Hmm, I just can't get enough of him lately. Been watching alot of his stuff and I'm always mesmerized by his amazing talent to conjure suspenseful moments so naturally. Also catching up with his series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which is also a gem. Just love his intro and outtro in every episode.

Anyone else a fan of him?

Add me to the list.

My favorite films:
- Strangers on a Train
- Rear Window
- Dial M for Murder (perfect compliment to Strangers)
- North By Northwest
- Vertigo
- Psycho
- Birds

Having said that, I didn't like To Catch A Thief, Rope, Topaz and Man Who Knew Too Much. Haven't seen the series or the complete filmography but yes, love him to bits.

Rope was amazing, my 2nd fav Hitchcock film actually. It was so simple but yet so tense. I heard that there're only 6 cuts in the movie, haven't really watch it the 2nd time though.

Didn't like the gay undertones and the coloration was absolutely horrid. Same goes for To Catch A Thief, Cary Grant looked as if his skin was burnt brown.

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Well, color me yellow and call me ignorant. I never knew the Low Yat movie thread had an Alfred Hitchcock forum, let alone two!!

I was thinking about starting one and was most surprise to find two.

Since I'm more familiar with Makakeke, I thought I'll post my stuff here. I've not visited the Low Yat forum for quite some time and is not even sure if he still visits...

Okay

Alfred Hitchcock work, is ingrain in many people minds. Yes even kiddies. They reason is, his works is so influential, a lot of current directors emulate him!!

Alfred Hitchcock was probably the first to come out with a formula for "Suspense" and "Thriller" in movies and people who are familiar with his work will also say in their minds anyway, Hitchcock had done this and Hitchcock had done that whilst watching a current movie!! (I do anyway)

Many modern director had tried (and some had failed miserably, never muck with the master, unless you know what you are doing!!)

Namely

Rope (1948) (supposedly based on true event) was remade as Murder by Numbers (2002) (a bad remake)
Dial M for Murder (1954) was remade as A Perfect Murder (1998) (I kinda like this remake)
Psycho (1960) was remade as Psycho (1998) (Pure and utter disaster!!)

I'm sure there are more, but for the life of me, at 1:16 am in the morning, the old noodle is stretched thin...

What had me tickled pink is they are now releasing most of Hitchcock's movies on Hi Def, which is good. Not all of Hitchcock's movie had been available DVD. And I don't think all his works will be made available on Hi Def... I doubt alot of his early works in England would ever be release on Hi Def....

The first time I watch this, I watched on on DVD.

Now having the opportunity to watch it in High Def, a lot more detail had popped up.

Mainly the texture of the characters' clothing and detail of objects.

There are some really soft scenes and that is mainly due to the shots with rear projection (an old fashion special effect technique)

The plot of the movie is thus

Guy Haines, and up and coming Tennis Superstar is entangled with his wife.

She has been making demands for him and had promised to give him a divorce.

Meanwhile, he is dating a senator's daughter and has been frank with her about his soon to be divorced wife.

He travels by train to his hometown to finalize his divorce.

On the train he meets up with Bruno Antony, who recognizes Guy Haines as the tennis player...

He also know a lot about his personal life and came up with the idea of switching murders...

As they say, the plot thickens...

I understand that this wasn't a big hit for Hitchcock, and he later commented that maybe his choice of the unknown lead actors namely Farley Granger and Ruth Roman maybe a poor one.

I actually appreciate both of them and thought that they did their respective roles well.

So kiddies, if you want to know the original master of suspense, give this a try.

I'll try to post all my observation about the Alfred Hitchcock movies as I revisit them on Hi Def

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 26 2012, 11:45 AM

psycho 4 me is the best hitchcock movie yet i will watch the other hitchcock filmography some other time haha

This post has been edited by skylinelover: Oct 26 2012, 10:10 PM

Haha! Think Psycho, think Hitchcock..

haha now only i realize y HITCHCOCK thread suddenly popped up...it is 2 coincide with the new movie HITCHCOCK starring anthony hopkins s the man in master of suspense himself

Or, his movies are now available in Bluray!!

