8/1/17 Lecture Note Discussion: Remakes, Homages, and Films Inspired by Hitchcock

[mandyhnandez]

Someone earlier mentioned ​Mission Impossible:II​, which I would agree is very much like Notorious, from the plot line of a woman seducing an ex to spy on him for the government and the agent she loves to some of the locations of the scenes. Where does she secretly meet the agent? AT A HORSE RACING TRACK, exactly the same as in Notorious.

[stillgoingtopluto]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned it (my computer is acting up,) But the TV show Castle payed homage to Hitchcock twice. The Lives of Others was a recreation of Rear Window and I believe it was the Double Down had a "criss cross" Double murder like Strangers on a Train. It's fun seeing everyone's ideas on this. I had never thought of many of these before.

 

I also believe Minority Report with Tom Cruise has strong Hitchcock influences. Especially the wrongly accused man and unique camera angles.

[Paul Tilburgs]

The Deep End (2001): Still waters run deadly in this gripping suspense thriller about the extraordinary depths to which seemingly ordinary people will sink in the name of love. Tilda Swinton "is magnificent" (The New York Times) as housewife Margaret Hall, a fiercely protective mother caught in a vortex of deception when it appears that her son may be guilty of murder. One desperate act leads to another, and soon she's being blackmailed by the mysterious Alek Spera.

 

Plein Soleil (1960): In a taut, expertly crafted thriller Delon is Ripley, an emissary sent by a wealthy American industrialist to save his son, errant playboy Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), from a life of decadence in Rome.
Insinuating himself into Greenleaf's existence, Ripley practices his signature and dresses up in his clothes before attempting to steal his life, his girl and most importantly his money.

 

Endgame (2001): Tom is a stunning London Rent boy, the perfect blackmailing bait for his sadistic pimp George Norris. Dunston (John Benfield of Prime Suspect) is a dirty cop buried deep in drugs, violence, and corruption. When Norris is killed in his apartment, Tom seizes his chance to escape. Terrified and covered in Norris's blood, Tom heads downstairs to his neighbors, Max and Nikki his new friends in the city. With going to the police out of the question, Max and Nikki speed Tom to their desolate cottage deep in the Welsh countryside. Dunston follows in hot pursuit to permanantly silence the youth.

 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997): This panoramic tale of Savannah's eccentricities focuses on a murder and the subsequent trial of Jim Williams: self made man, art collector, antiques dealer, bon vivant and semi-closeted homosexual. John Kelso a magazine reporter finds himself in Savannah amid the beautiful architecture and odd doings to write a feature on one of William's famous Christmas parties. He is intrigued by Williams from the start, but his curiosity is piqued when he meets Jim's violent, young and sexy lover, Billy. Later that night, Billy is dead, and Kelso stays on to cover the murder trial. Along the way he encounters the irrepressible Lady Chablis, a drag queen commedienne, Sonny Seiler, lawyer to Williams, whose famous dog UGA is the official mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs, an odd man who keeps flies attached to mini leashes on his lapels and threatens daily to poison the water supply, the Married Ladies Card Club, and Minerva, a spiritualist. Between being Jim's buddy, cuddling up to a torch singer, meeting every eccentric in Savannah, participating in midnight graveyard rituals and helping solve the mysteries surrounding Billy's murder, Kelso has his hands full.

 

Brick (2005): Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mysterious Skin) is a loner at his high school, someone who knows all the angles but has chosen to stay on the outside. When the girl he loves, Emily (Emilie de Ravin, Lost), turns up dead, he is determined to find the “who” and “why”. Enlisting the aid of his only true friend, The Brain, Brendan plunges headlong into the dark and dangerous social strata of rich girl Laura, intimidating Tug, and the mysterious Pin (Lukas Haas, Last Days). It is only by gaining acceptance into The Pin's closely guarded inner circle of crime and punishment that Brendan can uncover hard truths about himself, Emily, and the suspects he is getting closer to.

[mijiyoon38]

 Following this topic... two I have watched that I Googled:  Panic Room & Flightplan..oddly enough both with Jodie Foster ...I have no idea why these two I watched years ago have J. Foster  in them. I also liked her movie: The Little Girl Who lived Down The Lane. it just happened that way.  

