Ranking Hitchcock
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Secretary Janet Leigh absconds with $40 thousand in cash and drives to meet her lover. She ends up at the Bates Motel on a rainy night. Clerk Anthony Perkins offers her food, conversation and a room. His elderly mother lives in a Victorian mansion behind the hotel, and we hear them arguing about Leigh before she is brutally murdered by a shadowy figure while taking a shower. Leigh's sister and boyfriend show up a few days later looking for her, as does a private detective looking for the cash. Perkins, supposedly covering up for his mother, murders the detective when he gets too close to the truth, which turns out to be more shocking than anyone imagined. After the frenetic North by Northwest, Hitchcock returned to darker themes in this, his most notorious, and disturbing, film. It was shot in black and white and with a low budget using the crew from his TV show, giving this a more personal, grittier feel. Bernard Herrmann's tense score ratchets up the intensity even more.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.Ad executive Cary Grant is mistaken for a government spy and kidnapped. They attempt to murder him by forcing him to drink a bottle of alcohol and putting him behind the wheel of a car, but he manages to steer the car to safety. He goes to the UN to find the man who tried to have him killed, but someone else answers to that name and is assassinated before he can get more information. Accused of the crime, Grant goes on the run to prove his innocence. He meets pretty Eva Saint Marie on a train and they spend the night together. However, she turns out to be working with the kidnappers and sends him on a wild goose chase to the middle of nowhere. He survives another attempt on his life, this time by crop duster plane, in perhaps Hitchcock's best known scene. He soon discovers Eva's real identity and confronts her at an art auction, where once again he uses his wits to escape. However, when she turns out to be a secret agent working undercover he tries to convince her to leave with him. She refuses and plans to leave with the killer, but when her cover is blown Grant must save her life in a spectacular ending taking place on Mount Rushmore. Perhaps the ultimate Hitchcock film, with multiple false identities, a perfect hero in Grant and incredible but still somehow plausible plot twists. Hitchcock manages it all with a steady hand and perfect pacing.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.San Francisco police detective Jimmy Stewart retires after his fear of heights results in the death of a fellow officer. He is soon coaxed out of it by an old friend who wants him to follow his wife, whom he believes is in danger. Stewart observes her mysteriously sitting in a museum staring at a painting, visiting a grave and staying in an old hotel (only to disappear). They meet when he fishes her out of the bay after an apparent suicide attempt, and they fall in love. She describes a vivid nightmare, which Stewart recognizes as a local historical place and drives here there. Instead, she jumps from a bell tower, apparently succeeding in committing suicide this time. Stewart reacts badly and is sent to an asylum. After a year he is released, but roams the streets looking for his love. He spots a woman with a remarkable resemblance and follows her to her apartment, where he talks his way inside and convinces her to have dinner. He manipulates her into changing her appearance to look even more like the dead woman. However, when the transformation is complete, he learns the truth about her and tragedy seems to repeat itself. Hitchcock's most celebrated film is actually a fairly straightforward murder plot that the audience is in on the entire time. Stewart is the only one who doesn't get it, and we watch him suffer needlessly for it, but perhaps that was Hitchcock's intention. It all glides along like a dream.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.Photographer Jimmy Stewart, recovering from a broken leg, spends his time looking out his back window into the courtyard of his expansive New York City apartment complex. It is a sweltering summer, and his neighbors leave their windows open, some sleeping on the fire escape, letting him take in their private lives. One night during a thunderstorm he thinks he hears one of them commit murder. He drifts off to sleep, only to awaken the next morning with the neighbor acting suspiciously. He sends his girlfriend Grace Kelly and his nurse out to dig up the flower garden where he thinks the body is buried. They find nothing, but Grace climbs into the apartment, only to be cornered by the alleged murderer. The last second arrival of the police saves her, but his identity is tipped off. In an unbelievably tense scene that follows, the wheelchair bound Stewart is confronted in the dark by the murderer. A rather poor special effect occurs at the worst possible time, almost spoiling the whole thing. One of Hitchcock's most celebrated films occurs on a giant indoor set built on a Paramount sound stage. It's a warning about the dangers of voyeurism, spiced up with Hitchcock's unique black humor.