spellbound (1945)

ingrid bergman and gregory peck star in alfred hitchock's 1954 tale of love and psychoanalsis. in a departure from his usual area of expertise, hitchcock uses the cinematically unusual occupation of psychiatry as a launchpad for an "on the run" style romantic adventure film that predates the likes of "north by northwest", but follows in the footsteps of his earlier "saboteur".

the dream sequence that falls halfway into the film, detailing the code that will unravel in the latter half of the picture is based upon a concept by artist salvador dali. familiar with the dali work in question, i found the sequence to be an absolute joy and display some of hitchcocks finest visual work.

alongside the famous sequence, hitchcock's flair is displayed through a couple of other key scenes; namely the shot from the point of view of behind a glass of milk, and the shot of the gun from the point of view of the man commiting suicide. i particularly liked the scene were peck meets bergman for the first time, in which their faces fill the screen. it is in this scene wherein bergman's character changes tone, literally instantly. gone is the stoic doctor from the earlier scenes, and in comes the familiar site of a 1940's love interest falling head over heals for her beau. its a monumentally huge scene, and a great example of the classic hollywood cinema of the time.

saboteur (1942)

perhaps the best example of a film which embodies the two aspects of hitchcock's career (the british work and the american films), "saboteur" came suitably enough in the early years of his work. on paper the film seems like an early prototype for "north by northwest", with the famous landmark-based action atop the statue of liberty laying down the blueprints for the mount rushmore sequence in "north by northwest".

the film is very dark, unusually so for the time. as a result the film is beautifully shot, with the tone of the film lending richly to the character. the actual characterisation is fairly complex too, with the incidental character of the friendly truck driver reminding of the later work of a character-rich filmmaker like martin scorsese.

the film comes complete with the expected kick in the teeth, complete with bitter irony at the end of the film. as the only person that can clear him falls to his death, our hero barry kane (robert cummings) sees his one chance of clearance fall with it. this carries one definitive trait of hitchcock; an unexpected, non-hollywood climax.

rope (1948)

a surprisingly early hitchcock work (i genuinely thought it was made in the late fifties, even after the viewing), "rope" is a murder based thriller with a difference. rather than building to the moment of action or at least dragging some drama or statement out of the literal act, the killing in this film takes place in an instant just as the credits have finished rolling. in fact, the way in which all human activity seemingly begins on cue as the final name (alfred hitchcock obviusly...) on the credits rolls by, suggests a great deal. the theatrical notion of the performance begining is apparent, with a clockwork-like moment taking place.

when initially seeing the film literally opening with the murder i instantly presumed that this must have been a reaction of sorts to his critics. ''perhaps the hitchcock method seemed tired or out of date?" i thought, figuring that the drastically different structure was his way of hitting back at those who theoretically spoke out. this was the obvious conclussion that i came to, having most recently viewed "the birds", "shadow of a doubt" and "rear window", all three coming before "rope" i thought. i was shocked to discover that only "shadow of a doubt" came before, and so the reaction that i presumed was an invention of my own thought. needless to say, "rope" is an interesting counterweight to his other work, its almost like a hitchcock film in reverse. instead of the usual build of suspense though we are left with another, one of impending doom for the characters involved. we know the problem, now we await the consequence.

with its (at the time) revolutionary editing, used in a manner to project the concept that the narrative takes place in one continuous shot it could be said that "rope" is hitchcock's most experimental work. again the slow paced nature of "rope" compares interestingly to some of the key scenes in his later work (the bird attacks of "the birds", the shower scene in "psycho").

one of the most unusual aspects of "rope" is that the traditional protagonist of the piece doesnt show up until almost half an hour into the film. hitchcock would later reverse this technique by killing off his "star" name just 30 minutes into "psycho".

