American movies of the \u201830s, \u201840s and \u201850s have been hyped by generations of film lovers to the point where if you only go by reputation you may be deceived about the quality and entertainment value of any particular movie.\u00a0 But without a doubt there are a number of deservedly admired works.\u00a0 From time to time I will give my decidedly biased and idiosyncratic opinion and remarks on the movies I\u2019ve watched and try to pass along useful information for those who haven\u2019t seen some of these films.<\/p>\n
Last year when I was looking at horror movies I reviewed \u201cPsycho.\u201d\u00a0 But I am a fan of Hitchcock in general and in the summer, I always indulge in a good cross section of his best.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ll make some general remarks followed by more specific comments about the various Hitchcock films I\u2019m familiar with.<\/p>\n
Hitchcock had a long career as a director that stretched from the silent film era all the way to the 1970s.\u00a0 He started out in England and some of his earlier, lesser known films were excellent.\u00a0 But what is noticeable in these earlier British films are the more primitive special effects and other technical aspects.\u00a0 What isn\u2019t primitive is the skill with which the plot and dialog are constructed.\u00a0 The three best of these earlier British films from my point of view are \u201cThe Man Who Knew Too Much,\u201d \u201cThe 39 Steps\u201d and \u201cThe Lady Vanishes.\u201d\u00a0 All three of these are spy stories and are colored by the tense political environment in pre-World War II Europe.\u00a0 The Man Who Knew Too Much was later remade by Hitchcock in Hollywood starring Jimmy Stuart and Doris Day but I much prefer the original.\u00a0 In general, they involve civilians getting caught up in espionage and fighting for their lives while the world around them is completely unaware of their plight.<\/p>\n
As the \u201830s ended Hitchcock moved to Hollywood.\u00a0 His first big picture was \u201cRebecca\u201d starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of a mystery-suspense story with the feel of one of those Bronte sister novels.\u00a0 It won the Best Picture Oscar and several others but I\u2019ve always hated the movie.\u00a0 I guess it\u2019s a chick flick and bores me to tears.\u00a0 But during the \u201840s he had a string of excellent movies.\u00a0 My favorites are \u201cShadow of a Doubt,\u201d \u201cLifeboat,\u201d \u201cNotorious\u201d and \u201cRope.\u201d\u00a0 Now, other than Notorious, which is indeed a masterpiece, all of these other movies, especially Rope have their quirks.\u00a0 Rope is a claustrophobic story adapted from a stage play that takes place completely inside a Manhattan penthouse apartment and is a sort of a fictionalized version of the Leopold and Loeb thrill killings murder story.\u00a0 To say it is creepy is an understatement.\u00a0 And equally claustrophobic is Lifeboat which takes place, you guessed it, completely on a ship\u2019s lifeboat.\u00a0 Hitchcock loves to put his characters together in close quarters and irritate them.\u00a0 Sort of like a little boy with a bottle full of bugs.\u00a0 I guess that\u2019s his special gift.<\/p>\n
During the \u201850s Hitchcock continued to produce critically and financially successful films.\u00a0 I like \u201cStrangers on a Train,\u201d \u201cDial M for Murder,\u201d \u201cRear Window\u201d and \u201cNorth by Northwest.\u201d\u00a0 Each of these is an entertaining movie but Strangers on a Train is the most original.\u00a0 Hitchcock really loves strange and this one delivers that in spades.<\/p>\n
In the \u201860s the only two Hitchcock movies I can recommend are \u201cPsycho\u201d and \u201cThe Birds.\u201d\u00a0 Psycho is rightly famous for launching the whole \u201cSlasher\u201d genre but more than that it blazed a trail for every movie that explored the psychology of murderers.\u00a0 And think of how large that field is at this point.\u00a0 Hannibal Lector and every other serial killer showcased in the movies, and on television are the direct descendants of Norman Bates. \u00a0The Birds is a horror story based on a sort of environmental backlash where birds turn on the human race.\u00a0 It is weird and sometimes compelling but by the end of the movie I felt that Tippi Hedron\u2019s character deserved all the grief she got just because of how annoying she was.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s my Hitchcock list.\u00a0 I\u2019ll dig into the list in the follow ups and rate the movies and describe what makes them worth watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
American movies of the \u201830s, \u201840s and \u201850s have been hyped by generations of film lovers to the point where if you only go by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,238,237],"tags":[494,1216,1212,1218,1213,1219,1217,1214,1211,1215,1209,1220,1210,1208],"class_list":["post-3681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-classic-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-alfred-hitchcock","tag-dial-m-for-murder","tag-lifeboat","tag-north-by-northwest","tag-notorious","tag-psycho","tag-rear-window","tag-rope","tag-shadow-of-a-doubt","tag-strangers-on-a-train","tag-the-39-steps","tag-the-birds","tag-the-lady-vanishes","tag-the-man-who-knew-too-much"],"yoast_head":"\n