tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24585527575860056322024-03-13T09:50:16.400+11:00The Great Hitchcock ProjectA cheerful chronological jaunt through the movies of Alfred Hitchcock.Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-63081021159556740012011-08-13T14:55:00.002+10:002011-08-13T15:40:03.907+10:00Conclusion (or 'Post Mortem'?)When I began this blog all that time ago, I made it clear that this was not for any sort of academic study or to be a detailed critique of any high standard; it was merely a jaunt, a jolly little saunter through the back catalogue of Alfred Hitchcock's work.
<br />
<br />I would begin with a quick introduction to my current mood with a few trivial bits of information thrown in about my attire or my nibbles.
<br />Then I would list the main cast members, the synopsis of the film (I had said something about not giving away any plot details or "spoilers" but I did away with that nonsense!) and then mention a few of the lines within the film which entertained me the most.
<br />Once that was done, I'd thrown in a few comments and anecdotes about the film without dwelling too often on the aesthetics of the occasional male star. How gay.
<br />Finally, my verdict. And that is all it was; <i>MY</i> verdict. I have no pretentious delusions of grandeur about my ability to critique film and all its intricate detail, but I can certainly form an opinion.
<br />
<br />Sometimes my ratings would differ greatly from other professional movie reviewers, but, as I always say, if everyone thought the same thing, it'd be a dull world in which <i>everyone</i> loved <b>Titanic</b>! *shudder* That might induce nightmares when my head hits the pillow.
<br />
<br />But what is the purpose of a blog like this? It's a fair question. Not much point, to be frank. It entertained me and it kept me off the streets (Oh, how I love to loiter) and it was a hobby of sorts for nearly sixteen months. However, I did want to try and figure out my all-time favourite Hitchcock film, so let's have a look at the results...
<br />
<br /><b>The Bottom Four</b>
<br />
<br />Aventure Malgache 1/10
<br />Juno and the Paycock 3/10
<br />The Skin Game 3/10
<br />Topaz 3/10
<br />
<br />Frankly, they are not utter travesties. There's no <b>Plan 9 From Outer Space</b> or an <b>Anaconda</b> among them. If it's a Hitchcock film, even a 1/10 is more entertaining than anything starring Paris Hilton, for example.
<br />These four just 'punch below their weight', as the saying goes.
<br />
<br /><b>My Favourites</b>
<br />It is too hard to pick a top ten, so here are the films which got a 9 or a 10.
<br />
<br />Blackmail 9/10
<br />The 39 Steps 9/10
<br />The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) 9/10
<br />North by Northwest 9/10
<br />Marnie 9/10
<br />Vertigo 9.5/10
<br />
<br />The Lady Vanishes 10/10
<br />Rebecca 10/10
<br />Lifeboat 10/10
<br />Strangers on a Train 10/10
<br />Rear Window 10/10
<br />Psycho 10/10
<br />The Birds 10/10
<br />Frenzy 10/10
<br />
<br />Some of those 'nines' could creep higher depending on my mood. I still think <b>Blackmail</b> is one utterly brilliant film, but I shall leave it as my original score so as not to complicate things.
<br />Look at the eight films I gave ten out of ten to! All superb (I know people will disagree and I know some deride <b>The Lady Vanishes</b> for a number of reasons, but I love it!)
<br />
<br /><b>The overall winner?</b>
<br />This is the hardest thing to choose.
<br />I have <i>always</i> debated over which of two Hitchcock films is my favourite.
<br />It has always been a toss-up between <b>The Birds</b> and <b>Strangers on a Train</b> - it usually depends on what mood I am in.
<br />
<br />But how to choose??
<br />
<br />I love <i>both</i> of the original authors - Daphne Du Maurier and Patricia Highsmith - so I cannot use them as a decider. Damn it.
<br />
<br />I have often said that if I could ever own just one piece of movie memorabilia, it would be the cigarette lighter 'From A to G' from <b>Strangers on a Train</b>, so that means a lot to me...
<br />
<br />When I visited Bodega Bay in 2008, I was in my element, I was so blissfully happy...
<br />
<br />OK.
<br />
<br />Decision time...
<br />
<br />
<br />The winner is...
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><b>The Birds</b>
<br />
<br />It has to be, really. It is <i>so</i> iconic, so technically brilliant for its day and so deeply disturbing. It is celluloid proof of Hitchcock's mastery of the art.
<br />
<br /><i>(But I will keep <b>Strangers</b> in reserve, just in case...)</i>
<br />
<br />
<br /><b>So, What Next?</b>
<br />Well, I have debated doing a blog as I sit through every episode of <b>The X Files</b> (yes, even the <i>awful</i> episode 'Fight Club'!) or, even more daunting, <b>Doctor Who</b> with all the audio soundtracks to the lost episodes - but I shan't do that until I have a laptop or something. It's rather annoying having to watch and <i>then</i> blog later at my PC situated in the kitchen. It'd be more fun to do it simultaneously.
<br />
<br />So, for now, I look forward to one day watching Hitch's films randomly and normally - not armed with pen and notepad - to sit down, with the good old Yorkshire Gold tea in one hand and a McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive in the other (ready to dunk), with Fizzgig by my side and then be entertained by the genius of Alfred Hitchcock.
<br />In my mind he is, without doubt, the greatest movie director of all-time. He was an entrepreneur, an auteur and a revolutionary. His films will be watched, loved and studied for centuries to come.
<br />
<br />I raise my glass.
<br />"To Sir Alfred Hitchcock; the man who scared the bejesus out of me and made me love the world of cinema."
<br />
<br />Cheers, matey.Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-22582638319224304862011-08-13T12:44:00.003+10:002011-08-13T13:59:49.168+10:00Family Plot<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xao375TXdoc/TkXlKoptedI/AAAAAAAAAU0/yoZst_ZbWAw/s1600/family%2Bplot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xao375TXdoc/TkXlKoptedI/AAAAAAAAAU0/yoZst_ZbWAw/s320/family%2Bplot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640166079225231826" /></a>
<br />
<br /><b>Title:</b> Family Plot
<br /><b>Year:</b> 1976
<br /><b>Studio:</b> A Universal Picture
<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Ernest Lehman
<br /><b>Source Material:</b> <i>The Rainbird Pattern</i> by Victor Canning
<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 115 minutes
<br />
<br /><b>Saturday 13th August, 10:15am</b>
<br />It's Alfred Hitchcock's 112th birthday today! The perfect time to watch his final film. So, this is it... the blog that started in May 2010 is finally coming to an end. I will do a sort of conclusion after this, but I might as well say now that it has been at some times enjoyable and at other times a chore. It's only the write ups which tend to be the hard part - the synopses are almost a waste of time but there's this part of me which feels the need to be reasonably complete. If I was doing this as a great academic study, I would have put even more time into them. However, it is not - it's just for fun.
<br />
<br />I was a little hungover this morning thanks to a tad too much wine partaken with my friend Michael last night, but I had to get up early and make a lemon drizzle cake (again - that's the fourth one in the past few weeks!) this time for my mate Rohan's birthday (he shares it with Hitch - that's <i>so</i> cool!)
<br />Once that was out on the cooling wires, I was able to take my mug of Yorkshire Gold tea and then plop myself down on the settee, armed with a pen and notepad, for one last venture.
<br />
<br />It's all rather bitter-sweet, really.
<br />
<br /><b>Cast</b>
<br />Frances - Karen Black
<br />George Lumley - Bruce Dern
<br />Blanche Tyler - Barbara Harris
<br />Arthur Adamson - William Devane
<br />Joseph Maloney - Ed Lauter
<br />Julia Rainbird - Cathleen Nesbitt
<br />Mrs. Maloney - Katherine Helmond
<br />Grandison - Warren J Kemmerling
<br />Mrs Clay - Edith Atwater
<br />Bishop - William Prince
<br />Constantin - Nicholas Colasanto
<br />Andy Bush - John Lehne
<br />Wheeler - Charles Tyner
<br />Parson - Alexander Lockwood
<br />Sanger - Martin West
<br />
<br /><b>Synopsis</b>
<br />Blanche Tyler is a spiritualist, or at least, that's what she tells her clients.
<br />She is currently working with the 78 year old Miss Julia Rainbird. Blanche channels her spirit guide 'Henry' in order to contact Julia's late sister Harriet. Apparently, Harriet wants Julia to put things right - 40 years ago, Harriet had given birth to an illegitimate baby and Julia has insisted it be given up for adoption. Julia's guilt forces her to admit she needs to find the heir to the Rainbird fortune and says she will pay $10,000 if Blanche can help find the son.
<br />Blanche agrees and leaves Miss Rainbird's home. Blanche's boyfriend, George Lumley, picks her up and they discuss the case. It appears Blanche is not as psychic as she makes out and uses tips that George discovers through a bit of snooping.
<br />
<br />As they drive through the night, they almost hit a tall blonde woman in a black hat and overcoat, but brake just in time.
<br />This woman, named Frances, then goes to the police where she picks up a large diamond. She does not speak to anyone, merely holds all at bay with her gun and passes over notes.
<br />One says:
<br /><i>Mr Constantin will be unconscious but in perfect condition when picked up. Just let him sleep off the drug.</i>
<br />
<br />Having received the 'payment', she leaves via the helicopter the police have provided. She directs the pilot to a golf course where she alights and heads off into the words to meet her cohort - a crooked jeweller named Arthur Adamson. They dash off with the diamond, leaving the unconscious body of Mr Constantin to be discovered by the pilot.
<br />In their getaway vehicle, the blonde woman removes her hat, wig and six inch heels to show her true colours.
<br />They pull into their garage and head to the basement where they clean up the hidden room behind the false wall in the basement where they had kept their kidnap victim.
<br />He hides their prize within the crystals on the chandelier in the hallway.
<br />
<br />Mr Constantin is back where he belongs and he is furious. He wants to know why the cops have not caught the kidnappers. They ask him questions about his ordeal in order to get a clue as to the whereabouts of the place he was held captive - or even to find some description of the people behind the crime.
<br />They have little to go on.
<br />
<br />George borrows Blanche's car as he thinks he has found the daughter of Rainbird's chauffeur, the one who got Harriet pregnant in the first place.
<br />He finds Mrs Hannagan working at a department store and he poses as a lawyer named Frank McBride. She tells him that her late father's best friends were called the Shoebridges, Harry & Sadie. Apparently, they moved away after adopting a boy child but sadly died in a fire. They are buried in Barlow Creek Cemetery.
<br />He then visits the graveyard where he discovers the tombstones of Harry & Sadie but also the stone for an Edward Shoebridge who died the same year, 1950. The caretaker of the cemetery tells him that there is no body in Edward's grave and George notes that it's also a much newer stone. George then goes to see a Mr Wheeler, the man who made the headstone. He said it was paid for in cash by a man with a tow truck. At the registrar for births and deaths, George discovers that an application for a death certificate was made, but it was denied as no body was produced. The man who made this enquiry was a Joseph P Maloney - he gets the man's address.
<br />Joe Maloney runs a petrol station and runs it alongside his wife. George goes asking some questions about the tombstone and the supposedly 'late' Eddie Shoebridge. rattled, Joe takes George's number plate down (885 DJU) as he drives off - although it is Blanche's car...
<br />
<br />Maloney pays a visit to Arthur Adamson at the jewellery store and calls him 'Eddie'. Eddie <i>is</i> still alive - he just changed his name. He had planned the murder of his parents, but he had got Maloney to start the fire.
<br />A couple of policemen turn up asking routine questions in case he has seen any strange movements of large diamonds in the circuit recently. He says he hasn't, but recommends they try the antique stores instead.
<br />
<br />having established Blanche's address from the car's number plate, Frances and Arthur stake out the house and learn that she is a spiritualist. They witness George and Blanche have an argument outside and overhear something about a large sum money - they assume they mean the reward that's on their heads. They realise that something has to be done about these two, but Frances is not comfortable with the idea of murder.
<br />
<br />during another séance session with Julia Rainbird, Blanche learns about the man who baptised the boy before his adoption, so George sets off to find the parson who has since become a Bishop and is situated at St Anselm Cathedral. He arrives at the moment when Frances and Arthur, in disguise, manage to drug the Bishop and drag him off in full sight of a congregation. The kidnappers leave a ransom note for $1,000,000 in a prayer book.
<br />
<br />Maloney calls up Blanche and tells her is she wants information about Eddie Shoebridge, she must come with George to Abe and Mabel's café up in the hills. They arrive but Maloney is an apparent no-show - however, he did turn up, but only to sabotage their car.
<br />As they retreat down the winding road again, they discover the accelerator has been tampered with and the brakes cut. They manage to swerve the oncoming traffic, narrowly missing the cliff edges and eventually come to a stop after ploughing through a fence and crashing into an embankment. Stumbling carefully back onto the road on foot, they see Maloney drive by - they refuse his offer of a lift as they know he was to blame for the accident. Maloney drives off only to return and tries to run them down. he fails and plummets over the cliff to his doom.
<br />
<br />When Adamson learns of Moaloney's death, he says that he and Frances will have to finish them off themselves. She is not happy about this.
<br />
<br />George attends Joe's funeral and talks to Mrs Maloney who recognises him from the service station. She is distraught but George tells her that she could be arrested for being an accessory to an attempted murder. In hysterics, she tells him that Eddie Shoebridge changed his name to Arthur Adamson.
<br />
<br />Whilst George has to work for the taxi firm, Blanche does some investigating of her own trying to find the right Arthur Adamson. Eventually she locates the jewellers and speaks to Miss Clay, Arthur's assistant. She writes a note for him...
<br />
<br /><i>Dear Mr Adamson,
<br />If the name Shoebridge means something to you, please phone 45701..
<br />I have extremely good news for you.
<br />Hopefully
<br />Blanche Tyler</i>
<br />
<br />Then, Blanche decides not to leave the note but asks for his address instead so she can see him personally.
<br />She drives by George's work and tells his colleague, Pete, to pass on her news - she has found him and she mentions the address.
<br />
<br />When Blanche arrives at the Adamson's home, no one answers the door - because they are about to take the drugged bishop to the drop off point and pick up the latest diamond. She leaves the note on the door and then heads back to her car which, unfortunately, is blocking the garage entrance. She sees Adamson and Frances and is overjoyed at finding them at last. Arthur is aggressive at first but is then surprised to discover that she has not been investigating their crimes, merely seeking him out to tell him about his inheritance! Sadly, the Bishop's unconscious body is seen by Blanche and they have to silence her. Arthur closes the garage door, trapping her and then injects her with the drug to knock her out. They put her in the sealed room and head off for the Bishop's ransom.
<br />
<br />Whilst they are gone, George has got off his shift and has followed Blanche via the message she left with Pete. He finds the note on the door, Blanche's car empty with the keys in the ignition and no sign of Blanche. He sneaks around the back of the house and breaks in through a small window leading into the basement. He searches the place and finds Blanche's handbag. As he looks upstairs, he hears the crooks return. He hides and waits and overhears them talk about their plans for killing Blanche - making it look like suicide.
<br />George watches as Arthur checks on Blanche who is apparently still unconscious. Arthur goes to prepare a hose for the 'suicide' and George goes into the secret room where he discovers Blanche awake. When Frances and Arthur come to get Blanche, she fights them off and runs out of the room and she and George seal it closed with the crooks locked inside.
<br />
<br />Relieved that it is all over, they know they will get a mighty reward - but an even bigger one if they can return the diamonds.
<br />Something possesses Blanche and she enters a trance. She walks up the stairs out of the basement and into the hall where she finds the diamond hidden in the chandelier. George is now convinced she is actually not a fake psychic., but has actual powers. He goes to ring the police to tell them the good news and also to phone Miss Rainbird to tell her the bad.
<br />
<br />THE END
<br />
<br /><b>Great Lines</b>
<br />George: <i>"Without my research, you're about as psychic as a dry salami."</i>
<br />
<br />Blanche: <i>"Nasty. Nasty, nasty."</i>
<br />
<br />George: <i>"I'm sick and tired that you have me by the crystal balls."</i>
<br />
<br />Blanche: <i>"Leave your crystal balls out of this, George!"</i>
<br />
<br />***
<br />The cops question Constantin about the female partner in crime:
<br />
<br />Cop: <i>"How old is she?"</i>
<br />
<br />Constantin: <i>"25"</i>
<br />
<br />Cop: <i>"Why?"</i>
<br />
<br />Constantin: <i>"Why? Because if a man my age is gonna get kidnapped by a woman, he wants her to be 25, that's why!!"</i>
<br />
<br />***
<br />
<br />The kidnapped Bishop is not ready to be returned to his home due to the pleasant catering provided...
<br />
<br />Bishop: <i>"But I haven't finished the chicken!"</i>
<br />
<br /><b>Comments</b>
<br />Ah, finishing on a comedy. Some people say Hitchcock didn't do many comedies, and it's true in the broader sense of the term. The closest thing he came to screw-ball comedy was <b>Mr & Mrs Smith</b> and to some extent, <b>The Lady Vanishes</b> but he did do a lot of black comedy like <b>The Trouble With Harry</b>, <b>Strangers on a Train</b> and (in Hitch's own words) <b>Psycho</b>.
<br />This film is a much more obvious and recognisable comedy thriller, mainly due to the wonderful central performance by Barbara Harris (whom I had always loved as a child in Disney's <b>Freaky Friday</b> alongside Jodie Foster.
<br />She is the main element of comedy in the film, but there are some deliciously dark toned moments throughout too. Frances proving her gun is loaded in the helicopter by shooting the window, Arthur's reaction to Maloney's death (laughter) and of course the white-knuckle drive down the road - it's sweat-inducing tension, but played hilariously as Bruce Dern tries to control the car <i>and</i> fend off Barbara Harris' manic Blanche.
<br />However, my favourite 'comedy' scene is when Blanche is trying all the people named "A. Adamson" in the phone book. They are either too old, too female, too black or, in one case, too... 'two' - they are twins. Brilliantly edited and played for laughs. Top stuff.
<br />
<br />My favourite Hitchcockian touch is the overhead camera above the graveyard as George and Mrs Maloney wander the various paths before meeting up. Hitch is very fond of his overhead shots and he knows how effective they are. It's almost like watching live-action Pac-Man. (No doubt there's an idea for Hollywood... *sigh*)
<br />
<br />The darkest scene of all is the attack on Blanche in the garage - suddenly, it's not so funny any more as Arthur overpowers her and injects her with the drug as Frances stands uselessly by - it is the moment when you thoroughly despise Adamson and you certainly don't want him to get away with his crimes. No one manhandles a Disney actress and gets away with it.
<br />
<br />Lastly, it's nice for Bruce Dern to have a bigger role in a Hitchcock film. His previous film for Hitch was <b>Marnie</b> in which he played the sailor - nasty!
<br />
<br /><b>My Verdict</b>
<br />Fun. It's not Hitch's finest, but as an unexpected 'farewell', it's a thoroughly entertaining romp. 7/10
<br />Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-84466288186685673302011-08-06T16:35:00.003+10:002011-08-07T06:01:06.241+10:00Frenzy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRlE2sUY4fA/TjzgvOoSNnI/AAAAAAAAAUs/BB1wmAKoNL4/s1600/frenzy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRlE2sUY4fA/TjzgvOoSNnI/AAAAAAAAAUs/BB1wmAKoNL4/s320/frenzy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637627935546553970" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Frenzy<br /><b>Year:</b> 1972<br /><b>Studio:</b> A Universal Picture<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Anthony Shaffer<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A novel entitled <i>Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square</i> by Arthur Le Bern<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 111 minutes<br /><br /><b>Saturday 6th August, 2:30pm</b> <br />The penultimate film! Isn't this exciting!?<br />This morning, I <i>finally</i> got around to writing up <b>Topaz</b>. It was even harder because it had been a week since I had watched it and it's not particularly memorable, so I did cut some corners a bit. Frankly, who cares? It's not like students worldwide are using this blog as a study guide or anything.<br /><br />While I am thinking about it, I must mention that I have checked the statistics to see who reads this blog, where they are from and how they search for it. It seems a lot of visitors are from the U.S.A. and one of the most read pages is for <b>Juno and the Paycock</b>. Are people just Googling rude words and stumbling across my page? I hope not...<br /><br />Anyway, back to today.<br /><br />I had been out this morning shopping with a friend; I bought some birthday presents for another friend and ordered some decent footwear in preparation for my trip to the U.K. at the end of the year (I needed something smart yet durable) and had a lovely time. However, I was actually eager to get home to watch this movie in the afternoon as it is a favourite of mine. So very Seventies, but so wonderfully brilliant.<br /><br />It was a little bitter-sweet to watch after the recent passing of the wonderful Anna Massey. She was a superb actress.<br /><br />I had a large mug of Yorkshire Gold tea and a small bar of Dairy Milk chocolate. Lovely... lovely...<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Richard "Dickie" Blaney - Jon Finch<br />Robert "Bob" Rusk - Barry Foster<br />Brenda Blaney - Barbara Leigh-Hunt<br />Babs Milligan - Anna Massey<br />Chief Inspector Tim Oxford - Alec McCowen<br />Hetty Porter - Billie Whitelaw<br />Johnny Porter - Clive Swift<br />Felix Forsythe - Bernard Cribbins<br />Sergeant Spearman - Michael Bates<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />An M.P. named Sir George is speaking his rhetoric to a fascinated crowd alongside the Thames. He is talking about the abolition of industrial waste into London's rivers and how he'll bring an end to pollution. His speech is interrupted by the sight of a naked female corpse floating down the river with only a tie around her neck.<br />It's another necktie murder...<br /><br />Richard "Dickie" Blaney works at The Globe pub in Covent Garden with his girlfriend Babs. He is an ex RAF squadron leader who has found it difficult to find decent work. His boss, Felix Forsythe catches him supping the brandy once too often and is about to fire him. Blaney quits instead and says he'll pick up his belongings later.<br /><br />Dickie goes to see his mate Bob Rusk at the Covent Garden market who offers him so money, but Dickie refuses. Instead, Bob gives him a tip on the afternoon's horse-race. He can't afford to bet on it and, sadly, it wins - twenty to one. This exacerbates Dickie's already tense mood.<br />He then goes to see his ex wife at her office. She runs a dating agency, helping lonely people find companionship. Her secretary, Monica Baring, is not particularly welcoming to Dickie as she can sense his aggression.<br />Brenda agrees to see Dickie but due to his rather terse temper, she suggests Monica takes off early. Brenda offers to take Dickie to her club for dinner - on her!<br />He agrees but his frustrations flare up once again and he makes rather a scene at dinner. He seems to think the world has something against him.<br /><br />That night, he has to sleep at the Salvation Army, but he discovers that his ex-wife has sneakily left £50 in his pockets.<br /><br />The next day, at lunch, a "Mr Robinson" turns up at the bureau whilst Monica is on lunch. It is really Bob Rusk. He is complaining that her bureau won't find him a girl for his perverted ways. She tries to call the police when he gets aggressive.<br />He tackles her and rapes her, uttering the word 'lovely' over and over again as she recite s prayer to herself. Then he removes his monogrammed tie-pin from his tie, places it into his lapel and uses his tie to strangle the life out of her.<br />He leaves casually. Seconds later, Dickie arrives to thank Brenda for the cash. The office door is locked on the latch, so he turns and leaves. Monica returns from lunch and sees Dickie leave. She goes upstairs to the office and discovers the lifeless body of her employer.<br /><br />Dickie calls Babs at the Globe pub and tells her to meet him at Leicester Square at 4pm. Meanwhile, Monica is giving the police a very detailed description of Mr Blaney.<br />The police find no money in her purse, but some face powder loose - they think it is possible that any stolen money would have traces of the powder on it.<br /><br />Babs picks up Dickie and they go to the Coburg Hotel. She is surprised he can afford it, but accepts he has somehow got this money and they book into 'The Cupid Room', paying in advance for the night - Dickie asks the porter to get his suit cleaned as it smells from the night he spent at the Salvation Army.<br />The nest morning, the papers are full of articles about the latest murder. The porter recognises the description of the suit he cleaned and calls the police. However, Babs and Dickie have also seen the newspapers that morning and have fled.<br />In a nearby park, Dickie professes his innocence to Babs and she believes him. An old RAF buddy named Johnny Porter finds them in the park and tells them both to come up to his apartment. His wife, Hetty, is up in arms as she believes Dickie is guilty and has fears about him staying with them. Hetty and Johnny are planning on opening a pub in Paris called The Bulldog and suggests they both come and work for him. They plan to travel the following day.<br /><br />Meanwhile, at New Scotland Yard, they have discovered that the ten pound note that Dickie paid the hotel with had traces of the face powder from Brenda's purse.<br />Felix Forsythe calls them and says that Babs has not turned up for work and has left her belongings behind - he fears for her life.<br />Back at The Globe, Bob Rusk is chatting to the potato merchant named Jim. Babs turns up and quits her job, telling Felix where he can stuff it. She storms out and Bob follows her. He offers her a place to stay and they go back to his apartment. As they enter, he says to her; <i>"You're my kind of woman"</i>... <br /><br />Later that night, he bundles her corpse in a potato sack and tosses it onto one of Jim's lorries destined for a long trip that night. He returns to his flat to relax but suddenly panics when he realises his tie-pin is missing - it must still be on her person. He dashes back down to the truck and climbs aboard, searching for the right sack. The truck is boarded by its driver and starts on its journey with Bob on board. He rips open the right sack and struggles to pull the naked corpse out of the potatoes. He finds the pin stuck in her right fist. Rigor mortis has set in and he has to break her fingers to get it free.<br />The truck pulls over at a café where Bob gets out and hides in the toilets until the truck leaves again. He returns to the café to freshen up.<br /><br />The truck is on its journey again, but the police notice the foot of the corpse sticking out the back. They chase the truck and when he brakes suddenly, the body falls into the road.<br /><br />The next morning, Hetty is desperate for Dickie to leave their apartment now that babs is dead. Dickie is horrified and Johnny realises that his plans to open a new pub will go out of the window if the police know he's harboured a criminal, despite the fact that they could provide an alibi for him. Dickie leaves in frustration and heads to whom he believes is his only friend - Bob Rusk.<br /><br />Bob offers to help and suggests they go back to his apartment separately. He takes Dickie's bag for him. Once both at the flat, Bob leaves Dickie alone and calls the police who turn up, find Dickie's bag which now have Babs' belongings in and they arrest him.<br /><br />In court, Dickie is found guilty and is thrown in prison for a minimum of 25 years. As Dickie is sent down he screams that it was Rusk who did it.<br />Once the commotion is all over, the Chief Inspector is beginning to put the pieces into place.<br />He gets a photo of Rusk and shows it to Monica Barling who recognises him as "Mr Robinson" and his distasteful needs, wanting women who were sexual masochists.<br />Oxford also hears from Sergeant Spearman who investigated the café where a waitress also identifies Rusk as a dishevelled man who was there on the night of the murder who used a clothes brush to dust off his jacket. The brush still had traces of potato dust. It seems they sent the wrong man to jail after all.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Dickie, mad on revenge, throws himself down the stairs in jail and ends up in hospital. He escapes from there and heads to Bob's flat. Armed with a tyre iron, he creeps into the building and beats the body under the bed covers, only to discover another dead woman. Chief Inspector Oxford catches him in the act, but moments later, they both hear Rusk returning to his rooms, lugging a large trunk up the stairs.<br />Bob enters. He sees Dickie and then he sees the Inspector.<br />The Inspector simply says; <i>"Mr rusk. You're not wearing your tie!"</i><br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />So many. Here are a few:<br /><br />Sir George: (on seeing the naked woman with a tie around her neck) <i>"I say, it's not my club tie, is it?"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Two gentlemen are talking about the murders in a pub, bringing Maisie the barmaid into their conversation:<br /><br />Man #1: <i>"We were just talking about the murderer, Maisie. You'd better watch out!"</i><br /><br />Maisie: <i>"He rapes 'em first, doesn't he?"</i><br /><br />Man #1: <i>"Yes, I believe he does."</i><br /><br />Man #2: <i>"Well I suppose it's nice to know every cloud has a silver lining."</i><br /><br />(Horrible!)<br /><br />***<br /><br />Man #2: (on murders in London) <i>"They're so good for the tourist trade!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Chief Inspector Oxford: (to Felix regarding Babs not returning for her belongings) <i>"These days, ladies abandon their honour far more readily than their clothes."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Chief Inspector Oxford: <i>"Sergeant Spearman, you are positively glutinous with self-approbation!"</i><br /><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />The screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer, the playwright behind <b>Sleuth</b>. He's brilliant. His dialogue is deliciously dark and witty.<br /><br />The rape scene is one of the most horrific scenes in any Hitchcock film ever. It is so intense and it just highlights the vile and putrid act, summing up the aggression of the sick man and the vulnerability of the innocent woman. It's not pleasant to watch, but by god, it's effective. Terrifying.<br /><br />The shot where Babs is murdered and the camera backs slowly down the stairs away from Bob's flat is lauded as an iconic piece of Hitchcockian direction, and with good reason too. We don't need to see the horror of the rape, but the slow retraction from the crime highlighting our helplessness to prevent the hideous result is gripping to the core. Superb stuff.<br /><br />As you know, I have watched all of Hitch's films now and there is only one scene in his entire catalogue that I find it extremely difficult to watch and that is the breaking of Babs' fingers in the potato truck. I have to turn away every time. It is gruesome, macabre and I am pathetically squeamish about it. Isn't that odd!?<br /><br />The inspector and his wife have a couple of amusing scenes where she dishes up a load of "gourmet" meals whilst asking him about the crimes and giving her own thoughts about who may be guilty. These scenes are played for comedy and they are a jovial treat in a darker landscape. Her intuition could rival Miss Marple's... but probably not her cuisine.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Great cast, terrific direction, superb scenes. Hitch's last <i>great</i> film. 10/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-91083142596026400442011-08-06T06:36:00.005+10:002011-08-06T07:26:56.644+10:00Topaz<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-netlFlvqs/TjxUmA-4CCI/AAAAAAAAAUk/o3KAbTccUPY/s1600/topaz.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 205px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-netlFlvqs/TjxUmA-4CCI/AAAAAAAAAUk/o3KAbTccUPY/s320/topaz.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637473845636499490" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Topaz<br /><b>Year:</b> 1969<br /><b>Studio:</b> A Universal Picture<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Samuel A Taylor<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A novel by Leon Uris<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 136 minutes<br /><br /><b>Friday 29th July, 1:00pm</b><br />So, I finally got to sit through all of <b>Topaz</b>! I have attempted a number of times before but been overwhelmed by boredom each time. Thankfully, due to the nature of this blog, I was given a reason to persist – and, to be honest, I am glad I did. Sure, it’s not the <i>best</i> Hitchcock ever, but it was certainly better than I had lead myself to believe.<br /><br />I had a day off work last Friday, so I settled down in the afternoon so I could get it out of the way and leave the rest of my weekend free – however, upon finishing the film, I went to turn on my computer only to find… it wouldn’t! It was dead!! ARGH!!<br /><br />Luckily, I have a genius friend by the name of Adam who was able to resurrect it on Sunday. I did notice however that over those 48 hours without a computer, I was able to get an awful lot done – housework, sleeping, reading etc. So maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.<br /><br />Annoyingly, I simply did not have the time (nor the impetus) to do the blog during the week, so it has been severely delayed!<br /><br />Anyway, the point is, I had to wait to update the blog, so here it is now. Forgive the lack of depth this time - it's a boring plot and as I write this, I'm very tired...<br /><br /><b>Cast</b><br />Andre Devereaux – Frederick Stafford<br />Nicoel Devereaux – Dany Robin<br />Rico Parra – John Vernon<br />Juanita de Cordoba – Karin Dor<br />Jacques Granville – Michel Piccoli<br />Rene Jarre – Philippe Noiret<br />Michele Picard – Claude Jade<br />Francois Picard – Michel Subor<br />Philippe Dubois – Roscoe Lee Browne<br />Boris Kusenov – Per-Axel Arosenius<br />Michael Nordstrom – John Forsythe<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b><br /><br /><i>Somewhere in this crowd is a high Russian official who disagrees with his government’s display of force and what it threatens.<br />Very soon his conscience will force him to attempt an escape while apparently on a vacation with his family.</i><br /><br /><u>Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962</u><br /><br />Boris Kuzenov and his wife and daughter are taking a holiday in Copenhagen, but they have plans in place to escape and flee to America. They leave their holiday home and visit a ceramics factory whilst being followed by some foreign agents.<br />Boris’ daughter, Tamara, meets with a contact and discovers they have to be at the Den Permanente store that afternoon.<br />Eventually losing the men who are following them, they take a taxi to the airfield where the American who has been helping them, Michael Nordstrom, is chastised by Boris for creating such a clumsy scheme. However, they have escaped and arrive in Washington. They are given a home to live in and are given new identities but for the mean time, they must lie low.<br />At the French Embassy in Washington D.C., Andre Deveraux learns from a man named D’Arcy that there is a Russian defector in the city and would like Andre to find out more.<br /><br />Kuzenov is being interrogated by Americans regarding what he knows of the KGB and the codename ‘Topaz’.<br />He and his family are offered new lives and identities.<br />During the interview, it comes out that a man named Rico Parra has a secret trade pact between Cuba and Russia. He has a right hand man named Luis Uribe who may be able to be of assistance. They need to get to this man.<br /><br />At Devereaux's home, Nordstrom visits for dinner to discuss the nature of Devereaux's assignment - he has to go to New York to find Luis Uribe and get whatever information he can about Rico's dealings with Russia.<br /><br />Devereaux and his wife travel to New York and visit their daughter Michele and her husband, Francois Picard. Nordstrom is already there awaiting them, to make sure Devereaux knows what it is he has to do.<br />Andre goes to see his contact, a man named Phillipe who works at a florist. His role is to act as a reporter from a magazine called 'Ebony' and to get the files away from Parra via Uribe.