Bronxgirl48

I agree with you. I read Hitch was excited to film it, giving some, um, explicit directions. I don't even want to imagine what he thought about the rape scene in FRENZY. I cannot stand Connery's character overall in MARNIE. I will also add Rod Taylor in THE BIRDS.

CaveGirl, my Bronx and I thank you so much! I haven't been back there in a long, long time but want to so much.....tugs at my heart. Bittersweet. On a lighter note, I woke up last night with TCM still on and saw something that was apparently TIP ON A DEAD JOCKEY. This was a film I knew nothing about. There was squat Martin Gabel prattling on (and on) in some Hollywood "foreign" accent about international intrigue; Bob ruminating on life, marriage, and.....Balzac; little (he's really short!) Marcel Dalio -- who had such a distinguished career in France (GRAND ILLUSION, RULES OF THE GAME) before coming to America and being unfortunately known primarily as the croupier in CASABLANCA -- playing a character named Toto, "colorful" sidekick to Taylor. The great Miklos Rozsa (one of my favorites; his scores are easy to identify) seemed to be phoning it in but who could blame him? At one point Marcel and Bob get into a plane going (I think) to Egypt but (mercifully) I fell asleep.

CaveGirl, I agree with Christine. (no hidden agenda, lol)

Yes, I loved those old department stores! We will never see their like again.... I was really shocked to learn about Harold's "proclivities"! I saw a "This Is Your Life" with him on YouTube where he seemed so....normal, lol. We all pretty much know the dark sides of Chaplin and poor Keaton, but I thought for sure Lloyd was different. I agree about a screen test for DIAL M FOR MURDER with Tom!

VERTIGO. Questions. Why does Judy from Salina, Kansas speak with New Yorker-ish intonations? ("Yuh satis-FYED?") Is it to dramatically distinguish her "real" voice from Madeline's fake posh tones? Scottie first casts his eyes on Madeline at Ernie's for what? 5 seconds before he becomes totally and irretrievably obsessed with her? Judy doesn't bat an eyelash when she opens her hotel room door and sees Scottie. I'm thinking she is just very good at compartmentalizing. After Scottie rescues Madeline from the water he calls Elster and tells him what happened. There is a significant pause from Elster on the other end, enough for Scottie to ask "Are you still there?" Why does Gavin hesitate? Why does coroner Henry Jones affect what sounds to me like an exaggerated Southern accent when he says: "From that great city to the Nooooaaaath"?

Thanks! I do remember her in MINISTRY OF FEAR. Thank you also for the heads up on CONFIDENCE GIRL -- never saw it. I think Hillary is also in several or at least one of the Sherlock Holmes films -- THE WOMAN IN GREEN.

TOPAZ just started! I'm addicted to that martial music score. I just lurv it! Weird, I know....but you should see me -- I bob my head back and forth in tune, I go crazy!

Retroplex Channel has been running Hitchcock films for many months now. I've seen FRENZY several times; as a matter of fact I just finished watching it this evening. Barry Foster is fantastic. (the only other actor who I think could have played that part is Michael Caine)

LOL There's a shrunken head waiting for you on your bed!

No, my sweet lafitte, you are making sense. For me NBNW almost feels like a school course by Hitch in how to make the perfect thriller. He puts together all his recognizable themes -- the wrong man, chase, cool blond, fancy villain, scenery, etc., an amalgam of THE 39 STEPS but updated with 1950's Technicolor "glamour" sensibilities.

Oh my gosh, lol, Miliza Milo, who knew she was an actual actress? For me the awkwardness but somehow strange authenticity of her line readings made me think she was an actual Ransohoff sales person, ha! And only 36 years old when appearing in VERTIGO? Seemed much older. "I think we may still have that model". "Yes, I thought so" Cannot imagine someone like Miliza in GANG GIRL. Wow. And for all we know she just may very well have been related to Fellini's Sandra. There are certainly stranger Tinseltown facts, like me finding out that one of Harold Lloyd's most beloved hobbies was taking so-called "glamour" 3-D photographs of nude actresses and strippers, which also allowed him to get frisky with them. (his favorite model was Bettie Page) And I always thought Lloyd was such a straight arrow in private life! As for Tom, yes, he was under the radar and luck/fate does have a lot to do with achieving Hollywood stardom. I have to say, though, that I do enjoy Milland's hammy villainy in DIAL M FOR MURDER. Not quite sure Helmore could have pulled off that long murder set-up monologue Ray describes with barely concealed relish to Anthony Dawson.