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRod TaylorTippi HedrenJessica TandyA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.Socialite Tippi Hedren gets pranked by lawyer Rod Taylor in a San Francisco bird shop, where intentionally mistakes her for a sales girl. Intrigued by his flirtation, she plans to secretly drive to his country house and deliver a birthday present to his younger sister. She is attacked by a lone gull while crossing the bay, and soon the picturesque coastal California town is beset by increasingly violent bird attacks. She takes shelter with Rod and his family, who board up the house to keep out the animals. Hitchcock's most overt horror film, with a psychological underpinning that, unlike Psycho, is not fully explained. Could it be that the birds are a result of his mother's fear of abandonment when Rod brings home Tippi as his new girlfriend? They attack not only Tippi, but his former lover as well, not to mention his younger sister, potentially leaving Rod all for herself. The attacks end when she comforts Tippi after her brutal attack. Hitchcock offers no real explanation, leaving a somewhat hollow feeling after nearly two hours of non-stop terror.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.Hitchcock's first American film is a lushly photographed story of a young girl falling in love with a wealthy, older man, only to find herself struggling to emerge from the shadows of his former wife. They meet in Paris, and after a whirlwind romance get married and move back to England. They move into Manderley, a huge English mansion on the sea. The building becomes another character in the story, alive and breathing, echoing the memories of another unseen character, the dead wife whose initials are on everything, like fingerprints. Poor old Joan Fontaine is overwhelmed by it all, but especially by a psychotic maid played to perfection by Judith Anderson. The two have a battle of wills more formidable than a heavyweight boxing match. We slowly learn of the past, of the first wife, how she lived, her friends, how she died. The final stretch devolves into a mystery film, with a trial, some detective work, and a rather melodramatic ending.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantIngrid BergmanClaude RainsThe daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?Government agent Cary Grant convinces Ingrid Bergman to travel to Brazil in order to infiltrate a ring of Nazis. They fall in love while waiting for the assignment, only to have their relationship fall apart when she must fake a romance with Claude Rains, one of the Nazis. She even goes as far as marrying him, all the while Grant feigning disinterest. She eventually discovers that the group is hiding uranium ore in wine bottles in the basement, leading Grant to the stash during a fateful evening gala. However, Rains finds out and together with his mother tries to slowly poison her. One of Hitchcock's most mature mid period works, with Grant and Bergman's complex relationship front and center. The casting is perfect, from the leads all the way down to the supporting characters.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsPriscilla LaneRobert CummingsOtto KrugerA young man accused of sabotage goes on the run to prove his innocence.Everyman Robert Cummings gets a glimpse of the man who set a fire at the airplane factory where he works. Accused of the crime himself, he is forced to prove his innocence. He goes to the address he saw on an envelope the man dropped: a ranch in the desert. The wealthy ranch owner at first declines any knowledge, but reveals his real identity as ringleader and calls the police. Cummings escapes and follows another clue to a ghost town in the desert where he finds a cell of saboteurs planning to blow up the Boulder Dam. He foils the plan, then escapes to a nearby cabin in the woods where he is taken care of by a kindly blind man. His daughter recognizes Cummings as a wanted man, but he kidnaps her before she can turn him in. After awhile she starts to believe his story and helps him prove his innocence. They end up at a swanky party in New York City where they confront the leaders of the gang. However, they each get kidnapped, escape, and chase the original saboteur to the Statue of Liberty. One of the best Hitchcock films from the 1940s. The plot twists, however implausible, make perfect sense while watching the film. The symbolism can get a bit heavy handed, but in the hands of Hitchcock at least it is fun and exciting.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTallulah BankheadJohn HodiakWalter SlezakSeveral survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II find themselves in the same lifeboat with one of the crew members of the U-boat that sank their ship.The survivors of the sinking of a merchant marine ship by a German U-boat gather in a lone lifeboat occupied by reporter Tallulah Bankhead. Among the survivors is the captain of the German boat. Some of them want him thrown overboard, but Bankhead talks them out of it. They also have to deal with a hysterical woman and her dead baby, providing some rather morbid moments. Another one gets gangrene and has to has his leg amputated. They lose their limited supply of food and water during a storm. As they become more desperate and lose hope, the German takes over and seems to be stronger than the rest. When they discover his secret stash of food, water and a compass, they kill him in a rage. Just when it looks like they will be rescued by a German supply ship, it gets attacked. Unusual, claustrophobic setting provides a challenge for Hitchcock, but he is more than able to meet it as the action never stops. Bankhead is a revelation as the reporter. However, Canada Lee seems like an afterthought as a black servant.