<br />Phillie succeeds in persuading Uribe and only just manage to get some photographs of some vital papers before being discovered. Phillipe flees through a crowd and bumps into Andre - handing him the camera discreetly - and runs to safety.<br /><br />Andre's next job is to head to Cuba to find out what the Russians are doing over there. His wife Nicole is not happy as she knows he has a girlfriend there named Juanita de Cordoba. He tells Nicole that she is simply and underground agent, but he is astonished she knows the truth.<br /><br />When in Cuba, Andre meets up with his lover and they have plans to investigate Parra's plans. There is a port and there are a significant number of guards surrounding it. They send the Mendozas, a local couple, to investigate - disguised as a gentle couple on a romantic picnic, they take with them a camera, a recording device and a Geiger counter hidden within their basket of food. They get some images and some recordings, but they sea gulls give them away. They are chased after and apprehended but not before they have hidden the equipment in the hollow metal railings of a bridge, to be picked up later. These are later returned to Juanita hidden inside a plucked turkey.<br /><br />Juanita's house-boy, Tomas, sets to work and later informs Andre that the evidence is hidden within the spools of ribbon in the typewriter and within the blades of his razors. Juanita fears this may be the last time she sees Andre and gives him a small book for him to read on the plane - she tells him not to open it until later.<br /><br />Sadly, Parra has tortured the Mendozas and they have revealed that it is Juanita who has employed their services. He heads to the her home and the place is searched, but Andre has already left. Rico shoots Juanita.<br />Andre makes it away on the plane, despite the razors and ribbons being confiscated (and apparently empty too) - Andre is perplexed and saddened, but discovers some evidence sealed within the inside cover of the book Juanita gave him.<br /><br />When Andre returns home, there is a pile of mail awaiting him - Nicole has returned to Paris with her daughter.<br />Rene D'Arcy turns up and tells Andre he too has to go to Paris.<br />Topaz, it is revealed is the code name for a bunch of French officials who work secretly for the Soviet union - one of these men is apparently named Henri Jarre.<br />Andre now has to expose 'Topaz' for what they are.<br /><br />In Paris he meets with a number of high officials including Henri. Henri states that all this nonsense with Boris must be untrue because, according to him, Boris has been dead for a year.<br />Later, Francois Picard visits Henri and tries to get more information out of him. He admits Andre sent him and eventually persuades Jarre to meet with Devereaux again. Two men come into Henri's room and attack Francois, knocking him unconscious and they throw Henri from the window, killing him.<br /><br />Francois returns to their apartments, grazed by a bullet, but essentially unhurt. With evidence they have collected, they now know the man they are looking for is Jacques Granville. They inform the authorities and Granville is removed from the peace conferences and sent back home. 'Topaz' have been exposed and it's all over...<br /><br />THE END<br /><br />(There are another two alternate endings. In one,Granville is assassinated during a duel and in the other, he simply returns to his home and shoots himself. The DVD ending I have has him simply extradited from the country.)<br /><br /><b><i>This has to be the <u>worst</u> synopsis I have written. Part of me wants to apologise but another part feels rather apathetic about it. After all, it's not the most thrilling plot ever.</i></b><br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b><br />Not many.<br /><br />Andre: <i>”Diplomat’s wives should not talk.”</i><br />Nicole: <i>”All wives talk!”</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Juanita: <i>”Even tortured people lie.”</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b><br />I find this to be the least ‘Hitchcock’ of all the Hitchcock movies, if you see what I mean. It’s a standard espionage affair with a real political backdrop and all in all, it’s a tad dull. However, there are some things which lift it from being appallingly tiresome.<br /><br />The death of Juanita is as beautifully shot as it is predictable. The overhead view of her body falling away from her assassin is a stunning visual display albeit so simple. It is something which remains in one’s mind for long after the film is over.<br /><br />The horrific off-screen torture of the Mendozas is implied merely by the tableaux of the near-dead couple – he lying prostrate in her weak arms – and with this gripping image, one can understand why they finally relent and give up Juanita’s name to Parra. One cannot help feel for this ill-fated couple.<br /><br />The young Tomas’ fate is also off-screen, but we can take it for granted that his end would be a grim one.<br /><br />The globe-trotting locations of the story are well realised. From Copenhagen to North America to Cuba and to France… it’s quite a travelogue. Hitch makes fine use of his locations and it certainly feels like his most wide-ranging film to date. I am not overly familiar with national anthems of the world, but I could not help but titter to myself when hearing what must be the Cuban national anthem (or whatever it is they are singing) as it bore a strange uncanny resemblance to <i>Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside</i> in places. No disrespect intended, of course!<br /><br />And, true to my nature, I have to say that when Tomas (played by John Roper) came on screen I said out loud; "Hello Tomas!" (Some sources credit him as ‘Thomas’ but I prefer the Spanish spelling for a Cuban boy.)<br /><br />Oh, and Philippe Noiret looks like Chris O'Dowd - Roy from <b>The IT Crowd</b>.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b><br />Sure, it’s a tad overlong, a bit boring in places and doesn’t always feel like a Hitchcock film, but it wasn’t <i>all</i> bad. 3/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-64497260865469436842011-07-24T17:26:00.002+10:002011-07-24T18:49:25.214+10:00Torn Curtain<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BZKsvQwIeII/TivJUlvqsTI/AAAAAAAAAUc/0h-xIilGpPg/s1600/torn%2Bcurtain.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BZKsvQwIeII/TivJUlvqsTI/AAAAAAAAAUc/0h-xIilGpPg/s320/torn%2Bcurtain.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632817114523545906" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Torn Curtain<br /><b>Year:</b> 1966<br /><b>Studio:</b> Universal Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Brian Moore<br /><b>Source Material:</b> This was an original screenplay<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 122 minutes<br /><br /><b>Sunday 24th July, 3:00pm</b> <br />I left this one to a little late in the day, starting at 3:00pm. As I don't want to give up the majority of my evening writing it up, I will try and be brief with the synopsis. After all, as I write this, it's 5:30 and I want dinner around 6:00! I'm a man of routine, you see.<br /><br />I missed lunch today as I was too busy messing around on the Internet. However, I'd had six rounds of toast for breakfast following a disturbing night of weird dreams and bouts of insomnia in between. Maybe I'd partaken a wee too much red wine the evening before.<br /><br />Earlier this week, on my birthday, I watched <b>The Sound of Music</b> - please do not judge me. It was my birthday and I could do whatever made me happy, within reason, and this rather splendid family film was <i>just</i> what I was in the mood for. I still get a little bit over-excited when they start singing <i>The Lonely Goatherd</i>. Anyway, I mention this merely because of Julie Andrews. My dad always described her as "pornographic" (What's <i>that</i> about, Dad?) but I have always loved her thanks to <b>Mary Poppins</b>. It's been a Julie Andrews week!<br />So, here two great loves of mine collide - Hitch and Andrews - and although some critics may complain, I have no reason to, for I think it's as interesting pairing as Hitch and Doris Day in <b>The Man Who Knew Too Much</b>.<br /><br />Cripes. Could I <i>sound</i> more gay? Jeepers!!<br /><br />I am not looking forward to next week's blog - it's <b>Topaz</b>; a film I have <i>never</i> been able to sit through!! Wish me luck for next week...<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Professor Michael Armstrong - Paul Newman<br />Miss Sarah Sherman - Julie Andrews<br />Countess Luchinska - Lila Kedrova<br />Heinrich Gerhard - Hansjörg Felmy<br />Ballerina - Tamara Toumanova<br />Hermann Gromek - Wolfgang Kieling<br />Professor Gustav Lindt - Ludwig Donath<br />Professor Karl Manfred - Günter Strack<br />Jakobi - David Opatoshu<br />Dr Koska - Gisela Fischer<br />Farmer - Mort Mills<br />Farmer's Wife - Carolyn Conwell<br />Freddy - Arthur Gould-Porter<br />Fraulein - Gloria Gorvin<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />We begin in Osterfjord, Norway as a cruise ship navigates through the fjords.<br />On board, delegates for a physicists' conference shiver as the heating fails to provide them with warmth. In one of the cabins, Professor Michael Armstrong and his fiancée and secretary, Sarah Sherman, make their own heat. He is there to present a spoeech at a conference.<br />They are interrupted by a telegram informing Professor Armstrong that a book is awaiting him at the Elmo Book Store in Copenhagen. He replies to the telegram but discretely away from Sarah.<br />Once at <i>Hotel d'Angleterre</i> in Copenhagen, Sarah takes a call from the book store. As Michael is showering, she takes the message and goes to pick up the book, much to Michael's dismay. She finds it with the help of a Professor Karl Manfred, who shares colleagues with Michael.<br />Once she arrives, the storekeeper named Freddy gives her the first-edition book wrapped in brown paper. She takes it back to Michael at the hotel who then disappears into the gents' toilets and proceeds to open it. Within the frontispiece, he is directed to go to page 107 and there he finds some letters underlines and the Greek letter for 'Pi' circled.<br />Over lunch, he tells Sarah that plans have changed. She is to cover for him at the conference and take notes whilst he will go on ahead to Stockholm. She is noticeably disappointed by this turn of events as she had noted how keen he was for her not to accompany him on this trip in the first place.<br />He has picked up his ticket already and there is nothing more to be said. She is upset and decides that instead she should return to New York. She goes to the travel agent, but also enquires about her fiancée's ticket. Apparently, it was <i>not</i> for Stockholm, but for East Berlin. <br /><br />Michael is aboard the plane and soon he notices that Sarah is on it too - she has followed him. He tells her that upon landing, she is to find a flight directly out of East Berlin and not to follow him. She is also puzzled when she sees that Professor Karl Manfred is also on the plane.<br /><br />When they arrive at the airport, there are reporters and photographers. One aging starlet is disappointed to discover that the press is not intended for her, but for this Professor Armstrong! It is announced that Michael has decided to live and work for peace in the people's Democracies.<br />Michael is taken to speak with Heinrich Gerhard of Inland Security - they note that they were expecting him to come alone.<br />At a press conference, Michael announces that he is here to work on a defensive weapon to oppose the offensive nuclear weapons. The U.S. government had shut down his project, so he intends to continue the work on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Sarah is horrified knowing her fiancée has defected.<br />The couple are assigned a 'personal assistant' named Gromek who is amused by a lot of Americanisms which he continues to question them about.<br />At the Hotel Berlin, Sarah has it out with Michael but he continues to stick to his position and asks her to go home without him.<br />The next morning, she is woken by Karl Manfred and she finds a note from Michael saying he's gone for a walk and (again) that she should head home.<br /><br />Michael takes a taxi out to a farm. When a farmer's wife answers the door, he draws the Greek 'Pi' symbol in the dirt with his foot. She lets him in. She then directs him to her husband on a tractor in the field. He goes out and speaks to him. He is actually part of the 'Pi' organisation which assists spies in escaping the country. It is revealed that Michael is, in fact, under cover and is here to get the final secrets of the Gamma Five project out of Professor Lindt, as his own experiments had come to a dead end. His only way to do so was to pretend to defect to the other side.<br />The farmer tells him his next contact is Dr Koska in Leipzig.<br /><br />When he returns to the farmhouse, Michael is confronted by Gromek who has followed him on his motorbike. Having noticed the 'Pi' sign outside in the dirt, he realises that Michael must be a spy. He is about to ring for help when the wife and Michael attack him and, due to the situation, are forced to kill him. It's not such an easy task, but they eventually stab him and gas him in the oven. The wife of the farmer will bury the body and the motorbike but Michael has to leave immediately. The taxi driver is waiting outside, none-the-wiser.<br /><br />When he returns to the hotel, he is met by some Inland Security men who say that Gerhard is waiting for him - they take him to Gerhard and he discovers that Sarah has decided to stay and work alongside Michael. Gerhard is also distressed to discover that Gromek has gone missing.<br /><br />Later, they are at Leipzig at the Karl Marx University. Whilst being shown around, Michael is tripped up and he falls down the stairs. This was merely an awkward way to get him alone with Dr Koska, a widow whose role was to assist them escape with new identity papers. She patches him up and tells him to return after seeing Gustav Lindt.<br /><br />When Michael has the meeting with the associate Professor's regarding Gamma Five, he is interrupted when asked about the farm he visited. Due to the suspicions and the implications of his possible nefarious activities, they have to abandon the meeting. However, Professor Lindt is at the back of the room and he says that he can always speak to Sarah instead.<br />Sarah is brought in, but she refuses to co-operate. Michael talks to her outside and in private, tells her the whole truth about his undercover status. She agrees to go along with the plot.<br />Back at the farmhouse, the police have discovered the buried motorbike and Gromek's body.<br /><br />Over dinner, Karl, Michael, Sarah and Gustav share company. Sarah takes Karl to dance whilst Michael tries to illicit the information he needs from Lindt - however, Lindt never mixes work with pleasure.<br />Koska arrives and tells Michael that Gromek's body is found and they <i>have</i> to get out of the country tomorrow - secrets or no secrets. they have to be at her clinic at 10am tomorrow.<br />In a final arrangement, Gustav and Michael arrange to meet at the barbershop the following morning.<br /><br />The next day, it's 10:10 and Sarah is anxiously awaiting Michael at Dr Koska's clinic. He is busy playing a game of bluff with Gustav Lindt - persuading him that he knows <i>enough</i> and trying to get him to provide the ultimate equation for the Gamma Five project. As Lindt finally writes up the answer on the blackboard, the university is swarmed with Police searching for Michael. Lindt is furious that he has been fooled in this way and calls for security. Michael flees and rejoins Sarah and Dr Koska. The doctor takes them to a man named Jakobi who takes them away on a bus which is reserved for the 'Pi' organisation and is a decoy to help spies travel - it's heading back to Berlin. They are stopped by two roadblocks - one a genuine security measure (which fails), the other a ploy by bandits to get money from innocent passengers of vehicles passing by. The bandits are seen off by soldiers who then proceed to act as escort for the decoy bus. The people on board are amused but also distressed that, after <i>two</i> road blocks, the <i>real</i> bus will be following behind very shortly. They escape by the skin of their teeth upon their arrival in Berlin and are briefly helped by a woman from Poland who claims to be Countess Luchinska - she says she will help them find their next destination if they agree to sponsor her and get her away to America. They agree. She takes them to the Post Office where they meet their next contact, Arthur, who passes on the information taht they need to get to a specific travel agency. The police arrive and as they flee, the countess hurls herself at their pursuers and aids their getaway.<br /><br />At the travel agency, they meet the farmer again. He has set up plans for them to escape in costume baskets after the last performance by a touring ballet company. Sarah and Michael attend the ballet and await the interval with patience as they acknowledge the red-haired man who is to be their aid.<br />However, the ballerina on stage is the woman from the airport in East Berlin and she recognises Michael in the audience. She alerts the authorities off-stage and the theatre begins to fill with police. Michael, in a blind panic, yells 'Fire!' at the top of his voice. Panic ensues and as the crowd storms for the exits, they escape to the dressing room where the red haired man helps them hide in the baskets.<br /><br />Aboard the East German boat to Sweden, they remain hidden, but the ballerina is also on board and as the baskets are being lifted by crane, she alerts the authorities (again - bitch!) and they fire upon the baskets with a machine gun. The baskets fall to reveal nothing but tutus. Meanwhile, the red-haired man, Sarah and Michael have leapt overboard and climbed up the Swedish dock in safety.<br /><br />Back on safer soil, they huddle together in a cabin, trying to get dry by a stove - a reporter tries to get pictures of them, but they snuggle under the blanket away from prying eyes.<br /><br />The End<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />This isn't exactly packed with witty one liners or anything, but there were some nice moments which made me grin...<br /><br />Henrich Gerhard to Michael on the presence of Sarah in East Berlin: <i>"I hear you brought a little excess baggage!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Michael to Karl: <i>"Give me five minutes with her. After all, she's my girl."</i><br /><br />Sarah: <i>"Put that in the past tense!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Lindt, in a moment of pure randomness: <i>"Did I tell you that my sister Emily got knocked down by a tram in Vienna?"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />The Countess: <i>"It will be undrinkable. Disgusting liquid they call coffee!"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />This is only the second time I have watched <b>Torn Curtain</b> but I did enjoy it just as much as the first time. Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are both incredibly likable people on screen and they do have a certain chemistry between them.<br /><br />Other notable cast members include Lila Kedrova as the countess (whose role in the movie could easily be done without, but she does provide some much-needed comic relief, even if tinged with a poignant back-story); Günter Strack as the somewhat creepy Karl Manfred and Wolfgang Kieling as Gromek. I could see the latter role also being played by Peter Lorre in a different decade.<br /><br />Some wonderful scenes include the bus ride and the tension as they try desperately to get away - the fraulein's repeated hysteria highlighting the nervousness of the passengers and the ever-nearing 'real' bus. It's genuinely exciting.<br />I also love the scene in the post office where the countess is desperately trying to get hold of Arthur, but time after time, she is declined. It's made almost unbearable because <i>we</i> as an audience know that a gentleman has become suspicious and alerted the police. The longer they wait for Arthur, the more danger they are in.<br /><br />Another little moment I approve of whole-heartedly is a terrific over-head shot of Michael crossing the lobby whilst a number of char ladies scrub the floor. It's one of those images which sticks in one's head.<br /><br />The climax in the theatre is reminiscent of both <b>The 39 Steps</b> and <b>The Man Who Knew Too Much</b> but it is still effective. Especially the fake flames on the stage giving Michael the idea of how to escape. I was hoping he might actually start a real fire using Gromek's lighter, which he had kept post-execution, but maybe he was too considerate about the theatre's architecture.<br /><br />Finally, let's mention that <i>brilliant</i> murder scene. The non-English speaking farmer's wife and Michael gang up against this 'heavy' in order to stop him from ruining their plans. The farmer's wife is superb, first stabbing him then attempting to cripple him with a few whacks of the shovel against his shins - and <i>then</i> dragging his weaker body to the gas oven to smother him finally.<br />It's all done so intimately with the camera and the silence of the soundtrack almost punctuates the brutality of the moment.<br />There are moments where you feel Hitchcock is purposefully paying homage to his own films! Look out for references to <b>Blackmail</b> and <b>Psycho</b> in particular.<br />It is easily the best scene in the whole film.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />There are moments which could have benefited from slicker editing, but on the whole, it's a fun thriller in which the 'secrets' are merely the macguffin. Not perfect, but enjoyable 7/10<br /><br /><i>It is now ten to seven in the evening. So much for keeping it brief!</i>Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-4283088720357074332011-07-18T16:25:00.002+10:002011-07-18T18:01:41.228+10:00Marnie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IrX_zFcUMyc/TiPSAcyu0wI/AAAAAAAAAUU/yFHJmpQfT_8/s1600/marnie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IrX_zFcUMyc/TiPSAcyu0wI/AAAAAAAAAUU/yFHJmpQfT_8/s320/marnie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630574864314061570" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Marnie<br /><b>Year:</b> 1964<br /><b>Studio:</b> Universal Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Jay Presson Allen & Evan Hunter<br /><b>Source Material:</b> The novel by Winston Graham<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 125 minutes<br /><br /><b>Monday 18th July, 2:00pm</b> <br />It has been over a fortnight since the last update, but I knew I was going to have one weekend off before the end of my project so that I could neatly time the final film to coincide with Hitchcock's birthday. To be frank, I wish I had chosen this weekend to skip as I was hung-over throughout Sunday and had to postpone the viewing until today - but I'm having a long weekend anyway, so it's not too much trouble.<br /><br />Tomorrow, it's my birthday (bless) and this is why I am having an extra long weekend. I always like to take the day off work when it's my birthday - I recall one year when I could not because I was away on a work conference. My, I was a bit stroppy <i>that</i> year I can tell you! Ah, the foibles of a mardy-pants...<br /><br />I have been a fan of <b>Marnie</b> for many years. Maybe it's because I am a frigid thief with repressed childhood memories in denial of my own past. Or maybe it's because it's a damn fine film. You decide.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Marnie Edgar - Tippi Hedren<br />Mark Rutland - Sean Connery<br />Lil mainwaring - Dianne Baker<br />Sidney Strutt - Martin Gabel<br />Bernice Edgar - Louise Latham<br />Cousin Bob - Bob Sweeney<br />Man at racetrack - Milton Selzer<br />Susan Clabon - Mariette Hartley<br />Mr Rutland - Alan Napier<br />Sailor - Bruce Dern<br />Detective - Henry Beckman<br />Sam Ward - S John Lautner<br />Rita - Edith Evanson<br />Mrs Turpin - Meg Wyllie<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />A woman with jet-black hair is at a train station carrying a suitcase in one hand and with a smaller yellow handbag tucked under her other arm.<br />Meanwhile, Mr Strutt is describing the woman who has stolen money from him to a pair of detectives.<br /><i>"Five foot five, a hundred and ten pounds, size eight dress, blue eyes, black wavy hair... even features... good teeth..."</i><br />He admits he had given her the secretarial job knowing she had no references. Mark Rutland arrives and surveys the scene, he knows the woman Mr Strutt speaks of as he's met her before on a previous visit.<br />At a hotel, the black-haired woman is filling one suitcase with old clothes and filling another one with new clothes. She transfers a heap of money from the yellow handbag to another. She changes the Social Security account number card from her wallet stating her name to be 'Marion Holland' and replaces it with one for 'Mary Taylor' - then she washes the black dye out of her hair. She is blonde. <br />She travels to the train station, leaves the old cases in a locker and throws away the key.<br />She returns to a guest house where she is known as 'Miss Edgar' and then heads out to Garrod's where she keeps her beloved horse, Forio.<br /><br />Later, Marnie visits her semi-invalid mother who is babysitting for a young girl names Jessie Cotton of whom Marnie is unashamedly jealous due to her own mother's affections towards her. She hates the red gladiolas in the front room and removes them, replacing them with the chrysanthemums she has brought. In an emotional confrontation, Marnie asks why her mother doesn't seem to love her and for this she is slapped hard across the face.<br /><br />A few days later, Marnie has now applied a brown dye to her hair. She applies for a job at Rutland's & Co, a publishing firm. Whilst interviewed by a Mr Ward, Mark Rutland watches and indicates that he would like Mr Ward to give the job to 'Mary Taylor' rather than a more qualified applicant - but fails to give his reasons.<br />Here we also meet Lil Mainwaring, Mark's sister-in-law. He is widowed, but had remained firm friends with his dead wife's sister who seems to have feelings for him herself.<br />During her early days working at Rutland's, 'Mary Taylor' notices that Mr Ward always opens a small locked drawer before going to the safe. She learns that Mr Ward keeps the safe combination in there as he can never remember it. She also accidentally spills some red ink on her white blouse and has a hysterical reaction to the colour emblazoned on her sleeve.<br />One night, during some overtime working directly with Mark Rutland, there is a terrible storm. 'Mary' is distraught and terrified. Mark goes to her aid and they both narrowly miss being hurt when a branch from a tree crashes through the window.<br /><br />Over the next few weeks, Mark and 'Mary' begin to spend more time together. He takes her to the races, where a man approaches 'Mary' saying he knows her as Peggy Nicholson, but she denies it flatly. At one point, they are going to place money on a horse named 'Telepathy' but when 'Mary' sees the red dots on the silks of the jockey, she changes her mind and insists that Mark does not bet on that horse. Unfortunately, it goes on to win...<br /><br />Mark even takes 'Mary' to meet his father one weekend at the family home where she meets Lil once again. Mark's father takes to 'Mary' quite quickly as he too is extremely fond of horses.<br /><br />Then, the day comes when 'Mary' is to do what she came to the job to do. One Friday evening, she waits in the ladies' powder room until everyone has gone home. She takes a stolen key to open the small drawer and reads the safe combination:<br /><br /><i>4 turns left to 36<br />4 turns right to 20<br />2 turns left to 16<br />2 turns right to 8<br />1 turn left to 5</i><br /><br />The safe opens, as she fills her bag with money, she is unaware of a cleaner mopping the corridor floor just feet away. Removing her shoes to remain unheard, she slips them into her coat pockets and tiptoes past the cleaner who is intensely mopping away. One shoe slips from Marnie's pocket and clatters to the ground... the woman remains mopping, unfazed by the noise. The woman is mostly deaf, thankfully.<br /><br />The next day, Marnie is blonde again and out galloping on Forio. She is shocked to see Mark waiting for her upon her return.<br />He confronts her and explains how he'd already had suspicions about her from the day he saw her at the interview. He tracked her to the stables having been lead by clues she had dropped whilst out at the races with him. She continues to fob him off with lie after lie, but he is having none of it. Eventually, he drags the truth out of her but, instead of turning her over to the police, uses emotional blackmail and <i>proposes</i> to her. He thinks she should stay with him at the family home.<br />She has little choice.<br /><br />They are married and they take their honeymoon on a cruise. Both Lil and Mark's cousin Bob are curious about this sudden romance and Lil in particular is keen to find out more...<br />Whilst on the cruise, Mark learns of Marnie's frigidity and is perplexed by her terror of sexual advances. He promises to keep his distance and for days they enjoy reasonably civil mutual conversations, but eventually the façade falls apart. He becomes tense with sexual frustration and tears her night dress from her. He apologises and covers her with his own gown. She is stunned into a state of shock and in this almost comatose state, she "allows" him to make love to her. The next morning, he wakes to find her gone - he dashes out in the early morning air and searches the deck - he finds her face down in the ship's swimming pool but manages to resuscitate her.<br /><br />They return home. Lil overhears Mark and Marnie discussing Strutt and the possibility of jail. She does some investigating of her own and also eavesdrops on a phone conversation Marnie has with her mother, whom she had told everyone was dead.<br /><br />Mark, as a sort of peace offering, brings Forio home from the stables for Marnie to ride. Whilst she is out, Lil tells Mark about what she knows and also about Marnie's mother. She says she wants to help, but mark asks her to merely be a friend to Marnie.<br /><br />Mark gets a private detective to look into Marnie's mother's life and discovers some interesting facts about a court case.<br />Later at night, Marnie has her recurring nightmare about a tapping and her mother being hurt. Mark comes in and wakes her to try and get her to tell what the dream is about. They argue once more and he tricks her into exposing something from deep within through free-association with words. Her reactions to 'sex', 'death' and 'red' are telling...<br /><br />Days later, a party is being thrown at their home. Lil has gone and invited Strutt. He recognises Marnie as the girl who stole money from his business, but is not entirely sure. Marnie panics and realises she has to bolt.<br />Mark tells her not to, saying her can persuade Strutt not to press charges if they repay the money - this is when she admits to other crimes and Mark believes with the right circumstances, things can be smoothed over - he can afford to pay off her 'debts' if necessary.<br /><br />The next day, Mark is trying to persuade Strutt and whilst he does that, Marnie is joining the others on a fox hunt. Once she spies the red of one of the jackets, she flees, racing on Forio over the fields. Lil chases after her. One final jump over a wall is too much. Forio trips and falls, throwing Marnie off and crippling himself. Marnie, in tears bangs on the door of a nearby house where she forces the owner, Mrs Turpin, to give her a gun. Lil tries to assist, but Marnie is determined to do this herself. She takes the gun and shoots Forio in the head.<br /><br />Still in shock, she wanders back to the house, still holding the gun. She goes upstairs, takes the keys from Mark's study and heads back to the Rutland company offices. She heads straight for the safe, opens it and struggles with her urges and impulses. Mark arrives in time and gets the gun off her and tells her they are going to take a trip to see her mother.<br /><br />Arriving in Baltimore as a storm begins, Mark confronts Mrs Edgar, insisting she tells the truth about Marnie's past - force her to explain the missing memories that have been tormenting her all these years. Mrs Edgar won't and she goes to attack Mark, but as they struggle, Marnie's memory clicks into place and she begins to remember...<br /><br />In flashback, we see the young Mrs Edgar. She provides young sailors with entertainment for a small sum but sue to the small abode, she has to wake up her daughter with a knock on the door in order to get her to move to the settee so she and the gentlemen callers can use her bed.<br />This particular evening, young Marnie is too distressed and cries. The sailor comes out to tell her to keep quiet, he brushes her hair and begins to kiss her neck. Mrs Edgar throws herself at him, telling him to take his hands off her daughter. In a fight, they fall, damaging Mrs Edgar's leg - she cries out in pain. Little Marnie grabs the fire poker and beats the sailor over the head until he dies.<br /><br />The truth is revealed. Mrs Edgar told the police she killed the sailor in self defence. She also tells of how she had slept with Marnie's biological father just the once but he had run off when she became pregnant. She had them spent her life inflicting this dangerous image of men upon her daughter, trying to protect her.<br /><br />Marnie now knows that her mum had always loved her and had simply wanted to protect her and keep her decent, but instead, it had turned Marnie into a liar, a cheat and a thief.<br />Mark takes Marnie in his arms and takes her away, promising to take care of her.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Marnie sees a picture of an animal in Mark's office:<br /><br />Mark: <i>"...that's Sophie. She's a jaguarundi. South American. I trained her."</i><br /><br />Marnie: <i>"Oh, what did you train her to do?"</i><br /><br />Mark: <i>"Trust me."</i><br /><br />Marnie: <i>"Is that all?"</i><br /><br />Mark: <i>"That's a great deal.. for a jaguarundi."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Mark has an odd slant on romance:<br /><br />Mark: <i>"It seems to be misfortune to have fallen in love with a thief and a liar."</i><br /><br />and<br /><br />Mark: <i>"I've tracked you and caught you, and by God, I'm gonna keep you!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />When Mark asks Marnie why she threw herself in the ship's pool rather than overboard, she tells him frankly: <i>"The idea was to kill myself, not feed the damn fish."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Finally, my favourite line, which is delivered <i>twice</i> at different moments...<br /><br />Marnie: <i>"There. There now..."</i><br /><br />(brilliant!)<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />There are three key scenes which I think are simply fantastic. Firstly, the safe-breaking scene in which Marnie steals the money whilst the cleaner silently mops just feet away and Marnie has to escape unheard. It's terrific direction and has edge-of-your-seat tension. You genuinely want her to get away with it.<br />Secondly, the accident involving Forio and Marnie - the wall, the crippling and then the shooting - it's heartbreaking and so difficult to watch. Brilliant.<br />Thirdly, the revelatory finale shown in flashback where we learn the truth about Marnie's psychosis. Superbly shot, terrifyingly intimate and deeply shocking. Bruce Dern's cameo in this movie is brief but intrinsic to the plot and just unnerving enough to warrant the audience's compliance with the ultimate justice he is served.<br /><br />Other scenes of note are the 'rape' scene and the brilliant 'free-association' scene where she first answers blithely until she cracks and words of meaning and distress pour from her lips. That scene always gives me goose-bumps.<br /><br />There are stories told about Hitchcock's darker side overpowering some of the elements in this film - particularly over Tippi Hedren and the uncredited Evan Hunter. I find it uncomfortable to imagine the negative aspects of Alfred's personality and when the final product is so utterly bewildering, one wonders if he had the right to exert such power "willy-nilly". Had his success gone to his head by this point? that's open for debate.<br /><br />Bernard Herrmann's final score for Hitchcock and, once again, it is superb. The themes within are haunting and they live on in your mind long after the film is over.<br />People will forever connect Herrmann with <b>Psycho</b> and <b>Vertigo</b> particularly, but this is just as emotive and effective.<br /><br />Oh, and let's mention Sean Connery, shall we? This man is one of the biggest male sex symbols in cinema history. Here he is a saviour, a hunter, a leader, an emotional blackmailer and a sexual predator who, in no uncertain terms, rapes his own wife. Both Mark and Marnie are, basically, despicable people but they show the inhumanity that is possible within all of us to a degree. Humanity's flaws embodied in male and female roles. <br />It may be hard for some to watch Sean in this role having known him for so long as the suave and debonair James Bond (who may be a womaniser, but never to the extent of forcing himself upon an unwilling victim) but it's a performance worth savouring.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />The film owes much to Tippi Hedren's performance as without such a powerful portrayal of the anti-heroine, the film may have been less of a success. 9/10 <br /><br /><br />(Only four films to go!!)Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-30009491896765515472011-07-03T13:04:00.005+10:002011-08-13T20:50:22.594+10:00The Birds<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fbr54lsjwkI/Tg_cRKrFW-I/AAAAAAAAAUM/1lgnI69gtTs/s1600/the%2Bbirds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fbr54lsjwkI/Tg_cRKrFW-I/AAAAAAAAAUM/1lgnI69gtTs/s320/the%2Bbirds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624956647089986530" /></a>
<br />
<br /><b>Title:</b> The Birds
<br /><b>Year:</b> 1963
<br /><b>Studio:</b> Universal Pictures
<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Evan Hunter
<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A short story by Daphne Du Maurier.