 

Panic Room & Flightplan both have tightly controlled environments where it seems not much can happen, but a lot does happen.

 

Panic Room I have watched several times. I like the darkness of it as in the shadowy cinematography filming not necessarily the plot; although, the plot of two females in distress (one with a medical issue) & the inept criminals who botch it all even before getting into the house because they are there at the wrong time. Hitchcock dark comedy. 

 

Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) & Sarah Altman (Kristen Stewart) who plays the daughter w/ medical issue. Her medical issue ratchets up the tension...she needs her meds  or she will die & not only will she die she will die in front of her mother. Her mother will be forced to watch her only daughter die  because of intruder burglars who are too stupid to be there at the right time...that is when nobody is home.

 

The criminals:   Junior (Jared Leto), Burnam ( Forest Whitaker) & Raoul (Dwight Yoakam. Junor is a relative of the previous owner...this is how he knew about the panic room...otherwise how would he know?  This was the set up to get the plot rolling.  The two scenes I remember most would be when one of the invaders gets his fingers caught in the door & the other one getting set on fire ...also, the blinking light outdoors in the rain...creepy looking & dark & the woman  & her ill child just hope someone somewhere will see this blinking light in the darkness & care enough to have it investigated. We know it has a happy ending just like Hitchcockian endings.

 

Flight Plan:  Nobody believes Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) her husband just died & he is on the plane in a coffin & now Kyle says her daughter has disappeared in-flight...not possible ...Kyle must be ...uh...hysterical. Her husband just died poor woman can't think straight & has imagined a daughter who has now vanished.

 

Hysterical woman plot...Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes comes in here because of one scene where the daughter of Klye Pratt Julia (Marlene Lawston) writes her name on the planes wet & foggy window...then the name disappears & so does Julia. In The Lady Vanishes the exact same plot device happens with Miss Froy who writes her name on  the train window, then she too vanishes.  I like this plot device...it works for me.

 

These are all tightly controlled environments where there is not much moving around room ...just like Lifeboat.

 

What could happen in a boat at sea?  What could happen on a moving train? What could happen on a plane in-flight? though it is a BIG plane! What could happen in a New York apartment on a rainy night?

 

Apparently a lot can happen when the movie has a great director like Alfred Hitchcock to learn technique from.

[JazzGuyy]

Two of the most Hitchcockian films I’ve seen that are by directors who aren’t Alfred Hitchcock are Charade (1963), directed by Stanley Donen, and the French film Diabolique (1955), directed by H.G. Clouzot.

 

Charade features murder, romance, mistaken identities, and espionage.  The combination of suspense and humor are what really echo Hitchcock, in my opinion.  Charade has a fantastic score by Henri Mancini.  Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn are the charismatic leads. 

 

Diabolique deals with a murder gone awry and is very suspenseful.  The cinematography reminds me of Hitch’s B&W Hollywood films.  The plot, which involves the gaslighting of one of its characters, strikes me as something Hitch and Alma would have loved.

 

A more recent Hitch-inspired film is Disturbia (2007), starring Shia LaBeouf.  LeBeouf’s character, who becomes a voyeur while under house arrest, witnesses what he thinks is murder.  The film, directed by D.J. Caruso, is an homage to Rear Window.   

 

Clouzot is often considered the French Hitchcock. I think the humor element is stronger in Clouzot's films. There is certainly an affinity between the two.

[JazzGuyy]

I'm not recommending all these for quality, but some that spring to mind outside of De Palma and the ones listed in the notes.

 

 

The Conversation (not as sure about this one, but seems worth throwing out there for discussion)

 

 

The Conversation is certainly about voyeurism and uses lots of through the window and high angle shots à la Hitchcock.

[spotter52]

I agree with many that have already been mentioned, including:

 

Witness for the Prosecution

Double Indemnity

Manchurian Candidate

 

Here are some that haven't been suggested yet:

 

In the Heat of the Night - has an innocent and wrongly accused man (Sidney Poitier) caught up in a situation he doesn't want to be in. There is humor and the murder investigation is the McGuffin.