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartJohn DallFarley GrangerTwo men try to convince themselves they've committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party after strangling a former classmate to death.Two college men decide to murder a classmate as an intellectual exercise. The strangle him in their New York penthouse and then stuff the body in a chest. For further amusement, they hold a dinner party shortly after with the victim's father, aunt and girlfriend among the attendees. However, it is the arrival of Jimmy Stewart that gets them the most excited. He is their former housemaster and instilled in them the philosophy of Nietzsche, from which they drew their inspiration. However, the two men struggle to keep it together, particularly the younger who drinks too much. Stewart begins to suspect something is wrong and eventually pieces together what happened. The film itself is also something of an intellectual exercise, as Hitchcock utilizes a series of long takes to make it appear it takes place in real time. It is partially successful, although the cuts between scenes where the camera artificially zooms in for a close up of a couch or coat, is distracting. Nonetheless, this is another dazzling Hitchcock entry, his first in color and first with Stewart.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRay MillandGrace KellyRobert CummingsA former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.Hitchcock's screen adaptation of Frederick Knott's play feels stagy: most of the story takes place in a cramped apartment. Ray Milland is a husband planning the perfect murder of his wife, after he discovers her affair with an American mystery writer. He blackmails a forgotten college friend into carrying out the actual murder, while he takes care of the miniscule details to throw off the police after the fact. When the murder goes wrong, he must think quickly to outwit a Scotland Yard inspector and frame his wife. A couple of things bothered me. First, the "old college buddy" was too fast to agree to his murder for hire scheme. Some background on his character would have made it more believable. And about that key... perhaps Londoners in the early 1950s carried around a bare key with no key chain, and the inspector notes at one point that "they all look alike", but it still seemed like too much of a coincidence, especially for such a crucial plot point. Of course, the fun in a film like this is looking for cracks in the story. The 3D makes use of objects in the foreground around the apartment for depth, and is put to excellent use during the murder scene, but really is just as good in 2D.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantGrace KellyJessie Royce LandisA retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.Reformed jewel thief Cary Grant is accused of a recent string of crimes on the French Riviera. He escapes the police, but in order to prove his innocence must catch the real burglar. He convinces insurance representative John Williams to provide him with a list of people who may be potential targets. He befriends an American woman and her beautiful young daughter Grace Kelly. However, she sees through his ruse and seduces him, only to find her mother's jewels stolen anyway. She halfheartedly agrees to help him find the real burglar, and they fall in love for real along the way. He stakes out a villa where he believes the burglar will show up, leading to an accidental death of someone else. Later, he and Grace attend a masked ball hoping to finally find the burglar, which they do in an exciting rooftop climax. Lusciously photographed against the sun drenched French Riviera by Robert Burks, the colors are at times astounding, . This is an immensely entertaining work by Hitchcock, deceptively complex, somewhat overshadowed by the more famous films which he made during this period.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsHenry FondaVera MilesAnthony QuayleIn 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.Henry Fonda is a musician and family man who is falsely accused of robbing local establishments at gunpoint. A couple of detectives pick him up in front of his house and subject him to questioning without a lawyer. Fonda naively obeys them, giving them plenty of circumstantial evidence. He is sent to the local prison and spends a harrowing night in jail. His wife gets bail money and they hire a friendly lawyer to represent him in the trial. They track down witnesses for an alibi, but are unable to come up with anything substantial. The trial date arrives and it looks bad for him, until a juror speaks out of turn and a mistrial is declared, starting the process all over again. It's all too much for Fonda's wife, who has a mental breakdown and is sent to an institution to recover. Eventually, the real robber is caught and Fonda is cleared, though it takes a bit longer for his wife. Hitchcock based this on a real story and shot it in and around the actual locations of New York City. Fonda is perfect as the innocent everyman and the first half of the film is terrific. Vera Miles mental breakdown, however, weighs down the second half, as does the anticlimactic trial.