Okay. Call it serendipity!!

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 27 2012, 07:30 PM

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

This was release on Bluray on the Dec 06, 2011.

I must have watched it again some time soon after that.

I had intended to post my observations soon after but work/time schedule/procrastination set in...

As a bluray piece, most people familiar with the format would be disappointed.

Supposedly, Criterion had put alot of effort into transferring this from 35mm prints to the digital format.

It is suppose to be way superior compared to the DVD release.

Looking at the source material they had to work with I would go as far as to say, it is only decent.

Please bare in mind this movie came out in 1938...

The story is thus

A rich American playgirl, Iris Henderson, on a holiday in Europe, meets up with a semi retired governess Miss Froy. They were leaving the small village they were in on the same train in the morning. That evening Iris, was rudely awaken by Gilbert (he likes playing music loudly at night) and through this situation they meet. Iris is really cheese off by Gilbert.

In the morning, Iris and Miss Froy boarded the train. But before they could, a flower pot fell off a ledge at the train station and landed on Iris head!! Miss Froy brought her into the train and gave her some of her tea. Iris decided to take a nap because she has a headache and the last thing she saw was Miss Froy smiling face. She slept for a while and when she awoke, Miss Froy is no where to be seen and no one recollect seeing her... In her search, she bumps into Gilbert...

This is a very VERY old movie, and some part may seem... meh, but Hitchcock has the ability to draw you back in and takes you on a train ride!!

Give this a try why don't you...

My Two Sen

IMO while the popular classics stands in their own league (Psycho, Birds Etc etc) i liked the less known gem like Shadow of A Doubt, where the theme song stucked in my head for months! and also Torn Curtain, with Paul Newman n Julie Andrews. Although some said its a lesser Hitchcock, it's still hold its twists n surprises. My fav though has to be North by Northwest haha. in a not totally related way, my favourite Hitchcock movie not by Hitchcock is Charade (maybe there shud be a thread for movies like this!)

I, on the other hand, will have to say that my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie is I Confess (1953). There really isn't much "thrills" and "suspense".

What I like about the movie is the moral question it ask. Would your "betray" you faith, if it means saving your life?

I don't think many a people in this day and age can look themselves in the mirror and honestly answer that question. Because to function in life, it is no longer black and white but different shades of grey. So this becomes an impossible question to answer....

Interestingly, I Confess is not part of the bluray being release by Universal... Possible, because the right belongs to Warner

Warner has so far release Dial "M" for Murder and Stranger on the Train. Who knows, maybe in the near future.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 28 2012, 11:15 AM

haha interesting analysis u got there

did u watch REBECCA 1940 n SUSPICION 1941? do post your review here when u r free ok. i found this 2 b the only HITCHCOCK work 2 win academy award big 2 which is BEST PICTURE n BEST LEADING ACTRESS. what a way 2 call in the hollywood presence in style.

This post has been edited by skylinelover: Oct 28 2012, 08:00 AM

Interesting choice of works

Rebecca (1940)

I cannot talk about Rebecca without mentioning David O. Selznick.

He produced Gone with the Wind. And because of the buzzed generated while producing Gone with the Wind, he used that as leverage to invited Alfred Hitchcock to America to direct movies.

Also interesting to note that Alfred Hitchcock had earlier visited America and was not able to get any studios interested in taking him on as a director, though at that time he had already made a couple of internationally critically acclaim movies, namely Jamaica Inn, The Lady Vanishes etc.

David O. Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock were NOT compatible. They both had VERY different working styles and I believe Hitchcock had gone as far as describing Selznick as being meddlesome.

There are stories of Selznick visiting Rebecca's set and demanding all kinds of changes, Hitchcock would shoot the scenes according to how Selznick "suggested" and as soon as Selznick leaves, Hitchcock would reshoot the scene as he had originally planned...

Having Laurence Olivier (already a well known actor) and Joan Fontaine (an ingenue at this point) weren't easy.

Laurence felt that Joan was not in his caliber and when they were not shooting a scene, he had totally ignored her. There is a story where the entire crew threw Joan Fontaine a surprise birthday party and after the candles were blown and the cake was cut, Olivia took his piece and walked back to his own changing room, ignore the party...

