The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: The Five Final Films

Welcome to the first recap post of The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch!  I'm rewatching all of his movies, starting with the last one and working my way backwards.  I'll be doing recaps every five movies or so.

Spoiler rating for this post: low to none.  I gave a general outline of the plots, but I didn't find it necessary to say anything that wouldn't have been in the movie trailers or that I think would cause you not to want to see the movies.

Project Updates

Before we get started, the comments section to the kickoff post is gold.  I added two new items to my tracker based on your comments.  

• Is this movie OK for middle school aged kids to watch?  Daria put this in my mind when she talked about watching the movies with her son.  One of the greatest joys of my life was watching North by Northwest and The Birds with the boys when they were that age, and I recently had the pleasure of watching North by Northwest with Belle and Indy.  If the kids in your life are anything like the kids in my life, they won't willingly watch a movie with their parents unless the movie is really good.  At the same time, there are things that we don't want our kids to see until they are age appropriate.  I picked "middle school age" as the starting benchmark, because I don't think that there is anything here for the grade school crowd, and my standard is what I remember from seeing some of these movies at that age and if I would have shown this to the boys when they were younger or Elisabeth's children now.
• Is this movie set in or filmed in the Bay Area?  Props to Julie for giving me this idea.  The backstory is that Hitchcock moved to California in 1940, and he dearly loved the Bay Area and spent time there whenever he could, which included setting many of his movies there.  I suspect the answer is going to be "no" for anything made before Shadow of a Doubt, but it's going to be fun to see how many times the answer is yes.

Also, I was delighted to learn that not only did Alfred Hitchcock do cameos in his movies, he was in many of the trailers.  I'm going to use a light hand with linking trailers, but if you want to get a taste of any of these movies, I would absolutely recommend heading over to Youtube to check them out. 

Alrighty, let's jump into the movies.  There's nothing for the kids to see in this group, no MacGuffins, but we do have a San Francisco setting.

Here are the final five movies:

Marnie (1964)

Torn Curtain (1966)

Topaz (1969)

Frenzy (1972)

Family Plot (1976)

Let's talk about them in the order that I saw them, which is in reverse order.

Family Plot (1976)

General plot summary and trivia

A phony psychic and her shady boyfriend are hired by one of her clients to find a long lost nephew for a $10,000 dollar reward.  But oops, the quest has them crossing paths with a pair of big time crooks who are working a con with a million dollar price tag.  Who's going to win: the underdogs or the millionaires?

What I think of the movie

• Before: don't remember it, no opinion
• After: meh

The movie wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.  For me the weakest link was the characters.  They were all pretty unlikeable, which I could have accepted except they were also boring.  As the movie went on, there was a nice build up of suspense and I got more interested, but then I realized that it was all things that had been done before in other Hitchcock movies, and I felt played.

For me the best part of Family Plot is the symmetry between the start and the end of Hitchcock's career.  His first movie wasn't that great, but it was full of Hitchcock trademarks, and he hit his mark on his second movie, which was about a serial killer.   His second to last movie is about a serial killer, and his last movie isn't that great, but it is full of Hitchcock trademarks.  

Is there a MacGuffin? No

Does anyone get handcuffed in the movie? No

Is there a Wrong Man theme? No

Is it set in/filmed in the Bay Area? Yes!  I walked past the church that was used in the movie during my SF Hitchcock tour.

Does a character have Mommy Issues? No

Are there elements of the movie that are similar to other Hitchcock movies?  

Yes, but not in a good way.  It's just recycled stuff.  The scene with the car careening down a twisty mountain road felt like it was taken straight out of North by Northwest.  

Actors of note, left handed actors, and actors that were frequent Hitchcock fliers: Bruce Dern.  This is not the last time that we will see his name in this post

Is this movie OK to show to middle school aged kids?  I'd say no.  The main reason is that I think it would be boring for them.

Rate the Hitchcock cameo!  Love it.  He shows up in silhouette behind a glass door midway through the movie just before a pivotal moment.

Frenzy (1972)

General plot summary and trivia

We're in London and the latest buzz is The Necktie Killer.  His signature move is to assault attractive women and leave their bodies lying around town wearing only the necktie that he strangled them with.  Everyone is fascinated!  Who is he?  How is he getting away with it?  When will he be caught?  And what exactly is he doing to his victims?

Meanwhile Richard is down on his luck and trying to figure out life with help from his friends: his sympathetic ex-wife, his former coworker who is in the process of becoming his girlfriend, and an old friend who is just the nicest guy on the planet.  

At this point, we learn who the necktie killer is and get to see exactly what he does to his victims (folks, if you were expecting Old Hollywood, you came to the wrong show.  It's the 70s and the movie is rated R for a reason).  Richard is seen near the scene of the crime, and sure enough there is a mountain of evidence which means the police don't need to look any further.  They just need to catch him.  The lead investigator on the case is hoping to get the call around dinner time, because his wife is on a French cooking kick, and what she's serving him is more horrific than the aftermath of a necktie murder.