 

Suddenly - starring Frank Sinatra this small 1954 movie has many elements of Hitchcock.

 

Fargo - I think Hitch would have loved this movie and wished he had made it.

 

Panic Room - I think Davd Fincher must be a Hitch fan.

 

Dr. Strangelove - the apocalypse combined with humor, a perfect Hitch recipe. There are so many elements of this film that suggest Hitch.

 

[dmaxedon]

I've always felt Wait Until Dark was very much like a Hitchcock film, the star power, the drug-filled doll McGuffin, the (primarily) one room set (Rope), the wronged person with a twist, and the overall psychological / suspense thriller aspect of it. Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin are both superb.

 

The sub-level apartment provides great juxtaposition for certain (low-angle) shots, and also adds character to her living situation (Psycho).

 

There are some excellent POV shots with Audrey Hepburn's character, Susie Hendrix, who happens to be blind, and there's the tongue-in-cheek of it.

 

There's a murder victim, who appears and disappears (The Trouble with Harry), and she (the dead woman) happens to be blonde (everything), and there's a precocious brat (The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1934).

 

The director, Terence Young, and his connection to James Bond (and therefore his grasp of the spy thriller genre) is no coincidence either.

 

This is a great film, so if you haven't seen it, look for it, it does run on TCM from time to time.

 

I've always felt, given the chance, he would have done this film, and with very few, if any, changes.

 

Body Double, Charade, and the always fun to watch, High Anxiety, and maybe to a lesser extent, but still worthy of mentioning, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, also come to mind.

[KelRay]

I actually thought Wait Until Dark was a Hitchcock film when I was growing up (someone probably misrepresented that to me) and it was always one of my favorite classic suspense thrillers. I agree on all fronts. It is definitely a reflection of what Hitchcock gave us. 

 

 

I've always felt Wait Until Dark was very much like a Hitchcock film, the star power, the drug-filled doll McGuffin, the (primarily) one room set (Rope), the wronged person with a twist, and the overall psychological / suspense thriller aspect of it. Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin are both superb.

 

The sub-level apartment provides great juxtaposition for certain (low-angle) shots, and also adds character to her living situation (Psycho).

 

There are some excellent POV shots with Audrey Hepburn's character, Susie Hendrix, who happens to be blind, and there's the tongue-in-cheek of it.

 

There's a murder victim, who appears and disappears (The Trouble with Harry), and she (the dead woman) happens to be blonde (everything), and there's a precocious brat (The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1934).

 

The director, Terence Young, and his connection to James Bond (and therefore his grasp of the spy thriller genre) is no coincidence either.

 

This is a great film, so if you haven't seen it, look for it, it does run on TCM from time to time.

 

I've always felt, given the chance, he would have done this film, and with very few, if any, changes.

 

Body Double, Charade, and the always fun to watch, High Anxiety, and maybe to a lesser extent, but still worthy of mentioning, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, also come to mind.

[Joe69]

What about "Tales from the crypt?"

It had humour, suspense and many of the episodes involved someone that was completely innocent.

[Greatrandini]

After commenting about how the film Niagara fits this topic I was just checking the TCM schedule and that film is actually airing tonight at 10pm EDST.

 

Watch it and judge for yourself. I may pose the question, was Hitchcock influenced in any way by Niagara? If was made before Vertigo.

[ESei]

I'd like to nominate Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) with Madonna and Rosanna Arquette and the wonderful Laurie Metcalf. The plot is all about a double identity switch that allows two women to live each other's lives while a cold-blooded killer stalks the wrong one of them. There is a wonderful chase scene in a seedy theatre that features magic shows. Lots of point of view shots and the most desirable guy (Aidan Quinn) is a film projectionist and would-be filmmaker. The major city is New York, often filmed as a hallucinatory dream city from the point of view of Fort Lee, NJ. The MacGuffin is a pair of ancient Egyptian earrings.