"rope" is incredibly self-referential a film. the scenes in which the characters discuss ingrid bergman and company are a sly aside, showing hitchcock's canny wit. the mention of freud could be seen as hitchcock addressing one of the subtle underlying themes from "shadow of a doubt", or, more likely, its critics.

at times the film is highly reminiscent of its theatrical origins, yet at others it is incredibly cinematic. for example the scene whereby james stewart's 'rupert cadell' gives the breakdown of how he would have commited the crime. the camera leads the story, implicating each of the relevent items involved in the act. this reminds heavily of the camerawork later seen in "rear window", and is incredibly visual filmmaking. the lighting at the end of the film, as the friends' plan falls apart is incredibly effective too, in spite of the basic nature. the neon signs used to "colour" the breakdown of philip morgan show literally his being tipped over the edge of sanity. later on in the same scene, the same lights offer a comforting glow, as the film winds down.

rear window (1954)

as a childhood fan of james stewart's "harvey''-era work i often found it difficult to enjoy his more mature roles. having never seen "rear window" prior to this viewing, i am definately realising the error of my ways. sure, these later roles may be very different to the earlier one's, but thats not a comment on the quality of them.

"rear window" opens with one of the most beautifully crafted scenario's i have ever seen. the incredibly limited location is displayed fully with the inventive camerawork on display. specifically placed items tell the whole backstory, as a shot of the broken leg is followed by a shot of a broken camera before the camera moves onto a photograph of a car crashing into view. in this one instance we are shown the problem, the reason and the cause (two very different things). its masterfully paced storytelling, and uses very well paced, traditional techniques.

the opening scene is followed by small vignettes, each told from the point of view of the protagonist, l.b jeffries (stewart), that serve to introduce each of the supporting players key characteristics. this is again, a very traditional technique, used greatly in which to introduce the characters.

although the plot of the film largely revolves around the point of view of our protagonist, we are privy to one piece of information that he isnt, although in turn this is used against us, as if to confuse and throw us off of the mark. the piece of information that i am referring to is the moment quite early on where thorwald, the ''evil'' neighbour leaves his appartment with a woman whilst jeffries sleeps. it is with this action that we are led to believe that thorwald is innocent and jeffries is wrong. alas, as it is later proven, we were too a victim of thorwald's deception.

one thing that i didnt realise until recently is that ''rear window'' was made only 4 years after "harvey" which in turn was made between hitchcock projects. this adds testiment to the versatility of stewart, and only serves to prove just how wrong to seperate the two styles of work.

shadow of a doubt (1942)

alfred hitchcock's "shadow of a doubt" one of his earliest american films, and his favourite of his own films, is the key text in one of my MA modules, and the reason for the current season of hitchcock films being undertaken by myself. the title of the film is represented physically throughout, not only through the use of literal shadows, but also through the use of smoke, black typography (diagetic text ie, on the doors of the library) and even in the form of shrubbery to compliment the use of the "shadow" of the title. the most impressive and perhaps obvious use of shadows comes early on, in the shape of the train arrival in the station, wherein the newton family are encased in shadow by the imposing figure of the train. this simple scene suggests quite literally, the state of things to come.

another fairly basic, yet incredibly effective technique is the contrast between new jersey (being the site of uncle charlie's introduction) and santa rosa (being the site of the newton family, specifically little charlie's introduction and dwelling). the two locations are poles apart, adding another layer to the level of characterisation for all parties. the off-kilter angles in which the locations are initially shot tells the viewer to be wary of what they are about to see, giving off an uneasy and unusual tone.

the character of little charlie ages severely throughout the film, as well as developing emotionally. at the start of the film she is but a little girl, angry at the restrictive nature of the world around her, yet by the films closing moments she is the fully fledged protagonist of her own life, having made the decisions that have moved the narrative. shes no longer a bored little girl, but is instead a strong female character, which was actually quite a bold statement for the 1940's.

with each viewing of a hitchcock film, one of the more apparent archetypes of his work is that of the comedic character. "shadow of a doubt" is no exception, with the paranoid character of herb adding to the comic relief. not only does he add to the lighter tone, but his tales of murder provoke a side of little charlie's character unseen to the point in question. the full importance of the "comedic" role is completely exposed here, as what is presumed to be little more than light relief is shown to be an incredibly important narrative ingredient.

