1. Do you see the beginnings of the "Hitchcock touch" in this sequence? Please provide specific examples.
I can't say that I'm familiar enough with Hitchcock's films to be able to define exactly what the Hitchcock "touch" might be, but I was reminded of several elements from his later films. For example, the sense of humor expressed visually (in ways that simply couldn't be expressed any other way) seemed very familiar: the use of the camera lens to show the older man having trouble seeing the young woman he's trying to ogle until he uses binoculars, and then the dancing legs coming into focus, reminded me of such visual gags as the two love birds in Melanie Daniels's car swaying back and forth in The Birds as she drives along the winding California coastline, or the sea of red porter's caps that appear in the Chicago train station when the police are searching for Cary Grant disguised as a porter in North By Northwest.
2. Do you agree or disagree with Strauss, Yacowar, and Spoto assessments that this sequence contains elements, themes, or approaches that we will see throughout Hitchcock's 50-year career?
I would agree. I thought of the direct contrast between scenes of what seems like lighthearted humor (the chorus girl rebuffing the older man on stage) and darker, more sinister ones (the two pickpockets outside the theater who steal the letter from the young woman's purse). I'm reminded, for instance, of the humor in the early scenes of North By Northwest, which soon turns into something very different. There's also the overall element of relationships between men and women. Here, Hitchcock starts with an older, seemingly harmless and bumbling man eyeing chorus girls, who seems easily deflected, then shifts to pickpockets who are clearly out to prey on the young woman entering the theater, and finally leaves us with the two men inside the theater, who are better dressed, and whose motives are left ambiguous in this first scene: will they aid the young woman, or also take advantage of her? I thought of the way in which relationships between men and woman take such different turns in so many of his later movies: Notorious, Psycho, North By Northwest, The Birds, Rear Window, etc.
3. Since this is a silent film, do you feel there were any limitations on these opening scenes due to the lack of synchronous spoken dialogue?
Of course the lack of spoken dialogue (and also sound effects) was a limitation in silent films, but I'm sure it forced directors to learn to tell stories differently, having to find ways to use almost nothing but picture. I would imagine that the skills acquired by being forced to do that must have had a big impact on silent era directors even after synch sound became available.
Daily Dose #1: Spiralling into View: The Pleasure Garden (1925)
in The Master of Suspense: 50 Years of Hitchcock
Posted
1. Do you see the beginnings of the "Hitchcock touch" in this sequence? Please provide specific examples.
I can't say that I'm familiar enough with Hitchcock's films to be able to define exactly what the Hitchcock "touch" might be, but I was reminded of several elements from his later films. For example, the sense of humor expressed visually (in ways that simply couldn't be expressed any other way) seemed very familiar: the use of the camera lens to show the older man having trouble seeing the young woman he's trying to ogle until he uses binoculars, and then the dancing legs coming into focus, reminded me of such visual gags as the two love birds in Melanie Daniels's car swaying back and forth in The Birds as she drives along the winding California coastline, or the sea of red porter's caps that appear in the Chicago train station when the police are searching for Cary Grant disguised as a porter in North By Northwest.
2. Do you agree or disagree with Strauss, Yacowar, and Spoto assessments that this sequence contains elements, themes, or approaches that we will see throughout Hitchcock's 50-year career?
I would agree. I thought of the direct contrast between scenes of what seems like lighthearted humor (the chorus girl rebuffing the older man on stage) and darker, more sinister ones (the two pickpockets outside the theater who steal the letter from the young woman's purse). I'm reminded, for instance, of the humor in the early scenes of North By Northwest, which soon turns into something very different. There's also the overall element of relationships between men and women. Here, Hitchcock starts with an older, seemingly harmless and bumbling man eyeing chorus girls, who seems easily deflected, then shifts to pickpockets who are clearly out to prey on the young woman entering the theater, and finally leaves us with the two men inside the theater, who are better dressed, and whose motives are left ambiguous in this first scene: will they aid the young woman, or also take advantage of her? I thought of the way in which relationships between men and woman take such different turns in so many of his later movies: Notorious, Psycho, North By Northwest, The Birds, Rear Window, etc.
3. Since this is a silent film, do you feel there were any limitations on these opening scenes due to the lack of synchronous spoken dialogue?
Of course the lack of spoken dialogue (and also sound effects) was a limitation in silent films, but I'm sure it forced directors to learn to tell stories differently, having to find ways to use almost nothing but picture. I would imagine that the skills acquired by being forced to do that must have had a big impact on silent era directors even after synch sound became available.