 

The notes for today reinforce my growing belief that there is a parallel between Hitchcock's art and the kind of movement vocabulary found in ballet: a body of steps that can be combined and shaded to produce widely different effects and yet that have common elements that occur regularly. There is also the relationship to music and the concern for innovating within a firmly outlined set.

[spotter52]

"Body Double, Charade, and the always fun to watch, High Anxiety, and maybe to a lesser extent, but still worthy of mentioning, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, also come to mind."

 

High Anxiety is of course an intentional spoof of Hitchcock films (mostly Vertigo).

[Ordinary_Smith50]

Split (2016)

Dir: M.Night Shyamalan

Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, M.Night Shyamalan among others and an uncredited cameo by Bruce Willis

 

I felt this movie was highly inspired with "Psycho" as the main character Kevin Wendell Crumb was like one of Norman Bates's close relatives. Not to mention the horror show that it has. Even certain scenes was inspired by Hitchcock movies. One could see that Kevin impersonates a woman and the hostages mistook her for someone who could have helped them out, only to find that her was "him" all along. This scene reminded me of Mrs Bates/Mother sequence from the Hitchcock film.

 

What amazed me even more is that the title design resembles as that of Saul Bass's Psycho and it was a great homage to him.

 

Here's the trailer to the film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4972582/videoplayer/vi741258777

 

Not only do I agree, but I would argue that director M.Night Shyamalan has slightly modeled his whole career around his influence of Hitchcock. Particularly due to the fact that he makes a cameo in all of his movies as a nod to Alfred Hitchcock.

While Hitchcock had a set of formal tendencies that he used throughout his entire career, M.Night also has a set of strategies that he works into his films (some straight from Hitchcock). He frequently uses Philadelphia as the backdrop of his movies, he often works with the same composer (James Newton Howard), majority of his movies touch on the topic of broken/struggling marriages, his movies are usually suspenseful and end with a twist, water and the color red often have a deeper meaning in his films, the majority of his movies contain a shot where the camera is fixed on two characters talking but the camera is placed at a distant and the characters are usually speaking in a whisper. The list could really go on.

One last comparison that came to mind is M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” and “The Birds”.  I was not a fan of “The Happening” (sidenote: Most people hate his films, but I thoroughly enjoy most of Shyamalan’s work). But, after taking this course and specifically looking at all the unanswered questions in “The Birds” like why the birds attacked in the first place, it gave me a deeper appreciation for what M.Night was trying to convey with “The Happening”.

[dmaxedon]

Ooh, this is fun, another favorite just came to mind, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, which happens to star Joseph Cotten and Bruce Dern, there's stars and not stars, a McGuffin in a box, murder, suspense, a person being driven mad, eerie dream sequences, and who can forget the staircase, and it's perfect use in the death of the maid, Agnes Moorehead, in particular her closeup after her death, it's so shower scene!

 

The music also plays an important role in the movie, and is very befitting. There are several comedic moments as well, in particular with the maid and the reporter Harry Willis played by Cecil Kellaway.

 

The location is a once glorious southern mansion, where great cotillions were held, but now it's in complete disrepair, maintained by a sullen, mysterious maid, hmm, Rebecca?

 

At it's heart it's a B horror movie, done in black and white, during the color era, I want to say Psycho?

 

It also runs on TCM from time to time, and is always fun to watch!

[Earthshine]

I apologize if other people have already noted this, but I thought I would mention it anyway.  It seems to me that the film director M. Night Shyamalan tries to make a cameo in many of his films (The Sixth Sense and The Village for certain).  In both of these films, he took the cameo appearance a bit farther than Hitchcock by giving his character dialogue.  For me, the verdict is still out on how I feel about his roles in his films because generally speaking I am not a big fan of his style (aside from The Sixth Sense, which I thought was brilliant and still his best film).  This may or may not be a Hitchcock influence, but it seems likely considering how notorious (no pun intended?) Hitchcock was for making cameos in his films.