the wizard of oz (1939)

as per the request of my reading list, a fresh viewing of "the wizard of oz" proved a necessity this christmas. having not seen the film for at least ten years i had forgotten just how vivid and downright great a film it is. as a fan of the work of murnau and lang i was amazed to realise that ''the wizard of oz'' came just 12 years after lang's "metropolis" and murnau's "sunrise", which is surprising considering the technical progression between the films. according to one of the many documentaries on the dvd, "the wizard of oz'' is the most seen film in history. madness.

bigger than life (1956)

as nicholas ray's film started i imagined how cool these opening shots would have looked in cinemascope. to date i have only experienced one film in the wonderful format, jack cardiff's* "scent of mystery" (1960). its a fairly unusual format, at least it is compared to anything we would find familiar these days. basically the screen is extra wide and curved, conveying the feeling of being surrounded by the image to the viewer. the title scene of 'bigger than life' involves reels of children running out of a school, towards and around the camera, so its probably quite understandable as to why the cinemascope format so perfectly.

'bigger than life' tells the story of ed avery, a middle class school teacher, working part time as a cab-clerk in order to support his family. through an illness presumably a result of his exhaustion from working both jobs, avery finds himself with a predicament - try a new miracle-cure, or die from his ills. after becoming addicted and dependant on the miracle cure avery's mood changes hugely, culminating in an attempt on his family's life. the film reminded me greatly of the original cape fear (1962), with the tension building throughout leading to the borderline-unbearable climax.

its worth noting just how bold some of the dialogue and concepts within the film are, and just how relevant the piece remains. lines such as "God was wrong!" or "childhood is a congenital disease - and the purpose of education is to cure it. we're breeding a race of moral midgets." would be incredibly daring in a hollywood studio film today, let alone 52 years ago.


*jack cardiff was michael powell & emeric pressburger's longterm cinematographer, shooting such classics as the red shoes and black narcissus for them. "scent of mystery" was the first studio film to be shot in smell-o-vision according to cardiff, who was present at the screening. the film carried the inspired tagline of "first they moved (1895)! then they talked (1927)! now they smell!" and features a wonderful cameo by elizabeth taylor.

the magnicent ambersons (1942)

the magnificent ambersons, orson welles' follow-up to citizen kane (1941) came just a year after its predessor. with kane failing to light up the world of film, welles was left with a comparitive failure, and as such lost most of the creative control that he was given upon his arrival to hollywood. as legend tells it, as with most of his post-kane work welles lost the right to final cut of the film, with rko themselves taking over the final film and delivering to audiences a far different picture from the one intended. its a considerable injustice, as the magnificent ambersons starts out so well. the opening narration (read by welles himself) leads the viewer to believe that we are on the verge of a story as wide scoped and epic, as magnificent if you will, as the title itself suggests. instead we are left with an often charming, yet fairly flat cinematic experience. hollywood-lore suggests that somewhere exists a directors cut of the film, that will one day emerge from the shadows, as if to save us all, although a more realistic theory is that the original negatives of the removed footage were destroyed to clear space in the vaults of the fledgling studio. although in 2002 a version was made for tv that was shot to the specs of the welles script and released in the edit that welles aimed for.

the character of george minafer is one of the cinema's great bastards. hes manipulative and sly and possibly responsible for the old adage that the children of rich folk are spoilt brats. it would have been great to see welles tackle this role himself, its not clear exactly why he didnt, but to see welles take on such a role would have been a real treat. there are echoes of macbeth in the character, yet minus the heroics.

the casting of agnes moorehead in the role of aunt fanny is just about the worst this viewer has ever seen. all scenes utilising her skills bring the film down to a level of amateur dramatics or soap opera. this is among the worst example of the theatrical stylings of 1940's over-acting. thank god for the method.