I like this movie. Probably one of the first Alfred Hitchcock movie I had the chance to watch in it entirety.

The reason I believe why Selznick was attracted to his material is probably because it is Wuthering Height-ish.

Also, I understand the first project Selznick originally wanted Hitchcock to work on, is a movie about The Titanic, but scrap the plan when he couldn't get a boat to sink!!!!

The story is thus

A young Au Pair meets a rich widower Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo. They fall in love and got married. They then return to Maxim home. The new Mrs De Winter finds that adapting to her new life is a lot more complicated then she thought it would be. The original Mrs De Winter still cast a large shadow...

If possible kiddies, watch this if you get the chance.

Sorry for rambling on. As stated this was the very first Alfred Hitchcock movie that introduces his movies to me (I did see some Alfred Hitchcock Present before this) and I had dig as much "dirt" as I can about it...

I have done a review of Rebecca some time back, in a thread called Last Movie Watched

Here is what I had posted there Rebecca Review

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 28 2012, 07:00 PM

thanks 4 the reviews

The Birds (1963)

This is probably one of Alfred Hitchcock's best known work.

It is also probably one of Hitchcock's movie I like the least.

This is Hitchcock's most special effects laden or in another words, most technically demanding movie by Hitchcock and there lies the problem.

What Hitchcock wanted to present in the movie in 1963, was alot more complex then the technology which was available then, would allow.

Alot of the scenes would require either rear projection technique, or optical projection technique.

Because alot of green screen and many layering was required, but the time the nth layer was added, some layers just got too blurred... hence not able to sell the scene. At least for me.

Also alot of the action scene were done with blue/green screen, and because of the speed required, the blue/green edge is really visible, again, making the scenes a hard sell to me...

There is a silver lining.

There is a scene in the movie, when the proverbial "shit has hit the fan", the people in the village start to look for a scape goat. And the lead actress (Tippi Hedren) character, Melanie Daniels, got the blame. Hitchcock made a very sharp observation by saying that no matter how civilized/evolved we think we are, when something happens, we would still resort to our more based instinct.

I have mention in my previous posting, that Hitchcock's work, is often copied/emulated, I really cannot say for a FACT that this is what happened, it is my humble opinion that Stephen King and director Frank Darabont, was inspired and explored this more thoroughly in the book/movie The Mist (2007)!

The story is thus

Melanie Daniels a modern rich socialite, in San Francisco, is attracted to lawyer Mitch Brenner. So much so that she tracks him down (he often goes back to his home town Bodega Bay during the weekends). Once she had done so, the birds in Bodega Bay starts to act up!!

Give this a try why don't you. At least you see some old school special effects (and before you snicker about the aged special effect, please note that George Lucas practically used the same technique. The difference is, he is filth rich enough to go back to all his original master film rescan everything to digital format and recompile everything again, giving you the sharp edges and seamless merging between the different film elements)

There is one more thing that troubles me about this movie



My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 29 2012, 08:39 PM

Saboteur (1942)

Good job Universal.

This is a good transfer to HD!

I love this transfer

This is alot better then the DVD transfer.

Please note that this was release two year after Rebecca (1940) and nine years BEFORE The Strangers On the Train (1951).

I really like this transfer. It is very consistent and unlike The Strangers On The Train the effects shots were minimum and weren't as obvious as Strangers...

This movie was made at the height of WWII, and it is interesting that "doing the right thing, liberty and good how good an average Americans are" are so "American".

I really feel that the cast, director and producer really believe in this (I'm sure there were some pressure put on movie company to make the "right" kind of movies during the war)

It is also interesting that the villains are all the the "rich and opulent" (old world) and that the average Joe (American) can "save" the day.

Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings makes interesting leads and also have to add the actor who play Priscilla Lane uncle, have the best lines about governments, and it is STILL applicable at this day and age...

The story start with Robert Cummings being accuse of being a Saboteur (the air plane factory he works at had a bad fire, stopping it from producing air plane for the war effort). He goes on a run.