[Gilda]

Someone mentioned Niagara, it reminds me of Hitchcock. We fear for the "crazy" husband, Joseph Cotton. We know his wife is fooling around on him. He tries to tell people his wife is trying to have him killed. The audience knows it. Like "the wronged man". When the wife wakes up from her sedated sleep, there is a famous bell tower playing a song. (Hitch used famous places). It's a vacation spot where everyone is supposed to be happy, but we know that isn't true. There is a twist, where the wife is disappointed and almost driven mad.

I do love Niagara.

Another film that reminds me of Hitch is The Night of the Hunter. We know that Mitchum's character is a killer (suspense) but the children and their mother don't know it. And the MacGuffin is the doll with money hidden in it. POV shots, such as the boy's looking out of the barn and seeing the preacher riding the horse, and the shadows also recall Hitch.

I have to say I enjoyed this course very much!! Thank you Prof. Edwards

[DLaws]

Some on my list already have been mentioned, but definitely worth revisiting, in my opinion:

 

The Stranger - D. Orson Welles. Main character, a Nazi disguised as college professor Dr. Charles Rankin, has a fixation about clocks and is allegedly attempting to repair the big clock in the public square. There are aerial views associated with this element (you have to climb a ladder to reach it); also key overhead shot in the gym, when "Dr. Rankin" attempts to kill Nazi hunter Edward G. Robinson. The clock ends up being (SPOILER ALERT) the source and scene of the criminal's demise. Setting is a fictional small town of Harper, Connecticut reminiscent of Shador of a Doubt.

 

On the Waterfront - D. Elia Kazan. Blonde Eva Marie Saint (who later appears in Hitchcock's North by Northwest) is the female protagonist, Edie Doyle. She and Terry Malloy (Brando) appear in one of the important tracking shots as they run away down a dark, wet alley from a car intent on running them down - only to end up seeing Terry's brother Charlie dead, hanging from a hook. Another beautifully executed, unforgettable scene is where Terry reveals his role in setting up Joey Doyle's murder - it's done with CU shots of Terry speaking to Edie with the dialog covered - on purpose - by the loud blasts of the horns from passing freighters; Edie reacts by screaming, covering her ears - not due to the waterfront sounds, which in the hands of someone else might have been background noise, but because Terry is telling her something she desperately doesn't want to hear. This sequence always has reminded me of Hitchcock; it stands to reason that such a scene would pack a punch - but with this treatment, it's elevated to another level and grabs the audience's attention. Another important tracking (and POV) shot occurs as the badly beaten, bloody Terry is staggering his way to the overhead door where the longshoremen report for work each morning (I call it the "Let's go to work" scene). Aerials factor into this film from the beginning as Joey Doyle is thrown off the roof an apartment building; also much of the action is associated with Terry's (and Joey's) pet pigeons that are kept in coops on the roof.

 

Night of the Hunter - D. Charles Laughton. Quiet, small town setting; audience knows the killer's identity and where the stolen money is hidden right from the beginning. There is a psychological angle here: Mitchum is the killer, clearly a twisted soul with the words "love" and "hate" tattoed on his fingers, posing as a so-called preacher who kills women. Latest victim is Shelley Winters' character (also blonde) who literally ends up dead in the water. Dark humor plays a role via the Lillian Gish character who, along with the homeless children in her charge, outsmarts the criminal who is stalking his former cellmate's kids (who also are in Gish's care).

 

Dead Again - D. Kenneth Branagh. Emma Thompson is the blonde in this noirish thriller, that has psychological undertones involving amnesia, past lives - and murder. There also are dual role performances reminiscent of Vertigo.

 

Niagara - D. Henry Hathaway. One of Marilyn Monroe's best roles that showcases her acting talent, opposite Shadow of a Doubt's Joseph Cotten. Similar to North by Northwest, there is a lot of action and suspense at Niagara Falls, an international locale that lends itself well to aerial shots, and helps advance the plot.

 

Another Man's Poison - D. Irving Rapper. Very suspenseful, based on the stage play Deadlock, but much of the action actually occurs/is suggested by, the outdoors. Opening sequence is a tight, moving shot of writer Janet Frobisher's (Bette Davis') feet, as she walks purposefully along a dark road - along a cliff at some points (!) - to a public phone at a train station (another Hitchcockian motif, within a motif that pulls the audience right into the action). Sidebar: writer/former Hitchcock collaborator (1934's version of The Man Who Knew Too Much) Emlyn Williams appears in the film in the pivotal role of the veterinarian (I won't say more for those who haven't seen this film before!).

