BLOGGER’S NOTE: To talk about these amazing films, I need to explore some of the great twists, shocks and surprises contained therein. I beg you: If you haven’t seen “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, “North By Northwest” and “Vertigo”, please don’t read this post! See the movies. They are genuine classics. Not boring “old movies” but eternally entertaining. TLDR: Spoiler Alert!
There has been enough written about the films of Alfred Hitchcock to fill all of Texas. And part of Minnesota. I’m not gonna write the typical scholarly Hitchcock observations (like, just for one example, the use of red and green in “Vertigo”) because that territory has been covered, and then some. So I’m just gonna tell you six things that I like about each of these movies. Maybe you and I like some of the same things. Hit me up in the comments whether you agree or disagree! If I get 400 comments on this blog I can exchange my punch card for a free submarine sandwich.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
-Dr. and Mrs. McKenna. James Stewart and Doris Day are a marvelous married couple in this film, which is a kinda/sorta remake of a film Hitch made in 1934. WIth everything that happens as the film unfolds, it’s key that you believe the couple–they disagree, they kid, they experience a nightmare scenario together. Stewart and Day are about as good as you can desire.
-“Que Sera Sera”. Whoda thunk that one of the prettiest, sweetest songs ever written and performed was created for an Alfred Hitchcock movie? Well, it was. Not only that–it won the Oscar for Best Song that year! And the song’s first appearance in the film…with Jo McKenna (it is revealed early in the film that she was once a professional singer) dueting with little Hank…well, that’s just about as adorable as it gets, and it makes Hank’s kidnapping even more harrowing than it already would be.
-Paint On His Hands. The event that kicks the plot into high gear is the stabbing of a man who turns out to be a gentleman the McKennas have already met. Boy, could Jimmy Stewart act with his eyes!
Ambrose Chappell/Ambrose Chapel. One of the great all time misunderstandings in movie history leads Dr. McKenna in search of his kidnapped son, not to a church–which is where the boy is–but to the shop of a taxidermist. The scene at Ambrose Chappell’s shop is dryly (darkly?) humorous. There are a lot of laughs to be found in Hitch films!
Tonight At The Royal Albert Hall: Bernard Herrmann! Because, hey, so many of Hitchcock’s best films feature unfortgettable Herrmann scores. Nice of Hitch to give his greatest musical accomplice the extra billing (and yes, that’s Herrmann conducting the orchestra at the film’s incredible climax. Which, incidentally, comes with about another 20 minutes or more left in the running time. Just some loose ends to tie up.)
Best Movie Closing Line: When Dr. and Mrs. McKenna arrive in London, many of their old friends are waiting there to wine and chat and reconnect. But the McKennas have this little thing called a kidnapped son to deal with. After the fantastic Albert Hall sequence, Jo (Doris Day) performs at a foreign embassy to distract the royals while Dr. McKenna rescues Hank. The final shot of the film: Jo’s show business friends, surrounded by empty champagne bottles, are awakened by the arriving McKennas. The doctor says:
“I’m sorry we were gone so long, but we had to go over and pick up Hank.”
North By Northwest
Travel By Train! There are two movies that convinced me to take a train trip. “White Christmas” and “North By Northwest.” I have taken two Amtrak trips so far, and I have yet to spontaneously break into song or share a Roomette with Eva Marie Saint. On the other hand, I did not get chased across the train by police either! Cary Grant makes traveling across the country look awfully appealing….except for the whole cropduster chase thing. I’ll skip that part of the route.
Roger Thornhill. What a great character…even before a single misunderstood phone page sends him into a “wrong man” scenario for the ages, Thornhill proves himself to be quite the piece of work. He steals a cab, and assures his secretary the person ahead of him will feel like a good samaritan. Once things start going south for him, a whole other level of delightfully sarcastic attitude comes out. Two favorite lines. First, as he catches a cab for the United Stations:
THORNHILL: I’m being followed, can you do something about it?
CABBIE: Yes sir.
THORNHILL: Do it.
And second, as a government intelligence man tries to draft him into their efforts:
Now you listen to me, I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself “slightly” killed.
The Auction You Are About To See Is True. Only The Bids Have Been Changed To Protect The Innocent.
There’s a scene in “North By Northwest” in which Thornhill makes a connection between his train friend with benefits (Eva Marie Saint) and some ne’er-do-wells who got Thornhill in all the “wrong man” trouble. Cary Grant is hilarious in the scene as he engages in all kinds of bad behavior in hopes in getting evicted from the auction by the police before the bad guys can get him in their clutches.
The part of that scene that always makes me smile is the appearance, on the left in the picture below, of Olan Soule, a great voice actor and a stalwart member of the Jack Webb repertory company, most frequently appearing in “Dragnet” as a scientific investigator.
The Awkward Humans Moment. The crop duster sequence is probably the best known part of the film, and likely one of the most iconic movie moments ever. The crop duster sweeping down to attack Thornhill is genuinely terrifying. But there are a lot of wonderful, truly human moments in Hitchcock movies and this sequence contains one of them. Two men, standing on opposite sides of a road with no traffic, surrounding by no humanity for as far as the eye can see. Even back then, starting a conversation with a stranger was…well…awkward.