What I think of the movie

• Before: good memories
• After: love it!

I can't tell you how happy I am with this movie.  At this point Hitchcock had been directing movies forever, but he had had a series of flops and no one could be blamed for thinking his career was over.  Well, the old dog came in with new tricks and showed the kids how it was done.  This movie has an edge and lots of dark humor.  You're horrified, and you're laughing.  Chef's kiss to the movie all around, and bonus points for the last line of the movie.

[If R rated movies/serial killers/dark humor are not your bag, I will confirm what you've already figured out - this movie is not for you.]

Is there a MacGuffin? No

Does anyone get handcuffed in the movie? Yes, but not in the classic Hitchcock sense.  You'll see what I mean when we get to the Handcuff Era.

Is there a Wrong Man theme? Yes

Is it set in/filmed in San Fransisco? No

Does a character have Mommy Issues? No

Are there elements of the movie that are similar to other Hitchcock movies?  Yes!  I see a lot of similarity to Hitchcock's second movie, The Lodger from 1926.  It's a completely different story, but both movies are about serial killers and the public's fascination with serial killers.  There were lots of things that you couldn't show in a movie in 1926 and Hitchcock had to change the story to comply with the norms of the time, so it feels right that he got to revisit the topic with a free hand to do whatever he wanted.

Actors of note, left handed actors, and actors that were frequent Hitchcock fliers: Jean Marsh!  She was the co-creator and star of Upstairs, Downstairs, the OG Downton Abbey.

Is this movie OK to show to middle school aged kids? Big Nope!  Rated R, sex, and violence

Rate the Hitchcock cameo!  Meh.  He shows up in the crowd scene at the beginning of the movie.  His presence is the trailer is gold, so let's take a look at that instead.

Topaz (1969)

General plot summary and trivia

It's the cold war, and a Russian bigwig defects to the US and spills the tea on a nuclear missile operation in Cuba which is being spearheaded by an agent known as Topaz.  The CIA agent working on the case recruits a French spy to help get to the bottom of things, and before you know it we're going around the world.

What I think of the movie

• Before: don't remember it, no opinion
• After: like it

Topaz was such a gem, and it is exactly what I hoped to find by rewatching all of the movies.  It's like no other Hitchcock movie, and it's fascinating.  My favorite part is the scene in New York where the spies track down a secretary who they hope to bribe for information.  Large chunks of the action are silent - the two spies go into a walk-in refrigerator in a florist shop to go over their plan, and all we see is the men talking and a sketch of the secretary.  The scene moves to a hotel, and the spy makes hand signals to the other spy from across the street, and we get to watch from a distance as he goes into the lobby and gains access to his target.  We can't hear what anyone is saying, but we know exactly what is going on.

What makes this a "like" instead of a "love" is: my general disinterest in spy movies and the cold war, the movie is too long (2 hrs 20 minutes which was 20 minutes too long), and the ending was confusing.  By the time we find out who Topaz is I was already checked out.

Also, I would have sworn going into this project that I had seen every Hitchcock movie, but now I really doubt myself.  I had the vaguest of vague memories of Family Plot, but surely if I had seen Topaz before I would have remembered it.  Oh well, I've seen it now!

Is there a MacGuffin? No

Does anyone get handcuffed in the movie? No

Is there a Wrong Man theme? No

Is it set in/filmed in San Fransisco? No

Does a character have Mommy Issues? No

Are there elements of the movie that are similar to other Hitchcock movies?  No.  Hitchcock made spy and cold war movies before, but Topaz is fresh and unlike any other movie ever made.

Actors of note, left handed actors, and actors that were frequent Hitchcock fliers: The only name that I recognized was John Forsythe who was also in The Trouble With Harry.  Everyone else was new to me, and they were terrific.

Is this movie OK to show to middle school aged kids? I wouldn't recommend it.  There is some violence but the main reason is that I think it would be boring for them.

Rate the Hitchcock cameo!  Meh, it's nothing special.  He shows up at the airport in a wheelchair with a nurse, and then gets up and starts walking at the gate.

Torn Curtain (1966)

General plot summary and trivia

The Torn Curtain of the title is the Iron Curtain, and we're in cold war territory.  Michael is a physics professor who goes to Denmark on a conference with a group of teachers at his school, which includes his fiancee Sarah.  Just as the audience is starting to die of boredom, Michael hops on a plane and defects to East Germany.  Sarah follows him, and no matter how much he doesn't want her to, stands by her man and defects right along with him.  Well, it turns out that Michael is a double agent on a mission to get his hands on some missile technology.  He gets the goods, everyone figures out what's up, and now he and Sarah have to get back on the right side of the curtain.