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJune TrippIvor NovelloMarie AultA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.The mysterious lodger living upstairs falls in love with the daughter of the house. Their developing romance gets in the way of a police detective who is also in love with her. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose in the neighborhood, and her parents convince themselves, and eventually the police detective, that their lodger is the killer. He is arrested but escapes with the help of the girl, but are recognized and chased by a mob who are intent on killing him. Hitchcock's first real success and the film that put him on the map is a well-paced, entertaining thriller with many ingenious camera shots. Just watch the lodger pacing on the glass ceiling! The "wrong man" theme would pop up over and over again in his later films.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCarl BrissonLillian Hall-DavisIan HunterTwo boxers compete for the love of a woman.At a carnival sideshow, a man is enticed by a girl selling tickets to enter the ring against a famous boxer. To everyone's surprise he wins, but he turns out to be the world heavyweight champion. The girl turns out to be engaged to the boxer, but he pursues her anyway. As their romance heats up, the two fighters become increasingly agitated. Eventually, they meet each other in the ring in the climactic final fight. Hitchcock's mix of melodrama and sports has visual flair on par with The Lodger, his earlier silent success, and is just as good. His one and only original screenplay.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLeslie BanksEdna BestPeter LorreAn ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.A British couple on vacation unwittingly get involved with an assassination plot. Their young daughter is kidnapped and brought back to London. Unwilling to ask the police for help, they search for the girl themselves, eventually finding her holed up in a strange church being used by the group of terrorists. The wife foils the assassination plot, and the police follow the shooter to the church where a shootout ensues. The lone survivor heads to the rooftop with the hostage, in a typical Hitchcock ending. Peter Lorre goes all out as the leader of the criminals.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.Robert Donat gets caught up with spies and assassins at a London music hall. He is given a map by a dying woman which leads him to Scotland, pursued by police who want him for her murder. Train passenger Madeleine Carroll gets involved when Donat uses her to hide from the police. He also gets help from a friendly farmer's wife, though her husband's jealousy almost gets him caught. It all gets unraveled at the London Palladium. Another exciting Hitchcock yarn, although the formula of innocent victim forced to prove their innocence, and an overabundance of trains, is starting to wear thin.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsSylvia SidneyOscar HomolkaDesmond TesterA Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsNova PilbeamDerrick De MarneyPercy MarmontA man on the run from a murder charge enlists the help of a beautiful stranger who must put herself at risk for his cause.A down and out writer discovers the body of a woman on the beach, and is accused by the police of the murder. He manages to escape while entering the courthouse for his trial. He unwittingly involves the daughter of the police chief while on the run and trying to prove his innocence. Together they track down the man who stole his raincoat, the belt of which was used to commit the murder. The final scenes take place in a hotel ballroom in which the murderer is revealed to be a member of the band, all of whom perform in blackface. Somewhat overlooked early Hitchcock.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael RedgravePaul LukasWhile travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.Tourist Margaret Lockwood befriends middle aged May Whitty at a county inn. The next morning, she gets bumped on the head before boarding the train, waking up in a passenger compartment with her new friend and some strangers. After chatting a bit, Lockwood falls asleep, then wakes up to discover her friend missing. Unable to convince anyone else that she actually exists, much less look for her, she turns to musician Michael Redgrave, whom she had met, and disliked, at the inn. However, she gradually warms up to him as they search the train, discover clues and eventually unravel the mystery of her disappearance. Highly entertaining Hitchcock, if a bit contrived, with comedy relief from "Charters and Haldicott", who proved to be so popular that they would appear in several more films in the next decade.