<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 119 minutes
<br />
<br /><b>Sunday 3rd July, 10:00am</b>
<br />Ah, 1963. What a superb year. Two of my favourite films were released (<b>The Haunting</b> and <b>The Birds</b>) and <b>Doctor Who</b> began on BBC television. If I could travel back in time and experience it all first hand, I would. Oh, and perhaps give a bit of warning to the U.S. president. i.e. "Duck!"
<br />Despite political assassinations, 1963 was not half bad.
<br />
<br />In 2008, I visited San Francisco and found the city itself to be reasonable pleasant and entertaining, but I had the best time when I visited Bodega Bay - I felt at home there. I ended up spending a fortune on Bodega Bay/"The Birds" merchandise. I have no regrets about that!
<br />
<br />I am attempting to remain fairly upbeat and chipper as I type this, but I am suffering from rather nasty cramps in my intestines which are subsequently leading to dashes to the old 'W.C.' - I haven't eaten anything out of the ordinary, so I can't really explain it. Maybe this is the start of a new form of terror coming to a theatre near you... "The Bowels".
<br />
<br />Enough about my infernal internal problems, let's crack on with one of the best films ever made (God, I sounded a bit like Alan Partridge there. Ooh - 'Partridge'! Birds everywhere.)
<br />
<br /><b>Cast</b>
<br />Mitchell Brenner - Rod Taylor
<br />Lydia Brenner - Jessica Tandy
<br />Annie Hayworth - Suzanne Pleshette
<br />Melanie Daniels - 'Tippi' Hedren
<br />Cathy Brenner - Veronica Cartwright
<br />Mrs Bundy - Ethel Griffies
<br />Sebastian Sholes - Charles McGraw
<br />Mrs McGruder - Ruth McDevitt
<br />Deke Carter - Lonny Chapman
<br />Salesman - Joe Mantell
<br />Fisherman - Doodles Weaver
<br />Al Malone - Malcolm Atterbury
<br />Post Office Clerk - John McGovern
<br />Drunk - Karl Swenson
<br />Mitch's Neighbour - Richard Deacon
<br />Helen Carter - Elizabeth Wilson
<br />Farm Hand - Bill Quinn
<br />Hysterical Mother - Doreen lang
<br />Schoolkid - Morgan Brittany
<br />
<br /><b>Synopsis</b>
<br /><u><i>Friday</i></u>
<br />Melanie Daniels, socialite and a daughter of a newspaper editor, heads to Davidson's Pet Shop in San Francisco in order to pick up a mynah bird as a gift for her Aunt Tessa who is soon to return from overseas.
<br />Mrs McGruder tells Miss Daniels that the bird has not yet been delivered but she will telephone to find out when it is due.
<br />While Melanie waits, a man named Mitchell Brenner enters the shop. He recognises Miss Daniels and pretends to not know her and addresses her as though she were a salesperson. Melanie, always game for a bit of role play, enjoys the scenario until he asks too many leading questions. She accidentally lets a canary free and she and Mrs McGruder struggle to catch it. When it comes to rest on a table, Mitch catches it and returns it to its cage, referencing Melanie's name as he does so. This makes are angry and he explains that he knew her by sight. He had come into the store initially to buy some love birds for his sister's eleventh birthday. He leaves Melanie fuming but she chases after him and notes his licence plate - WJH 003 - she then calls Charlie at City Desk and asks him to trace it for her. Then, she gets Mrs McGruder's help to purchase some love birds.
<br />
<br /><u><i>Saturday</i></u>
<br />Melanie has the information she needs and she heads to Mitch's apartment with the two love birds in a cage. She leaves them outside his door with a note, but his neighbour alerts her to the fact that Mitch is away in bodega Bay for the weekend. This infuriates Melanie, so she decides to drive up to Bodega Bay and deliver them personally.
<br />When she arrives, she visits the local Post Office and General Store to find out Mitch's address and the name of his sister. They tell her where to find his home and say that his sister is either called Lois or Alice. They suggest she ask Miss Hayworth, the schoolteacher.
<br />When Melanie meets Annie she learns that the girl is called Cathy. Annie Hayworth is suspicious of Melanie and slightly resents her classy looks and obvious wealth.
<br />Melanie then takes a boat across the bay to deposit the love birds. She waits until Mitch is out in the barn, enters the house, leaves the birds and a note for Cathy, but tears up the original note she wrote for Mitch.
<br />Back in the boat, she watches from the security of the bay as Mitch discovers the birds. He comes out of the house and spies her. He gets in the car and drives around the bay, getting to the wharf before she does.
<br />Just as she approaches, a seagull swoops down and hits her on the head, making her bleed.
<br />Mitch is appalled and helps her out of the boat. he takes her to the Tides Restaurant to help fix her up.
<br />Lydia, Mitch's mother, comes in and Mitch tells her he has invited Melanie to dinner. Lydia seems to take an instant dislike to Melanie but accepts the guest into her home.
<br />Melanie asks Annie Hayworth if she can rent her spare room for the night and Annie agrees.
<br />
<br />That evening at the Brenners', Lydia is concerned about her chickens as they don't seem to be wanting to eat. She calls her chicken-feed supplier and he tells her that a local farmer is having the same problem, even though he uses different feed. She worries there might be a sickness affecting the birds.
<br />
<br />Cathy likes Melanie and asks her to come to her birthday party the following day. Melanie says it's unlikely she'll attend as she has to return to San Francisco.
<br />Whilst Cathy and Melanie are talking, Mitch and Lydia are in the kitchen talking about Melanie. Lydia tells of how she'd read about Melanie's antics in Rome where she allegedly jumped into a fountain naked. Later on, as Melanie is about to head back to Annie's, Mitch questions her about this. She denies it and is indignant, stating that the report was in a rival paper to her father's and they just made it up to discredit her. Fuming, she drives back to Annie's where the two woman begin to bond whilst discussing Mitch and Lydia. Just before Melanie heads to bed, there's a thud at the door - they open it to discover a seagull dead on the veranda...
<br />
<br /><u><i>Sunday</i></u>
<br />It's Cathy's birthday and the party is in full swing. Melanie has decided to attend all along. She has a deep conversation with Mitch out on the dunes and opens up about her mother who left her when she was eleven years old.
<br />They return to the party where Cathy is playing Blind Man's Buff with her friends. Suddenly, the seagulls start attacking, swooping from the sky and hitting the children. Panic breaks out and the adults struggle to get the kids indoors.
<br />Mitch insists that Melanie stays for dinner as he would like to know she is safe.
<br />
<br />That evening, as Lydia, Cathy, Mitch and Melanie relax, a swarm of small birds fly into the living room via the chimney. It's like a blizzard indoors. The women manage to beat their way out and Mitch tries to fend them off. Much later, when the birds have left, the sheriff is round and is perplexed by the whole thing and reluctant to take any serious action.
<br />
<br /><u><i>Monday</i></u>
<br />Cathy is at school and Lydia drives around to Dan Fawcett's home to ask about the chicken problem. She lets herself into the house and discovers the place a mess. Crockery is broken in the kitchen and the windows are smashed. She makes her way through the house looking for Dan. She finds him in his bedroom - dead with his eyes pecked out. She flees the scene in terror and heads straight home.
<br />Mitch puts her to bed and heads off to the farm with the Sheriff.
<br />Melanie makes tea for Lydia and they talk. Lydia opens up about her life and how she feels about losing Mitch. After losing her husband Frank four years ago, she is so scared of being alone. She panics about Cathy and Melanie offers to pick her up from the school.
<br />
<br />Melanie drives around to the school and waits on a bench outside smoking a cigarette whilst the children finish their singing lesson. Unbeknownst to her, the climbing frame behind her is slowly filling with a murder of crows. Eventually, one crow in the sky catches Melanie's attention, she follows its flight until it lands on the frame. She is horrified and heads straight into the school to alert Annie.
<br />Annie makes the children do a fire drill and they exit the building and run off down the road. The crows attack. One of Cathy's friends falls and Cathy and Melanie help her up amongst the flurry of wings and beaks. They hide in a car until it's over.
<br />
<br />Back at the Tides restaurant, Melanie telephones her father to explain what has been happening. Other locals start sharing their stories but one woman, Mrs Bundy, implies it's all nonsense as she is an ornithological expert. A mother of two small children asks everyone to be quiet as the talk is scaring her children, although, admittedly, it is she who appears more scared. She persuades a travelling salesman to show her the best way to the free-way. They leave the restaurant. It isn't long before they fly back in again as another attack is happening outside.
<br />
<br />The man at the petrol station is hit, he drops the pump nozzle and it leaks across the forecourt. A man oblivious to events around him lights a cigar and drops the match. His life is over as the fire ignites and his car explodes. The flames shoot back to the pump and that too explodes. Chaos ensues and the birds watch callously from above before swooping again. Melanie rushes outside but tries to find shelter in a phone booth. The birds still attack, trying to smash the glass. She escapes and heads back to the diner. Everyone is huddled in a corner. The hysterical mother accuses Melanie of bringing the trouble to Bodega Bay and calls her 'Evil'.
<br />Mitch takes Melanie away once the birds have moved on. They go to fetch Cathy from Annie's home only to find the schoolteacher's corpse on the steps. Cathy is safe inside but visibly distressed. Mitch is fuming and attempts to seek revenge by throwing a stone at one of the birds, but Melanie stops him just in time. They take Cathy away, back to the Brenners' home.
<br />
<br />The bay is teeming with birds and Mitch quickly sets about boarding up the windows to the best of his ability. Once all inside, they sit and wait. Lydia is verging on hysteria and Cathy is concerned about her own love birds, knowing they haven't done anything wrong.
<br />An attack on the house is heard from inside. One gull tries to break through the boards in the kitchen, but Mitch fends it off. The back door is being shredded by ravaging beaks. Mitch drags the hall stand/dresser and covers the door, nailing it in place. The power goes out, but Mitch has a torch and they wait for it to be over...
<br />
<br />Eventually, everything is quiet again. Hours pass and all are asleep apart from Melanie. She hears noises upstairs. She takes the torch and ascends the stairs. In a room at the top of the house, she finds a hole in the roof. The birds are everywhere. They attack her and she falls back against the door, desperately flailing her arms around to protect herself. They are beginning to overcome her but Mitch has woken and drags her from the room.
<br />Downstairs, they all tend to Melanie's wounds, but she has gone into severe shock.
<br />Mitch insists they take her to hospital. He sneaks outside to retrieve Melanie's car from the garage. The birds are still around, swamping the area, but they are not attacking. Once the car is out of the garage, he goes back into the house to fetch Melanie and his family. With trepidation, they leave the house, Cathy insisting she brings the love birds. They carefully drive off through the masses of birds waiting patiently for their next attack...
<br />
<br /><b>Great Lines</b>
<br />
<br />Cathy: (on her brother's job) <i>"He has a client now who shot his wife in the head six times. Six times! Can you imagine it? I mean, even twice would be overdoing it, don't you think?"</i>
<br />
<br />***
<br />
<br />Annie: <i>"...probably lost his way in the dark."</i>
<br />
<br />Melanie:: <i>"But it isn't dark Annie, it's a full moon."</i>
<br />
<br />***
<br />
<br />Melanie: (on how she fills her days) <i>"On Tuesdays, I take a course in General Semantics at Berkeley, finding new four-letter words."</i>
<br />
<br />(She embellishes)
<br />
<br /><i>"I have an Aunt Tessa... I'm giving her a mynah bird when she comes back from Europe. Mynah birds talk, you know. Can you see my Aunt Tessa's face when this one tells us one or two of the words I've picked up at Berkeley?"</i>
<br />
<br />***
<br />
<br />Child in restaurant: <i>"Are the birds gonna eat us Mommy?"</i>
<br />
<br /><b>Comments</b>
<br />Even Hunter's script is wonderful. It plays with you as it builds up the relationships of the characters and making them flawed yet real.
<br />
<br />There are number of moments where I still get chills when watching this film, most particularly when the beaks are pecking through the door.
<br />
<br />Hitch has done an amazing job building up the tension slowly and the terrifying his audience with horrific and unwarranted attacks on the humans but still maintaining his edge of black humour.
<br />My favourite shot in this film is towards the end when the trapped family hear that the birds are leaving the house. We silently see their faces looking upwards with hope and fear, then we slowly pan out from Lydia, to incorporate Melanie and then Mitch's face. It's subtle but incredibly effective.
<br />
<br />The cast is stunning. Everyone is perfect in their roles from the young Veronica Cartwright as Cathy Brenner to Ethel Griffies as the cantankerous and self-righteous Mrs Bundy. 'Tippi' is beautiful and classy throughout and Jessica Tandy is wonderful as the icy mother who slowly shows signs of thawing.
<br />
<br />There is no musical score to the film which makes the whole thing just uncomfortable enough to creep you out. Bernard Herrmann did, however, supervise the sound effects of the birds. The song the children sing was actually penned by the screenwriter, Even Hunter.
<br />
<br /><b>My Verdict</b>
<br />Sure, some of the special effects look dated now, but it is still very high on my list of 'favourite films of all-time'. 10/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-37304742235596617232011-06-26T14:37:00.003+10:002011-06-26T16:03:33.307+10:00Psycho<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMu2AwV7hW4/Tga3t3ExF6I/AAAAAAAAAUE/6C9ITPT35Aw/s1600/psycho.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMu2AwV7hW4/Tga3t3ExF6I/AAAAAAAAAUE/6C9ITPT35Aw/s320/psycho.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622383183324583842" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Psycho<br /><b>Year:</b> 1960<br /><b>Studio:</b> Paramount Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Joseph Stefano<br /><b>Source Material:</b> The novel by Robert Bloch<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 108 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 26th June, 12 noon</b> <br />Ah, so we come to one of the most famous films of all time! I recall seeing this for the first time many moons ago. I had set the video for it and I remember switching on the TV late at night, just to see if it had finished and I caught the final few seconds. That irritated me somewhat. Ah, well.<br /><br />I wasn't sure if I was going to make it this weekend as I had a rather busy social day yesterday and a bit too much wine last night. I was a tad hung-over this morning, but I managed to get through the movie unscathed as I think my body needed to just crash out a bit.<br /><br />It's hard to believe I am so close to the end of this project and that I have been doing it for over a year. I'd feel better if I knew more than a handful of people were bothering to read it, but as I've said before, I'm really only writing it for my own amusement. <br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins<br />Lila Crane - Vera Miles<br />Sam Loomis - John Gavin<br />Milton Arbogast - Martin Balsam<br />Sheriff Chambers - John McIntire<br />Dr Richmond - Simon Oakland<br />George Lowery - Vaughn Taylor<br />Tom Cassidy - Frank Albertson<br />Mrs Chambers - Lurene Tuttle<br />Caroline - Pat Hitchcock<br />California Charlie - John Anderson<br />Cop - Mort Mills<br />Marion Crane - Janet Leigh<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />PHOENIX, ARIZONA<br /><br />FRIDAY, DECEMBER THE ELEVENTH<br /><br />TWO FORTY-THREE P.M.<br /><br />Sam Loomis and Marion Crane are entwined in some post-coital canoodling in a hotel room. Their love affair feels illicit due to the stresses Sam is under. They want to get married but he is concerned as he is still paying off his father's debts and also paying alimony to his ex-wife. If they had some money, he'd be more than happy to start a new life with Marion.<br />Marion's late lunch is over and she heads back to work.<br />Her boss, Mr Lowery, is still out with a client, Mr Cassidy, but they soon return. Mr Cassidy wants to pay $40,000 cash on a house for his daughter's wedding gift. Mr Lowery advises Marion to take the cash to the safe at the bank for over the weekend.<br />She places it carefully in her handbag and heads off early as she has a headache.<br /><br />She does not go to the bank. Instead she heads straight home and packs her bags. She decides to drive to see Sam. On the way out of town, her boss sees her as she stops at a pedestrian crossing. She is plagued by thoughts of how people are going to react. The drive is weary and she soon tires. She pulls over to sleep for a while. However, it is dawn when she is awoken by a highway patrolman who is concerned by her rather suspicious nature. He lets her go but later, when she decides she needs to swap cars at California Charlie's car yard, he follows. She pressures California Charlie into helping her swap her old car for a new one and she gives him $700 on top. She is irked by the presence of the policeman and panics, nearly leaving without her luggage which has yet to be transferred from her old car.<br /><br />She continues on with her drive, now concerned about the discussion Charlie will be having with the cop.<br />The rain is heavy and she is forced to pull over at the Bates Motel.<br />No one is around initially, so she honks her horn and a young man comes down from the big house to greet her. He says his name is Norman Bates. He lets her have a room - cabin 1 - but she signs in as Marie Samuels from Los Angeles. Norman invites her to have a bite to eat up at the house. She goes to unpack while he goes to prepare. While she sorts herself, the rain stops and she is able to hear voices coming from the big house. Norman is being berated by an older woman who is chastising him for flirting with the new guest.<br />Eventually, Norman comes down with a tray holding some sandwiches and a jug. He thinks it's better than taking her up to the house. <br />They eat in the parlour behind the office. Norman talks of his taxidermy hobby and also his mother. As they talk about human nature amongst other things, Marion begins to realise the error of her ways. She makes her excuses and leaves to get an early night. She plans to return to Phoenix the following day. She even tries to work out how to pay back the money she has since spent.<br /><br />She takes a shower - as she undresses, she is unaware that Norman is watching through a spy hole connecting the parlour with her cabin - and Norman does not watch for long - he retreats back to the house.<br /><br />Marion steps into the shower and feels relaxed with a weight off her shoulders knowing she has planned to do the right thing.<br /><br />However, her plan will never be executed as a tall feminine figure enters the bathroom, draws back the shower curtain and plunges a kitchen knife into Marion's vulnerable body. Stabbing repeatedly at the naked victim, Marion's cries do nothing to prevent her demise.<br /><br />The woman darts out of the crime scene and back up to the house. Norman is horrified when he sees the blood. He heads down to cabin 1 and discovers Marion's corpse. He wraps it in the shower curtain and mops up the mess in the bathroom. He puts Marion's body along with her belongings (and the $40,000) in the trunk of her car. He takes it to the nearby swamp and sinks it.<br /><br />The next week, Lila Crane, Marion's sister, goes to visit Sam Loomis in Fairvale at his hardware store. She is severely worried about Marion's whereabouts and considers that Sam might know - but he doesn't. A private detective named Arbogast arrives and starts asking questions. He spends a few days searching hotels and motels around the district. Eventually, after a long search, he comes across the Bates Motel.<br />He interviews Norman who seems edgy and reluctant to pass on information. Arbogast figures that Marion used Marie Samuels as an alias and goes to phone Lila to tell of his suspicions. He says he is going to return to the house to speak to Norman's mother and will return to Fairvale within an hour.<br /><br />Back at the motel, Arbogast finds the place deserted. He walks up to the house and lets himself in. He ascends the stairs but as he reaches the top, a woman leaps out of one of the bedrooms and plunges a knife into his chest. Blood splatters on his face and he topples backwards down the stairs. The woman follows him down and throws herself on top of him and finishes him off.<br /><br />Sam and Lila are very concerned three hours later when Arbogast has not returned. Sam intends to follow him. When he arrives, no one is there. Norman is at the swamp disposing of more evidence for his mother.<br /><br />Sam heads back to Fairvale and he and Lila go to see the Sheriff. They tell of the whole story - including the stolen money - and the Sheriff is perplexed by the statements about the old woman at the house.<br />He says Mrs Bates died ten years ago.<br /><br />The nest day, having met the Sheriff and his wife outside church, Sam and Lila decide to do their own investigating. They head out to the motel and pose as a married couple. Norman gives them cabin 10 but they snoop around cabin 1. They find a shower with no curtain and a piece of paper indicating sums regarding $40,000!<br />Sam goes to keep Norman occupied whilst Lila heads up to the house. Sam talks with Norman and Lila finds Mrs Bates' room - it is full of antiques and there's an indentation on the bed where she sleeps. Lila also finds Norman's room - full of childhood toys. As she heads back downstairs, Norman has grown suspicious. He hits Sam on the head and heads to the house. Lila sees him coming and hides down the stairs toward the cellar. Norman rushes in and heads immediately up to his mother's room.<br />Lila, out of curiosity, descends to the cellar. There she sees the old woman sitting with her back towards the door. Lila steps forward and touches the old woman's shoulder. The woman's body swivels in the chair and Lila sees the face of a woman - one that has long been dead, No eyes in the socket, no flesh around the mouth. She screams and then she hears someone coming down the stairs. In strides Norman, dressed in a wig and dress, clutching a knife. As he races forward, Sam appears from behind, grabbing Norman and restraining him. The wig falls off and Norman collapses.<br /><br />At the county court house, Lila and Sam are recovering from their ordeal. A psychiatrist explains the nature of Norman's mind and about how he had murdered his mother ten years ago and then, through guilt, kept the idea of her alive, ultimately integrating her personality into his own.<br /><br />Norman is alone in a cell with a blanket. His mother has taken over, perhaps permanently... she knows she had to confess Norman's sins. It was what she had to do, but she knows they'll look at her and know that she is innocent as she would never even harm a fly...<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br /><br />Norman: <i>"12 cabins, 12 vacancies!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norman: <i>"A hobby's supposed to pass the time, not fill it"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norman: <i>"A boy's best friend is his mother."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Marion: <i>"Wouldn't it be better if you put her... some place?"</i><br /><br />Norman: <i>"You mean an institution? A madhouse? People always call a madhouse 'some place', don't they?"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norman: <i>"We all go a little mad sometimes."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norman: <i>"Mother, oh God, mother! Blood... blood!!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norman: <i>"She might have fooled me, but she didn't fool my mother."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Sheriff Chambers: <i>"If the woman up there is Mrs Bates, who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetary?"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Norma Bates (on how others will view her): <i>"Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."</i><br /><br /><b>Commnents</b> <br />Anthony Perkins gives (in my opinion) one of cinema's finest and nuanced performances. Every line he delivers, every stutter, every twitch, is perfection.<br /><br />Martin Balsam gives a confident and naturalistic performance as Arbogast and both Janet Leigh and Vera Miles are beautifully cast as sisters.<br /><br />I have an enormous fondness for Patricia Hitchcock; partly because of her comic timing, her understated beauty and (mainly) because of her wonderful role in <b>Strangers on a Train</b>. Here she has a smaller role as Caroline, Marion's work colleague and although she does not get a huge amount of screen-time, she delivers every line brilliantly.<br /><br />John Gavin is hot. enough said.<br /><br />A lot of trivia about the film has been discussed for the past 50 years so I shan't spend time on noting that the blood was chocolate sauce or talk about the sequels and the bizarre remake. (I really admire <b>Psycho II</b> by the way!)<br /><br />What I will mention though is the frequent use of crane shots throughout. These longer takes are so utterly fantastic to watch - they draw you in completely. The two best are the one immediately following the murder and the other when Norman is talking to his mother prior to taking her downstairs to the cellar. Fantastic.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Sometimes the film <i>is</i> better than the book. <b>Psycho</b> is proof of this. <br />It almost loses a mark for the rather long-winded explanation from the psychiatrist at the end, but the rest of the film is sublime, so I shall be forgiving.<br />10/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-726583453886529422011-06-19T11:29:00.003+10:002011-06-19T13:01:58.626+10:00North by Northwest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_uQI6YXMDME/Tf1RNzVUFHI/AAAAAAAAAT8/ai1aaf8Iscs/s1600/north%2Bby%2Bnorthwest.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_uQI6YXMDME/Tf1RNzVUFHI/AAAAAAAAAT8/ai1aaf8Iscs/s320/north%2Bby%2Bnorthwest.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619737207588000882" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> North by Northwest<br /><b>Year:</b> 1959<br /><b>Studio:</b> Metro Goldwyn Mayer<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Ernest Lehman<br /><b>Source Material:</b> This is an original screenplay.<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 130 minutes<br /><br /><b>Sunday 19th June, 8:30am</b> <br />It seems I am forever doing laundry. How can one person, living alone, manage to accrue so many dirty clothes in the space of one week. Am I leading a double life? Do I have multiple Personality Syndrome? Who can say? Suffice to say that I have been getting up and down off the couch to reload the washing machine during the length of the movie - and a rather long movie at that. I think it's his longest movie to date (I could go back and check, but frankly, I cannot be arsed). This film is renowned for many reasons and it is also considered one of the top 100 American films ever made. Let's roll!<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Roger Thornhill - Cary Grant<br />Eve Kendall - Eva Marie Saint<br />Phillip Vandamm - James Mason<br />Clara Thornhill - Jessie Royce Landis<br />The Professor - Leo G Carroll<br />Handsome Woman - Josephine Hutchinson<br />Lester Townsend - Philip Ober<br />Leonard - Martin Landau<br />Valerian - Adam Williams<br />Victor Larrabee - Edward Platt<br />Licht - Robert Ellenstein<br />Auctioneer - Les Tremayne<br />Dr Cross - Philip Coolidge<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />Roger Thornhill is an advertising executive working in New York. He leaves his office with his secretary and heads to the Plaza hotel for a meeting with some other gentlemen. Through a misunderstanding, two heavies assume he is a secret agent named George Kaplan and bundle him off in a car and take him to a country house - despite his protestations.<br />Here he meets an enigmatic man who calls himself Lester Townsend and he threatens 'Kaplan' in order to get him to cooperate. Roger refuses, continually insisting he knows nothing about what 'Townsend' is talking about. 'Townsend' leaves to attend to his dinner guests whilst the heavies pour bourbon into Roger and take him out to set up his demise. They place the steaming Thornhill into a car and set him off driving down the road, hoping he'll steer himself off the cliff. However, Roger commands the car better than they expect but are soon dissuaded from pursuing further when Roger is stopped by the police.<br />At the station, Roger has little luck making anyone believe his mother. In court the next day, the judge and even his own mother fail to believe his mad story. He, his mother and the detectives head back out to the country house, only to find no scene of any crime and the mistress of the house lies through her bare teeth, saying Roger was there for a party and drove off drunk later in the night. She also says her husband is at the General Assembly Building for the United Nations.<br /><br />Let out on bail, he returns to the Plaza with his mother. They search the supposed room of George Kaplan and discover that the clothes there would not fit Roger. <br />Roger finds a photo of the man he knows as 'Townsend' and <br />The phone rings and Roger answers. This unfortunately does not help prove he is not Kaplan to his kidnappers who then come up to get him. They meet them in the lift and evade capture. Roger escapes in a taxi and heads to the general Assembly Rooms. There he introduces himself as Kaplan to the receptionist and he gets them to page Townsend. Townsend appears, but it is <i>not</i> the man he met the night before. He tries to get answers from this new man but before he gets any further one of the heavies has thrown a knife which sticks in the poor man's back and kills him. Roger is discovered lifting the knife from the fatal wound and caught on camera - he is now wanted for murder.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in a private office, a man known as the Professor discusses the recent events with his cohorts. They are a government agency and their 'George Kaplan' never existed. He was invented as a decoy to keep their enemy unaware of a real double agent within their midst. They are happy for this Roger Thornhill to play the role whilst they sit back.<br /><br />Roger escapes to Grand Central Station where he passes by the guards without a ticket and boards the train to Chicago having learned that this is where Mr Kaplan was supposed to have headed since checking out of the Plaza.<br />On board, he evades capture with the help of a beautiful young woman named Eve Kendall. He dines with her and they have instant chemistry. She comments on the initials on his personalised match-book as she is curious about his three initials R.O.T. She hides him within her compartment when the police board and search the train.<br /><br />During the journey, Eve sends a note to her employer, Phillip Vandamm (the man Roger knows as the fake Townsend) simply asking <i>What do I do with him in the morning? Eve.</i><br /><br />When they arrive in Chicago, he leaves wearing a porter's uniform and whilst he changes in the restrooms, Eve speaks to one of the heavies. She tells Roger she has telephoned the hotel at which George Kaplan is supposedly staying and she has got some specific instructions of where he wants to meet. She says goodbye but seems regretful of her actions.<br /><br />Arriving in the middle of nowhere by bus, Roger waits patiently at the proposed co-ordinates. Cars pass by without stopping. A man arrives and waits for a bus. Initially, Roger thinks this must be Mr Kaplan, but it's merely an innocent bystander who is curious when he spies the crop-duster plane dusting where there are no crops. As the bystander leaves on his bus, the plane turns and heads toward Roger.<br />He tries to hide in the nearby corn, but they force him out with the dusting of chemicals. He rushes out into the road to stop a truck, but the small plane than crashes right into the truck and explodes. Roger escapes as he steals the car of a passer-by whose curiosity got the better of him.<br /><br />Roger returns to Chicago and to Kaplan's supposed hotel. He sees Eve there. He goes up to her room - he is now suspicious of her after she seemingly gave him instructions to his would-be death. He flirts with her to make her believe he isn't suspicious but when she leaves as he fakes showering, he follows her to an auction house.<br />Here he discovers her with Vandamm and his heavies. Vandamm is purchasing a statuette. During the auction, Vandamm drags Eve away, realising she has feelings for Roger and leaves the heavies to finish Roger off. Roger causes a commotion at the auction and is arrested by the cops who have consequently just saved Roger from imminent doom.