On a minor and frankly shallow point: For some reason I can't stand the voice of that head sales lady in VERTIGO. "My, you certainly do know what you want, sir". It's not what she says but the physical tone itself, kind of wobbly, nasal, I can't really describe it but she drives me crazy.

I'm particularly fond of TO CATCH A THIEF mainly because of the glorious south of France location. For me the best part of THE BIRDS is that brilliantly "choreographed" setpiece by Hitch in the diner where everyone is trying to figure out what's going on. Melanie on the phone with her father is interrupted by the old crone, who in turn is cut off by the waitress's order, then the others chime in with their own opinions and we are caught up in the escalating tension and fear. NORTH BY NORTHWEST is a little too "slick" for me. It's too picture-perfect, if that makes any sense. (probably not)

Would any of you regard Hillary Brooke as a femme fatale? I've always enjoyed her icy, dare I say spooky qualities, even when she was Bud and Lou's neighbor on their television show.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT is one of my favorite Hitchcock's. I also enjoy the alternately jaunty and romantic score. (another small voice) I like UNDER CAPRICORN.

And he understudied Rex Harrison in the original stage production of MY FAIR LADY! Oooh, I watch AHP on MeTV almost every night but missed that "Murder Me Twice" episode. Will have to watch for it. TORN CURTAIN, lol, yeah.....

Yes, I do think that VERTIGO is not even the best Hitchcock, and concur with you on those four films.

Thanks so much. Just when I think TORN CURTAIN can't get any worse, up pops Lila Kedrova. "My American sponsor!" (love her in ZORBA THE GREEK however) And Ludwig Donath ironically never shuts up even though he mocks others who do not: "Yak! Yak! Yak!" The Gromek character is "fun" but still.....Okay I'll shut up now about TC. When I first saw VERTIGO and heard Helmore's phrase "portals of the past" as he's telling Scottie about Madeline's vehicular wanderings, I was immediately suspicious. "Portals of the past" just sounds so old-fashioned and melodramatic, very Victorian, which is of course the "freedom and power" (for men) time period Elster prefers. So I knew something was up, lol. Helmore's gentlemanly British presence reminds me a bit of Alan Napier.

Paul was always easy on the eyes but frankly he sneered a bit too much for my liking. And don't get me started on TORN CURTAIN! I can summarize that entire film in one word: "stale". Even TOPAZ is better by comparison! The only actor I appreciate in VERTIGO is Tom Helmore as Gavin Elster. In fact, he made such an impression on me that when I first viewed THE TENDER TRAP and saw Helmore coming out of an elevator to get acquainted with Celeste Holm, I yelled at her: "Get away as fast as you can!!" I enjoy Helmore's quiet, shaded cunning as Elster. Yes, the actor himself may be bland but I find it works perfectly for the character as he's "introducing" himself to the audience and getting back in touch with Scottie to set up his evil plan.

Claire was definitely a step up even though I can do without any of them. She told Eddie that her favorite Hitchcock movie is THE BIRDS. But who am I to judge since I don't care for VERTIGO, lol.

Connie is a cutie-pie, that's for sure. I even enjoyed Dean Jones, lol. And one cannot ever have enough of Cesar Romero! I hope TCM runs BLACK MAGIC again in the not too distant future. As an Orson Welles fan I really want to see it.

I've been seriously under the weather lately so forgive my late replies. I can also enjoy a good police procedural/crime drama (which I think started with Fritz Lang's 1931 M) when the mood hits me, lol. Would you believe I've never heard that Talking Heads song? Now you've got me thinking about movies with a psycho's p.o.v.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who doesn't care for VERTIGO, lol. I'm the one who should probably seek out a shrink! I want to like it, even love it, believe me, but I just can't. And I'm a huge Hitch fan.

I did stick it out but must confess that, aside from Dixon as an actress or her character as written, "noir" films with titles like ROADBLOCK, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY and its ilk leave me cold because, immature as I am, lol, I prefer the more colorfully existential stuff in this style/genre like NIGHTMARE ALLEY, STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR, SCARLET STREET, etc.

Tried to get through ROADBLOCK but Joan Dixon made it virtually impossible. I thought she was a terrible actress, no charisma, just wooden and very generic in the femme fatale department.