Sean Paul Murphy, Writer

Sean Paul Murphy, Writer
Sean Paul Murphy, Storyteller

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

My 10 Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Films

This is the list of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films.  By favorites, I mean the films I enjoy watching most. These are the films I always stop on when I'm channel surfing. They so enthrall me that I will continue to watch them on a network with commercials rather than stopping long enough to throw in the Blu-ray.

If I made a list of the best Alfred Hitchcock films, it would be different. Most of the following films would remain, with a few exceptions, but the order would be changed. As a writer and filmmaker, I fully appreciate the pure aesthetics of Hitchcock's most critically-acclaimed work, as well as the bold themes and edgy plots he managed to incorporate into them within the context of the production code. That said, after a long day of work when I settle into my sofa and pick up the remote, I generally prefer his lighter rather than his darker work.

Here's the list:


Based on the novel by Ethel Lina White

A young woman traveling on a train in Eastern Europe suspects that a kindly old woman who befriended her has disappeared -- but no one else seems to remember her.

I wrestled with putting this film on the list. It ultimately came down to this one or Hitchcock's 1935 film The 39 Steps. That film was superior in practically every category. However, I simply enjoy the tone of this film better.  It is also a sentimental favorite. I first saw it projected on 16mm in the basement of my local library one Saturday afternoon and I became permanently hooked on Hitchcock. 

On the plus side, the leads Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave have great chemistry. I also like the contained setting on the train, and the pacing is taut once the film gets rolling. On the negative side, the film takes a while to get rolling, and the models are unwatchable by today's standards. Still, it is an enjoyable film. I am always happy to watch it.

Watch the whole movie here:

 

Dialogue by James Hilton & Robert Benchley

An American newspaper correspondent, Joel McCrea, finds himself caught up in international espionage prior to World War II.

This film was Hitchcock's first American thriller, and he started off with a bang. A number of key set pieces, like the chase under the umbrellas and the mysterious goings-on at the windmill, displayed Hitchcock's trademarked style. The showpiece of the film, however, involves an airplane crashing into the sea. The effects were absolutely amazing for the time. This was another film I first saw at my local library on a Saturday afternoon, and I was knocked out by it.

This film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Ironically, it lost to Hitchcock's American debut Rebecca, which we will discuss  next. 

Also, I would like to point out that the film benefited from uncredited writing assists by the King of Screenwriters Ben Hecht and future Bond film scribe Richard Maibaum.

Here's the trailer:

 


8. REBECCA, 1940
Screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison
Adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan 
Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier

A modest young woman, Joan Fontaine, marries aristocratic widower Laurence Olivier but finds herself increasingly intimidated by the presence of his late wife Rebecca when they move into his ancestral home.

This was Hitchcock's first American film and it won the Oscar for Best Picture. How about that for the start of a new stage of his career? The sky seemed to be the limit. Shockingly, however, Hitchcock would never win a competitive Oscar as a director. That alone should invalidate that competition!

This is an excellent literary adaption of the very popular book of the same name. Moody and atmospheric, the film deals in suspense of a more psychological nature than some of Hitchcock's more famous fare. Yes, it's more of a gothic romance than a thriller, but don't let that discourage you. Your viewing time will be well-rewarded. There are plenty of twists and turns to go around. 

By the way, screenwriter Joan Harrison began her career as Alfred Hitchcock's secretary in 1933. She became a screenwriter and followed Hitchcock to Hollywood, where she also became a producer. She would be nominated for two Academy Awards.

Here's the trailer:

 


Adaptation by Whitfield Cook
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith

A stranger on a train, Robert Walker, offers to trade murders with an unhappily married tennis pro, Farley Granger. Problems arise after Walker murders Granger's wife, but Granger refuses to murder Walker's father.

This is the first film on this list for which I don't feel I have to apologize. I know there are Hitchcock fans out there wondering why I included The Lady Vanishes and Foreign Correspondent and even Rebecca with the plethora of other choices available. This film, however, is an acknowledged classic anchored with great performances and a number of suspenseful set pieces. This is a must see that was later inspired the Danny DeVito comedy Throw Momma From The Train. 

Here's the trailer:

 

6. VERTIGO, 1958
Screenplay by Alec Coppel & Samuel A. Taylor
Based on the novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

Jimmy Stewart plays a detective hired to follow the wife of a friend. After Stewart is unable to save the woman from suicide due to his fear of heights, he becomes obsessed with a look-alike, Kim Novak, with tragic results. 