 

A Perfect Murder - D. Andrew Davis. This was an out and out update of Dial M for Murder, and was promoted as such back in 1998. It was a good film, but naturally does not hold a candle to the original. There was a blonde protagonist, Gwyneth Paltrow; settings and other key elements had been changed, but lacked the intimacy, elegance and style of the original. Kudos to Davis, though, for providing a twist to the murder plot that was reminiscent of Hitchcock's masterpiece, without mimicry. Sidebar: Viggo Mortensen was good as the wife's lover - and appears in Eastern Promises and A History of Violence, both with blonde protagonists (Naomi Watts, Maria Bello), directed by David Cronenburg, who was on another poster's list.

 

War of the Roses - D. Danny DeVito. I saw this film as a twist on Hitchcock's screwball comedy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, with dark comedy elements.  (SPOILER ALERT) This couple is considering separation/divorce, but instead of getting back together at the end - they kill each other! Don't know if DeVito had any of this in mind, but nevertheless....

 

Fahrenheit 451 - D. Francois Truffaut. As someone else mentioned, you have Julie Christie as the blonde, in dual roles, lots of long tracking shots, plus a Bernard Hermann score.

 

The Godfather (1-3) - D. Francis Ford Coppola. Diane Keaton, as Kay Adams, is the blonde protagonist here. The key motif, to me, are the bowls/plates of oranges that appear in various scenes -- typically before someone/something is killed or dies. Examples:

- Plates of oranges on the table at the meeting between Vito and the heads of the five families. Lots of death follows.

-There are oranges on the table during Tom Hagen's meeting with movie mogul Woltz - before the horse is beheaded.

-There are oranges on the table at the Corleone home after Tom returns from L.A.

- The first time we see Sal Tessio, he's playfully tossing an orange into the air at Connie Corleone's wedding. Sal later betrays Michael and is killed.

- In G-3, aging Michael is peeling an orange as he collapses, falls out of his chair, dead (presumably of a heart attack or stroke).

- In G-1, an assassination attempt on Vito takes place at a local fruit market where he is buying oranges. Sidebar: This scene, as violent as it is, is skillfully shot and in a way, choreographed, without gratuitious blood and gore. You hear guns firing, you see a car, you see Vito shift his eyes and pivot to take cover as he realizes what's going on, you see poor Fredo fumble, drop his gun and sink to the ground crying - all of which due to masterful direction and editing tells you what happened (and what will happen going forward), i.e., the pictures tell the story. Although grittier than a Hitchcock film, it is an example of his influence.

 

Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, etc. - D. - Quentin Tarantino. Tongue-in-cheek humor undercuts the graphic violence that is very much a part of these films. Blonde female protagonists: Uma Thurman, Diane Krueger, Melanie Laurent.

 

A Murder, She Wrote episode in which mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is conducting a seminar on Hitchcock's style! And let us not forget that Jessica calls the fictional small coastal town of Cabot Cove, Maine her home.

 

This has been fun!

[jfedelchak]

Turning my attention to television shows with a Hitchcock motif, I have four:

 

1.  Thriller , Boris Karloff hosted this weekly anthology horror/suspense/mystery show. Maybe capitalizing on Hitch's own TV show, it had many good episode of suspense. I loved watching it in summer re-runs as a boy.

 

2.  Columbo (1971-2003), Peter Falk in the lead role as Lt. Columbo, had a Hitchcock-ian suspense element to it, since you always knew up front who did it, the suspense was in the chase to see how Columbo would figure it out and bring his party to justice.

 

3.  Twin Peaks (1990-91),  David Lynch creator/director. A suspenseful horror/thriller set in the town of Twin Peaks, with F.B.I. agents on the trail of a serial killer, known as Bob. This show had more twists then a bag of pretzels with a great all-star cast, a superb mix of macabre and humor and a story that keep you riveted  ;loaded with suspense and  mystery. 

