Topic: Alfred Hitchcock Marathon

[Najemikon]

I think you might be mixed up... Notorious is the German spy one, but I can't recall a particular stairs scene with Grant. Bergman, yes. However the famous stairs scene for Grant is the one with the illuminated milk in Suspicion. No Germans in that one!

Is the scene in colour? That would wipe out both of these...

[snowcat]

Thanks Jon, Im fairly sure its in colour to.

  I was hoping to use it as an example of good editing.

[Najemikon]

If it's definitely Cary Grant you're thinking of and definitely in colour, it can only be To Catch a Thief or North By Northwest. I can't think of which scene it would be. If you're looking for a good example of editing though, you may be better sticking with Notorious and Bergman's scene hiding the key.

[Tom]

Marnie (1964/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) Director: Alfred Hitchcock Writing: Winston Graham (Original Material By), Jay Presson Allen (Screenwriter) Length: 125 min. Video: Pan & Scan 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
'Tippi' Hedren as Marnie Edgar
Martin Gabel as Sidney Strutt
Sean Connery as Mark Rutland
Louise Latham as Bernice Edgar
Diane Baker as Lil Mainwaring

Plot:
The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock creates a spellbinding portrait of a disturbed woman, and the man who tries to save her, in this unrelenting psychological thriller. 'Tippi' Hedren is Marnie, a compulsive thief and liar who goes to work for Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), then attempts to rob him. Mark impulsively marries the troubled beauty and attempts to discover the reasons for her obsessive behavior. When a terrible accident pushes his wife to the edge, Mark forces Marnie to confront her terrors and her past in a shattering, inescapable conclusion.

Awards:
Nominated:

AFI (1964)

100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)

Extras:

• Featurettes
• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

After a long break from this marathon finally another review by me. Originally I watched all movies in this marathon with my brother. Even though he still proclaims I should only continue watching with him, he never is in the mood for it when he visits. So I decided to continue without him.
The main thing I was curious about this movie was Sean Connery. I thought he did a good job, but he seems a little emotionless. The actress playing Marnie did a great job though. Overall the movie was enjoyable, but nothing special to warrant rewatching it.

Rating:

[Tom]

Spoiler regarding Marnie:

(click to show/hide)

What somewhat bothers me is the age difference between Marnie and the mother. *SPOILER* According the reveal at the end Marnie was born when the mother was 15, maybe 16, yet it seems more like Marnie is around 30 and the mother 50 or even 60...?

(click to show/hide)

According to Wikipedia the age difference between the two actors was only eight years though.

[Najemikon]

The actress playing Marnie did a great job though. Overall the movie was enjoyable, but nothing special to warrant rewatching it.

 

I love an honest review! Tom, it's generally considered that Tippi Hedren (Melanie Griffiths mum, fact-fans) was beyond awful. I however, agree with you that she was at least ideal for this role. It worked. True, she didn't go on to greatness, but I liked her in The Birds too. The film overall isn't considered Hitchcock's best and I again go against the tide when I say I thought it was very good and an interesting plot. Not much rewatch value as you say, but by no means the disaster some would have you think it is.

[Dragonfire]

I've never seen this one..I may get it some day to add to my collection.

[snowcat]

If it's definitely Cary Grant you're thinking of and definitely in colour, it can only be To Catch a Thief or North By Northwest. I can't think of which scene it would be. If you're looking for a good example of editing though, you may be better sticking with Notorious and Bergman's scene hiding the key.

Hmm maybe it wasn't Cary Grant, ill keep looking.

I was going to use the key scene, but.... Im not sure I think it really camera skills more then editing.

[Dragonfire]

I think you might be mixed up... Notorious is the German spy one, but I can't recall a particular stairs scene with Grant. Bergman, yes. However the famous stairs scene for Grant is the one with the illuminated milk in Suspicion. No Germans in that one!

Is the scene in colour? That would wipe out both of these...

Hmmm....
I was thinking there was a scene in Notorious with stairs...maybe near the end of the movie.  Hmm...though perhaps she is walking down to him.  Now this is gonna bug me.

[Najemikon]

I think you might be mixed up... Notorious is the German spy one, but I can't recall a particular stairs scene with Grant. Bergman, yes. However the famous stairs scene for Grant is the one with the illuminated milk in Suspicion. No Germans in that one!

Is the scene in colour? That would wipe out both of these...

Hmmm....
I was thinking there was a scene in Notorious with stairs...maybe near the end of the movie.  Hmm...though perhaps she is walking down to him.  Now this is gonna bug me.

Yes, there is that. I didn't think of it particularly remarkable for editing though.

Emma, what's the purpose behind this? Are you doing some sort of assignment, demonstration, etc? If you are, the silent era is really interesting because it shows filmmakers dealing with new ideas tentatively while they worked out what an audience could handle. You see them developing continuous and parallel editing, but it still took them about 20 years to work out the rules of "reverse angles" (showing someone looking at something, then showing what they were looking at) or matching eye-lines. Then they started to develop the idea of using editing to represent a characters emotions and so came French Impressionism and German Expressionism.

But then came the Russians! Have you ever seen Battleship Potemkin? I haven't properly, but it's known as a milestone in editing and I've marvelled at the Odessa Steps more than once. Technically, no-one had stitched together so many shots in so little time (the average shot length was considerably less than other countries) and thematically, the Soviet Union was realising the power of using editing for propaganda, including frames that could only be subliminal.

Just watch this. It's magnificent:

[Dragonfire]

Oh that reminds me...The Lodger has some interesting shots in it..not sure if it would work for what you doing, but it is really good.  It is one of Hitchcock's earlier movies.

[Achim]

Just watch this. It's magnificent:

That scene is so essential, that it was even paid homage to by Brian DePalma in his The Untouchables!


I have the Blue-ray for Battleship Poemkin, just need to get in the right mindset to watch it...

[MEJHarrison]

Not really connected to the Marathon, but I just wanted to say that after years of try to get a copy of The Paradine Case and it being out of print, then coming back in print and me putting it off too long, I FINALLY managed to lay my hands on a copy!

That now completes my collection of Hitchcock's American movies.  Regular movies that is.  I've not messed with the oddball things yet like The House Across the Bay, Bon Voyage, Madagascar Landing or Watchtower Over Tomorrow.  Anyone have any info on those? From what I've read, I'm fine with not having them.

Now I have a few of his older films to pick up.  I'll have to re-check to see which are even available, but I know I'm missing Easy Virtue, The Lodger, Champagne and a couple others.

Anyway, just wanted to share my good news.

[Najemikon]

 

The Paradine Case is one I keep forgetting to get as well.

[Dragonfire]

The Paradine Case is part of the one set I got like 2 years ago.  The movie was ok, but not one of my favorites.

The Lodger is definitely worth getting.  It's a bit different because it is a silent movie, but well worth getting.