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJoel McCreaLaraine DayHerbert MarshallOn the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.Hot shot newspaper reporter Joel McCrae is sent to London to interview a Dutch diplomat who recently negotiated a treaty to reduce the threat of war in Europe. The diplomat is later assassinated in Amsterdam before McCrae can interview him. He learns that the diplomat is not really dead but kidnapped, having been replaced by a double. He tries to get help from the police but they don't believe him, so he turns to a British diplomat and head of a newly formed "peace party". He happens to be the father of the girl McCrae is falling in love with, but is also involved with the kidnappers. He survives an attempt on his own life and connects the dots with the British diplomat. He decides to blackmail him for information, but it is foiled at the last minute. War is declared in Europe, forcing everyone to evacuate to America. The all end up on the same plane which is shelled by Germans and crashes into the Atlantic. Some survive, some do not. Overplotted Hitchcock has its moments, such as the windmill sequence outside of Amsterdam, but is marred by stereotypical disaster ending and misplaced patriotic appeal for the end credits.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineCedric HardwickeA shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.Socialite Joan Fontaine falls for playboy Cary Grant, eventually marrying. After a long and expensive honeymoon, she finds out he has no money or job. She talks him into working for a cousin in real estate. However, she finds out later that he was fired for embezzling money to pay a gambling debt, then lying about it. Her suspicion mounting, she finds out his best friend died mysteriously while they were together in Paris. She begins to fear for her own life when his lies continue and he asks a friend about poisons. It all comes to a head in a dramatic drive along a cliff. Hitchcock classic builds momentum like few films can, but ultimate explanation seems like a cop out. And indeed it was, as he was forced to change the ending to satisfy studio executives who did not want to mar Grant's image by making him a killer.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanGregory PeckMichael ChekhovA psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.Gregory Peck is hired to replace the retiring director of a mental hospital. Soon after he begins to have a mental breakdown, triggered whenever he sees pairs of vertical lines in patterns. Pretty psychologist Ingrid Bergman helps him with his condition, discovering along the way that he is not the same man that was supposedly hired. He admits to having amnesia and believes he may have killed the man and stolen his identity. He leaves the hospital in the middle of the night but tells her where he is going. They meet up at his hotel then travel to stay with her former mentor. They analyze a dream he had for clues to his past. They are able to deduce where the murder had occurred and travel there, triggering more memories in Peck. They are almost able to prove it was an accident until a bullet is discovered in the body. Peck is convicted of murder, but the dream provides one more vital clue. Another massively entertaining Hitchcock yarn. However, I wasn't always convinced by the psychoanalytical babble, nor the over-reliance on the dream for clues to advance the plot. The final scene is an unconvincing special effect involving what looks like a giant fake hand!
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFarley GrangerRobert WalkerRuth RomanA psychopathic man tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person.Tennis pro Farley Granger is approached by stranger Robert Walker on a train. The conversation quickly turns personal, and Walker proposes an "exchange of murders" that would benefit both of them. Granger laughs it off, but Walker soon fulfills his end of the bargain and begins to demand that Granger do the same. Fearful of the police, Granger successfully avoids him for awhile, but not after Walker manages to work his way into his family friendships. The battle of wills comes to a head on a memorable carousel ride! Outlandish plot, even for Hitchcock, but pure entertainment. The murder scene, filmed as a reflection in the victim's eyeglasses, is one of Hitchcock's signature moments, and probably helped earn cinematographer Robert Burks his first of four Oscar nominations, three of which were on Hitchcock films.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMontgomery CliftAnne BaxterKarl MaldenA priest, who comes under suspicion for murder, cannot clear his name without breaking the seal of the confessional.Montgomery Clift is a Catholic priest who hears the confession of a man who just committed murder. The man abuses the priest-penitent privilege and proceeds to frame Clift for the crime. A motive is supplied by Clifts's pre-priesthood relationship with Anne Baxter. After planting evidence, Clift is arrested, tried, but found innocent by a skeptical judge and jury. On the way out of the courthouse, the murderer's wife breaks down and let's out the truth. Clift and the police follow the killer for a final confrontation. Subdued, atypical Hitchcock, that nonetheless explores the familiar Hitchcockian themes of murder and the "wrong man". Clift is quietly intense as usual, but lacks chemistry with Baxter, and their backstory is just not that interesting. Beautiful location shooting around Quebec, Canada.