 

4.  American Gothic (1995-96), stared Gary Cole and a young Lucas Black, a  gothic horror/ thriller weekly episodic show of the goings on in a small town in the USA. It was a very suspenseful show, that never seemed to catch on with the network, but I believe, like Twin Peaks, had its loyal fans.

 

...with respect to movies, so many great films have already been mentioned, but I had one I particularly akin to Hitchcock:

 

Arabesque - Stanley Donen directed, Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. A suspense  mystery with many Hitch touches. The story about a Professor in England (Peck) tasked with decrypting a Egyptian code to prevent "some" terrible outcome. It has a MacGuffin, colorful locals, humor, suspense, espionage,  the use of a double, a suave and fiendish villain, a deadly bird  and a mysterious female (Loren), along with a classic double-chase. My personal all-time favorite Hitch-like film.

 

P.S. I always thought Arabesque would make a great DVD double-release with Donen's companion film Charade.  If your listening TCM Shop. Or you could make it a four-pack with Hitch's 39 Steps and North by Northwest. I'd buy that!!

[mariaki]

Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much  (1963) is clearly a Hitchcock homage, and one of those transnational films mentioned in the class.  It has interesting camera angles, lots of shadow and silhouettes, outdoor and well-known locations in Rome, a man who may be a good guy or a bad guy helping the woman, and more.  Here's the

 

Welles' A Touch of Evil (1958) is another that comes to mind. 

 

And finally, Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010)

[mariaki]

 

Plein Soleil (1960): In a taut, expertly crafted thriller Delon is Ripley, an emissary sent by a wealthy American industrialist to save his son, errant playboy Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), from a life of decadence in Rome.

Insinuating himself into Greenleaf's existence, Ripley practices his signature and dresses up in his clothes before attempting to steal his life, his girl and most importantly his money.

 

 

Excellent choice!  I was thinking about Hitchcock when I last saw this film a few months ago. Aside from the story which I think Hitch would have liked, there's gorgeous use of color and definite fetishistic focus on the perfect beauty of  Alain Delon.

[Bit*Jane]

I spent my weeks of anticipation for this course watching 5 seasons of Bates Motel.

 

Like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, it aired once a week and had a huge cult following.

 

Loved the set! A true homage to the Master.

 

And don't forget Psycho 2,3,4 & 5!

 

Psycho 2 also starred Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles, and is worth viewing.

[AleGa]

After this course, I have started to think that David Fincher has a lot of influence from Hitchcock in many of his films. His movies have many common elements with the psychological thriller, suspense thriller or even film noir. Now, I am thinking about Gone Girl, which has a little bit of these genres and focuses on a falsely accused man, marriage and a psycopath. Also, even when it has a dark tone, there are many moments of dark comedy as well, for example, when Amy Dunne says that she is much happier now that she is dead. In the case of motifs, many important situations in the film are part of bed scenes (the assassination or the first and last shot of Amy), the protagonist is blonde and the covers of the books of The Amazing Amy could function as a painting. Finally, the music is very important for instance in the murder scene when the lighting is quite expressionistic with the blink effect and among other similarities it is possible to identify the many POV shots when Amy is writing her diary.

   

[joant]

I imagine all of these have been mentioned but.....here goes.

 

Cape Fear suspense originally storyboarded by Hitch

David Lynch weirdness - Twin Peaks - Mulholland Drive tension

The tracking shots in The Shining

Brian de Palma e.g. Body Double (the film!)

Killing Kevin Spacey off in LA Confidential and Alec Baldwin stars killed of early in a film to name two.

 

I have many more rolling around in my brain but I’ve got to shut it down so I can unwind and get to sleep.

 

It was a wonderful day today Professor. I owe you an email!!

[500efr]

- Diabolique (1955) - Director: Henri-Georges

- D.O.A - Director: Rudolph Mate

- Mulholland Drive - Director: David Lynch

- Blow Up - Director: Michaelangelo Antonioni

- Blue Velvet - Director: David Lynch

- Black Swan - Director: Darren Aronofsky