<br /><br />When calling in to the station to report the capture of Roger Thornhill, they are given instructions to take him to the airport instead. They do as they are told and it as at the airport Roger meets the Professor. The Professor explains the situation - the decoy, the fact Eve is their double agent etc - and persuades Roger to maintain the façade for another 24 hours, for Eve's sake. They head to South Dakota...<br /><br />A meeting is arranged at a public venue in a café at Mount Rushmore National Park. Here, Roger tells Vandamm that he will allow him to leave the country only if he gets to keep Eve. Vandamm refuses, but Roger grabs Eve but she pulls out a gun and shoots him. She runs away and the Professor confirms the wounding of Roger. Vandamm leaves.<br />Roger's wounded body is taken to hospital, but on the way, they stop at a rendezvous point in the woods where they meet up with Eve. The gun had blanks and Roger is fine. It was all part of a plan to fool Vandamm. It is then revealed by the Professor that the new plan is for Eve to continue as her role as a double agent and she is to go with Vandamm on the plane out of America. Thornhill is furious, but is knocked out by the Professor's driver before he can retaliate.<br /><br />Roger is then being kept at the hospital in a locked room. The Professor brings him clean clothes and at the earliest opportunity, Roger climbs out of the window and makes his escape.<br />He takes a taxi to Mount Rushmore. On the mountainside is a lodge where Vandamm is hiding out with his henchmen and Eve. Roger listens in at the window and overhears a great deal - including the whereabouts of the microfilm within the belly of the statuette. He also learns that one of Vandamm's henchmen has figured that Eve is a double agent so they plan to dispose of her. Roger climbs up into her bedroom but he is too late, she has already gone downstairs. He writes on the inside of his personalised match-book a quick note:<br /><br /><i>"They're onto you - I'm in your room."</i><br /><br />He creeps out of the bedroom and tosses it down to the lounge area hoping she'll see it. She does. Eve reads the note, makes an excuse about a lost earring and retreats to her room. Roger tells her that she is in danger and tells her she has to get away from them.<br />She returns to Vandamm and starts to move out to the plane that is awaiting them.<br />Thinking he is alone in the lodge, Roger tries to follow but is surprised to find himself held at gunpoint by the maid. He realises in time that the gun is the same one that Eve used - full of blanks - and escapes to the car outside. Eve makes a break for the car away from her captors and they drive down to the gate - however, it is locked, so they dash off through the woods.<br />They find themselves on top of the monument of Mount Rushmore and attempt to climb down to get away from their pursuers. The two heavies try to follow but in the ensuing fight, both fall to their demise. One is thrown by Roger, the other is shot by the Professor who has made it in time. Eve is struggling to hold on from the precipice from which she is dangling. Roger reaches out and pulls her up. We cut to the two of them in the compartment of a train as newly-weds and as they embrace, the train enters a tunnel.<br /><br />THE END.<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />The screenplay has witty and clever lines in abundance. Here are a few:<br /><br />Thornhill: <i>"In the world of advertising there's no such thing as a lie. There's only 'expedient exaggeration'."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Clara Thornhill: <i>"I think I'd like to meet these killers!"</i><br />leading to the moment in the lift when she asks; <i>"You gentlemen aren't really trying to kill my son, are you?"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Eve sees the initials 'R.O.T.' on Roger's match-book.<br /><br />Eve: <i>"What does the 'O' stand for?"</i><br /><br />Thornhill: <i>"Nothing."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />This nest line is delivered so curiously and innocently by the bystander, but it signposts something much more ominous:<br /><br />Man: <i>"That plane's dusting crops where there ain't no crops!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />When the valet tells Roger his suit will be cleaned, pressed and returned within 20 minutes, Roger says to Eve: <i>"Now, what could a man do with his clothes off for 20 minutes? Couldn't he have taken an hour?"</i><br /><br />To which Eve responds coolly: <i>"You could always take a cold shower."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />At the auction house, Roger meets with Vandamm again.<br /><br />Vandamm: <i>"What possessed you to come blundering in here liek this? Could it be an overpowering interest in art?"</i><br /><br />Thornhill: <i>"Yes, the art of survival."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />When Eve asks why his previous two wives divorced him, Roger has a deeply ironic reply.<br /><br />Thornhill: <i>"I think they said I lead too dull a life..."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Cary Grant - a man who can do no wrong. Yes, he may be too old for the role and yes, he is only seven years younger than the woman playing his mother, but they are both brilliant in their respective roles with an utterly believable mother/son rapport.<br /><br />Eve Marie Saint is a stunner and can play the cool blonde as well as the next actress, but I do feel there's an uncomfortable distance between her and Hitchcock. Maybe I'm wrong, but given his track record, I may be on the nail here.<br /><br />James Mason is <i>incapable</i> of delivering a line badly. Every word he utters is magnificently menacing in a suave and charismatic way. Lawd bless 'im, guvnor.<br /><br />In the scene where Eve 'shoots' Roger, a kid in the background sticks his fingers in his ears, obviously aware of what's about to happen. Bah! Hitch should have sacked him.<br /><br />Bernard Herrmann's score is fantastic. In fact, he is in the middle of a brilliant hat-trick. The scores for <b>Vertigo</b>, <b>North by Northwest</b> and <b>Psycho</b> are all <i>magnificent</i> pieces of work.<br /><br />One of the most notable things about <b>North by Northwest</b> is the many* unusual and occasionally unnatural camera angles used by Hitchcock throughout. They certainly lend an air of uncomfortable voyeurism in many shots. My absolute favourite is when Roger flees from the Assembly Building and we see his tiny figure sprint down a path to a taxi from so high above, it almost looks cartoon-like. It's a striking image highlighting his remoteness from everything safe.<br /><br />*I nearly wrote 'myriad' at this point, but isn't that term just becoming <i>so</i> pretentiously ubiquitous these days - and often incorrectly used. Grrr!<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Genuinely entertaining. All the hallmarks of classic Hitchcock; Innocent man on the run, icy blonde, lots of suspense. A few plot-holes here and there, but you fly past them so fast, you probably won't notice. Despite being so revered, I still only give it 9/10 - like <b>Vertigo</b> previously, I admire it greatly but still do not <i>love</i> it. (And, frankly, that's what this blog is about, right?)Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-21119081153244187122011-06-13T11:24:00.003+10:002011-06-13T15:15:24.965+10:00Vertigo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JC95-dZAjSY/TfVm7KkYs8I/AAAAAAAAAT0/CVtb14XsT28/s1600/vertigo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 203px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JC95-dZAjSY/TfVm7KkYs8I/AAAAAAAAAT0/CVtb14XsT28/s320/vertigo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617509276849845186" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Vertigo<br /><b>Year:</b> 1958<br /><b>Studio:</b> Paramount Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor<br /><b>Source Material:</b> The novel <i>D'Entre Les Morts</i> ('From Among the Dead') by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 124 minutes<br /><br /><b>Monday 13th June, 9:00am</b> <br />Here in Australia, it is 'Queen's Birthday' long weekend. I decided to take the Friday off as well so I could have four days of peace. I have to admit, now it's almost lunchtime on the final day, I have succumbed to some sort of cabin fever. I'm still in my PJs and feeling rather apathetic about most things. <br />However, I had to continue with the blog. My original intention was to get it out of the way on Friday... then Saturday.. then Sunday. Oh bugger. Well, it's done now and here I am typing it up.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />John 'Scottie' Ferguson - James Stewart<br />Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton - Kim Novak<br />Marjorie Wood - Barbara Bel Geddes<br />Gavin Elster - Tom Helmore<br />Coroner - Henry Jones<br />Doctor - Raymond Bailey<br />McKittrick Hotel Manager - Ellen Corby<br />Pop Leibel - Konstantin Shayne<br />Car Owner - Lee Patrick<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />John Ferguson is a detective in San Francisco. After the death of a colleague during a rooftop chase, for which he feels responsible, John decides to retire and continues to battle with acrophobia and the subsequent vertigo. He is known to his friends as 'Scottie' and he hangs out with an ex-fiancée of his named Marjorie "Midge" Wood who designs lingerie.<br />He has a call from an old friend called Gavin Elster who works in the ship-building industry. Gavin wants Scottie to follow his wife - not for the usual reasons, but because he is curious to know where she has been. He seems to think she is being possessed by the spirit of another woman.<br />Scottie thinks it's all nonsense but is curious enough to agree to rendezvous at Ernie's restaurant that evening.<br />At Ernie's, he sees the beautiful Madeleine and there is something bewitching about her which makes him decide taht he will follow her as Gavin requested.<br /><br />The next day, he follows her to a florist where she buys a bouquet; she visits the grave of a 'Carlotta Valdes' (Born December 3rd 1831 - Died March 5th 1857); then a gallery where she sits before a portrait of Carlotta - he notices the similar styled hair Madeleine has. Eventuially, he follows her to the McKittrick Hotel - he sees her enter and then spies her in the upstairs window. He goes to investigate but the manageress says that the woman who rents that room was not currently visiting. <br />He has lost her trail...<br /><br />Scottie does some more investigating with the help of Midge and they visit the Argosy book store where Midge's friend gives some information about the late Carlotta Valdes who apparently killed herself after her life fell apart. Carlotta was also Madeleine's great grandmother.<br /><br />Another day, Scottie follows Madeleine again - this to to Old Fort Point beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. He watches as she dismantles the floral bouquet and tosses it into the bay before throwing herself in after. He leaps in to save her and takes her back to his apartment to recover. She doesn't seem to remember much about what happened during her trance. She leaves without saying goodbye and he Scottie speaks to Gavin on the phone about the connection between Madeleine and Carlotta. Gavin is concerned;<br /><br /><i>"She's 26. Carlotta Valdes committed suicide at 26!"</i><br /><br />Madeleine returns the next day to Scottie's apartment apologising for her sudden departure. He takes her for a drive and they talk about the recurring dreams she has which feel like premonitions. She wonders if she's mad. He takes her in his arms and kisses her.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Midge has taken up painting again and, for a joke, paints a version of Carlotta's portrait but with her own face in place of the original. Scottie is less than impressed and Midge chastises herself for her foolishness.<br /><br />Madeleine later tells Scottie about the Spanish villa she sees in her dreams - he realises it's not in Spain, but a Mission just south of San Francisco called San Juan Bautista. They go to see the museum and he confesses her love for her. She pulls away and races to the church - He follows, but then she dashes up the tower and due to his acrophobia, he cannot follow. He is appalled when he hears a scream and sees her body fall past the window. Her body is broken on the roof below.<br /><br />A hearing is held and the jury conclude it was a suicide and Scottie is not to blame. Gavin is sympathetic to Scottie's plight and tells him that he is going to leave for Europe to start a new life.<br />Scottie starts having nightmares with visions of bouquets, Carlotta's necklace, her grave and the feeling of falling from great heights.<br />These dreams tip him over the edge and he is sent to an institution where Midge visits on a regular basis - but she feels he is lost for good. His doctor knows he is suffering from a severe guilt complex, but Midge knows it is worse because Scottie was in love with Madeleine.<br /><br />Eventually, months later. Scottie returns to normal society, but he is still plagued by images. He obsesses over things that remind him of Madeleine and then, one day, he sees a brunette woman in the street who looks almost identical to Madeleine.<br />He follows her back to the Empire Hotel. He introduces himself to her, but she is a little scared. She tells him she is Judy Barton from Salina, Kansas. He convinces her that he is harmless and that he'd like to take her for a meal. She is reluctant at first, but then concedes. He says he'll return in an hour to pick her up.<br />This is when she panics. <br />In flashback we witness the truth...<br /><br />When she ran up the steps of the tower as 'Madeleine', she went through the trapdoor where Gavin was waiting for her. He had the real Madeleine in his arms with a broken neck. He tossed her body out of the window. They waited for everything to die down before leaving again...<br /><br />Back in the present moment, Judy starts to pack her bags, but then stops. She begins to write a note to Scottie...<br /><br /><i>"Dearest Scottie,<br />And so you found me.<br />This is the moment I dreaded and hoped for; wondering what I'd say and do if I ever saw you again. I wanted so to see you again, just once. Now I'll go and you can give up your search. I want you to have peace of mind. You've nothing to blame yourself for. You were the victim. I was the tool and you the victim of Gavin Elster's plan to murder his wife. He chose me to play the part because I looked like her. He dressed me up like her. He was quite safe because she lived in the country and rarely came to town. He chose you to be the witness to a suicide. The Carlotta story was part real, part invented to make you testify that Madeleine wanted to kill herself.<br />He knew of your illness. He knew you'd never make it up the stairs to the tower. He planned it so well. He made no mistakes.<br />I made the mistake. I fell in love. That wasn't part of the plan.<br />I'm still in love with you and I want you so to love me. If I had the nerve, I'd stay and lie, hoping that I could make you love me again, as I am, for myself... and so forget the other and forget the past. But... I don't know whether I have the nerve to try..."</i><br /><br />With this final word, she stops and tears the letter up. She unpacks her case and decides to go on that dinner date after all.<br /><br />Over a few days, Judy and Scottie spend a lot of time together. He pampers her and treats her well... until he starts buying clothes for her. He is insistent that she has the exact clothes that Madeleine used to wear. He makes her dye her hair blonde and forces her to pin it in the same way. She is disturbed by all this, but does as he asks. Then, one night, when she feels all is well, they plan to go out for dinner.<br />As he waits for her to finish making herself up, she puts on a necklace - it catches his eye. It's the same necklace Carlotta wore in the portrait.<br />He changes the plans for the evening and drives back down to San Juan Bautista. He has pieced it all together. He is fuming - almost deranged - he forces Judy to climb the steps within the tower, recreating the fatal night. He manages to make it all the way up to the crime scene. Judy, distressed and worn down, confesses to the truth and admits she was paid by Gavin to impersonate his wife - she was paid with money... and the necklace.<br />She also confesses how she had truly fallen in love with Scottie and that was why she was still there. They embrace in the tower, but the looming shadow of a nun (who had been concerned when she had heard voices) terrifies Judy and she screams, staggers backwards and falls from the tower to her death.<br />Scottie steps out onto the sill of the window and looks down...<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />During one of Madeleine's trances, she talks to the tree whose inner circles record a passage of time, touching the rings as she does so;<br /><br /><i>"Somewhere in here I was born... and there I died. It was only a moment for you. You took no notice."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Midge is distressed at Scottie's collapse and fears music therapy is not the answer;<br /><br /><i>"I don't think Mozart's going to help at all..."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Scottie points out Judy's downfall;<br /><br /><i>"You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing - you shouldn't have been that sentimental."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />The final shot of Scottie standing at the top of the tower looking down is a clear sign that he has overcome his acrophobia - but at what cost.<br /><br />There are a couple of unanswered questions. Firstly, does Gavin ever get caught for the crime? Secondly, why did the manageress at the McKittrick Hotel say Carlotta/Madeleine/Judy had not been in the hotel that day, when clearly she had? Was she on Gavin's payroll too?<br /><br />Scottie's entropy into an obsessive and slightly deranged man is fascinating and a little disturbing. He becomes a modern-day Pygmalion, creating the perfect woman for his needs.<br /><br />It would be folly to write about <b>Vertigo</b> and not mention the camera technique made famous by this film. Created by Irmin Roberts and used to great effect in this movie is the superb vision of the depth perspective zooming away from the point of view of Scottie when he is having his spells of vertigo. This is created by zooming in whilst pulling back (or vice versa) and is uncomfortable yet effective to watch. It has since been used many, many times in cinema, but it will be <b>Vertigo</b> for which it is best remembered.<br /><br />The cast is relatively small and everyone plays their role beautifully. The two female leads are fantastic. Kim Novak is utterly convincing in her dual role and for first time viewers who aren't familiar with her work, they may be asking themselves if Judy Barton is indeed played by someone else - for at least a few minutes.<br />Barabara Bel geddes also does a superb job for she is in the role of the gooseberry. "Midge" is the character who shares our perspective. She is an outsider looking in and unable to help. She is both charming and endearing but also flawed, just as you or I would be. The last we see of her is a slow walk down a corridor at the institution where we can feel her despair as it echoes across the walls.<br /><br />James Stewart is wonderful, as always. Enough said.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b><br />All other guides give <b>Vertigo</b> full marks and I feel like I am cheating Hitchcock if I do otherwise. It <i>is</i> an amazing film, but I just don't <i>love</i> it like I love some of his others (which is my issue more than anyone else's!)<br />Maybe one day I will figure out why, but until I do, I will do something I have not yet done in this blog. I will go decimal! <br />9.5/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-92106605507608148522011-06-05T10:30:00.004+10:002011-06-13T12:44:11.023+10:00The Wrong Man<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rSewvYkkeVw/TerOIqJHjSI/AAAAAAAAATs/wJvSd0LcHeY/s1600/the%2Bwrong%2Bman.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rSewvYkkeVw/TerOIqJHjSI/AAAAAAAAATs/wJvSd0LcHeY/s320/the%2Bwrong%2Bman.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614526533617552674" /></a><br /><br /><b> Title:</b> The Wrong Man<br /><b>Year:</b> 1956<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Maxwell Anderson and Angus MacPhail<br /><b>Source Material:</b> Based on a true story<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 101 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 5th June, 8:30am</b> <br />I cannot believe it is June already, time has flown by. It is hard to believe I have been doing this blog for over a year now. Although I have loved doing it, I will be pleased to be free of the commitment when it's over. just a couple of months to go.<br /><br />Oddly, I had a bit of a lie in this morning. I didn't get up until 7! That is quite a lie in for me as I usually awake around 5 or 6. It seems I had about nine hours sleep. Heavens to Betsy.<br /><br />I wasn't really in the mood for this film today as I have seen it a couple of times before and have always felt it was a little dry, however, I ploughed through and found myself enjoying it more than before.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Christopher Emanuel 'Manny' Balestrero - Henry Fonda<br />Rose Balestrero - Vera Miles<br />Frank O'Connor - Anthony Quayle<br />Lt Bowers - Harold Stone<br />Tomasini - John Heldabrand<br />Ann James - Doreen Lang<br />Olga Conforti - Lola D'Annunzio<br />Gregory Balestrero - Robert Esson<br />Judge Groat - Dayton Lummis<br />Detective Matthews - Charles Cooper<br />Betty Todd - Norma Connolly<br />Mama Balestrero - Esther Minciotti<br />Constance Willis - Lauinda Barrett<br />Gene Conforti - Nahamiah Persoff<br />Robert Balestrero - Kippy Campbell<br />Daniell - Richard Robbins<br />Miss Dennerly - Peggy Webber<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br /><i><b>The early morning hours of January the fourteenth, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, a day in the life of Christopher Emanuel Balestrero that he will never forget...</b></i><br /><br />'Manny' works as a Bass Fiddle player at the Stork Club, a late-night venue for the well-to-do. He has a small two-bedroom home where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two sons Bob and Greg.<br />In the early hours of January 14th, he leaves work and does his usual routine. Takes the underground train from Fifth avenue, reads the paper, checks the horse odds on the racing pages, gets some toast and coffee at his usual haunt and then returns home. He checks in on the sleeping children and then goes in to his own room to see Rose. This particular morning, she is still awake due to the pain of her wisdom teeth coming through. Apparently, the cost at the dentist will be $300 and Manny says he will try and borrow some money.<br /><br />The next day he heads to the insurance office and asks about a loan on his wife's policy. The teller behind the counter is obviously a little disturbed by something. She goes to talk to her colleagues. She believes that Manny is the man who held up the office with a gun a few weeks ago. When he leaves, he visits his mother briefly before heading home. In the mean time, the police have been called and they are waiting for him when he gets home.<br /><br />Without allowing him to speak to Rose or the kids, they whisk him off to the 110th precinct where he is interrogated - they take him for a drive and ask him to enter a couple of locations so that witnesses can recognise him. The majority seem to think he is the man who held up their stores. One girl is not entirely convinced.<br />Back at the precinct, they ask Manny to write a note that is dictated to him - it's the note the hold-up man had given to the teller at the insurance company...<br /><br /><i>"THIS IS A GUN I HAVE POINTED AT YOU.<br />BE QUIET AND YOU WILL NOT BE HURT.<br />GIVE ME THE MONEY FROM THE CASH DRAW."</i> (sic)<br /><br />The detectives get Manny to write it out twice and on one occasion, he misspells the final word, just like the hold-up man. 'Draw' instead of 'Drawer'.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Rose is at home panicking about where Manny could be.<br /><br />The detectives take Manny's fingerprints after witnesses from the insurance office identify him as the criminal. They take his belongings (but allow him to keep his Roasary beads) and lock him up for the night. Manny's brother-in-law, Gene, has been making enquiries trying to find out information as to Manny's whereabouts and soon learns of the arrest.<br /><br />The next morning, after a brief court appearance, Manny is taken to Long Island City prison but he is not there for long as Gene and Olga manage to provide the $7,500 for bail.<br />Rose arranges to meet Frank O'Connor, a solicitor. He says he will represent them but says that they will have to find evidence of their location during the dates on which the crimes were committed. One such date was July 9th the previous year, so Manny and Rose head to the hotel at which they were staying that month. They recall playing a card game with some other guests, but when they seek out these other holiday makers at their respective homes, it is discovered that they have both since died. <br />Rose begins to lose her mind at the fragility of their case. She begins to blame herself for the mess. She believes if she had been better with their economics, Manny would never have needed to ask about borrowing money on her life insurance. She thinks they should lock themselves in at home and hide from the outside world.<br />At one point, it gets all too much for her and she lashes out at Manny with her hairbrush. It strikes his head and then smashes the mirror on the dressing table.<br /><br />Manny sends her to a psychiatrist who diagnoses her with mental problems caused by severe guilt complex. He advises putting her in an institution until she gets better.<br /><br />The trial begins and the prosecution, Mr Tomasini, tries to paint Manny as a gambler trying hard to pay off debts.<br />O'connor forces the issue of mistaken identity. <br />Frustratingly, one of the jurors causes a scene and they have to call it a mistrial which means they have to start all over again but with a new jury.<br />The stress is getting to Manny who has been clutching his Rosary beads day-in, day-out. He prays for some sort of assistance from God...<br />That night, the <i>real</i> culprit tries to hold-up another store. He is apprehended and taken to the 110th precinct. Here one of the detectives sees the previous error and brings in the life insurance witnesses once more - again, they are convinced that they have picked the right man, but this time it <i>is</i> the right man.<br /><br />The charges against Manny are dropped and he can return home. He visits Rose in the sanitarium, but she is still lost and distant. He hopes she will return to him some day soon...<br /><br /><i><b>Two years later, Rose Balestrero walked out of the sanitarium - - completely cured.<br />Today she lives happily in Florida with Manny and the two boys.. and what happened seems like a nightmare to them - - but it did happen.</b></i><br /><br />The End.<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />The film dialogue tends to steer clear of witty dialogue, for obvious reasons, but Manny's children do add a realistic touch of light relief toward the beginning of the film whilst discussing Mozart at the piano:<br /><br />Bob: <i>"It says here that Mozart wrote it when he was 5. So I should be able to play it. I'm 8."</i><br /><br />Greg: <i>"I'm 5, so I should be able to write it!"</i><br /><br />Later on, there's one line which is delivered perfectly by Manny to the 'right' man:<br /><br />Manny: <i>"Do you realise what you've done to my wife?"</i><br /><br />It's so real and true. A lesser writer may have had Manny simply ask 'why?' or say something similarly selfish, but true to Manny's character, he thinks of others first, in this case, his wife.<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />The night Manny spends in the cell at the 110th precinct is shot beautifully, causing a very claustrophobic atmosphere within the cell. Also, when he is transferred to Long Island City Prison, we are subjected to the terrifying journey prisoners make as they adapt to their future, being lead through the barred corridors. The camera following Manny into his cell through the small oblong opening takes us deep within the psychological nightmare that jail provides.<br /><br />My favourite shot is when Manny is praying before a painting of Jesus in the hope that divine intervention will take place, then we see the real villain heading to his next victim's store. For a few seconds, their faces overlap on the screen and we see the similarities... but also their differences.<br /><br />What I find most interesting about this story is how the real victim here is Rose. Although Manny is the innocent man accused of a crime he did not commit, it is Rose whose life is torn apart the most - her beliefs are torn down, exposing her mind to the ravages of guilt and paranoia.<br /><br />The final screenshot depicts the family reunited and walking down a street in Florida. A caption that tells us that Rose recovered is actually lying to us. According to sources, Rose never fully recovered and that, with hindsight, gives one a shiver down the spine.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />A sombre film lacking in Hitchcock's trademark black humour, but one can expect that coming from a true story. Henry Fonda does a great job as Manny, but it is Vera Miles who steals the show as Rose. 7/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-49965799856955755452011-05-29T08:48:00.004+10:002011-05-29T10:04:09.136+10:00The Man Who Knew Too Much<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXUe5qhCxrA/TeF76mjLY1I/AAAAAAAAATg/dDo1J9wsqaU/s1600/the%2Bman%2Bwho%2Bknew%2Btoo%2Bmuch%2B%25281956%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JXUe5qhCxrA/TeF76mjLY1I/AAAAAAAAATg/dDo1J9wsqaU/s320/the%2Bman%2Bwho%2Bknew%2Btoo%2Bmuch%2B%25281956%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611902857391072082" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> The Man Who Knew Too Much<br /><b>Year:</b> 1956<br /><b>Studio:</b> Universal Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> John Michael Hayes<br /><b>Source Material:</b> The story by Charles Bennett and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 115 minutes<br /><br /><b>Sunday 29th May, 6:30am</b> <br />I had every intention of doing this one yesterday, but I was in a very grumpy mood - one of those in which one finds oneself tiresomely pitying all aspects of one's own life. It's pathetic, it's true. Let's just say my biorhythms were all down or something. So, instead, I climbed into bed mid-afternoon and read for a bit, slept and cuddled the cat.<br />Waking early this morning, I felt much better and threw myself into it. For some reason, I always seem to forget how entertaining this film is until I watch it again...<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Dr Ben McKenna - James Stewart<br />Jo McKenna - Doris Day<br />Lucy Drayton - Brenda De Banzie<br />Edward Drayton - Bernard Miles<br />Buchanan - Ralph Truman<br />Louis Bernard - Daniel Gélin<br />Ambassador - Mogens Wieth<br />Val Parnell - Alan Mowbray<br />Jan Peterson - Hillary Brooke<br />Hank McKenna - Christopher Olsen<br />Assassin - Reggie Nalder<br />Assistant manager - Richard Wattis<br />Woburn - Noel Willman<br />Helen Parnell - Alix Talton<br />Police Inspector - Yves Brainville<br />Cindy Fontaine - Carolyn Jones<br />Edna - Betty Bascomb<br />Chauffeur - Leo Gordon<br />Handyman - Patrick Aherne<br />Detective - Lewis Martin<br />Ambrose Chappell Jr -Richard Wordsworth<br />Ambrose Chappell Snr - George Howe<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />On a bus heading to Marrakech, an American couple are travelling with their son. They are Ben and Jo McKenna and their son is named Hank. Ben is a doctor and his wife used to be a singer whose career has been cut short due to the nature of Ben's work. Their marriage shows signs of strain frequently, but this holiday could help them out.<br />They are befriended by a Frenchman named Louis Bernard but Jo is suspicious of him as he asks too many questions.<br />That evening, at the hotel, they have Bernard for drinks in their suite before heading off for dinner. At one point a man arrives at the door. he has a scar on his right cheek. He asks for 'Montgomery' but soon passes on his way when informed he has the wrong room. Louis Bernard asks to make a call and then he asks for forgiveness as he has to cancel his plans with them for dinner, so they go off alone.<br /><br />In a local restaurant, Jo and Ben meet an English couple - Edward and Lucy Drayton. Lucy recognised Jo from her singing years and the foursome enjoy a meal together. Jo notices Louis turn up at the restaurant with a female companion. Ben is outraged and is willing to give him an earful, but Jo stops him from making a scene.<br /><br />The next day, the two couples visit the marketplace along with Hank (who is enthralled by it all). Jo confides to Ben that she'd like another child.<br />They are interrupted by havoc amongst the crowds. There is a big chase on foot and one man is stabbed in the back. The injured man staggers toward Ben and collapses in his arms. His dark skin smudges on Ben's fingers proving it is mere make up and he recognises Louis Bernard. As the Frenchman dies, he whispers in Ben's ear...