It's Hitchcock's World...
Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 8:00AM Yesterday I received my invitation to Hitchcock and I nearly let out a scream of delight. Not that the trailer convinced me a masterpiece awaited me or that I've rushed to read "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho" in preparation but I do tend to get excited for most things Hitchcock. The power of branding! I still remember the day I received the Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection box set (a gift from a generous reader some years ago) which felt like 15 Christmases at once.
Wouldn't it be neat if more Golden Age era directors had the sort of modern profile that The Master of Suspense still enjoys? Wouldn't it be neat if baby cineastes pored over every page of "William Wyler and the Making of Jezebel" (not a real book) or if the film version of "Billy Wilder and the Making of Some Like It Hot" (not a real book) retitled simply Wilder (not a real film) was a sudden hot Oscar buzz prospect for 2013 or if you could say "George Cukor" to anyone and they wouldn't think you were referring to a coworker or neighbor they didn't know. Wouldn't it be great if "King Vidor" didn't sound more fictional to people than Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genova?
But I digress.
My mind suddenly jolted to Hitchcock and his immense fame a record six times already this week: when Manuel Muñoz's (author of the Psycho-adjacent novel "What You See in the Dark") wrote up Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte for the blog; when I read Interiors Film Journal's look at the motel room in Psycho (What an interesting choice as I've never much considered it as a space before... just as a violent eruption of glass shard like images if you will, and again when I was ); when Vanity Fair posted those photos of young prankster Mitt Romney and the one of him with the etch-a-sketch totally had me shivering from its Norman Bates like quality only scarier because I can escape Bates' knife if I don't stay in his motel but how to escape Mitt's destructive capabality if he becomes President?; when Beau sent me a text saying "The Girl" (that other Hitchcock making-of bio) sucked; when the invite arrive and; first and foremost when I my friends covered me in seed and pidgeons landed all over me in Puerto Rico's Old San Juan (I'm just back from a week in the sun!) which made me want to watch THE BIRDS again immediately...
me in Old San Juan earlier this week. Amor a Puerto Rico
Well... immediately after a shower. They're so dirty!
P.S. This image doesn't even hint at how many of those birds land on you when you're holding bags of seed. They peck so furiously that your arms have polka dot imprints afterwards but the sound of their begging cooing right in your ears is remarkably endearing/freaky/surreal.
TALK TO ME... Which classic movie director outside of Hitchcock do you most wish had a higher profile these days? How high would you rate your anticipation of "Hitchcock" on the coming soon meter? Have you seen The Girl?
On an off-cinema note, have you ever been to Puerto Rico?
Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho, Puerto Rico, The Birds, biopics
Reader Comments (26)
Did you know they're voting on November 6th (Election Day) in Puerto Rico to see if it will become our 51st state? How exciting. But then again I supposed they will have to manufacture new American flags with another star added. That might create jobs no?
:)
I have been feeding a pigeon (and sometimes other ones too but there is one in particular that I feed everyday) for some time now. It comes in my window but it doesn't let me touch it even if it eats from my hand.
Which classic movie director outside of Hitchcock do you most wish had a higher profile these days?
Only about a hundred, but if forced to choose...
Michael Curtiz (possibly the most versatile director of the Golden Age. C'mon, the man directed Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, and The Adventures of Robin Hood, among others. RESPECT!)
David Lean (how do you go from filming intimate Noel Coward adaptations like Blithe Spirit and Brief Encounter to sweeping wide-screen epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago?)
Vincente Minelli (the man is the father of God's Gift to the Gays Liza Minelli, after all)
Stanley Donen (because everyone thinks Charade is a Hitchcock film and attributes Singin' In The Rain to just Gene Kelly)
Plus lots of foreign directors that Americans just don't care about.
That Oh Great One to Who All Other Directors Must Pay Tribute--William Wyler. He had it all-- elegant style, brilliant technique, unwavering instinct with actors, and marvelous thematic versatility. RESUME: Jezebel, The Letter, The Best Years of Our Lives, Roman Holiday, Ben-Hur, The Collector and Funny Girl. Nothing else to say.
I want people to become obsessed with Howard Hawks.
John Huston.
Hitch anticipation: a 6 at best.
Cute pic.
I saw the HBO movie "The Girl" ... it was somewhat better than I thought it would be. It dealt exclusively with his obsession with Tippi Hedren and how he ruined her Hollywood career affter making 2 pictures with her.
Every single director that's been mentioned so far is a HELL YES for me but I'm going to highlight a really obscure name, Mitchell Leisen, because I just rewatched "Midnight" which is a perfect comedy that stars Claudette Colbert and John Barrymore. He made some other good to great movies and I want to know more about him and see more of his movies.
I went to Puerto Rico about 8 years ago on vacation and still dream about the gorgeous white sands of Viecques. Glad you got a good vacation!
