Alfred Hitchcock Marathon

[Dragonfire]

Strangers on a Train Strange thing about this trip. So much occurs in pairs. Tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) hates his unfaithful wife. Mysterious Bruno (Robert Walker) hates his father. How perfect for a playful proposal: I'll kill yours, you kill mine. Now look at how Alfred Hitchcock reinforces the duality of human nature. The more you watch, the more you'll see. "Isn't it a fascinating design?" the Master of Suspense often asked. Actually, it's doubly fascinating. For Hitchcock left behind two versions of 'Strangers on a Train'. The original version (SIDE A) is an all-time thriller classic. A recently found longer prerelease British print (SIDE B) offers "a startling amplification of Bruno's flamboyance, his homoerotic attraction to Guy and his psychotic personality" (Bill Desowitz, 'Film Comment'). The laying bare of Bruno's hidden nature, along with great set pieces (head-turning tennis match, disintegrating carousel) and suspense as only Hitchcock can deliver, makes for a first-class trip. My Thoughts This was the first time I saw this one.  I picked it up after I found it on sale at Amazon last November...even though I was horribly behind in this marathon at the time.  Even though I haven't seen the movie before, I have seen other versions of the story in other movies and different tv shows.  Just this past year, The Simpsons and Castle used a version of the story.  Things start off showing Bruno and Guy meeting for the first time and talking.  Bruno seems to be missing a few marbles right from the start with how he tries to act like Guy's best friend and talking about murder.  When Miriam is shown, she is a horrible woman, and it is easy to see why Guy wanted out of the marriage.  The movie has a slow build of tension and suspense that works wonderfully.  I think this is one of the most suspenseful movies I've ever seen.  During the climax, something does seem a bit ...extreme, but it still works - though [spoiler]what kind of police officer shoots into a group of people on a merry go round??[/spoiler] Guy has started a relationship with another woman who is the total opposite of Miriam.  He is mostly likable, though he does some questionable things.  Farley Granger is wonderful in the part that is so different from the one he had in Rope when he was the one embracing murder.  Bruno is a wonderful villain and Robert Walker is great in the part.  The rest of the cast is good too, though they don't stand out as much.  Hitchcock's daughter has a decent sized role as Barbara. Overall, this is a wonderful Hitchcock movie. [mr]5[/mr] I did post a review on Epinions a few days ago. Strangers on a Train

[goodguy]

You like The Birds but not Psycho?   

I was surprised myself. The Birds aren't that great, but at least entertaining. Psycho clearly is the "better" movie, but I literally was bored out of my mind, despite some interesting camera work and editing.

[goodguy]

Saboteur	[mr]1[/mr]
Shadow of a Doubt	[mr]2[/mr]
Rope	[mr]3[/mr]
Rear Window	[mr]3[/mr]
The Trouble with Harry	[mr]4[/mr]
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)	[mr]1[/mr]

Vertigo	[mr]4[/mr]
Psycho	[mr]1[/mr]
The Birds	[mr]3[/mr]
Marnie	[mr]4[/mr]

Last batch:

Torn Curtain	[mr]3[/mr]
Topaz	[mr]3[/mr]
Frenzy	[mr]1[/mr]
Family Plot	[mr]3[/mr]

This is my second "retrospective" this year of a director whose movies I haven't seen for many, many years. Revisiting Eric Rohmer was exciting for me, but with Hitchcock it unfortunately felt more like a dutiful refresher course of things considered important.

[Najemikon]

 Rear Window gets the same rating as Topaz and Torn Curtain?  I knew you'd find something if value in Marnie as I feel it's underestimated, but those late two are weak films in almost every regard.

[Najemikon]

I can sort of agree with Dial M and Thief, but neither of those were fully-fledged Hitchcock classics, even while he was making them. However I do think she made them better. She was just perfect in Rear Window and I have no problem at all with her speech, especially as it accentuated the social gap between her and Stewart. As I said before, I regard her entrance in that film as the best given to any actress I can think of.

[Antares]

Sorry, she just drives me crazy. Like I said, amazingly beautiful, but that elocution is like nails on a chalk board for me. In one of my favorite westerns of all time, High Noon, I have to fast forward through her scenes.

[snowcat]

Thank you Antares! I agree Grace Kelly's voice drives me nuts... I was getting annoyed with her in Rear Window! I love Rear Window but geez.

[Najemikon]

 

This forum never ceases to amaze me. The Hitchcock films that are proving most popular is occasionally left-field as it is and I've never heard a word against Grace Kelly and now there's two of you! For god sake, don't breed!

[hal9g]

This forum never ceases to amaze me. The Hitchcock films that are proving most popular is occasionally left-field as it is and I've never heard a word against Grace Kelly and now there's two of you! For god sake, don't breed!

Couldn't agree more.  I absolutely loved Grace Kelly in both of these films(and any other film, for that matter)!

[Najemikon]

Thank goodness for that! I thought I was in Bizarro World.

[goodguy]

Rear Window gets the same rating as Topaz and Torn Curtain? 

Do you really want to go there? Remember your 4 stars for Eagle Eye? Don't make me dig out your other 4-star reviews for comparison.   

More seriously, Rear Window ranks slightly higher for me than the other two. But as you can guess from my other ratings, the "signature Hitchcock style" often doesn't work for me. And just for the record, I liked Grace Kelly.

[Najemikon]

Rear Window gets the same rating as Topaz and Torn Curtain? 

Do you really want to go there? Remember your 4 stars for Eagle Eye? Don't make me dig out your other 4-star reviews for comparison.   

More seriously, Rear Window ranks slightly higher for me than the other two. But as you can guess from my other ratings, the "signature Hitchcock style" often doesn't work for me. And just for the record, I liked Grace Kelly.

I'm going to start a poll on Grace Kelly. I feel there is an undercurrent of unspoken support that would quickly assert itself! 

Eagle Eye was fun! 

[Tom]

When I read anything about Grace Kelly, I always have to think of this early German "Ärzte" song about her:

[Antares]

This forum never ceases to amaze me. The Hitchcock films that are proving most popular is occasionally left-field as it is and I've never heard a word against Grace Kelly and now there's two of you! For god sake, don't breed!

We're not alone Jon, if you go on to the message boards over at IMDB, you'll find a lot of people who can't stand her manufactured accent, and that's what it is, manufactured.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000038/board/nest/129229719



When she first started acting classes, they felt her voice was too thin, so they suggested she try that speech pattern.

[Najemikon]

I know. And I love that speech pattern. When she says her name and glides around James Stewart's room she is perfection in every respect.

And you do realise you just linked to the IMDB message boards? That's the Mos Eisley of forums!