<br /><br /><i>"A man, a statesman, he is to be killed... assassinated... in London. Soon. Very soon. Tell them in London. Ambrose Chappell..."</i><br /><br />Ben and Jo have to go to the police station to give a statement - meanwhile Lucy Drayton takes Hank back to the hotel. Ben and Jo learn that Bernard worked for the Deuxieme Bureau, similar to MI5 or the FBI, and the cops are curious as to Ben's relationship with him. Whilst there, Ben is called to the phone - someone tells him not to repeat anything that Bernard told him or his son will be hurt.<br />Ben takes Jo back to the hotel only to find that both Edward and Lucy Drayton have gone and taken Hank with them. He sedates Jo and tries to figure what to do next.<br /><br />The couple return to London where they speak to Inspector Buchanan from CID. They receive a call from the kidnappers and they get to speak to Hank, albeit briefly. Ben insists they handle this alone for fear of Hank's life. Buchanan advises against that, but understands their predicament.<br />At their hotel in London, they are bombarded with some local friends of Jo's and they try and put on a brave face. <br />After looking up 'Abrose Chappell' in the phone book, Ben goes off to meet him on his own. It turns out to be a false lead when he discovers a family run taxidermist shop. Meanwhile, back at the hotel, it occurs to Jo that it may have been a place, not a person - Ambrose <i>chapel</i>! She hurries off, leaving her friends and takes taxi to the chapel. From this location, she calls back to her hotel room from a phone booth - Ben has returned by this time and she tells him to join her.<br /><br />Upstairs at the chapel, Edward is instructing the scarred man exactly when he is to assassinate the foreign Prime Minister - when the cymbals crash during Arthur Benjamin's Cantata 'Storm Cloud'. The assassin is armed and ready. He will have a box at the Albert hall in direct line of the intended victim.<br /><br />Once Ben arrives at the chapel, they enter the chapel and join the congregation. Hank is being held upstairs by one of the Drayton's accomplices, Edna. Lucy spots Ben and Jo in the crowd and Jo slips out to call for the police. In his guise as a priest, Edward Drayton tells the congregation to leave for their homes for some private meditation - they do so quickly and obediently, leaving Ben behind. In a struggle, Ben gets clobbered and becomes unconscious.<br /><br />Jo returns with some police officers only to find the chapel still, quiet and locked up - she does not understand where everyone has gone. She asks for the police to take her to the Albert Hall as that is where Buchanan is that evening.<br />Ben eventually wakes up, but not until the gang have fled with Hank.<br />He climbs up the rope into the bell tower and escapes through the roof, alerting everyone in the district with the cacophony.<br /><br />Jo is at Albert Hall as the place begins to fill - she is looking for Buchanan but cannot find him. She sees the foreign prime Minister and also the scarred man she had seen at the hotel in Morocco. Piecing it together, she panics. As the orchestra play she watches helplessly as the assassin prepares. Ben, having called Buchanan's office, arrives at the Albert hall and desperately searches for the assassin. At the moment the gun is about to be fired, Jo screams her heart out, ruining the perfect shot and the Prime Minister is merely wounded in the arm. Ben crashes into the box with the assassin who flees only to fall to his death.<br /><br />The Prime Minister is grateful to Jo and Ben, but they cannot bear to take the plaudits of heroism whilst their son is still missing.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Drayton's are being scolded by their 'employer', an ambassador at the foreign embassy. he tells them to dispose of young Hank so he can't talk. Lucy is horrified.<br /><br />Ben and Jo get themselves invited to the embassy and she is asked to sing for the guests in attendance. As she plays at the piano and sings, she can hear Hank whistling back from somewhere upstairs. He is encouraged by a repentant Lucy Drayton.<br />Ben follows the sound of the whistle and breaks down the door. Lucy tells them to run but Edward is behind them with a gun, he takes them at gunpoint in order to use them to escape, but as they descend the stairs, Ben pushes Edward down the flight and his gun goes off, killing him. Jo, Ben and Hank are reunited and can return to the safety of their hotel at last.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Oh, Hank, you may be able to spell haemoglobin, but your knowledge of other cultures is less than satisfactory... but then, you are only a child.<br /><br />Hank: <i>"Do you eat snails?"</i><br />Louis: <i>"When I'm lucky enough to get them."</i><br />Hank: <i>"If you ever get hungry, our garden back home is full of snails."</i><br />Louis: <i>"Thank you for the invitation."</i><br />Hank: <i>"That's all right. We tried everything to get rid of them. We never thought of a Frenchman!"</i><br /><br />As for Jo's friends, it's hard to know who should be more insulted when one remarks about Hank: <i>"I hope he looks like you and has the doctor's brains!"</i><br /><br />And finally, a wonderfully acerbic line from the ambassador to the inept kidnappers:<br /><i>"Don't you realise that Americans dislike having their children stolen?"</i><br /><br />One almost wishes he'd continue with <i>"But the Brits; they LOVE it - they almost BEG for you to steal their kids!"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Doris Day is superb as Jo 'Conway' McKenna. For anyone who considers her to be saccharine in other forms should give this film a go. Her acting is superb and her rendition of <b>Whatever Will Be, Will be (Que Sera, Sera)</b> toward the end of the film is brilliant.<br />One does worry about the marriage between Ben and Jo. No wonder it is so strained when he thinks it's OK to liberally hand out pills every time he has an obstacle to cross. <i>"Now, before we row, let me sedate you so I can win..."</i><br /><br />The Albert Hall scene has become famous in movie lore - with good reason. It's over ten minutes long with no dialogue and it's utterly gripping. Even though I have seen it a number of times, I still got chills.<br />Proof indeed that Hitchcock is the master.<br /><br />One of my favourite Hitchcock touches in this film, however, is when Ben and Jo receive the phone call from Lucy Drayton and they get to speak to their son. The camera looks down upon them and we watch detached as we witness their panic and grief. we feel that lack of control, unable to assist. It's a surreal moment and played perfectly by Day and Stewart.<br /><br />Another favourite is when Jo is at the Embassy singing, we follow the sound of her voice as it carries throughout the corridors, up the stairs and toward the locked door, behind which Hank is held captive. Even though the music plays, it is eerie in it's sombre tone. As odd as this may sound, you can <i>hear</i> the silence under the music. <br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />I gave the first version 7/10 and I was thinking of giving this 8, but really, it deserves a 9/10.Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-37517361943382638062011-05-21T11:46:00.003+10:002011-05-21T12:45:16.495+10:00The Trouble With Harry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2XE7ZXHlAW4/TdcZf_FKEJI/AAAAAAAAATY/AbJGq6o-jZo/s1600/the%2Btrouble%2Bwith%2Bharry.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2XE7ZXHlAW4/TdcZf_FKEJI/AAAAAAAAATY/AbJGq6o-jZo/s320/the%2Btrouble%2Bwith%2Bharry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608979898212946066" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> The Trouble With Harry<br /><b>Year:</b> 1955<br /><b>Studio:</b> Paramount Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> John Michael Hayes<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A novel by Jack Trevor Story<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 95 minutes<br /><br /><b>Saturday 21st May, 8:50am</b> <br />Another early start but with a couple of interruptions. One from the online supermarket delivery (huzzah) and another for a quick nap as I was feeling desperately tired for some unknown reason. After about a 40 minute nap, I woke up and had a poo and suddenly I felt better.<br />Strangely, just minutes before I was to begin watching the film, I noticed my friend Lorna (in the UK) had posted on Facebook that she had just watched <b>The Trouble With Harry </b> - rather a coincidence, wouldn't you say?<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Captain Albert Wiles - Edmund Gwenn<br />Sam Marlowe - John Forsythe<br />Ivy Gravely - Mildred Natwick<br />Mrs Wiggs - Mildred Dunnock<br />Arnie Rogers - Jerry Mathers<br />Calvin Wiggs - Royal Dano<br />Millionaire - Parker Fennelly<br />Tramp - Barry Macollum<br />Dr Greenbow - Dwight Marfield<br />Jennifer Rogers - Shirley Maclaine<br />Harry Worp - Philip Truex<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />Young Arnie Rogers is taking a walk through the countryside with his toy gun. He hears three gunshots. Eventually he stumbles upon the corpse of a man. He runs off.<br />Soon after, Captain Albert Wiles stumbles across the body. He has been out attempting to hunt rabbits, but is ashamed he has failed so miserably. He is appalled when he discovers the body and assumes the death was his fault with a stray bullet. He finds a letter within the man's pocket and sees that the man was Harry Worp from Boston.<br /><br />As he tries to drag the body away, Miss Ivy Gravely, a spinster, arrives. She seems unsurprised by the situation and simply asks the Captain to join her later for coffee and blueberry muffins. She goes on her way. Before the captain can move Harry, more people arrive in succession. Captain Wiles hides behind a tree and watches the various interactions with the corpse.<br />First Jennifer Rogers, who has brought by her son, Arnie. Jennifer is somewhat relieved that Harry is dead and nonchalantly turns away again.<br />Then, Doc Greenwood walks through the glade reading his book, trips over Harry's feet, falls over and gets up, not paying any attention to the cause of his trip.<br />Then a tramp comes along - sees the corpse and steals his shoes.<br />The Captain soon tires and naps in his hiding place.<br /><br />In the mean time, Sam Marlowe, a local struggling artist speaks to Mrs Wiggs at her store, seeing if anyone has shown any interest in his paintings. Her son, the deputy sheriff is busy tinkering with his car which is wanting to sell.<br />Ivy Gravely enters the store and she shows signs of wanting to impress a certain fellow. Sam suggests they give her a makeover. Outside, a millionaire is showing interest in Sam's paintings, but with no one to pay, he drives on.<br /><br />Later, Sam goes up the hill and begins to sketch. He notices Harry's corpse and continues to sketch the dead man's face in pastel. The Captain is now awake and approaches Sam. They discuss the situation and decide they have to hide Harry, so they leave him behind a fallen tree. First they need to talk to Jennifer for her opinion.<br /><br />Sam goes to see Jennifer and has an odd conversation with her son, Arnie:<br /><br />Sam: <i>"Perhaps I'll come back tomorrow."</i><br />Arnie: <i>"When's that?"</i><br />Sam: <i>"The day after today."</i><br />Arnie: <i>"That's yesterday. Today's tomorrow."</i><br />Sam: <i>"It was..."</i><br />Arnie: <i>"When was tomorrow yesterday, Mr Marlowe?"</i><br />Sam: <i>"Today."</i><br />Arnie: <i>"Oh, sure, yesterday."</i><br />Jennifer: <i>"You'll never make sense out of Arnie. He's got his own timing."</i><br /><br />Arnie has a dead rabbit which he trades for a frog that Sam has brought with him. He then asks for the rabbit back so he can make more trades.<br /><br />Sam learns from Jennifer that Harry was the brother of the man who was Arnie's father, who died before Arnie was born. Harry married Jennifer out of a sense of duty but on the wedding night, jilted her as his horoscopes warned him off:<br /><br /><i>Don't start a new project... it will never be finished</i><br /><br />...so Jennifer changed her name, took Arnie and left to live a more reclusive life. Harry had turned up that morning and during a heated discussion, she had hit him with a milk bottle and he had staggered off into the wood, somewhat dazed.<br /><br />Captain Wiles has his coffee date with Miss Ivy Gravely which is a slightly awkward affair as they try and figure each other out. Arnie turns up and produces the dead rabbit. He claims it was killed by the captain that morning - this pleases Captain Wiles immensely as he has never had much success.<br /><br />Then, Sam and Captain Wiles go to bury Harry. Once six feet under, Captain Wiles realises something. If his bullet had killed a rabbit (and there was evidence he'd also hit a tin can and a 'no shooting' sign) then all of his bullets were accounted for. This means, he is innocent - so they dig Harry up again. Examining the corpse, they figure it must be the graze on his head - evidence of a blunt instrument. Knowing what Jennifer told Sam, they decide it best to bury Harry again.<br /><br />Miss Gravely later visits the Captain at his home and she confesses that she thinks she killed Harry. He had staggered towards her and was under the impression she was Jennifer. He tried to drag her into some nearby bushes and when her hiking shoe came off in the struggle, she had hit him with it.<br />They go and dig Harry up again as she feels it is what is best.<br /><br />Later that evening, while Arnie is in bed, Sam, Captain Gravely and Ivy are all at Miss Rogers' home. After a discussion about the circumstances, they think it is probably best for all if they make a pact and bury him again.<br /><br />Mrs Wiggs bursts in saying that there is a millionaire wanting to buy Sam's paintings, so they all head over to the shop. Sam doesn't want money and persuades him to provide for his friends as well. Strawberries delivered monthly for Jennifer, a new cash register for Mrs Wiggs, a hope chest for Ivy, a shotgun for the Captain, a chemical set for Arnie and, for himself, something he can only whisper to the benevolent art lover. Sam then insinuates to Jennifer that he would like to propose. She thinks about it...<br /><br />Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs arrives and he has found Harry's shoes on a tramp. The story he has been told is that the tramp got the shoes off a dead man in the woods. Sam also sees the sketch Sam made of Harry and he notices how it resembles the description the tramp had made of the dead body.<br /><br />Back at Miss Rogers' home, Jen accepts Sam's proposal. However, if he is to marry her, they have to prove Harry id\s dead first. So it's time to dig Harry up again.<br />Once out of the ground again, the group are confronted by Doc Greenbow, out for another of his walks. Jen explains that the dead man is her late husband and he says he will determine the cause of death. He says he'll meet them all at Jen's house where the light will be better., The others carry Harry there.<br /><br />They wash Harry's clothes and hide him in the bath tub when Calvin Wiggs arrives asking questions. He has the sketch with him. Sam says he just made up the face from his imagination and with a few quick changes with his pastels, he shows the face alive and well. Meanwhile, Captain Wiles steals Harry's shoes out of Calvin's car. All evidence is now effectively ruined.<br />Having got rid of Calvin. They redress Harry and return him to his spot in the woods.<br />They arrange for Arnie to find him again, and (brilliantly) with Arnie's sense of timing, he will not be able to describe exactly when he found the body to the police.<br />It is also revealed that Sam had asked the millionaire for something very practical... a double bed.<br /><br />The Trouble With Harry is Over.<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Being a black comedy, the screenplay is littered with some witty gems.<br /><br />Captain Wiles: (to Harry) <i>"Worp, you're a long way from home. With the looks of it, you won't get back for Christmas!"</i><br /><br />When the Captain considers the beauty of Jennifer Rogers, young enough to be his granddaughter, he says <i>"Wish I was two years younger..."</i><br /><br />Arnie's philosophy on the luck of nature: <i>"Four rabbit's feet and he got killed."</i><br />...and when he has made a trade for the frog with Sam he asks for the rabbit back explaining; <i>"You never know when a dead rabbit will come in handy. It already got me one frog!"</i><br /><br />Jennifer's cavalier attitude to Harry's passing is delightful:<br /><br /><i>"You can stuff him for all I care. Stuff him and put him in a glass case. Only I'd suggest frosted glass."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />This was the first of many films to be scored by the superb Bernard Herrmann.<br /><br />Not only is it Bernard's debut with Hitch, but it is also Shirley Maclaine's first big screen role. For me, her defining moment in cinema history is the brilliant portrayal of Charity Hope Valentine in Bob Fosse's <b>Sweet Charity</b>, a film which succeeds in breaking my heart every time I watch it. So much joy and yet so sad.<br />Shirley was also nominated for BAFTA for her role as Jennifer Rogers. Not bad for a debut!<br /><br />Some may find the absurdities of the farcical plot a little too much to take, but one has to have the suspension of disbelief if one is to enjoy the black comedy within.<br /><br />Edmund Gwenn is such a pleasure to watch, as always, and it's a genuinely 'laugh out loud' moment when it is revealed that he leaves Miss Gravely to dig all on her own.<br /><br />The dialogue is brilliant in its innocuousness and blasé attitude to such serious issues and the occasional innuendo is subtle enough not to offend.<br /><br />There is a sweet gentility to the whole proceeding and I think anyone who cannot find the charm within is possibly a little cold-hearted.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />I was surprised to find one other guide give this a mere 3 out of 10. I can only assume the reviewers were hung-over or something the day they watched. I think it's a splendid curiosity with the right levels of dark humour and some beautiful cinematography. 7/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-6882080879835037772011-05-16T11:02:00.005+10:002011-05-16T11:56:10.672+10:00To Catch a Thief<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v43l22YnyUQ/TdB3rXfG2mI/AAAAAAAAATQ/K2JX9UJAnwM/s1600/to%2Bcatch%2Ba%2Bthief.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v43l22YnyUQ/TdB3rXfG2mI/AAAAAAAAATQ/K2JX9UJAnwM/s320/to%2Bcatch%2Ba%2Bthief.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607113122998835810" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> To Catch a Thief<br /><b>Year:</b> 1955<br /><b>Studio:</b> Paramount Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> John Michael Hayes<br /><b>Source Material:</b> From the novel by David Dodge<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 102 minutes<br /><br /><b>Monday 16th May, 9:00am</b> <br />It has been just about a year since I started this blog. I did have that short break whilst I was on holiday in the UK, but I have maintained a reasonably consistent timetable which surprises me somewhat.<br />Today I have a day off work - I needed a long weekend for personal reasons - and this morning was the best time for me to tackle <b>To Catch a Thief</b>. I have a friend who really does not like this film because he knows and loves the original novel too well. However, I have never read it so I can only take the film at face value.<br />It's another one of those that I have seen a number of times before but it's always interesting taking a fresh look.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b><br />John Robie - Cary Grant<br />Frances Stevens - Grace Kelly<br />Jessie Stevens - Jessie Royce Landis<br />H.H. Hughson - John Williams<br />Bertani - Charles Vanel<br />Danielle Foussard - Brigitte Auber<br />Foussard - Jean Martinelli<br />Germaine - Georgette Anys<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b><br />Robberies are taking place in the south of France and the local police are pretty convinced the <i>modus operandi</i> is that of once convicted John 'The Cat' Robie. John is trying to live a new life in his villa having given up the criminal life 15 years previously. When pursued by the police, he runs to an old friend, Bertani, who runs a restaurant which employs some other ex-cons in the kitchens. It seems everyone is suspicious of John and feel he is letting the side down by getting up to his old tricks.<br /><br />John is determined to prove his innocence and he feels the only way to do this is for him to catch the cat-thief himself. He asks Bertani for help and the latter suggests he meet with a friend of his who will be able to help him out with a list of people within the area who may fit the bill for 'potential victims'. Escaping the arms of the police again, he gets a ride from Danielle Foussard, the daughter of the <i>maître d'</i>, and she teases him about him being the current thief terrorising the locals.<br /><br />Later, John meets this contact - a fellow from Lloyd's in London - named Hughson. He can provide John with a list as promised. However, during their meeting, the police catch up with him. Due to not having enough evidence to keep him in custody, he is released and he finishes his meeting with Hughson at his own villa.<br />On the list is an American woman named Jessie Stevens who is holidaying with her daughter, Frances. Hughson arranges a surreptitious meeting at the casino. John calls himself Conrad Burns and ingratiates himself to Jessie. Frances seems to fall for him too and even kisses him goodnight, much to his surprise. <br />They spend time together on the beach the following day and Frances shows signs of jealousy when she sees him talking to the young Danielle.<br />There are signs that John is being closely watched by the real 'Cat' - he receives anonymous messages warning him off and he also finds a wet smudge on the list of wealthy residents when he returns to his clothes after swimming.<br /><br />John and Frances go villa hunting together and she announces that she knows the truth - she knows he is not Conrad Burns, but John Robie, the cat burglar. He denies it emphatically, but she is smug in the knowledge that she is right. She finds the whole thing entirely thrilling - until that night, her mother's jewels are stolen. In a cheap retaliation, she calls the police. Her mother thinks she is being crazy and allows John to escape the clutches of the police once more.<br /><br />Robie hides out for a few days but resurfaces in order to contact Hughson to arrange a plan. He has received another note form the new 'Cat' telling him to stay away from the Silvas' villa that night - an obvious trap. That night, Foussard is killed at the villa and the police announce that he was the culprit. Robie is not impressed as he knows Foussard had a wooden leg and could simply not have been the burglar.<br />He intends to continue his plan to seek the real criminal.<br /><br />At the funeral for Foussard, Danielle accuses Robie of murdering her father. Her stalks away, stung by the implication but as he leaves, he sees an apologetic Frances who declares her love for him (finally coming to her senses!) He uses this opportunity to wangle an invitation to the Sanfordd's ball.<br /><br />At a costume party at the Sanford's mansion, Hughson switches places with Robie in a masked costume to divert the police's attention. Meanwhile, Robie lurks on the roof awaiting the Cat. He catches them in the act and reveals it is young Danielle Foussard. She slips from the roof and almost falls, but he has her in his grip. Whilst the police crowd below, he makes her confess that she is the cat burglar and that she had been doing it for her father, but the whole thing had been orchestrated by Bertani - the man who knew more about Robie's M.O. than anyone else.<br /><br />Later, exonerated, Robie is at his home and Frances arrives - she makes him admit he needed help to achieve his goal and he does so. She falls into his arms and comments how perfect this place will be when she and her mother move in.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b><br />On the home made Quiche Lorraine:<br /><br />Hughson: <i>"Hm, it's wonderful. The pastry is as light as air!"</i><br /><br />Robie: <i>"Ah, Germaine has very sensitive hands, an exceedingly light touch."</i><br /><br />Hughson: <i>"Yes, I can tell."</i><br /><br />Robie: <i>"She strangled a German general once, without a sound!"</i><br /><br />Hughson: <i>"Extraordinary woman."</i><br /><br />Jessie Royce Landis also gets a bevy of stunning lines - too many to list here.<br /><br /><b>Comments</b><br />If there is one thing I find slightly grating about this film it's the overtly smug dialogue between Francie and John. The cat and mouse game is certainly sharp, biting and laden with innuendo; but it is also a little too conceited and unrealistic. Francie just comes across as a little spoiled smart-arse at times and when she then has a strop and calls the police when she suspects John, one can't help thinking she is a whiny bitch. However, much praise is deserved for her mother to say exactly what we're all thinking - that she needs a good spanking.<br /><br />Jessie Royce Landis is quite simply the best thing about this film. Her character is written well and she plays it adroitly. The character's attitude towards her jewellery and the insurance is refreshing and her knowledge of human nature is accurate and perfectly tuned. If she were not in the film, I would have very little interest in the romance between Francie and John.<br /><br />Hitch has frequently featured cats in little cameo roles throughout his movies - it's almost as much as a drinking game as trying to spot him. In the opening scenes, he plays this card heavily and humorously with the suggestion that the term 'cat-thief' is more than just a metaphor. However, it is simply a tease from the master.<br /><br />There are some other noteworthy Hitchcockian moments:<br />Whilst watching the fireworks in the dimly lit hotel room, Francie's face is shrouded in darkness as a shaft of light merely highlights the (faux) diamonds around her neck and her cleavage.<br />The sequence at the end upon the roof is classic Hitch. Tense and mysterious, playing with shadows. He does love his rooftop scenes (See <b>Blackmail</b> and <b>Vertigo</b> for two examples).<br /><br />Grace Kelly is beautiful but as I mentioned above, I find her character a little too annoying to be likable. <br />Cary Grant is great at the ex-con seeking redemption, continuing with an air of charismatic grace, but it is odd how in a couple of scenes his tan is so dark, he looks black.<br /><br />In a slightly different note, I want to mention DVD subtitles. I often watch these films with subtitles so I can catch every bit of dialogue and note down the occasional gem. Some DVD subtitles are better than others. The one on this specific DVD were pretty lame. I think subtitles should be accurate to the dialogue, not just something more-or-less similar to what is being spoken. I can only think it's pure laziness.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b><br />Beautifully filmed with stunning cinematography (Academy Award winning too) but I feel somewhat detached throughout. 6/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-91317536680214824132011-05-08T09:14:00.002+10:002011-05-08T10:25:58.185+10:00Rear Window<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qt7nBxWWUtU/TcXSyH8gY9I/AAAAAAAAATI/EnHDylz6ygQ/s1600/RearWindow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 227px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qt7nBxWWUtU/TcXSyH8gY9I/AAAAAAAAATI/EnHDylz6ygQ/s320/RearWindow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604117069900571602" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Rear Window<br /><b>Year:</b> 1954<br /><b>Studio:</b> Paramount Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> John Michael Hayes<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A short story by Cornell Woolrich (As William Irish) called <i>It Had To Be Murder</i>.<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 107 minutes<br /><br /><b>Sunday 8th May, 7:05am</b> <br />The worst alarm call of them all is the unbearable stench of a hot, runny, fresh cat poo. Yes, Fizzgig delivered "a steamy" in her litter tray first thing this morning which roused me from slumber earlier than I would have perhaps wished. Despite the distance between my bed and the laundry in which her toilet is situated, it still travelled towards my nostrils. Still, it gave me time to watch the latest film in the Hitchcock blog before I head out at lunchtime.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies - James Stewart<br />Lisa Carol Fremont - Grace Kelly<br />Thomas J. Doyle - Wendell Corey<br />Stella - Thelma Ritter<br />Lars Thorwald - Raymond Burr<br />Miss Lonelyhearts - Judith Evelyn<br />Composer - Ross Bagdasarian<br />Miss Torso - Gerogine Darcy<br />Woman on fire escape - Sara Berner<br />Man on fire escape - Frank Cady<br />Miss Hearing Aid - Jesslyn Fax<br />Honeymooner "Harry" - Rand Harper<br />Anna Thorwald - Irene Winston<br />Harry's wife - Havis Davenport<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br /><u>WEDNESDAY</u><br />There is a heatwave and photographer, L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries, is trapped in his apartment due to a broken leg which he got whilst taking pictures at a car race. He is one week away from having the cast removed and it's driving him mad.<br />He is visited daily by a nurse named Stella who has her own views on life and can be very philosophical in her own way.<br />From his temporary prison, Jeff watches the lives of his neighbours from his window.<br />There is 'Miss Torso', a dancer who seems to be fond of entertaining but does not seem to have any relationships with any of the men.<br />There's 'Miss Lonelyhearts' who is desperately lonely and even plays out imaginary dates in her apartment.<br />There's the composer who is recently single and buries himself in his music.<br />There's the dog-loving couple who sleep on the fire escape due to the heat of the night.<br />There's the newly-wed couple who are in for a few romantic nights in their new home.<br />There's the female sculptor who lives for her art.<br />Then there's the salesman and his invalid wife...<br /><br />In the evening, Jeff's girlfriend, Lisa visits. She is a model and absolutely adores Jeff but has become increasingly frustrated with his lack of commitment to their relationship. He is too afraid of marriage and nothing seems to make him change his mind.<br />Jeff and Lisa argue about their future and his choice of career. They part on a sour note, but she knows she'll be back again tomorrow.<br />That night, in the early hours of Thursday morning, Jeff hears a woman scream and hears the sound of broken glass. He watches as the salesman leaves his apartment and returns (a couple of times) in the pouring rain...<br /><br /><u>THURSDAY</u><br />The couple on the fire escape have a little dog whom they adore. Each day, she puts the dog in the basket and lowers him down to the gardens below via a pulley system. The dog can then play and do his business.<br />Jeff is worried that the salesman may have murdered his wife and Stella (who is visiting again to give him a massage) is not impressed by Jeff's voyeurism and over-active imagination.<br />Before Stella leaves again, Jeff asks her to pass him the binoculars so he can see the events across the way better. He also gets his telephoto lens for his camera. He witnesses the salesman wrapping up a machete and a small saw in newspaper.<br /><br />Lisa does visit again that night and they are back to their affectionate ways but they are soon interrupted when the salesman returns home with rope. Lisa is initially reluctant to believe Jeff's suspicions about the salesman murdering his wife but the more she watches, the more she is coming around to his way of thinking. On her way home, she checks the mailbox to get the name of the suspect - Lars Thorwald. She telephones Jeff to let him know...<br /><br /><u>FRIDAY</u><br />Jeff calls his old friend Thomas Doyle who is a detective. Tom says he'll come 'round to visit. Sadly, he does not get there in time to see Thorwald getting rid of a large trunk bound with rope which is picked up by a freight company. Stella tries to get to the truck to get the name of the company but she misses it by seconds.<br />Doyle arrives and listens to Jeff's story. He says he'll do some poking around.<br /><br />Outside, the dog is digging around in a flowerbed but Lars shoos the dog away.<br /><br />Later, Doyle returns to see Jeff. Apparently, Mrs Thorwald left at 6:00am and has gone to the country - according to the superintendent and a couple of witnesses.<br />A telegram was sent to Lars stating <i>Arrived OK. Already feeling better. Love, Anna.</i><br />Doyle thinks there is no case to investigate. Jeff is not so sure.<br /><br />Lars returns home. He has had some shirts cleaned at the laundry and he is beginning to pack. He has his wife's handbag which contains a load of jewellery. Lisa (who is going to stay over for the night) thinks it is odd that a woman would leave her jewellery behind if she was going on a trip <i>and</i> would leave it all messed up in a handbag!<br />Doyle returns to ward them both off the track and to convince them to stop meddling.