2 Hours 9 minutes Fair Value of The Farmer and His Wife: $0.00. In this early (1928) silent film, a young Hitchcock is both out of his element (mystery) and his medium (dialogue), and so this early drama is generic and basic, largely lacking in Hitchcock’s style. This is a snoozer. Summary of the Concept: […]
The Farmer’s Wife (1928)
July 19, 2020 by
Film Title
The Farmer's WifeSynopsis
A middle-aged empty-nester has trouble finding another suitable mate
Director
Alfred HitchcockCast
James Thomas
Lillian Hall-Davis
Gordon Harker
Gibb McLaughlin
Maude Gill
Louie Pounds
Vertigo (1958)
July 18, 2020 by
Film Title
VertigoSynopsis
A traumatized former police detective falls hopelessly in love with a woman who doesn’t exist
Director
Alfred HItchcockCast
Jimmy Stewart
Kim Novak
Barbara Bel Geddes
Tom Helmore
Ellen Corby
“The language of the camera is the language of our dreams.”-James Baldwin. No director was more fluent in that language than Alfred Hitchcock. Vertigo is the most conspicuous example of his fluency. Vertigo is a Pygmalion and Galatea story. The question in this case, who is Pygmalion and who is Galatea? When, is a better […]
Juno and the Paycock
July 15, 2020 by
Film Title
Juno and the PaycockSynopsis
A family earns a big inheritance and forgets their basic values
Director
Alfred HitchcockCast
Barry Fitzgerald
Sara Allgood
John Laurie
1 hour 34 minutes Fair Value of Juno and the Paycock: $-5.00. 1920s knockoff Bernard Shaw misery porn that lacks in much of the style or timing that Hitchcock would later display. This early Hitchcock film shows why he went to thrillers and suspense- it’s artless and heartless. Summary of the Concept: A poor […]
Secret Agent (1936 Hitchcock film)
July 5, 2020 by
Film Title
Secret AgentSynopsis
During World War One, a newly recruited British spy is dispatched to Switzerland to hunt unknown German agents.
Director
Alfred HitchcockCast
John Gielgud
Madeleine Carroll
Peter Lorre
Robert Young
Percy Marmount
1 hour 26 minutes Fair Value of Secret Agent: $2.00. If it’s streaming, it’s a good old timey punt, with amusing performances by Peter Lorre and John Gielgud Summary of the Concept: During World War I, a newly commissioned British spy is tasked with identifying and catching a German spy moving through Switzerland. What’s […]
The 39 Steps
June 15, 2020 by
Film Title
The 39 StepsSynopsis
Hook up with a spy girl, get wrongfully accused of murder.
Director
Alfred HitchcockCast
Robert Donat
Madeleine Caroll
Lucie Mannheim
Godfrey Tearle.
1 hour 26 Minutes The Grandfather of all Spy Films. Without The 39 Steps, no Bond. No Bourne. No The Fugitive, the most obvious modern descendant of this film, which truly established Hitchcock on the map of international cinema. Fair value of The 39 Steps: $20.00. It’s must-see cinema, in the same way as Star […]
Double Indemnity
June 8, 2020 by
Film Title
Double IndemnitySynopsis
A confident insurance salesman falls for the femme fatale, and they plot to murder her husband.
Director
Billy WilderCast
Fred MacMurray
Barbara Stanwyck
Edward G. Robinson
Porter Hall
Tom Powers
Jean Heather
In a just universe, we’d all toil tirelessly in Billy Wilder’s cinematic fantasy, never once questioning his authority or perspective. There have been more visionary artists to be sure – and certainly more ambitious – but few are as perfect a fit for any occasion. Because of his genius regarding the melding of humor, pathos, […]
Suspicion (1941)
June 1, 2020 by
Film Title
SuspicionSynopsis
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her
Director
Alfred HitchcockCast
Cary Grant
Joan Fontaine
Cedric Hardwicke
Nigel Bruce
Isabel Jeans
Auriol Lee
“Gaslighting” is the use of psychological manipulation to make a person doubt their own sanity, and even to lose it. The term derives from the 1938 British play Gas Light and its 1940 and 1944 film adaptations from Britain and Hollywood, respectively. It is somewhat surprising Alfred Hitchcock was not at the helm of the […]
Dreamers: John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre & The Misfits
May 25, 2020 by
Speaking of cowboys, Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) says to aging cowboy Gay Langland (Clark Gable), “I love every miserable one of you, though you’re all good for nothing, as you well know,” to which he replies, “That may be, but it’s better than wages.” That motto (“it’s better than wages”) is referred to several times […]
The Truth Of The Matter
May 17, 2020 by
Keeper of the Flame (1942) Directed by George Cukor. With Spencer Tracy and Kathrine Hepburn. 36 Hours (1965) Directed by George Seaton. With James Gardner, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Taylor The “truth of the matter” can be an elusive concept. What is real? This is the persistent theme in the works of Philip K. […]
Network: A Look At A Classic
April 30, 2020 by
Film Title
NetworkSynopsis
We are mad as Hell, and not going to take it anymore
Director
Sidney LumetCast
Faye Dunaway
William Holden
Peter Finch
Robert Duvall
Wesley Addy
Ned Beatty
Network is certainly not the greatest movie ever made, and I would never argue that it achieves any lasting impact as a work of art. Its style is flat (like most television programs, appropriately enough), and you’ll hardly remember any of the visuals. Still, it remains my favorite films because I don’t believe a better […]
