It’s no secret that Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite filmmaker. I’ve even emblazoned a 20-panel art installation of the Master of Suspense on my living room wall. So on this, his 116th birthday, I’m turning my focus to the eight Hitchcock films that have found a place on my 170 list. Check out these memorable shots from just some of the master filmmaker’s essential films, featuring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Teresa Wright, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, James Stewart, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh, and Tippi Hedren.
Tag Archives: Alfred Hitchcock
Academy Collection: Alfred Hitchcock
The Academy’s great, new site features a series of Collection Highlights. Check out this one, dedicated to my favorite filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock. Explore rare photos, papers, and videos surrounding the Master of Suspense’s storied career here.
Other Academy Collection Highlights are dedicated to the following personalities and films:
On My DVR: “Night Will Fall” (2014)
When I heard that a lost Hitchcock film was found, I knew I had to learn more, even if it were a doc, perhaps unlike anything he had previously made. As a huge Hitch fan, I’m looking forward to learning more about the film that researchers only recently uncovered.
Synopsis (courtesy of IMDb):
Researchers discover film footage from World War II that turns out to be a lost documentary shot by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein in 1945 about German concentration camps.
Director: André Singer
Screenwriter: Lynette Singer
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter (narrator), Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Bernstein
Distributor: HBO Documentary Films
Runtime: 75 min.
Hitchcock vs. Hitchcock: The Battle of the Trailers
It doesn’t take much to realize that Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director (as is established by the giant visual homage to the “Master of Suspense” on my living room wall). So imagine my excitement that two Hitchcock-themed movies are coming out shortly, each delving into one of the first two of his movies that I’ve seen: Psycho and The Birds. (Psycho is my favorite of his films.) Also, each movie is being released by either Fox Searchlight (my favorite film distributor) or HBO (my favorite TV network). Check out the trailers below. Which looks most appealing to you, and who do you think portrays the famed filmmaker best: Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock) or Toby Jones (The Girl)? (And, incidentally, has anyone else noticed that Jones seems to “always” play the “other” person in movies? He played Truman Capote in the “other Capote movie” [Infamous, 2006; in contrast to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal in Capote, 2005] and now he’s playing Alfred Hitchcock in the “other Hitchcock movie.”)
Continue reading Hitchcock vs. Hitchcock: The Battle of the Trailers
Why Searchlight Slipped HITCHCOCK into This Year’s Oscar Race (Analysis)
(Re-posted from The Hollywood Reporter)
by Scott Feinberg
September 20, 2012
The drama about the making of “Psycho” joins “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “The Sessions” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” on the Searchlight slate.
Fox Searchlight just shook up this year’s awards race by announcing that Hitchcock, which had been looking like a 2013 release, will now open on Nov. 23.
First of all, the facts: Hitchcock is a dramedy about the relationship between kinky master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and his trusted wife, Alma Reville, during the making of his seminal 1960 film Psycho.
The film was adapted by Black Swan co-screenwriter John McLaughlin from film historian/Playboy contributing editor Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. It marks the feature directorial debut of Sacha Gervasi, who is best known for his 2008 hit doc Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and was produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Co., which also handled 2009 best picture Oscar nominee Up in the Air.
Continue reading Why Searchlight Slipped HITCHCOCK into This Year’s Oscar Race (Analysis)
Cake, Presents, and … Muuuurder?!
How could I let August 13th go by without recognizing the fact that today would have been my favorite filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s 112th birthday? In 1979, Hitch was presented with the AFI Life Achievement Award. One of the salutes that night came from my favorite actor and Hitchcock regular Jimmy Stewart. (Hitch died the following year.)
Below are Stewart’s salute and Hitch’s acceptance speech.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh0h8Eg_PPw&feature=fvsr]Though he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 1968 Academy Awards, Hitch never won a competitive Oscar, despite five nominations for Best Director. A travesty. In fact, only one of his films, Rebecca (1940), went on to win Best Picture. Though the film is good, it’s by no means his best.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5VdGCQFOM&feature=relmfu]My favorite Hitchcock films (in order of release):
Rope (1948)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
*Rear Window (1954)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
*Vertigo (1958)
*North by Northwest (1959)
*Psycho (1960) (This was my first Hitchcock film, and remains my favorite.)
*The Birds (1963)
*Denotes a film that appears on the 170 list.
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