Diectors: Dorothy Arzner, Ida Lupino, Douglas Sirk, Nicholas Ray, Fritz Lang, Cukor
The golden era for movies is the decade you're born in. Longing for the past is deficiency and shouldn't be confused for longing for people from our past who are no longer with us. People from the past whose legacies continue onto modern culture usually are ahead of their time—hence their work is timeless. You could argue for others but they weren't forward thinkers artistically like Hitchcock.
4rtful -- we'll have to respectfully disagree on this since many artforms have peaks and valleys from decade to decade and there's nothing wrong with mourning declines in particular artforms (the musical is a prime example of an artform that was mostly lost by hollywood... they didn't make them so they lost the technical and artistic know-how to make great ones) or lost talents. For instance, today's directors (very generally speaking) absolutely suck at understanding the value of a varied subject/camera distance shooting almost exclusively in close-up.
anyway. I also think this argument that Hitchcock is the greatest because he's the most popular is suspect (although I do very very much love Hitchcock.) Popularity isn't everything and Familiarity / Self-Branding (which Hitchcock was smart about from the beginning) has as much to do with endurance as being a forward thinker but does not necessarily equate with greatness, just with a recognizable style -- see also Tim Burton.
Nathan, thanks for bringing up Burton. Talk about a filmmaker who I once admired but has since thrown away all of his better instincts to produce the most gawdawful drek this side of Richard Fleischer. BTW, never got the chance to tell you how much I enjoyed your review of Dark Shadows. Right on the money. That piece of compost was a travesty. Jonathan Frid should haunt Burton to the end of his days.
I was reminded of a discussion I had earlier this week. A co-worker was aghast that I hadn't seen a great chunk of Rob Reiner's oeuvre, including SPINAL TAP and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (I know, I know), then said that if I didn't spend all my time watching terrible movies nobody will remember like PAPERBOY, I would be able to soak in classics like those. Then I said, "I love BIG COUNTRY."
He: What's that?
Me: Classic western. Gregory Peck, Burl Ives won an Oscar. William Wyler directed.
He: You mean Billy Wilder?
Me: No, no. Wyler.
He: Oh, I thought you were getting fancy and calling Billy "William". Who's William Wyler?
Of course, when I mentioned "Ben-Hur", he remembered *that*, but couldn't think of anything else he'd done. So I want to see more awareness of Wyler. Because if self-described film buffs who berate others have no idea who he is, there's something wrong. Also: Tod Browning. From sideshow barker to cult director.
Nathan — I don't have an active interest in old Hollywood. Not to say I'm in love with the new films being produced, but, film loving today means applying everything to your personal preference. The Academy, critics, film historians, geeks, or college professors, no longer dictate where I should go for entertainment and enlightenment through the art form.
Of course we're very different. The musical is one of your top genres if not the top one. I love certain songs that have come out of musicals but I don't need them in narrative form to care. I see Nowadays from Chicago because it feels good, not because I'd like to see Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly doing a duet of it.
Nathan — I don't have an active interest in old Hollywood. Not to say I'm in love with the new films being produced, but, film loving today means applying everything to your personal preference. The Academy, critics, film historians, geeks, or college professors, no longer dictate where I should go for entertainment and enlightenment through the art form.
Of course we're very different. The musical is one of your top genres if not the top one. I love certain songs that have come out of musicals but I don't need them in narrative form to care. I sing Nowadays from Chicago because it feels good, not because I'd like to see Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly doing a duet of it.
Polanski, for sure. Not only for his directing qualities particularly between the 60s and 70s, but also due to his fascinating marriage.
Ze Vozone - I think Polanski's name is actually recognizable to a public audience. Admittedly, it's for all the wrong reasons, but still, if there were a movie called "Polanski" a much wider audience would know what it's about than say, Cukor.
Walter, what a classic story LOL. ITA, Wyler should be as much discussed by cineasts as Ford, Wilder, Welles, Powell and Hitch.
I wish people knew that Howard Hawks was the most versatile director ever, delivering masterpieces in every genre, from westerns to screwballs to musical to thrillers
Wyler received 3 Oscars out of 12 nominations. And he directed more Oscar-nominated performances (and more Oscar-winning performances) than any other director. Isn't that evidence enough! I love his films.
Hands down Preston Sturges for me. The best screenwriter-director of all time. And I still think Sidney Lumet was underrated, he didn't have strong supportive fans like many directors in his era (says Francis Coppola, Terrence Malick,or even Polanski), but his films more often than not aged extremely well.
Nat, I just read "William Wyler and the making of Jezebel" and felt shivers down my spine! I want this book and "Wyler" the movie right now! Who would you cast as Bette? I'm thinking Andrea Riseborough, maybe?
They've already been mentioned, but Stanley Donen, Douglas Sirk and Nicholas Ray for sure! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the director of Singin' in the Rain, Charade, and Funny Face has never been nominated for an Oscar (I know he has an Honorary Award but still).
I saw " The Girl" which should have been on Lifetime. Huston did lead a colorful life.
I keep waiting for the making of film of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" purely so it can be titled METROPOLIS NOW!