<br />Meanwhile, Miss Lonelyhearts has gone out for a date. She returns home with a man who is too fresh with her - she slaps him and kicks him out, she weeps alone again.<br /><br />The evening is disturbed by a cry. The poor little dog is dead. Its neck has been broken. The whole courtyard is alive with neighbours viewing from their windows - the only person who does not watch is Lars Thorwald.<br /><br /><u>SATURDAY</u><br />Both Stella and Lisa are with Jeff. They are watching Lars clean his apartment - washing the bathroom walls.<br />Jeff gets out a slide of a picture he took a few days ago and shows the difference between then and now. The zinnias in the garden have <i>shrunk</i>! Obviously something had been buried out there and the plants replaced.<br />They write Lars a note saying <i>WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?</i> and Lisa goes to deliver it. Lars seems genuinely perturbed by the note. Lisa wonders if Mrs Thorwald's wedding ring will be in the handbag with her jewellery and they all want to know what is buried underneath the zinnias.<br />After looking up Lars Thorwald's number in the phone book, they call him and insinuate they know what has happened and tell him to come to the bar at the Albert Hotel.<br />Lars leaves and this gives Stella and Lisa time to get down to the garden and do some digging - literally. They find nothing in the flowerbed, so Lisa has an idea. She climbs the fire escape and climbs in through Lars' window. She gets to the handbag, but it is empty. She searches further. However, Thorwald has returned! Jeff and Stella can only watch in panic as he discovers her in his rooms. Jeff has called the police and they arrive in time to prevent him from hurting her. She has, however, found the wedding ring and has it on her own finger. Lisa is arrested and Jeff sends Stella along with some money to get her out on bail.<br />Lars has pieced things together and pays Jeff a visit.<br />In the darkness of the apartment, Lars approaches Jeff, who is trapped in his wheelchair. Lars wants to know what Jeff wants from him. Jeff sets off flashbulbs to temporarily blind Lars but it does not hold him back for long. Lars attacks Jeff and tries to throw him out of the window. The police arrive and arrest Lars having had the tip off from Lisa. However, they are too late for Jeff, who falls to the courtyard below. He's alive, but pleased it's all over.<br /><br /><u>A FEW DAYS LATER</u><br />Miss Torso's boyfriend arrives home from the army. Miss Lonelyhearts has teamed up with the composer, the fire escape couple have a new dog and the newly-weds are showing signs of strain already. And then there's Jeff, with <i>both</i> legs in plaster and Lisa by his side...<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />It is a superb script with wonderful lines throughout delivered to perfection by the exquisite cast. Here are some gems:<br /><br />Gunnison (Jeff's editor) on the phone: <i>"Wives don't nag any more, they 'discuss'!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Jeff: <i>"Are you interested in solving this case or in making me look foolish?"</i><br /><br />Doyle: <i>"Well, if possible, both!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Doyle: <i>"Look, Miss Fremont, that femine intuition stuff sells magazines but in real life, it's still a fairytale."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />When Jeff worries about not having enough money to bail Lisa out of jail:<br /><br />Stella: <i>"...when the cops see Lisa, they'll even contribute!"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Thelma Ritter is absolutely superb as Stella. Her embodiment of this practical and philosophical character with a gruesome edge is absolutely perfect. Her delivery is magnificent.<br /><br />The set, as frequently documented elsewhere, was one of the largest built at that time. Incorporating all those individual apartments and making the inner life so believable must have been quite a chore, but - boy! - it works!<br /><br />This is Grace Kelly's second Hitchcock film and she is as radiant as ever, even if it's a conventional beauty she possesses. <br /><br />The soundtrack is worth noting because throughout the events, it is scored by the music coming from the apartments - be it the dancer's music or the composer's party tunes or his own compositions. Due to the confined nature of the set, this works so much better than having a background incidental score. We are able to believe in the mini-world created before us.<br /><br />James Stewart is so utterly watchable in just about everything he does. Here we are inclined to sympathise with him more than ever due to his crippled status. We totally feel his anguish when he is helplessly watching as Lisa is caught in Lars' apartment and again when he is alone and being attacked by the killer.<br /><br />This is another Hitchcock film which has been remade and 'paid homage to' a great number of times - but why bother watching them when this is so perfect?<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Hitchcock has created a brilliant film with a perfect cast and a most astonishing set. Initially, I wasn't going to give it full marks (only a 9 or 9.5), but I couldn't figure out <i>why not</i>, so - 10/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-53510980507682690052011-05-01T10:00:00.004+10:002011-05-01T10:59:24.377+10:00Dial M For Murder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zohtU8CwiQ4/TbyioJJsVQI/AAAAAAAAATA/PP80XTKNeik/s1600/dial%2Bm%2Bfor%2Bmurder.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zohtU8CwiQ4/TbyioJJsVQI/AAAAAAAAATA/PP80XTKNeik/s320/dial%2Bm%2Bfor%2Bmurder.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601530847077094658" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Dial M For Murder<br /><b>Year:</b> 1954<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Frederick Knott<br /><b>Source Material:</b> Based on Knott's own play<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 101 minutes<br /><br /><b>Sunday 1st May, 8:00am</b> <br />I was up at five o'clock this morning. I'd had a kind of premonition. I thought I heard an alarm and then I smelt burnt toast. This all faded as I stirred and entered the real world, but only half an hour later, I actually burned my toast and the kitchen was filling with smoke - if I had a battery in my smoke alarm, it would have been making quite a fuss, I have no doubt. No why can't I have a dream about lottery numbers for crying out loud??<br />So, up early, I caught up on some TV viewing which I was behind on (in this case, <b>Being Human</b>) and the settled down to watch the latest in the line of Hitch...<br /><br />I do have a penchant for murder mystery play-cum-films. There are some classics out there: <b>Twelve Angry Men</b>, <b>Sleuth</b>, <b>Deathtrap</b> and of course <b>Rope</b>. Here is another which falls neatly into that category.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Tony Wendice - Ray Milland<br />Margot Wendice - Grace Kelly<br />Mark Halliday - Robert Cummings<br />Inspector Hubbard - John Williams<br />Swann/Lesgate - Anthony Dawson<br />Storyteller - Leo Britt<br />Pearson - Patrick Allen<br />Williams - George Leigh<br />First Detective - George Alderson<br />Police Sergeant - Robin Hughes<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />It's Friday 26th March and American TV mystery writer Mark Halliday arrives in Britain on the Queen Mary. He makes a rendezvous with his lover, Margot Wendice at her home. She tells Mark that since their last meeting a year ago, her husband has changed and become a better man. She also tells of how she had kept one of Mark's love letters but it had been stolen from her at Victoria Station when her handbag had gone missing. She then received blackmail letters but never found out who it was who was doing the callous deed. <br />Her husband, Tony, returns from his work and they all behave in a civil manner toward each other.<br />The three of them were planning to go out to the theatre together, but Tony declines and says he has work to do. When the others are gone, he telephones a man about a car he'd like to purchase and invites the gentleman over.<br />This turns out to be merely a ruse. He knows this gentleman from long ago and has spent the past few months following him. The man's real name is Swann and Tony has discovered his nefarious lifestyle. He proposes a plan in which both men will make some money. He reveals that he has known about his wife's affair and has been saving money for twelve months to pay Swann to kill her whilst he has the perfect alibi. Swann is reluctant, but Tony explains how he ought to do as he is told, otherwise his dodgy dealings will be exposed to the police. Swann has little choice other than to go through with it the following evening.<br /><br />Tony explains everything in the plan:<br /><br />Tony and Mark will attend a stag do at a hotel. He will leave his wife's key to the flat outside in the hall under the stair carpet. (The front door to the apartment block is always open)<br />Swann should then use this key to let himself in.<br />When indie, he will wait behind the curtain until 11pm. At which time, Tony will telephone the flat from the hotel. This will wake Margot who will come to the desk to answer it. This is when Swann should kill her. Then, once she is dead, he should arrange the place to look like a burglary and then exit leaving the key back under the stair carpet.<br /><br />The following night, things are set up, but Tony's plans are almost foiled when Margot says she might go out after all. He persuades her to stay in and slips her key out of her handbag without knowing and leaves it in the right spot on the stairs in the hallway.<br /><br />Swann arrives just before 11pm and lets himself in. He waits behind the curtain but Tony is late in calling - this is because Tony's watch has stopped and only realises a few minutes after 11. Eventually, Tony makes the call. Margot wakes, comes to answer the phone and Swann attempts to strangle her with a scarf. In the struggle, she reaches for some scissors on the desk and plunges them into his back. He falls backwards and the scissors thrust deeper inside, killing him.<br />Tony has heard the whole thing over the phone. She picks it up and he speaks to her saying he'll return immediately.<br /><br />Once home, he waits for Margot to go into the bedroom before removing her key from the corpse. He also plants the incriminating love letter in Swann's breast pocket. He then destroys the scarf in the fire and replaces the weapon with a pair of her stockings.<br />The police arrive and examine the scene and evidence and find the delicately positioned stockings.<br /><br />The next morning, Inspector Hubbard comes around to make inquires. Mark turns up and feels they have to make their affair known to Tony and the police.It isn't long before the evidence piles up against Margot. It all points to her knowing that Swann was the blackmailer and she had killed him on purpose, not in self defence.<br /><br />At trail, Margot is found guilty and she is sentenced to death by hanging.<br /><br />The day before the execution, Mark turns up at Tony's again. He has had plenty of time to think things through and he has come up with a scenario. He has figured the plausible answer which may save Margot's life. If Tony would only admit to planning the whole thing. Tony is adamant that the whole scheme is nonsense, but when Inspector Hubbard turns up to enquire about some stolen money, plus the fact it seems Tony has been spending more than usual recently, Mark is convinced about his notion being true and not just the over-active imagination of a mystery writer.<br /><br />Eventually, the inspector leaves, but he switches his coat for Tony's before he exits.<br /><br />When Tony leaves his home, Hubbard returns and lets himself in. Mark also returns and asks what is going on. Margot is escorted from her cell to her home and she cannot let herself in because her key won't work, so she goes with the police to the back entrance where Hubbard and Mark are waiting. This is the clue he had been waiting for. Then, Tony returns. His key doesn't open the door either. He is about to leave when he realises something... The key he had extracted from Swann's pocket was <i>not</i> his wife's and her key must <i>still</i> be under the stair carpet where Swann had left it on the night of the murder (having returned it <i>prior</i> to entering the room).<br />As soon as Tony lets himself into the room with that key, Hubbard has all the evidence he needs. Tony is defeated and Margot is safe from the noose.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Wendice on his recent spying activities:<br /><br /><i>"You take up a hobby, the more you get to know it, the more fascinating it becomes!"</i><br /><br />Then, whilst persuading Swann:<br /><br />Swann: <i>"What makes you think I'll agree?"</i><br /><br />Wendice: <i>"The same reason a donkey with a stick behind him and a carrot in front always goes forward, not backwards."</i><br /><br />and Inspector Hubbard's brilliant line:<br /><br /><i>"They talk about flat-footed policemen. May the saints protect us from the gifted amateur."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Ray Milland is so casually smooth and nonchalantly evil. There are moments when he seems to have a James Mason thing going on, which can't be a bad thing.<br />John Williams is superb as Inspector Hubbard. Delightfully watchable as the man not easily persuaded by convoluted plots.<br />Robert Cummings is also good in his role as a 'mystery writer' and lover, but when he starts to piece things together in his own dramatic way, I couldn't help thinking of Jessica Fletcher.<br /><br />As is reasonably common knowledge, this was filmed in 3D - a gimmick I am desperately unfond of, partly due to my eyes not being very good - and the murder scene is the only moment which might benefit from a bit of 3D action.<br /><br />The courtroom scene is played beautifully with only our focus on Margot's face. This technique was also applied to great effect in an episode of <b>Murder Most Horrid</b> entitled <i>A Determined Woman</i>.<br /><br />A couple of other moments which stand out for me as far as direction is concerned are:<br /><br />At the beginning, when Margot and Mark are in an embrace and Tony returns, we see them separate but viewing their shadows part as they are cast along the door through which Tony enters. It's so simple but very effective.<br /><br />There are a couple of times we watch the scene from above and we witness the layout of the flat as the crime is plotted. This gives us a detached perspective but almost one of a voyeur who knows more than he should. Hitch knows how to make his audience uncomfortable.<br /><br />One of the most notable things about <b>Dial M For Murder</b> is the rapid nature of the plot. 100 minutes simply fly by thanks to a terrific script and taught direction.<br /><br />It has been remade a number of times since, but most notably in 1998 as <b>A Perfect Murder</b> starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, David Suchet and a pleasantly naked Viggo Mortensen.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />The simplicity of the evidence which leads to Wendice's downfall is the 'key' to the success as far as I'm concerned. A very classy mystery. 8/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-12023048077433248622011-04-24T10:12:00.002+10:002011-04-24T11:00:03.385+10:00I Confess<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5aRtEoOsYEw/TbNq74Q2cvI/AAAAAAAAAS4/A-PTqRh9GwA/s1600/i%2Bconfess.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5aRtEoOsYEw/TbNq74Q2cvI/AAAAAAAAAS4/A-PTqRh9GwA/s320/i%2Bconfess.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598936338699547378" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> I Confess<br /><b>Year:</b> 1953<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> George Tabori & William Archibald<br /><b>Source Material:</b> From a play by Paul Anthelme<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 90 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 24th April, 8:00am</b> <br />Today is Easter Sunday, so it seems kind of fitting I end up watching a film with a heavy religious theme. I started early as I am going out this afternoon to catch up with some dear friends. Sure, with it being an extra long weekend (five days thanks to Easter Monday falling on Anzac day!) I could have postponed the viewing to Monday or Tuesday, but for a lazy Sunday morning, it seemed perfectly timed. Tea and biscuits at the ready and a snuggly dressing gown enveloping me, I was all set.<br />I must confess (ho ho ho) that I am worried about eating too much bad stuff this weekend. I don't want to get back over 80kilograms again after working so hard to become slender over the past year. How I am going to cope with that packet of Cadbury's Creme Eggs in my 'fridge is anyone's guess.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Father Michael William Logan - Montgomery Clift<br />Ruth Grandfort - Anne Baxter<br />Inspector Larrue - Karl Malden<br />Willy Robertson - Brian Aherne<br />Otto Keller - O.E. Hasse<br />Pierre Grandfort - Roger Dann<br />Alma Keller - Dolly Haas<br />Father Millars - Charles Andre<br />Mr Villette - Ovila Légaré<br />Murphy - Joseph Pratt<br />Father Benoit - Gilles Pelletier<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />A man named Villette is murdered. The killer, Otto Keller removes his disguise - a priest's cassock, and heads straight to confessional where he tells Father Logan what he has done. He then returns home to confess to his wife and explains how all he wanted to do was steal $2,000 so they could start a new life. Both Otto and his wife, Alma, work at the rectory where Father Logan lives.<br />The following morning, Otto heads to Villette's home as he normally would do on a Wednesday morning as that is when he'd tend the garden. He then 'discovers' the body and calls the police. Logan arrives and sees the crowd. He goes to the house and tells the police he had an appointment.<br />A young blonde woman (Ruth Grandfort) also arrives and when Logan tells her about the murder, she is relived and says "We're free!"<br /><br />Two young girls had been babysitting and were returning home late last night and they tell police they saw a priest leaving the scene of the crime some time after 11pm.<br />Inspector Larrue gets his man, Murphy, to enquire around town at all the rectories to find out which priests were out that night. Eventually they come to Logan who has difficulty giving a decent alibi.<br /><br />Larrue contacts the crown prosecutor, Willy Robertson, who is, at that time, attending a party held by Ruth and Pierre Grandfort. Larrue says he thinks he knows who the murderer is and Ruth is worried.<br /><br />Ruth feels she has to save Logan and tells the police that she was being blackmailed by Villette and she had been with Logan the night of the murder to discuss it. She then tells of the sequence of events leading up to the event from when she first met Logan and they fell in love. War came along and interrupted their romance. After a few years, she married Pierre and when the war was over, Logan returned and they spent a stormy night together on an island. She had not told him of her recent marriage. Villette discovered them and, knowing of her marriage makes nasty comments which rile Logan enough to strike him.<br />Years pass and Logan becomes ordained. Eventually, Villette falls on hard times and comes to Ruth in need of money - if she doesn't pay, there will be a huge scandal.<br /><br />Ruth's confession provides Logan with an alibi between 9pm and 11pm but after she leaves, Larrue admits to Robertson that the autopsy states Villette dies around 11:30.<br />When Ruth learns that she has not only failed to provide a decent alibi but has also given a motive. They suspect Logan killed Villette to stop him from telling of their affair, even though nothing had actually been going on for years.<br /><br />In court, Keller lies and frames Logan even further. Logan struggles with his oath and tries to do the right thing. Luckily, the jury find him not guilty due to insufficient evidence. However, the judge expresses his displeasure and the crowds outside are intense with some hurling abuse at the now free man whose name and reputation have been sullied by the trial.<br />Alma is so distressed when she sees the way the mob are treating the innocent Logan, she runs to him shouting "He's innocent". Otto panics and shots his wife. The crowd disperse and the police chase after Otto. As Alma dies, she prays for forgiveness.<br /><br />At the nearby hotel, Otto runs from the police shooting a chef in the process. Eventually, he is cornered in the ballroom. He assumes Logan has betrayed him and thus confesses to all. In a showdown, he is shot and he too asks for forgiveness from the man he framed and tried to kill.<br /><br />The End<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Admittedly, there aren't any humdingers as the serious tone quashes most room for joy, but there were a couple of phrases which are of note.<br /><br />Michael Logan gives a calm response and admittedly fair conclusion to Larrue's insinuations following evidence of a priest witnessed at the scene of the crime:<br /><br /><i>"Well, then, I would say a man of intelligence would not be led to believe anything on so little evidence."</i><br /><br />Ruth's panic over her statement which may be the downfall of Logan:<br /><br /><i>"They'll twist what I've said. They'll turn it. They'll use it. I've given them what they wanted. I was going to help Michael... but I've destroyed him."</i><br /><br />And the one slightly humorous line in the entire film comes from one of two young girl witnesses.<br /><br />Larrue: <i>"Sorry I had to drag you away from school."</i><br /><br />Girl: <i>"We <u>love</u> to be dragged away from school. Thank you!"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />This is only the third time I have watched <b>I Confess</b>. The first time, I hate to admit it, I was bored. The second time was much more enjoyable and this time I got even more out of it.<br /><br />The one thing that I feel is missing from the film is a sense of humour. The only hint of levity is in regard to Benoit and his bicycle, which isn't exactly an example of great hilarity. Even though the subject matter is serious, that has never been a problem for Hitch in the past.<br /><br />Some reviewers seem keen to express their distaste and dissatisfaction about this film merely on the basis that they cannot comprehend the dilemma of Logan's position. I am not Catholic nor very religious, but to question someone's faith (even a fictional character's) is a rather weak criticism.<br /><br />Although I have made a point about not listing each and every Hitchcock cameo throughout his films, I do want to mention this one as it's immediate and startlingly effective as he walks across the screen in a most artistic and beautiful shot.<br /><br />Speaking of which, the film is littered with stunning visuals and fantastic camera angles. The shots of Otto walking the streets at night and then removing his disguise with his shadow looming before him; the mob scene after Logan is acquitted (mob scenes <i>always</i> creep me out. It's almost a sort of phobia) and the lovely sequence when Montgomery Clift (hmmm, pretty...) is battling his inner demons as he walks about town - we can see exactly what he is thinking about without one word of dialogue. Genius!<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br /><b>Strangers on a Train</b> is a hard act to follow... Although I have come to appreciate this film more over the years, it is still only an 'average' Hitchcock movie. 6/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-67554124018467697832011-04-17T15:36:00.004+10:002011-04-17T16:50:46.831+10:00Strangers on a Train<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xj6pvccJzkw/Tap8a_6V0zI/AAAAAAAAASw/y6bGhXL1U0A/s1600/strangers%2Bon%2Ba%2Btrain.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xj6pvccJzkw/Tap8a_6V0zI/AAAAAAAAASw/y6bGhXL1U0A/s320/strangers%2Bon%2Ba%2Btrain.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596422290235839282" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Strangers on a Train<br /><b>Year:</b> 1951<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormande (adaptation by Whitfield Cook)<br /><b>Source Material:</b> The novel by Patricia Highsmith<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 96 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 17th April, 1:30pm</b> <br />I had planned on being on a honeymoon today. The plan was this:<br />I go to see the Scottish comedian, Danny Bhoy, last night... he'd spy me in the crowd, fall madly in love with me and we'd elope over night and end up somewhere like Hawaii by lunchtime today.<br />Sadly, he had to spoil it all by a) not spying me and b) not being gay.<br />So, instead, I spent the day in my PJs doing laundry and watching DVDs. Thankfully, part of the day was taken up watching one of my all-time favourite movies; <b>Strangers on a Train</b>...<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Guy Haines - Farley Granger<br />Anne Morton - Ruth Roman<br />Bruno Antony - Robert Walker<br />Senator Morton - Leo G Carroll<br />Barbara Morton - Patricia Hitchcock<br />Miriam Joyce Haines - Laura Elliott<br />Mrs Antony - Marion Lorne<br />Mr Antony - Jonathan Hale<br />Captain Turley - Howard St John<br />Professor Collins - John Brown<br />Mrs Cunningham - Norma Varden<br />Detective Leslie Hennessey - Robert Gist<br />Detective Hammond - John Doucette<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />Two men meet on a train by accident. One is Guy Haines, a successful young tennis player with sights on marrying a senator's daughter despite already being married. The other is Bruno Antony, a playboy with dangerous delusions and some wicked notions.<br />Whilst dining, Bruno tells of his idea about swapping murders and offers, supposedly hypothetically as far as Guy is concerned, that Bruno kills Guy's current wife and Guy kills Bruno's domineering father.<br />Guy shrugs off the meeting as a brief encounter with a loony and gets off at Metcalf (accidentally leaving his personalised cigarette lighter behind in Bruno's compartment) in order to talk to his philandering wife, Miriam Joyce Haines, about their impending divorce.<br />Miriam works at Miller's Music Store and during their meeting, she announces that she has since changed her mind about the divorce since Guy's career has suddenly sky-rocketed. She will keep the baby (which is not Guy's) and threaten scandal if he leaves her in the lurch. Fuming with rage, he leaves the smug bitch in the shop and immediately telephones Anne (his lover) to explain the horrible situation - he admits he'd like to strangle Miriam.<br /><br />One evening, Bruno travels to Metcalf and finds out where Miriam lives. He waits for her until she leaves the house with two 'boyfriends', George and Tommy. He follows them to a fairground where he stalks her. She sees him and she flirts casually with him as he follows her to various stalls and onto the merry-go-round.<br />The three young people decide to take a boat through 'The Tunnel of Love' and have some fun on the 'Magic Isle' - Bruno takes a boat too and follows.<br />Miriam and the boys separate on the isle and Bruno catches her. He holds Guy's cigarette lighter up to her face and asks "Is your name Miriam?" and when she replies that it is, he slowly strangles the life out of her body.<br /><br />Nonchalantly, Bruno climbs back into his boat and returns to the mainland.<br />He arrives at Guy's home and shows him the evidence of his success - Miriam's broken glasses. Guy is appalled but Bruno threatens him with the fact he'll be seen as an accomplice. Bruno wants Guy to go through with the murder of Mr Antony.<br /><br />Guy returns to his home and receives a call from Anne - she asks him to go to her home. When he turns up, Anne, her sister Barbara and her father, the senator, are waiting for him and they tell him the tragic news, little knowing he is already familiar with the details. Guy says he has an alibi - a Professor Collins from Delaware Tech, who was on the train with him at around the time of the murder. Frustratingly, when the chief of police, Captain Turley, finds the Professor, it is discovered that the man was drunk and cannot recall the meeting at all.<br /><br />Turley assigns two detectives, Hennessey and Hammond, to take turns in tailing Guy whilst procedures take place.<br /><br />Bruno begins to stalk Guy, turning up at his tennis matches, following him to the museum etc. Bruno posts him the key to his father's home, includes a map of the building. He even sends him the gun he wishes Guy to use.<br />On one meeting, Bruno spies Barbara and is aghast at how similar she is in looks to the murdered Miriam. This haunts him once more whilst at a function held by the senator, Bruno strikes up a conversation with a Mrs Cunningham and her friend Mrs Anderson about the perfect murder. Bruno demonstrates the simplicity of strangulation but when he sees Barbara in the background, he goes into a trance and nearly kills Mrs Cunningham whose throat is being crushed by his grip.<br /><br />Guy wants Bruno to leave him alone and Anne is becoming more and more suspicious. She confronts Guy and he admits to what is going on, but still professing his innocence.<br />Guy telephones Bruno and says he will go through with it, but that night, having slipped the detective, he arrives at Bruno's father's home only to find Bruno waiting for him. Guy was going to tell Mr Antony the truth about his son but instead tells Bruno that he needs some sort of psychiatric help.<br />Bruno is not impressed and says he won't kill Guy, he will find something much better...<br /><br />Anne visits Mrs Antony, trying to persuade her to stop her son. Mrs Antony is having none of it and thinks it is all too silly. Bruno arrives and tells Anne that it <i>was</i> all Guy's doing and how Guy wanted Bruno to retrieve the lighter from the scene of the crime.<br />With this informative clue, Anne and Guy realise Bruno is going to plant it back on the Isle.<br />They need to get there before Bruno but without the police getting in the way. However, Guy has a tennis match to finish and win first.<br /><br />Having won the match (playing against his usual style) Guy races to Metcalf with the help of Barbara who hinders the detectives in their pursuit.<br />Bruno is also hindered slightly when he accidentally drops the lighter down a drain. He wastes valuable time trying to retrieve it - telling curious passers-by that it's a cigarette case in order to not arouse suspicions later...<br /><br />Guy finally makes it to the fairground as night draws in. Bruno has been unable to get a boat to the island as the morbid curiosity of the public have increased interest in the 'Magic Isle'.<br />Guy spies Bruno and Bruno leaps onto the moving merry-go-round, Guy joins him. Two Metcalf policemen try to stop Guy and fire a gun - it hits the operator who slumps to the floor taking the control lever down with him causing the ride to speed up.<br />Guy and Bruno fight as the children scream around them. One fairground attendant manages to crawl beneath the spinning beast and reach the brake which brings it to a shuddering, screeching halt. It thunders and crashes, injuring the riders and the spectators. The policemen search the wreckage and find Guy in good health. However, the man who operates the boat stall had recognised Bruno as the same man from the night of Miriam's murder. The cops still don't believe Guy's innocence, despite his story - until Bruno's crushed body finally gives up and he dies, releasing the grip he has on Guy's cigarette lighter.<br /><br />Guy has some explaining to do, but he is basically off the hook... and free to marry Anne Morton.<br /><br />The End.<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br /><br />Mrs Antony: <i>"I do hope you've forgotten all about that silly plan of yours."</i><br /><br />Bruno: <i>"Which one?"</i><br /><br />Mrs Antony: <i>"About blowing up the White House."</i><br /><br />Bruno: <i>"Oh Ma, I was only fooling. Besides, what would the President say?!"</i><br /><br />Mrs Antony: <i>"You're a naughty boy, Bruno!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Barbara: <i>"Nothing stands in your way now. You can be married right away. Think of it, you're free!"</i><br /><br />Senator Morton: <i>"One doesn't always have to say what one thinks."</i><br /><br />Barbara: <i>"Father, I am <u>not</u> a politician."</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />When Bruno sees Anne Morton at the museum:<br /><br />Bruno: <i>"Slight improvement on Miriam, huh, Guy?!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />Senator Morton worries about what the gossips will say after Bruno's little "scene" at the party:<br /><br />Senator Morton: : <i>"...first thing you know they'll be talking about orgies!"</i><br /><br />***<br /><br />And the chillingly delivered:<br /><br />Bruno: <i>"Is your name Miriam?"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Farley Granger died on March 27th of this year. I won't deny that I have always had a bit of a crush on him, ever since I first saw <b>Strangers on a Train</b> and even though he lived to a good age (85) it is still a great loss. He was a charming and beautiful man. (It's that bottom lip of his...)