and the set-pieces here are among Hitchcock's best. The long stalking scene coupled with the quick murder in particular is an astonishingly good piece of cinema.

I do wish the ending had a bit more teeth. Things wrap up a little too easily for me, especially given how cynical the film had been up to that point. Still, the scene by scene execution is such that to call Strangers on a Train anything less than a classic is crazy.

A+

I did see Throw Momma from the Train around 10 years ago. I remember liking it, but my memory is hazy. I also remember the lame cop-out ending.