It has a very clunky story line, where the plot lines don't actually match up.

And the ending... well, let not go into that.

I know I sound down right negative about this movie, but despite what I say above, it actually works!!

If you like old movie and you like thrillers, give this a try why don't ya!!

My two Sen

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

This by far is Alfred Hitchcock's most beautiful movie!

The transfer is sharp and the colour palate, BEAUTIFUL.

I don't think he uses color like this before and never did again after.

The late spring early autumn colours were just brilliant!!

This is also Alfred Hitchcock's more "comedic" and "quirky" work.

Dark comedy I believe they call them now

A VERY young and pretty Shirley MacLaine is in this one and I never knew how "off beat" she can be and she is REALLY off beat here...

The story is thus

Capt. Albert Wiles discovers a body whilst he was hunting.

He thinks he had killed the man with a stray bullet.

As he attempted to bury the body, almost everyone started traping through the area.

One was so engross in what he was doing he do not notice the body.

Another was more interested in what he can "procure" from the body (he took the corpse's shoes)

A young lady and a small boy notice the body during their walk. The young lady obviously recognized the body but didn't want to do anything about it...

When the coast was clear, the captain again proceed to attempt the burial but was discovered by another lady from the villages...

And there are a whole lost more details to be reveal about the movie!!!!

Oh the dead person, if you had not guessed by now, is Harry!

Watch this. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

My Two Sen

Psycho (1960) (50th Anniversary)

For some odd reason, I keep watching this???!

I have watched this on TV, DVD and a couple of times on HD and now Bluray format.

The 50th Anniversary bluray is JAM PACKED with all kinds of wonderful special features!!

They'd interviewed Janet Leigh (Shower scene anyone?). They interviewed Joseph Stefano (screenwriter). They also interviewed Patricia Hitchcock who is Hitchcock's daughter, who has a small role in the movie.

Lots and LOTS of P.O.V. from them and interesting too.

For example, Hitchcock actually hired a nude model (people who poses naked for art classes) to stand in the shower so they can figure out how dense the water from the shower needs to be so Janet Leigh's naughty bits will not show up in the movie!! Also how some of the special effects were done practically (films as it happens). For example, Martin Balsam (Det. Milton Arbogast) fell down the staircase (without actually falling down the staircase) etc.

Having watched the movie Hitchcock (2012), about a month and a half to two months back, surprisingly, only heighten this viewing for me!!

I still feel that the opening credit is a little "soft" (video quality wise) but once the movie opens, everything is crystal clear. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL black and white movie. One tidbit I learned from the special feature was, Hitchcock consciously made this movie in Black and White. There are two reason to this.

1) He had to finance this movie personally, because he contractually still owe Paramount Pictures one more picture before moving over to Universal and Paramount had out right refuse to budget the movie because of the subject matter. Filming it in Black and White would reduce the cost of production.

2) He did not believe the movie could pass the censorship board if it was filmed in color!!

(I told you, major tidbits)

I was having a conversation with an English gentleman a couple of weeks back. He is a self profess movie lover. And the conversation steer to Alfred Hitchcock where he expresses, 'Psycho?... I have watched it and it was meh...' I had to explain to this self professed movie lover how movies were like before Hitchcock and how he change the game and movie had never been the same... Forgive him, he is young (only 35 yo)

I really wonder, is there really an Alfred Hitchcock fan out there that has never seen this movie??

If there is, here is my challenge to you. Watch Hitchcock (2012) and then Psycho (1960) and then tell me honestly that Psycho had not influence cinema for the past 53 years. Think about that.

Again, as always, the above is merely my opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own.

My Two Sen

haha yet another nice review by the next ROGER EBERT in LYN

if pro movie reviewer dont suit you, how about you becoming film studies lecturer one day?

i believe there are huge differences between hollywood classics era and blockbuster hollywood years of today with over the top and over dependence in CGI

seriously i think old hollywood requires some switching your brain in 2 another mode 2 enjoy what the story is about

new hollywood on the other hand just needs you 2 shut your brain and you still can enjoy the whole movie as good plot no longer the top priority anymore

just my 2 sen