Rapid City! Hitchcock notoriously hated location filming. He managed to make “Psycho” with only one short scene, at a used car lot, away from the friendly confines of Universal Studios. But when the plot is about a man being chased across the country…well, ya gotta go cross-country. So we see what the Mount Rushmore Visitors Center looked like in 1959. As for The Faces®, they were reconstruced in Hollywood. The film also drops a name mention of the Hotel Alex Johnson, which it calls the “Hotel Sheraton Johnson”. No footage of Rapid City’s most famous hotel. But! Dangerous Dave and I stayed there earlier this year when we went to see Chicago live in concert:
FIxing To Fly. Some of the most tense, suspenseful moments in the film come just before the Mount Rushmore finale, when the villians are preparing to fly off with the microfilm and Eve Kendall (who we and Thornhill have learned by this point is a U.S. agent). Hitch takes his sweet time letting it all play out…Thornhill witnessing the bad guys figure out that him being shot earlier was a put-on; his efforts to get Eve’s attention while climbing up the side of the house; his gambit of writing “They’re on to you” on one of his R-O-T matchbooks and dropping it over the second floor railing; the long, long walk to the plane….it’s Hitchcock suspense at its very best.
Vertigo
The Reveal. I saw this movie in college, back around 1996 or so. I didn’t watch it again for a long time…I just kind of forgot how good it is. The truth is, a person’s first viewing of “Vertigo” is very special, because that reveal in the church tower…the moment we, the audience see but poor retired detective John Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) doesn’t…it just knocks the wind out of you. But the amazing thing is that a movie so structurally built on a surprise twist stands up to repeated viewings. When I watch “Vertigo” now, I watch Kim Novak like a hawk! Which is not altogether unpleasant. But honestly, it’s fun to try to spot moments where “Madeleine” lets down her guard. Certainly waking up in Ferguson’s bed would be one of those . But there are others. And also, it’s just so well-acted, beautifully filmed, and filled with marvelous things to rediscover. Such as…
Henry Jones: Stone Cold Coroner. Hitchcock films tend to have great small moments for character actors…the freaked-out lady at the restaurant in “The Birds”, the nurse in “Rear Window”, the Sheriff in “Psycho.” (Incidentally, all three of those films will be covered in Part Two. Plugity plug plug.)
But in “Vertigo” my favorite character moment is Henry Jones as the Coroner, who recounts the events of Madeliene’s death, and Ferguson’s failure to stop it, in excruciating, painful detail with poor Ferguson steps away. Is it any wonder he ended up in a mental hospital?
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Jimmy Stewart #$%^ed With. Angry Jimmy Stewart is great Jimmy Stewart. He brought incredible rage to the final act of “It’s A Wonderful Life”, even calling poor old Uncle Billy a “silly stupid old fool”! (I sympethize with Uncle Billy as I am terminally forgetful.) The moment when Judy asks Ferguson to snap the clasp on her necklace…THE CARLOTTA VALDES NECKLACE!…we know we’re gonna see some hopped-up Jimmy Stewart. He starts slow, suggesting a drive before dinner…Judy starts to get nervous as they travel the traditional route to the old Mission Church. As they arrive and Judy starts to dig what’s happening, Angry Jimmy Stewart kicks into high gear….he pushes Judy up the stairs to the bell tower, all the while getting her to admit to the scam pulled on him. The ending of the film is shocking and humorous as a dark figure appears and spooks Judy to her death. DId she think it was Carlotta? One assumes. Anyway, let it be said that Stewart’s character had every right to be pissed off by the end of this movie! Scammed into following a woman he thought was his old college friend’s wife…tricked into believing she died while in his care…later encountering a woman who looked juuuuuuust enough like Madeleine to appeal to him, and have her to turn out to be the lady who scammed him previously. That’s a rotten year.
Poor Midge. Midge may have been a great character for Barbara Bel Geddes to play…but boy did she get the shaft out of life! Ex-fiancee of Ferguson, they still have some kind of relationship, which I would express as “Midge is a friend and caretaker to Ferguson, who may or may not care.” The film starts with Midge trying to give Ferguson the support to find something to do, after he retires as a police detective when his vertigo inadvertently causes the death of an officer. (See, that’s why it’s called “Vertigo” and not, for example, “Beach Blanket Bingo.”)
Midge puts up with Ferguson’s interest-turned-obsession over Madeleine …she vsiits him in the mental instituion…and after he gets out of the hospital, he randomly encounters a girl who kinda-sorta looks like Madeleine and he’s off to the races again. One more reason to feel sorry for Midge: She has a scene that only played in foreign countries!
Special Sequence. Hitchcock used creative artists to great effect…his opening titles in this era were always memorable thanks to the work of Saul Bass. John Ferren makes a huge contribution to “Vertigo”, credited with creating a “special sequence.” Special indeed. As Ferguson tries to get some sleep after the harrowing coroner’s inquest, he has a dream peppered with all manner of visual highlights. It is better seen than discussed.
Bernard Herrmann’s Score. This is tough, because 5 out of the 6 movies I’m reviewing in this series have amazing Herrmann scores. (“The Birds” features synthesized bird noises but no real original music.)
I think that “Vertigo” bears a score that is just about impossible to beat. “Psycho” is close! But “Vertigo” is an incredible accomplishment. And, looking at the two films, “Vertigo” tells a more expansive story than “Psycho”, with more emotional ground, so it only stands to reason that its score has a wider variety of motifs and themes.
Next Time: My 6 favorite things about “Psycho”, “Rear Window” and “The Birds”!