<br />Robert Walker's performance as Bruno Antony is exquisite. He portrays the unhinged madman with such elegance and class. Once again, as with <b>Rope</b>, we teeter on the edge of the suggestion of homosexuality and Robert's performance is subtle and daring. <br />Patricia Hitchcock may be an example of nepotism within the industry, but it's not unjustified as her performance as the brutally frank Barbara Morton is pure perfection.<br /><br />There are so many glorious little touches of black humour. One of my favourites is Bruno's casual demeanour as he stalks Miriam in the park - bursts a child's balloon with his cigarette and then eats popcorn on his way to killing Miriam on the island.<br /><br />One rather creepy image is when guy sees Bruno in the crowd at the tennis match. Everyone else's heads are turning in rhythm with the flying ball except for Bruno's whose eye-line is permanently on Guy.<br /><br />The most exciting denouement is delivered with magnificent pace and energy. The whole scene on the merry-go-round is desperately nail-biting and eerie as <i>The Band Played On</i> plays on at a faster speed accompanied by screams from petrified riders and bystanders alike. This scene never fails to chill me. One of Hitch's best moments out of his long career. <br /><br />Although the story has been remade a couple of times since (why, oh why?) I can recommend the film <b>Throw Momma From the Train</b>. It isn't a direct remake, but more of an <i>homage</i> to the original with splendid direction from Danny DeVito (and a nice early performance from 24th Century Starship Captain Kathryn Janeway AKA Kate Mulgrew from Star Trek)<br /><br />One final thing... I have always said to myself (and others who care to listen) that if I <i>ever</i> had to choose one prop from film history to own, it would have to be the cigarette lighter inscribed 'From A to G'. Maybe one day I will be able to buy it (or at least have a perfect replica...)<br />Marion Lorne will be known to most as the lovable but ditzy Aunt Clara from TV's <b>Bewitched</b>.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />I have never shied away from announcing this as one of my all-time favourites. Sure, there a couple of plot holes, but I don't give a damn. It's superbly played with one of the BEST climaxes to a thriller ever. 10/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-21955425795498727462011-04-10T11:59:00.003+10:002011-04-10T12:59:51.978+10:00Stage Fright<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Trzc9oinmk/TaEPIm4TaXI/AAAAAAAAASo/Siixuzu-3Ws/s1600/stage%2Bfright.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Trzc9oinmk/TaEPIm4TaXI/AAAAAAAAASo/Siixuzu-3Ws/s320/stage%2Bfright.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593768852720937330" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Stage Fright<br /><b>Year:</b> 1950<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Whitfield Cook. Adapted by Alma Reville with additional dialogue by James Bridle<br /><b>Source Material:</b> <i>Man Running</i> by Selwyn Jepson<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 105 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 10th April, 9:45am</b> <br />Last weekend I was simply too busy to get around to doing this blog. You have to understand that it takes a few hours to watch the film (with plenty of pausing to jot down notes and scribble down great lines) and then another couple of hours to write it all up. This is why I am single.<br />I figure that if I only have one weekend off from here on in, I should finish this blog on Hitchcock's birthday (if all goes to plan...)<br />Once again, I am going to try my best to truncate the plot so I don't have to spend ages detailing every tiny little moment. It may seem rushed, but I'm hungry and want some lunch.<br />(I will also take it as read that whoever reads this knows the ending of the movie...)<br />(Gosh, I love brackets)<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Eve Gill - Jane Wyman<br />Charlotte Inwood - Marlene Dietrich<br />Inspector Wilfred 'Ordinary' Smith - Michael Wilding<br />Jonathan Cooper - Richard Todd<br />Mrs Gill - Sybil Thorndike<br />Nellie Goode - Kay Walsh<br />Mr Fortesque - Miles Mallerson<br />Freddie Williams - Hector MacGregor<br />Woman manning the "Lovely Ducks" stall - Joyce Grenfell<br />Inspector Byard - Andre Morell<br />Chubby Bannister - Patricia Highsmith<br />Sergeant Mellish - Ballard Berkeley<br />Commodore Gill - Alistair Sim<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />The Safety Curtain raises to reveal London.<br />Eve Gill is driving through town with alacrity as her passenger, Jonathan Cooper, relays his tale of adventure. He has been caught up in a murder. His lover, famous actress Charlotte Inwood, has killed her husband and has come to him for help wearing her bloodstained outfit. He helps her out by returning to the scene of the crime to pick up a clean dress for Charlotte and to rearrange things to make it look like a break-in only to be caught in the act by Nellie, the maid. The police come looking for Jonnie but he evades them and goes in search of Eve so that she can help him out. He finds her at RADA rehearsing...<br />Eve, upon hearing teh story and being slightly enamoured with Jonnie, agrees to help.<br /><br />She takes him to her father's place by the sea where Jonathan burns the bloodstained dress. Eve wants to go and talk to Charlotte to talk to her and help Jonnie. Commodore Gill keeps a roof over Jonnie's head and asks Eve to not get involved as it could be dangerous. The next morning, Eve sneaks out, disregarding her father's wishes, only to find a note from him in the car:<br /><br /><i>Remember she's a dangerous woman, so <u>BE</u> <u>CAREFUL</u><br />Your loving Father</i><br /><br />Back in London, Eve manages to wheedle her way into the life of a detective named Smith by playing the weak and feeble bystander. They build up an immediate rapport and she is able to get some information from him whilst becoming a little attracted to him. Nellie, Inwood's maid, enters the same public house and starts nattering about what she knows.<br /><br />Eve pretends to be a reporter and offers to pay Nellie so that she can take her place and do some snooping. Nellie is a mercenary woman and agrees. Eve 'becomes' Doris Tinsdale and replaces Nellie as Charlotte's maid as Nellie feigns illness. However, this means Eve has to avoid Wilfred Smith when ever he comes to talk to Charlotte about the murder.<br /><br />At a fund-raising garden party where Charlotte is performing Eve and her father try to expose Charlotte as the guilty party . The Commodore wins a doll, smears some of his own blood on the doll's dress and persuades a young scout to deliver the doll to Charlotte whilst she performs. Charlotte is taken aback and almost collapses. Unfortunately for Eve, she is needed as Charlotte's maid and thus is exposed to Detective Smith with whom she has attended the event.<br /><br />Afterwards, the Commodore and Eve have to tell Smith everything. He is not impressed by their meddling nor by the fact it seems he has been used by Eve. She tries to persuade him that she did once love Jonnie and that is why she got involved but now she is falling for Smith.<br /><br />With help from the police and the theatre, they try to catch Charlotte out by bugging the quick-change dressing room and getting her to talk about the dress and the murder. Eve gets Charlotte talking but the confession is not quite what was expected. Charlotte blames Jonnie and reveals how he was the one who committed the crime. Eve is reluctant to believe it until soon, Jonnie is on the run again and she hides him in the theatre basement. It turns out he has a criminal history and he believes the only way he can get away with his life intact would be to plead insanity. The only way to prove his unhinged mental state would be to kill again for no apparent reason.<br />Eve says she will help him but locks him in the orchestra pit and screams for help.<br />The police come for him and he tries to escape, only to be crushed by the falling safety curtain as he clambers onto the stage.<br /><br />Wilfred Smith embraces and consoles Eve as they walk off-stage together.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br /><br />Commodore Gill and his daughter discuss the anoozing Jonathan:<br /><br />Commodore Gill: <i>"He's a friend of yours is he?"</i><br /><br />Eve Gill: <i>"Oh yes..."</i><br /><br />Commodore Gill: <i>"I see - More than a friend, eh?"</i><br /><br />Eve Gill: <i>"When I am with him, I get a feeling in here that... that's sort of..."</i><br /><br />Commodore Gill: <i>"Yes, well... we'll go into symptoms later. Meanwhile, I take it you're either keen on him or still hungry."</i><br /><br />When Charlotte is being dressed for the funeral, she is not keen on the style:<br /><br />Charlotte Inwood: <i>"If we could only work in a little colour somewhere. Oh well..."</i><br /><br />Charlotte on detectives:<br /><br /><i>"They are only policemen with smaller feet."</i><br /><br />Charlotte on small talk:<br /><br /><i>"I hope you're not going to turn into one of those explicit people who always tell you exactly how they feel when you ask them."</i><br /><br />And for all other great lines, just listen to all scenes with Alistair Sim and his brilliant delivery.<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />I love the way we are thrown straight into the plot. there is no faffing around. As soon as that curtain is raised, we're knee deep in plot and adventure, even if it is not all is it seems to be at first.<br />The whole 'stage' theme is played continually throughout, sometimes subtly, sometimes brashly, but either way effectively. As Shakespeare wrote: <i>All the world's a stage...</i><br /><br />There are a number of utterly delightful scenes within the movie. For a start, the scenes at the home of the Gill's are always glistening with sparkling dialogue - particularly when Sybil Thorndike and Alistair Sim are trading their banter.<br />The scene where Marlene is singing <i>Je vois la vie en rose</i> as the cub scout produces the doll with the blood stained dress is eerily directed as only Hitch could.<br />My favourite scene has to be where Alistair Sim tries to purchase a doll from the hilarious Joyce Grenfell at the "Lovely Ducks" stall. First he offers to buy the doll until he realises how much he'll have to fork out. Then he tries to win one, but fails miserably. He pretends a larger fellow's winning turn was his own, but his opponents threatening nature persuades him to give that one up and, with this lesson in mind, turns the tables on a weaker chap to his right who turns out to be easily intimidated. It's a golden moment of comedy.<br /><br />Finally, two little casting notes.<br />Ballard Berkeley who plays Mellish will always be Major Gowen from <b>Fawlty Towers</b> to me.<br />Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred's daughter, makes her first of three appearances within her father's films - this time as the oddly monikered 'Chubby Bannister'. It makes me think of something easy to slide down but too wide to grip. Thank heavens this isn't a Carry On film.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Hitchcock is wonderful at blending comedy with thriller. The mystery is played out very well and Jane Wyman is as entrancing as she is attractive. The twisting plot is gripping too. The only negative thing is the all-too convenient placing of Jonathan in various scenes. He seems to be terrible at hiding. 8/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-82192804340420447192011-03-26T11:29:00.002+11:002011-03-26T12:18:56.968+11:00Under Capricorn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_TZehipxbQY/TY0zdM-EJrI/AAAAAAAAASg/jdWglxI7A98/s1600/under%2Bcapricorn.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_TZehipxbQY/TY0zdM-EJrI/AAAAAAAAASg/jdWglxI7A98/s320/under%2Bcapricorn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588179289427420850" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Under Capricorn<br /><b>Year:</b> 1949<br /><b>Studio:</b> Transatlantic Pictures/Warner Brothers<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Adapted by Hume Cronyn, Screenplay by James Bridie<br /><b>Source Material:</b> A novel by Helen Simpson<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 117 minutes<br /><br /><b>Saturday 26th March, 9:00am</b> <br />I was hindered last weekend by technological issues. I had planned to watch this antipodean drama but my computer was infected with some evil Trojan virus thing. Thankfully, my genius friend Adam was able to give up his weekend in order to fix things like only he can. So, it meant I had to postpone the screening and write-up, but so be it. I'm not giving myself a strict schedule here. I'll get through it all in my own time.<br />Golly, it has been colder than one would have imagined for what should be the latter end of an Australian summer. I had to put an extra quilt on my bed last night. Madness! As I have now begun using the online delivery service for my shopping, I had no need to get up first thing and head to the shops as I used to do. No siree! No, I had breakfast in bed instead. In fact, as I type this, I am still in my jim-jams. Hoorah for weekend laziness.<br />With a lackadaisical notion in mind, I am going to force myself to be as brief as possible with the synopsis this week. (Particularly considering it's not the most exciting plot...)<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Lady Henrietta Flusky - Ingrid Bergman<br />Samson Flusky - Joseph Cotton<br />Charles Adare - Michael Wilding<br />Milly - Maragaret Leighton<br />Governor - Cecil Parker<br />Mr Corrigan - Denis O'Dea<br />Winter - Jack Watling<br />Coachman - Harcourt Williams<br />Mr Potter - John Ruddock<br />Mr Banks - Bill Shine<br />Reverend Smiles - Victor Lucas<br />Mr Riggs - Ronald Adam<br />Major Wilkins - Francie de Wolff<br />Dr Macallister - G H Mulcaster<br />Sal - Olive Sloane<br />Flo - Maureen Delaney<br />Susan - Julia Lang<br />Martha - Betty McDermott<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b><br />Sydney, New South Wales, 1931 <br />A new Governer arrives and brings his Irish cousin, Charles Adare along with him.<br />Charles makes the acquaintance of Sam Flusky at the bank and the rich ex-convict helps Charles out with some money. He invites him to his home for dinner, much to the chagrin of the Governor who warns him against it.<br /><br />At the dinner party, Charles is curious and slightly amused at the fact that, although invited, none of the wives of the male guests have turned up, either feigning illness or with reports of being 'detained at the last minute'. <br />Sam wants his wife to meet and socialise with local woman, but his reputation proceeds him and steers them clear. His home is called <i>Minyago Yugilla</i> which translates to "Why Weepest Thou?", which must be a slight deterrent too, surely.<br /><br />During the meal, Henrietta descends from her room, she's a tad tipsy and acts a little barmy (and appears to be literally blind, which confused me for a bit) but she is so pleased to see Charles Adare whom she knew when she was much younger.<br />Later she calls for him to shoot an imagined creature in her bedroom and he merely humours her by shooting into the fireplace to remove the 'rat'.<br /><br />Sam tells Charles about his story. How he killed Henrietta's brother and escaped the gallows as it was deemed to be culpable homicide. He was sent to Australia and his wife followed him after selling everything back in Ireland.<br /><br />Charles goes to see Henrietta in her room and is found by the housemaid, Milly, who likes to imply that something dirty was going on.<br />Milly is disgusted by the goings on in the house and says she is leaving for good. Henrietta has to become more forceful within the house, egged on by Charles who thinks it is best for her to stand on her own two feet.<br /><br />Charles pretends that Henrietta and Sam have been invited along with him to the Governor's ball, even though he himself is <i>persona non grata</i> with his cousin since disobeying orders.<br />Sam declines, but Henrietta attends. She dresses up beautifully and Sam is all ready to supply her with a beautiful ruby necklace, but he does not get the opportunity to present them as Charles and Henrietta mock the notion of red with her dress.<br /><br />When Charles and Henrietta have left, Milly turns up to collect the rest of her things. However, she is there to stir and implies that there must be something untoward going on between Charles and Henrietta. Sam takes the bait and heads off to the ball.<br /><br />At the ball, the Governor is swayed by Henrietta's beauty but when Sam blasts in, the night for her is ruined. She returns home with Charles and confesses that it was she who shot her brother and Sam just took the fall.<br />Sam returns and throws Charles out. Adare takes Sam's favourite mare and cripples it after not seeing a closed gate. Returning to the house with the bad news, Sam has to shoot his own horse and then in a temper attempts to attack Charles. The gun goes off and Charles is wounded.<br /><br />With Sam's apparent 'second' offence, it is likely he will be hanged. Henrietta confesses her crime to the Governor to protect him, but Sam would need to confirm it and they wait for Charles to either die from his wound or recover and hope he says the shooting was an accident.<br /><br />Back at the house, Milly has stayed on and she tries to drive her mistress further into insanity by leaving a grotesque shrunken head on her bed and then tries to poison her with an overdose of a sleeping draught. Henrietta calls for help and Sam comes to the rescue.<br />Milly was doing everything for her loyalty to Sam, but he sees her for what she is.<br /><br />Charles recovers and as the true gent he is, says the shooting was an accident. Sam is cleared of his previous conviction and with new honesty between Sam and Henrietta they have a new life to lead. Charles gallantly returns to Ireland.<br /><br />The End<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />The Governor is dictating a letter:<br /><br /><i>"...tell him the approach to the docks is the filthiest sight I've ever seen. Tell him I don't like old barrels and cartwheels and cabbage leaves and dead cats..."</i><br /><br />At the dinner party, Charles is enjoying some chit-chat with the other guests:<br /><br />Mr Riggs: <i>"And how do you like Sydney Mr Adare?"</i><br /><br />Adare: <i>"Oh, I like it very much. I admire in particular the bandicoot, the rock wallaby and the duck-billed platypus. Don't take this preference as implying my derogation of the spiny anteater, the cockatoo or even the frilled lizard. There's always the kangaroo, Mr Riggs, always the kangaroo."</i><br /><br />Mr Riggs: <i>"I didn't mean that exactly; I meant the society."</i><br /><br />Adare: <i>"Is there any!?"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Jack Watling is the father of Deborah Watling who played Victoria in <b>Doctor Who</b> back in the 1960s. Just thought I'd mention it...<br /><br />I have always regarded Ingrid Bergman as one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the screen. She was also a highly accomplished actress. However, I think it is fair to say that accents were not her forte. She's not exactly Meryl Streep.<br /><br />It's interesting to note that Alfred was very particular about historical accuracies so if anyone mentions the lack of heavy Australian accents, it would be worth pointing out that those particular tones did not evolve for another hundred years or so.<br /><br />Joseph Cotton does a reasonable job of the stoic and domineering Sam, but extra credit goes to Michael Wilding who is the most interesting person on screen (and he's handsome too!)<br />Praise is also due to Margaret Leighton whose portrayal of the conniving and slightly evil Milly is wonderful.<br /><br />Henrietta basically gets away with murder, unless I missed a major plot point. Admittedly, I was becoming a bit bored by the end, so I may have missed an integral part of the dialogue in which everyone says; <i>"Oh, never mind, your brother deserved it anyway. La de da!"</i><br />Please feel free to let me know...<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />This is not one of Hitch's most thrilling movies and I feel at just under two hours, it's a tad too long. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a first time viewer of Hitchcock's oeuvre. 4/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-74200450415404341812011-03-14T16:36:00.004+11:002011-03-14T17:33:55.164+11:00Rope<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBVP-srHf7I/TX2pxafygZI/AAAAAAAAASY/LCcXBTxjzJ4/s1600/rope.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBVP-srHf7I/TX2pxafygZI/AAAAAAAAASY/LCcXBTxjzJ4/s320/rope.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583805779400622482" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Rope<br /><b>Year:</b> 1948<br /><b>Studio:</b> Warner Brothers/Transatlantic Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Adapted by Hume Cronyn, screenplay by Arthur Laurents<br /><b>Source Material:</b> From the play <i>Rope's End</i> by Patrick Hamilton.<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 77 minutes<br /><br /><b>Monday 14th March, 2:00pm</b> <br />I'm back! Yes, it has been a while, but I did warn you I'd be taking a bit of a hiatus. Firstly it was only supposed to be for about a month while I was on holiday in the UK, but then when I returned to Australia I came down with sinusitis which crippled me for a bit. So, my return was delayed by a couple of weeks. Never fear, for I am back.<br />Even though I have enjoyed my break from this blog, I am glad to be back into the rhythm of it all. One thing I have come to learn is that writing out detailed synopsis is both tiresome and redundant. So I will make those entries much briefer - for your sake and for my sanity.<br />So, back to the project... A lovely one to ease me back in. <br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Rupert Cadell - James Stewart<br />Brandon Shaw - John Dall<br />Phillip Morgan - Farley Granger<br />Mr Kentley - Sir Cedric Hardwicke<br />Mrs Atwater - Constance Collier<br />Kenneth Lawrence - Douglas Dick<br />Mrs Wilson - Edith Evanson<br />David Kentley - Dick Hogan<br />Janet Walker - Joan Chandler<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />The movie begins with a murder in a New York apartment. David Kentley is being strangled with some rope by his two fellow students, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan. The two young men lower David's corpse into a chest and try to recover themselves.<br />Brandon is exhilarated and rather pleased with himself. Phillip is winded with realisation of his crime.<br />The two have organised a party to be attended by David's friends and family, purely to entertain the ego of Brandon. To put the icing on the cake, Brandon also decides to use David's coffin as the buffet table for the evening's food.<br /><br />First, Mrs Wilson, the boys' housekeeper, returns from the shops having had the entire afternoon to do all the shores. Then each guest arrives.<br />Kenneth Lawrence, a fellow student, arrives first. Phillip and Brandon explain that this soiree is merely a sort of farewell as Phillip is heading off to Connecticut to spend time rehearsing his piano skills at Brandon's mother's place as he has a concert at the town hall in a few weeks.<br />Janet Walker, David's girlfriend, is the next to arrive. She once dated Kenneth, but (as we discover later) he dumped her and she fell into the arms of David, making the social situation a little awkward.<br />David's father, Mr Kentley, arrives without his wife as she has come down with a nasty cold. Mrs Atwater, his sister-in-law, has come in her place.<br />She calls out "DAVID!" when she sees Kenneth, mistaking him for her nephew and Phillip nervously breaks his champagne glass and cuts his hand (shame about the continuity which fails to follow this up - especially when we see his hands unscathed later on!)<br />Rupert Cadell turns up last, the boys' former tutor and the one to whom Brandon feels a particular bond as it was Rupert's thoughts on Friedrich Nietzsche and the <i>Übermensch</i> which led him to this afternoon's crime.<br /><br />Throughout the evening, there is debate about inferiority and murder, much to the distaste of David's father who is uncomfortable with the macabre humour.<br />There are also a number of moments where Phillip's paranoia gives tell-tale signs to Cadell that something is not all that it should be. Phillip squirms when Brandon uses the murder weapon to tie up some books for Mr Kentley. he panics while Mrs Wilson talks about the use of the chest for the buffet. Slowly, Rupert is becoming suspicious of the boys. His suspicion is exacerbated by Brendan's cockiness and unsubtle hints about his recent personal victory. It is clear that Brandon is keen to show off to his old tutor about what he has succeeded in doing.<br /><br />The guests grow a little concerned about David's absence and when Mrs Kently telephones to express her distress, the party breaks up. On the way out, Mrs Wilson accidentally gives Cadell the wrong hat from the closet and he notices David's initials inside.<br />They all leave and Brandon is gloating. However, Rupert Cadell fabricates a story about leaving his cigarette case behind so that he can re-enter the apartment and piece a few things together. Phillip is beside himself with fear and betrays their facade but Brendan doesn't seem to care as he even helps Rupert put the pieces together.<br />When Rupert discovers the corpse, he is horrified and appalled. Even more so when Brendan implies it was all inspired by things Rupert had once taught them.<br />Stunned and gutted, he lectures about the ethics involved the total disregard for human life Brendan and Phillip have shown. He wrestles a gun off Phillip and fires it out of the window, alerting pedestrians below to the scene. Sirens wail and help is on its way. Rupert, in his abhorrence for the other two states that they will pay for their malicious crime with their lives.<br /><br />Brandon nonchalantly pours himself a whiskey.<br />Rupert staggers to a seat by the chest and sits down.<br />Phillip begins playing the piano for one last time.<br /><br /><i>(That was still a fairly long synopsis... oh well.)</i><br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />Brandon and Phillip quote their old tutor:<br /><br /><i>"Murder is a crime for most men but a privilege for the few."</i><br /><br />Janet's response to the fact Rupert publishes books on philosophy, mainly:<br /><br /><i>"Small print, big words, no sales."</i><br /><br />Mrs Atwater tries to read Phillip's fortune by reading his palms:<br /><br /><i>"These hands will bring you great fame!"</i><br /><br />And Rupert's explosion of anger:<br /><br /><i>"You're going to die! Both of you!"</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br /><b>Rope</b> is based on an British play which was, in turn, based on a true life murder case. In Chicago, 1924, two young men named Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murdered Robert Franks purely for the thrill of it. It made the headlines around the globe for the sheer macabre nature of the crime.<br />So the story went from Chicago, to England and then to New York where the movie is ultimately set.<br /><br />It's also worth noting that, although not explicitly stated, this film is about two gay men who try their hand at murder. It was always the intention of the screen writer and the director that it was about homosexuality, but due to the conservative nature of the Hollywood studios, it was never allowed to be made too obvious.<br />Well, they may have fooled the censors, but they certainly didn't fool a lot of the audience!<br />Originally, Montgomery Clift was supposed to play Brandon, but as he was struggling with his own sexuality at the time, he felt it would be too complicated for him to take on this role. <br /><br />Hitchcock's first "Technicolor" picture. Apart from that splash of red in <b>Spellbound</b>, this was Hitchcock's first dabble with colour on screen. He was so fastidious about it, they had to re-shoot a couple of reels as he wasn't happy with the finished tones.<br /><br /><b>Rope</b> is also famous for the long takes and the panning camera around the rooms, trying to make it appear as if it is one long take. Some of the cuts are a little clumsy, whereas some work nicely. There are a couple of natural cuts which, due to the pace of the movie, one may not even notice.<br /><br />Arthur Laurents, the screenwriter, has gone on record to say that he didn't approve of Hitchcock putting in the opening shot of David's murder as it took away some of the tension from the rest of the movie. I have to say, I am inclined to agree.<br /><br />There has, over the years, been a lot of criticism over Farley Granger's performance in this film. However, I think he does a fantastic job and I love him even more in <b>Strangers on a Train</b> - very handsome too.<br />Both Farley Granger and John Dall suit their roles perfectly. I love the way John inhabits the role of Brandon so efficiently. His stutter is perfect without being too dramatic and that lovely touch of him raising a toast to his own success early in the picture - his stance and tone of confidence betrayed by the tremors in his hand as he holds his champagne. It's touches like that which make me want to be an actor myself.<br /><br />Oh, and I love the moment Mrs Atwater is trying to recall the name of the film with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. A nod to <b>Notorious</b>, surely?<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />As an unashamed fan of theatrical performances, I love the stagey atmosphere of this movie. Although the long takes were essentially a technical gimmick, I appreciate the challenge Hitch gave himself. The themes and social politics the film provokes are delicious in their dark way and I enjoy the performances from all. 8/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-34821259032643711042011-01-22T15:21:00.003+11:002011-01-22T16:21:52.195+11:00The Paradine Case<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TTpbW-IcpyI/AAAAAAAAARk/RSWINcybN_k/s1600/the%2Bparadine%2Bcase.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TTpbW-IcpyI/AAAAAAAAARk/RSWINcybN_k/s320/the%2Bparadine%2Bcase.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564860739763349282" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> The Paradine Case<br /><b>Year:</b> 1947<br /><b>Studio:</b> A Selznick International Picture<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> David O Selznick & Alma Reville<br /><b>Source Material:</b> From the novel by Robert Hichens<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 109 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Saturday 22nd January, 11:45am</b> <br />This will be my last entry for a few weeks as I am going to be on holiday for the month of February and I simply will not have time to watch and blog I'm afraid. Still, I feel I am becoming a little stale in my write-ups and a break may do me the world of good and perhaps inject a certain energy back into my writing. Heaven knows I need it. Even today, as I watched the movie, I felt a certain lethargy and apathy towards the project, but I continue on.<br />It was a little stressful trying to get this one done as I have so much to do prior to my vacation and there is such little time left. However, I squeezed it in - please forgive me if this entry is a little shorter than normal too. I don't seem to have my heart in it this weekend.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Anthony Keane - Gregory Peck<br />Gay Keane - Ann Todd<br />Judge Lord Horfield - Charles Laughton<br />Sir Simon Flaquer - Charles Coburn<br />Lady Sophie Horfield - Ethel Barrymore<br />Andre LaTour - Louis Jordan<br />Mrs Paradine - Alida Valli (credited merely as 'Valli')<br />Counsel for the Prosecution - Leo G Carroll<br />Judy Flaquer - Joan Tetzel<br />Innkeeper - Isobel Elsom<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br /><i>London. The time: the recent Present</i><br /><br />Maddalena Paradine is at home playing the piano. Her butler announces the arrival of the police who politely inform her that they are there to arrest her for the willful murder of her husband, Colonel Richard Patrick Irving Paradine on 6th May 1946 by poisoning. Mrs Paradine is graceful and calm as she collects her things and goes with them.<br />Her solicitor, Sir Simon Flaquer, tells her that she will be represented by Anthony Keane, a lawyer with a superb reputation. Keane's wife, Gay, believes Mrs Paradine is innocent just because she seems like a nice sort of person. Tony is the sort of man to apply a little more logic to the situation, but upon meeting Mrs Paradine he is almost bewitched by her beauty and cannot bring himself to believe her guilty of anything.<br /><br />One evening, at the home of Judge Horfield, there is a dinner hosted by the Horfields and attended by the Keanes, Sir Simon and his daughter Judy. Horfield is a rather lascivious fellow and makes uncomfortable advances on poor Gay Keane but she is strong enough to brush him off as politely as she can manage.<br />She also begins to become a little jealous as she notices how her husband is becoming more and more infatuated with his client. She even overhears and impassioned speech he makes in her defence. She worries that she may be losing her hold on him.<br /><br />Anthony decides he wants to visit the Paradine home in Cumberland and takes a trip up to the Lake district. He stays at a local inn and listens to the gossip regarding the case so he can get a better understanding of people's views. The next day he takes a pony and trap up to the Hall and when he gets there he meets the Valet, LaTour but he stands in the shadows and hides from Keane. The housekeeper shows Keane around the home and he assesses the area making mental notes. He is surprised to discover that LaTour's bedroom was alongside the main rooms and not in the servants' quarters.