What I think of the movie

• Before: don't remember it, no opinion
• After: meh

Same comment as Topaz, which is that I doubt my memory that I ever saw this movie before, and I'm OK with that.  It's just my opinion, but this movie stinks.  It was made in a post-Old Hollywood world, but it feels very dated.  Michael is a jerk in general, and pretty horrible to Sarah in particular, so it's hard to care about him or to believe that she would go to Denmark with him let alone behind the Iron Curtain.

With that said, there is one really great scene in this movie, so it was worth my time to see it.  Michael meets up with an agent, and they are caught by one of the bad guys and they need to kill him to save themselves and the mission.  But they can't make any noise and he's bigger than them.  Pro tip: it's easier said than done.

Is there a MacGuffin? No

Does anyone get handcuffed in the movie? No

Is there a Wrong Man theme? No

Is it set in/filmed in San Fransisco? No

Does a character have Mommy Issues? No

Are there elements of the movie that are similar to other Hitchcock movies?  No

Actors of note, left handed actors, and actors that were frequent Hitchcock fliers: Paul Newman and Julie Andrews!  Unfortunately their talent is completely wasted.  Hitchcock and Newman did not get along, and Newman is very much clocking in and clocking out to get through the movie.  Andrews is fine, but the character that she plays is such a wet blanket that there is nothing that she could have done with the role.  Hitchcock never worked with big stars again.

Is this movie OK to show to middle school aged kids? I was bored out of my mind, so for that reason I would never inflict this movie on a child.

Rate the Hitchcock cameo!  Meh.  He is sitting in a hotel lobby with a baby on his lap.  Something happens that makes him shift the baby to the other knee and take a look at his pants.  Exactly how I feel about this movie.

Marnie (1964)

General plot summary and trivia

Marnie is a young woman with problems.  She has a frosty relationship with her mother, she doesn't like men, she hates thunderstorms, and she freaks out every time she sees the color red.  But she also has a way to cope: every few months she assumes a fake identify, moves to a new town, gets a low level office job, and bides her time until she gets access to the office safe.

This all goes swimmingly well until she starts a new job, unaware that Mark, the owner of the company, had seen her at one of her previous gigs, and is ready to act when she walks out the door with the company payroll.  Mark wants to help Marnie, but in a very weird way.  In return for not turning her into the police, his conditions are that she has to marry him and play amateur therapy games to get to the bottom of the underlying trauma that makes her steal.  Because we're in an era when if something bad happened when you were a child, all that you have to do is remember what it was and relive the experience and you'll be just fine.

What I think of the movie

• Before: Love it (unpopular opinion)
• After: Still in love, and I don't care what anyone else says

This movie is pretty universally hated, and even I will admit it's flawed, but IMO a flawed diamond is still a diamond.  We're in full Old Hollywood Glamor Mode.  Sean Connery is on the scene.  We have a lush Bernard Hermann music score.  We get vintage 1960s Office Life.  Marnie is so competent at stealing that it's a pleasure to watch her do what she does best.  There is a wonderful build up of suspense throughout.  Sure the relationship between Marnie and Mark is Messed Up and the psychology is dated, but go review Vertigo and Psycho for the same issues and then come back and call the kettle black.

Is there a MacGuffin? No

Does anyone get handcuffed in the movie? No

Is there a Wrong Man theme? No

Is it set in/filmed in San Fransisco? No

Does a character have Mommy Issues? Big time!  Marnie and her mom are Not OK.

Are there elements of the movie that are similar to other Hitchcock movies?  Not really.  We previously covered psychotherapy and the "all you have to do is to remember the bad thing and then everything will be OK" trope in Spellbound, but it's not a rehash of what we did before.

Actors of note, left handed actors, and actors that were frequent Hitchcock fliers: 

• Tippi Hendren.  You know who she is right?  She was in The Birds and she's Melanie Griffith's mom and Dakota Johnson's grandma.  Plus she's Team Southpaw!
• Sean Connery looking like a snacc!
• Bruce Dern in a small role as a sailor toward the end of the movie

Is this movie OK to show to middle school aged kids? Well, I saw this as a middle school aged kid, which is exactly the reason why you might want to save it until your kid's frontal cortex is more fully formed.  As much as I love this movie, it would not be my suggestion for movie night.

Rate the Hitchcock cameo!  Love it.  Toward the beginning of the movie Marnie checks into a hotel and he peeks out of a room as she walks down the hall.

_____________________

Alrighty friends, that's the final five movies!  Who's seen any of these, and what did you think?

Tune in next time for the next five movies, which will are the absolute Cream of the Hitchcock Crop:

The Wrong Man (1956)

Vertigo (1958)

North by Northwest (1959)

Psycho (1960)

The Birds (1963)