<br />When he returns to the inn, he is making himself comfortable on a stormy night but he is aroused by a knocking at the window. He draws back the curtains to see Andre LaTour standing there. Andre wanted to come and see Keane on his own terms and explains that Mrs Paradine is evil. Anthony is unimpressed and forces him to leave. The next day, Tony returns to London. When he tells Mrs Paradine about his trip, she is very unimpressed and tells him so. He also admits that he is attracted to her.<br /><br />During the trial, Keane attempts a couple of lines of defense - he suggests that the colonel committed an act of suicide as he was so unhappy with his life as a blind man. When this fails, he tries to direct blame to LaTour who was named as a beneficiary of the late colonel's will and also was a deft hand with poison having put down a dog not so long before. During the whole drama of the courtroom, LaTour confesses he and Mrs Paradine had an affair.<br />The court adjourns.<br /><br />The following day, LaTour is discovered dead having taken his own life. Mrs Paradine is distraught and suddenly apathetic and admits to killing her husband. There was no longer any point to her life now that her husband <i>and</i> lover are now dead.<br /><br />Keane is shaken and horrified by events and feels like he is a disgrace to the profession. He is comforted later by his loyal wife, Gay who says he should continue on and fight the good fight as this is merely one obstacle.<br /><br />The End<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br /><br />Gay Keane: <i>"Nice people don't go around murdering other nice people."</i><br /><br />Lord Horfield: <i>"I do not like to be interrupted in the middle of an insult."</i><br /><br />Judy Flaquer: <i>"I hope- no, I don't hope they hang her. I don't like breaking pretty things."</i><br /><br />Andre LaTour: <i>"I would never have served a woman. It's not in my character to do that."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Firstly I want to mention Louis Jordan who has had a long and varied career. He is a stunningly handsome fellow and in <b>The Paradine Case</b> hols his weight against the equally talented and good-looking Gregory Peck.<br />It has long been noted that the forums on www.imdb.com are plagued by morons and it is a bit of a joke that under the majority of actors' profiles, there will be one discussion board asking "Is he gay?" or similar. Whilst looking up Louis Jordan's profile, I came across this very question and rolled my eyes. The poster stated "He has gay aspect" (?) but one person made me laugh with their succinct response; "He's French, not gay."<br />Comedy gold.<br /><br />Hitchcock handles the different locations brilliantly creating some claustrophobic atmospheres within certain buildings (The prison and the Paradine home.<br />His homing in on Ann Todd's flesh from the viewpoint of Charles Laughton is eerie and disturbing.<br /><br />One of my main problems with this film is that I have absolutely no sympathy for Mrs Paradine. There isn't one moment where I feel like she might be an innocent awaiting her deathly fate. She looks guilty from the moment we see her. I know we should feel sorry for her, but she just leaves me cold.<br /><br />My pick for favourite touches in this film have to be the shadows which disguise LaTour's stunning features the first few times Keane is near him, only for his striking looks to be 'announced' by the vicious winds with his arrival at Keane's room at the inn. Perfectly dramatic and brilliantly effective.<br /><br />Oh, and it was years and years until I finally watched this film (in fact, I watched it only last year for the very first time) and I was surprised to learn that it was pronounced Para<i>dene</i> not Para<i>dyne</i> as I had been referring to it for all the years previous. The latter still sounds better if you ask me. But then, I always say 'scone' as "sc<i>oh</i>ne" to rhyme with 'cone' not "scon" to rhyme with 'gone'.<br />It's only 'Scon' when there's none left! (ho ho ho)<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />The cast is rather splendid and Hitchcock directs as beautifully as ever (the scenes in the Lake District are gorgeously shot), but the film as a whole is a little lacklustre. 5/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-67272984910819991722011-01-16T16:22:00.002+11:002011-01-16T17:07:39.046+11:00Notorious!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TTKA1vlFEuI/AAAAAAAAARc/4VdK6eH7llg/s1600/notorious.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TTKA1vlFEuI/AAAAAAAAARc/4VdK6eH7llg/s320/notorious.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562650150549394146" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Notorious!<br /><b>Year:</b> 1946<br /><b>Studio:</b> RKO Pictures<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Ben Hecht<br /><b>Source Material:</b> Inspired by Mata Hari and a short story called 'The Song of the Dragon' by John Taintor Foote<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 970 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 16th January, 2:30pm</b> <br />I had risen early this morning and popped out to buy a whole heap of cat litter in readiness for my month away (for which period this blog will have to rest) and I was ready and eager to watch <b>Notorious</b> by 8:30. However, as I began, my eyes became heavy and I just could not concentrate. (Even whilst boiling the kettle for tea, I wasn't fully awake and ended up burning my arm on the steam as I reached over to get a hand towel!) So I switched off and pottered about the flat for most of the day, doing very little indeed. I tried again around 2:30 and successfully sat through the movie. Even now, as I sit at my desk, I am struggling to keep my eyes open. Why am I so incredibly tired? It's rather stress inducing considering how busy I am going to be over the forthcoming week as I prepare for my holiday away by doing a ridiculous amount of work in a short space of time. If you know me and I lose my patience at any point, please forgive me.<br />As I type, I am very aware that over the next few minutes, I am going to make lots of typos as I am so lethargic. Forgive me if I do... Let's go.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Devlin - Cary Grant<br />Alicia Huberman - Ingrid Bergman<br />Alexander Sebastian - Claude Rains<br />Paul prescott - Louis Calhern<br />Mme. Sebastian - Madame Konstantin<br />'Dr Andreson' - Reinhold Schunzel<br />Walter Beardsley - Moroni Olsen<br />Eric Mathis - Ivan Triesault<br />Joseph - Alex Minotis<br />Mr Hopkins - Wally Brown<br />Commodore - Sir Charles Mendl<br />Dr Barbosa - Ricardo Costa<br />Hupka - Eberhard Krumschmidt<br />Ethel - Fay baker<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />In Miami, Florida, a man is being sentenced to prison for treason against the United States of America. His daughter, Alicia Huberman, is hounded by the press on her way out.<br />She has a party to say goodbye to the country and she meets a gate-crasher named Devlin. They have chemistry and when her guests have either gone or have fallen asleep, the two of them go out for a drive. She is drunk and gets pulled over, but when Devlin shows his ID, the cop lets them go. It turns out he is an American agent.<br />He has been sent to get her help in infiltrating some Nazis - initially she refuses, but after he plays her a recording of a conversation she had had with her father expressing her distaste for the Nazis and support for America, she relents.<br /><br />The two of them head to Rio and after spending some time together, the chemistry between them becomes a greater bond and they fall in love. This makes the next step so much harder for Devlin. He is required to ask her to marry into the group they are trying to infiltrate as one of the men is an old flame from her past. <br />Devlin is gutted, but has to go along with it. Alicia knows she has to do so too.<br /><br />They meet Alex Sebastian whilst out riding and he becomes reacquainted with Alicia. His love for her is reignited almost immediately and she lets him believe he is succeeding with his advances.<br />She has dinner with Alex and his cohorts and is surprised when a man named Emil Hupka gives a little anxious scene when he spies a certain bottle of wine on the shelf. His colleagues are not impressed... After dinner, whilst the men drink brandy and smoke cigars, Emil apologises and the other men say they forgive him, but he knows deep down he has dug his own grave.<br /><br />Over a period, Alicia keeps meeting with Devlin and reports back to him about the various men and places she learns of. Alex has proposed to her and she accepts, much to Devlin's chagrin.<br />Whilst settling in her new home, she discovers that a lot of the doors are locked and her new mother-in-law is not at all keen to let Alicia have a run of the house. One door is kept locked and only Alex has the key - the wine cellar!!<br />One night, Alicia sneaks the key off her husband's fob and hides it from him, dropping it when in an embrace with him and kicking it under the table.<br />Later, at a big party, she hands the key to Devlin. They both go to the cellar and discover, when Devlin drops a bottle, that some of the wine bottles do not contain wine, but a mineral ore. He tries to clean up the mess and replace the bottle with one with a similar label. They leave the cellar just in time, but they do not get away from the basement before Alex comes down. Devlin kisses Alicia in a deep embrace to make Alex think they were just down there to make love.<br />Initially, Alex believes this but upon finding broken glass and notices the incorrect date on the replaced bottle, he begins to piece things together. <br /><br />Alex goes to his domineering mother and tells her he has married an American agent. She is horrified but also calm about it and plans to sort things out. Alex is concerned because he knows his colleagues killed Hupka for simply losing his nerve over a wine bottle. What will they do to him for being so naive?<br />His mother's plan is to pretend everything is normal and slowly poison Alicia over a period of time.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Devlin and his department discover that the metal ore (of which he took a sample) was Uranium and they need to find out the location of the mine.<br /><br />Devlin meets Alicia again, but she is looking terrible. Devlin merely thinks she is back on the bottle and all she feels is weary and wants things to be over.<br />One night, when Alex's doctor is visiting, he nearly sips from Alicia's cup - alarming Alex and his mother. This only alerts Alicia to what's been happening, but it is too late. She is too weak and she collapses. They take her upstairs, disconnect the phone and leave her semi-conscious in bed.<br /><br />Devlin begins to worry about her when she doesn't turn up for her meetings. Eventually, he takes matters into his own hands and goes around to the Sebastians' home and sneaks upstairs whilst Alex and his Nazi colleagues discuss other matters in the study. He lifts her from her bed and helps her downstairs. ON the way he meets Alex and his mother who are both terrified of their fellow cohorts finding out the truth about Alicia. Devlin threatens to expose Alex to them if he doesn't let them out of the building safely. They all walk to the car with the Nazis watching closely. At the car, Alex pleads for Devlin and Alicia to take him with them, but they refuse and drive off.<br />Alex is left to ascend the steps back to the house where the already suspicious colleagues are waiting for an explanation. he goes inside and closes the door to receive his fate.<br /><br />The End<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />I love Alicia's flamboyant yet simple way of ending a party;<br /><br /><i>"I'm very sorry, you all have to go. It has been a perfectly hideous party!"</i><br /><br />I also love her line;<br /><br /><i>"There's nothing like a love song to give you a good laugh."</i><br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />I've said it before and I'll say it again; Ingrid Bergman is one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen. Even when she is being slowly poisoned and she is looking close to death, she still looks magnificent. With that, I should mention the subtle yet effective job the make up department have done. It is so slight that you don't <i>notice</i> but you are subliminally aware of the difference. Genius.<br /><br />Hitchcock has a wonderful time playing with the camera and various points of view shots. When Alicia is drunk, the camera revolves around making us feel as hungover as she.<br />Later, when she is being drugged, the silhouettes and shadows of her poisoners loom ominously before her as she sways on her feet. It's a very creepy effect.<br />One of the most famous shots (or should I say 'notorious shots'?) is the one of Alicia in the background with the poisoned coffee cup in the foreground. Hitchcock achieved this unsettling effect by using a larger than life prop. It certainly makes one feel uneasy when watching.<br />My absolute favourite though is a crane shot at the Sebastians' party. We flow down from the balcony across the party, toward Alicia and we zoom in tight on her hand to see the wine cellar key. It would have been a devilish shot to get right, but it pays off superbly.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Great performances from Brant, Bergman, Rains and Konstantin bring this story to a higher level than if it were a mediocre cast. I don't find the plot as satisfying as some critics, but it's an enjoyable cat and mouse game all the same. 7/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-44197342746985775952011-01-09T09:00:00.006+11:002011-01-22T15:25:53.002+11:00Spellbound<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSjezTzIIhI/AAAAAAAAARU/jMCK2Q7iAQA/s1600/spellbound.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSjezTzIIhI/AAAAAAAAARU/jMCK2Q7iAQA/s320/spellbound.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559938713058288146" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Spellbound<br /><b>Year:</b> 1945<br /><b>Studio:</b> A Selznick International Picture<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Ben Hecht (Screenplay) & Angus MacPhail (Adaptation)<br /><b>Source Material:</b> From Francis Beeding's novel <i>The House of Dr Edwardes</i><br /><b>Running Time:</b> 106 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Sunday 9th January, 6:30am</b> <br />I am a little distracted as I type this as I am multi-tasking and trying to eat some lovely burnt toast with strawberry jam (I love burnt toast!) It's my second breakfast as I had some muesli at 5:00am when I awoke after a stressful night of complex dreams. Ironic, really, considering this morning's viewing.<br />Due to the nightmares, I was in a rather grumpy mood during the first half - hating the fact I had to make notes as I watched - but eventually I perked up and felt much more chipper by the end of the movie. Maybe this is due to the most pleasing aesthetics... Dali's dream sequence? Hitchcock's direction? Or Peck and Bergman being two of the most attractive people ever to grace the silver screen? Or maybe all of the above.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />Dr Constance Peterson - Ingrid Bergman<br />John Ballantine - Gregory Peck<br />Dr Alex Brulov - Michael Chekhov<br />Dr Murchison - Leo G Carroll<br />Mary Carmichael - Rhonda Fleming<br />Dr Fleurot - John Emery<br />Mr Garmes - Norman Lloyd<br />Hotel Detective - Bill Godwin<br />Dr Graft - Steven Geray<br />Harry - Donald Curtis<br />Drunk Hotel Patron - Wallace Ford<br />Lt Cooley - Art Baker<br />Sgt Gillespie - Regis Toomey<br />Dr Hanish - Paul Harvey<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />The film opens with a quote from William Shakespeare's <b>Julius Caesar</b>:<br /><br /><i>The fault... is not in our stars, but in ourselves.</i><br /><br />Then we have a brief essay to read:<br /><br /><i>Our story deals with psychoanalysis, the method by which modern science treats the emotional problems of the sane.<br />The analyst seeks only to induce the patient to talk about his hidden problems, to open the locked doors of his mind.<br />Once the complexes that have been disturbing the patient are uncovered and interpreted, the illness and confusion disappear... and the devils of unreason are driven from the human soul.</i><br /><br />Dr Constance Peterson works (and lives) at Green Manors, which is a home for the mentally ill. Her 'chief', Dr Murchison, is retiring due to his age and is being replaced by Dr Anthony Edwardes.<br />When he arrives, the other doctors are concerned about his youthful looks and Constance is uncharacteristically smitten from the first moment she lays eyes on him.<br />Over dinner, they discuss sports and the forthcoming swimming pool to be built within the grounds. It won't be a rectangular pool, more of an irregular shape - she attempts to draw the shape on the tablecloth with her fork - at this, Dr Edwardes loses his calm demeanor and rambles. Everyone thinks this is slightly peculiar.<br /><br />The next day, Constance is treating one of her cases, Mr Garmes, a man who believes he killed his own father. Garmes is exhilarated by the letter opener Constance uses.<br />Edwardes enters and when Garmes leaves, he suggests he and Constance take the afternoon off and go for a leisurely walk - before they do, there is a phone call from a woman named Paula Kramer who does not recognise Edwardes' voice. They pass it off as a former patient causing trouble.<br /><br />That night, Constance cannot sleep. She gets out of bed and heads upstairs to the library - she notices that Dr Edwardes' light is still on and once she has selected one of his books (a signed copy of <i>Labyrinth of the Guilt Complex</i> she hesitates outside of his door before entering. He is in his armchair reading. She apologises and says she was going to use subterfuge and pretend she was there to discuss his work. They both admit how they are feeling. She cannot understand how she could feel this after merely one day, but he says that love can blossom in a mere moment. They kiss passionately... until the dark lines on her dressing gown upset him, just as the fork lines on the linen tablecloth did.<br /><br />There is a phone call. Mr Garmes has attacked Dr Fleurot and then tried to slice his own throat. Whilst in surgery, Dr Edwardes becomes confused and stresses out over the bright lights and faints.<br />Constance sits by his bed as he sleeps and she compares a note he had written to her with the signature in her signed book. The signatures do not match.<br />When he awakes, she questions him. He begins to regain some memories. He believes the real Dr Edwardes is dead - a form of amnesia has wiped out his memory and forced him to take the place of the real doctor. All he knows is that his initials are J.B. thanks to a cigarette case in his jacket pocket. She tells him she'll help him, but for now he must rest.<br /><br />In the morning, he rises early and writes a note to Constance:<br /><br /><i>I cannot involve you in this for many reasons, one of them being that I love you.<br />For the time being I am going to the Empire State Hotel in New York.<br />Goodbye,<br />J.B.</i><br /><br />He slips it under her door. When Constance awakes, she does not get to the note in time as the other doctors and a detective come to ask questions as they too have reached the same conclusions due to Ms Paula Kramer turning up and providing a photograph of the real Dr Edwardes. <br />Constance denies all knowledge of the predicament and manages to read the note once the doctors have all left her rooms.<br />She takes off to New York and uses the aid of the hotel's House Detective to locate 'J.B.' - it appears he has signed in under the pseudonym 'John Brown'.<br /><br />When she finds him in his room she tells him; <i>"I am here as your doctor only, it has nothing to do with love..."</i> but then kisses him.<br /><br />She talks to him and ascertains that he too must be a doctor as he has medical knowledge. He has a burn on his hand which has been treated with a skin graft - she asks him to remember how it happened, but he cannot recall.<br />The bellboy brings the newspapers but he recognises her from the article and photograph in the paper questioning her whereabouts.<br /><br />They leave the hotel and head for the train station, trying to get J.B. to remember certain things, like where he and Dr Edwardes had been travelling to before. When local policemen become suspicious, they detour to Grand Central Station and head out to see her mentor, Dr Alex Brulov.<br />He is not there when they arrive, but there are two policemen waiting to ask him about Dr Edwardes' disappearance. Once they leave, Alex welcome the couple into his home. Constance tells him they are newlyweds but unbeknown to her, he sees right through it. In the night, J.B. has another episode when he is in the bathroom preparing to shave. He takes the switchblade razor in his hand and descends the stairs where Alex Brulov is up late working. Alex is on the ball and he puts some bromide in a glass of milk to help J.B. sleep.<br /><br />At 7 o'clock in the morning, Constance comes downstairs where she finds Alex and J.B. asleep. Alex, once awake, explains how he knew everything and they both decide to figure out the truth.<br />Once J.B. is awake, he recites his dream which is full of bizarre imagery including curtains with eyes, faceless men and a gambling house with deformed cards. He sees a man fall off a sloping roof and a masked figure laughs behind a chimney and drops a wheel.<br />Whilst reciting these images from his dream, he loses control again when he spies children on their sleighs in the snow. At this point, Constance begins to piece it all together. The lines on the tablecloth, her robe etc are reminding him of tracks in the snow. J.B. recalls 'Gabriel Valley' and they decide to head out there.<br />Meanwhile, the police are closing in on their location.<br /><br />At Gabriel Valley, Constance and J.B.are skiing, trying to help him recall his past.<br />Just before they reach a steep drop, he remembers! As a child, there was an accident in which he killed his brother. He was sliding down a stone banister alongside some outdoor steps. His brother was at sat at the bottom and didn't move in time. He was pushed onto the metal railings below and died.<br />With this recollection, John Ballantine remembers his name. He also remembers seeing Dr Edwardes plummet off the cliff.<br />Back at the ski lodge, they await for the police to arrive, having told them their story. However, once they arrive, the police say they found Dr Edwardes' body, but it had a bullet in it. They arrest John and he is convicted, sentenced and locked away.<br />Constance feels awful but she still does not believe John killed the doctor.<br />She goes over the dream again and pieces together some more clues...<br />She realises that it must be Dr Murchison who killed Dr Edwardes as the latter was the one 'stealing' his job away from him. She goes to see Murchison who is shocked by her tenacity but does not deny it. She says that the wheel in the dream was the revolver which he must have dropped at the scene of the crime, but he produces it and points it directly at her. He is willing to kill again.<br />Constance remains cool and explains how the first murder could be explained due to stressful circumstances but if he killed her now it would be cold blood.<br />She calmly leaves his office and he turns the gun on himself.<br /><br />John is exonerated and he and Constance marry.<br /><br />THE END<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br /><br />Dr Fleurot: (on hugging Constance) <i>"It's like embracing a text book!"</i><br /><br />Dr Alex Brulov gets some fantastic lines, even if they are appallingly misogynistic in that typical Freudian way:<br /><br />Dr Brulov: <i>"Women make the best psychoanalysts... 'til they fall in love. After that they make the best patients."</i><br /><br />Dr Brulov: (interrupting Constance) <i>"Do not complete the sentence with the usual female contradictions!"</i><br /><br />and the classic:<br /><br />Dr Brulov: <i>"The mind of a woman in love is operating on the lowest level of intellect."</i><br /><br />Personally, I would say this is true of men too.<br /><br />Dr Murchison gets a perfectly chilling line when he is proposing to kill Constance:<br /><br /><i>"You forget in your imbecilic devotion to your patient that the punishment for two murders is the same as for one."</i><br /><br />Clearly, he is a very desperate man...<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />How interesting that the opening passage (as seen above) begins with an educational statement about psychoanalysis but ends with spiritual metaphor. I find this odd!<br /><br />This is a black and white film, but in a touch of pure genius, Hitch blasts us with a moment of startling red when the revolver goes off in 'our' face! Pure brilliance!<br /><br />The brief moments of flashback to John's childhood when his brother is killed whilst playing is one of the most shocking scenes in a Hitchcock film up to this point. I first watched this film many years ago in my teens and that particular image has stuck with me ever since. It's brutal and heartbreaking.<br /><br />The scene where John is in a sort of trance and is clutching the razor in his hand as Dr Brulov gets milk is beautifully filmed. The hand with the weapon, large in the foreground, is menacing on the screen as Alex potters into the kitchen. Then when we have a Point of View shot of John drinking the milk, which is effective and also foreshadows the P.O.V. shot in the final moments of the film, only this with white and the latter with red.<br /><br />Of course, I should be beaten with a broken microwave if I didn't mention the Dali dream sequence. Apparently, a much longer sequence was planned but only a small portion was filmed and even a lot of that was left on the cutting room floor (oh, to be able to see <i>that</i>! - The footage, not the floor).<br />The scissors cutting the eyes, the masked proprietor, the misshapen wheel... are all stunning visuals, but for me, the most disturbing thing is the extra large playing cards. I have often had nightmares about objects being larger than they should be (Cripes, I can hear the muffles guffaws from here - you dirty minded people!)<br />Hitchcock and Dali have created a brilliant dream-scape which actually feels convincing in its 'realism' (as real as dreams can be). I would not be surprised if I heard Terry Gilliam was fond of this sequence too!<br /><br />All this said, there is one moment in the film which is a little heavy-handed and that's when Constance and 'Dr Edwardes' first kiss and there is the imagery of the corridor of doors opening slowly. It's all a little obvious and startlingly humorous. I expect this is because in this modern day, these symbols have become cliched. Back in 1945 it would have been more of a curiosity.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />Once one gets past the misogynous approach to Constance's character, it's a fascinating film with some wonderful visuals. 8/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458552757586005632.post-84919219072955785242011-01-03T11:17:00.004+11:002011-01-03T12:22:01.153+11:00Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSEYDW6J-pI/AAAAAAAAARE/5ly_Q_M1SHs/s1600/BV.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSEYDW6J-pI/AAAAAAAAARE/5ly_Q_M1SHs/s320/BV.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557749861120080530" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Bon Voyage<br /><b>Year:</b> 1944<br /><b>Studio:</b> Welwyn Studios<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Angus McPhail & J.O.C. Orton<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 26 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Monday 3rd January, 9:30am</b> <br />Today is the last day of my holiday and I have that slightly sick feeling in my stomach (you know the one, we've all experienced it.)<br />Thankfully, the task of doing this blog today was a reasonably brief one. Both films are short and there is very little information on them so it allows me to be brief. I will get back into the full swing of things next weekend, I am sure.<br />I made myself a mug of tea and grabbed the biscuit barrel (diet recommences tomorrow, so I had to finish off the chocolate biscuits) and watched both films - neither of which I had seen before.<br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />There is no cast list for either of these films, but John Blythe plays Sgt. John Dougall.<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />It's London: 1953. Sergeant John Dougall is being questioned by a French Intelligence Officer about his escape from Germany. He tells his tale starting from his arrival in Reims. His ally, Stefan Godowski, helped him escape and they make their way across country together. In Reims, they receive word that one of them must go to the local cafe and give a specific signal. Stefan goes and returns with further instructions but has somehow gained an injury. He explains he came across a Vichy spy whom he had to kill. The two men agree that it would be best to go back and dispose of the body. When they do, the body is gone and there are two Resistance members at the crime scene. They tell the duo to take a specific route to a farm where they will find two bicycles for them to continue their journey. There are further instructions attached to the bikes.<br />After staying at a hotel and meeting a female Resistance member on a train, they are soon whisked off to her father's home and they decide via poker dice who should take the one seat on the plane to England. John wins but Stefan asks him to take some mail to a personal friend.<br />Then, we learn the truth. The Intelligence Officer tells John how Stefan was in fact a German spy and had orchestrated the whole thing and use John as a carrier pigeon for his codes.<br />You can't trust anyone these days...<br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />This one is hard to appreciate without experiencing the accents involved.<br /><br />The two Resistance members ask John about his heritage;<br /><br />John: <i>"Scottish... R.A.F."</i><br /><br />Female Resistance member: <i>"Pardon?"</i><br /><br />Male Resistance member: <i>"That's how the English say 'R.A.F.'"</i><br /><br />As you can imagine, much more entertaining with the different pronunciations.<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Hitchcock has nipped back from Hollywood, reasonably reluctantly, to film these two shorts as part of the war effort. He was also having to visit the graves of loved ones and witness the destruction of his home country's capital.<br />Both films were produced with the best intentions, but neither were shown and were shelved.<br /><br />The flashback technique is nicely handled but the whole 'But this is what <i>really</i> happened...' is even better.<br /><br />My favourite Hitchcockian moment in this film has to be when Stefan kills the Vichy spy in the wine cellar. Beautifully lit and brilliantly dramatic - it certainly shows signs of Hitch's fondness for 'silent' film.<br />Another classic moment is when Jeanne is shot by Stefan (My, he's a nasty piece of work, isn't he!?) - As he holds the telephone receiver near her face with one hand and shoots her with the gun in his other, she dies and falls out of shot, leaving the receiver aloft. It's a very effective image.<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />This was rather entertaining and breezy in its storytelling. I was genuinely surprised. 6/10<br /><br />***<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSEYQ4GtNGI/AAAAAAAAARM/shmLr8jnO3M/s1600/AM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y0N6YWRh2dc/TSEYQ4GtNGI/AAAAAAAAARM/shmLr8jnO3M/s320/AM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557750093369390178" /></a><br /><br /><b>Title:</b> Aventure Malgache<br /><b>Year:</b> 1944<br /><b>Studio:</b> Welwyn Studios<br /><b>Screenplay:</b> Angus McPhail & Jules Francois Clermont<br /><b>Source Material:</b> Apparently based on a true story<br /><b>Running Time:</b> 31 minutes<br />A black & white picture<br /><br /><b>Monday 3rd January, 10.00am</b> <br />I decided I wasn't going to take notes whilst watching it as I needed to concentrate on the French subtitles (having had to pause and rewind an awful lot during the first film). <br />Having just enjoyed <b>Bon Voyage</b>, I was looking forward to <b>Aventure Malgache</b>... If only I'd watched it first. <br /><br /><b>Cast</b> <br />As I mentioned before, no specifics as to the actors, but they were among the Moliere players.<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b> <br />One of the actors in a theatre group tells a story of his war experiences when a colleague's appearance reminds him of his past. As they prepare for the show in the dressing room, the story is told in flashback.<br />Lawyer. Nazis. Resistance. Pirate Radio. Blah, blah, blah.<br />Seriously, I do not have the will to write it all out. <br /><br /><b>Great Lines</b> <br />None that took my fancy.<br /><br /><b>Comments</b> <br />Whilst watching this I thought to myself; "Crikey, and to think I will have to sit through <b>Topaz</b> eventually too!"<br /><br /><b>My Verdict</b> <br />ZZZZZZ! 1/10Ben Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14616981728113798737noreply@blogger.com0