Aside from Marnie, this is perhaps Hitchcock's most sexually obsessed film. This film, perhaps more than any other, appears to encapsulate Hitchcock's phobias, fears and fetishes. Thematically, it was rather bold for a A-List studio picture. It works primarily due to Jimmy Stewart's performance. Today Jimmy Stewart is respected as the quintessential aw-shucks All-American actor. Hitchcock, like western director Michael Mann, was skilled at finding the darkness inside of him. And when Stewart goes dark, the world seems to go dark with him.  

The film was not a success on its initial release, which Hitchcock blamed on Stewart being too old for the role. (He never worked with him again.) Today, however, many critics considered this film to be Hitchcock's greatest achievement. The prestigious international Sight and Sound survey of critics and exhibitors declares Vertigo to be the best film ever made. It's easy to see why. I recently rewatched it and I was knocked out by -- practically everything. The photography, color, costumes, the score and the composition of the frame are stunning. The performances, writing and direction are excellent. It's the Hollywood studio system at its peak.

So why is this film only number six on my list? The first reason is one only a screenwriter would notice. Hitchcock breaks the point of view of the film (we can really only see and know what Stewart sees and knows) near the end in order to explain the villain's plot. That feels like a cheat to me. There were other ways to convey that information without breaking the POV. Also, as I said earlier, I tend to prefer the lighter fare. This is one of Hitchcock's darkest films. It's easy to see why it became appreciated later in more cynical times.

Here's the trailer:

 



5. THE BIRDS, 1963
Written by Evan Hunter
Based on the story by Daphne Du Maurier

Tippi Hedren plays an heiress who brings a pair of lovebirds to a small coastal town as a joke to a smug lawyer played by Rod Taylor only to become the center of a series of inexplicable bird attacks.

I am of two minds about this film. As a screenwriter, I find it a mess. It takes a really long time to develop any concern whatsoever for Tippi Hedren or Rod Taylor's characters, and, more importantly, it takes freaking forever before the bird attacks begin in earnest. That said, I can't turn away. And it really cooks when it takes off.

Now, sadly, is a good time to address Tippi Hedren's sexual harassment allegations against Hitchcock. Despite the fact that other actresses who worked with the director rose to his defense, I believe her. Hitchcock's behavior toward Hedren was reprehensible. And this isn't just a question of changing mores. What he did was equally wrong back then. The question that remains, as with other artists against whom there are credible #MeToo complaints, is what do we do with this knowledge. I wrestle with this. Do we throw out the films? If so, we are throwing out the work of the hundreds of other people responsible for the production of the film. Do we somehow protect Tippi Hedren by throwing away possibly her best performance? And her challenging performance in Marnie too?

My answer of how to handle Hitchcock is guided by Ms. Hedren herself. I heard a few interviews with her. She dealt with Hitchcock firmly and confidently, without regard to her future. But she moved on. And she didn't disavow her work with him. Or even Hitchcock himself. She said she attended some events honoring his work. So I will not disavow the work either. However, I will never praise the man himself. (That's why I didn't include any biographical information at the start of this blog.)

Here's a scene from the film:

 


Written by John Michael Hayes
Based on the novel by David Dodge

A retired jewel thief, Cary Grant, whose past indiscretions on the French Riviera have been forgiven as a result of his wartime heroics, faces arrest unless he discovers who is using his modus operandi to commit a new series of crimes.

This is definitely lightweight Hitchcock. I suspect few critics would rank it as highly as I do. It is more a romantic comedy than a thriller -- although there are definitely some thrills and suspense. It features nice chemistry between Grant and Grace Kelly, who plays an American heiress. Cary Grant is the ideal Hitchcock leading man, projecting the needed sophistication and aplomb for the films, and Grace Kelly is the perfect distillation of the icy blondes Hitchcock preferred. This is a thoroughly entertaining film.

Cinematographer Robert Burks, a frequent Hitchcock contributor, won an Academy Award for his work on this beautiful film.

Here's the trailer: 

 



3. REAR WINDOW, 1954
Based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich

Wheelchair bound photojournalist, Jimmy Stewart, finds himself voyeuristically peering into the lives of his neighbors while housebound and begins to suspect one of them of murder.

I think all filmmakers are voyeurs at heart, and Hitchcock was the chief of them. Rear Window is a great paean to voyeurism. The film is also another one of Hitchcock's experiments in confined settings, like my honorable mentions Lifeboat and Rope. Although Hitchcock built a massive set to depict the courtyard and apartment buildings visible from Stewart's rear window, Stewart himself is trapped by his injury in his small apartment. He is confined, and, as he will discover, very vulnerable. It is a true testimony to Hitchcock's mastery that he is able to generate such suspense in such a contained environment.

My only real problem with the film is Jimmy Stewart's refusal to make a commitment to his alluring girlfriend Grace Kelly because of their differing careers and lifestyles. Come on, Jimmy. You're a great actor, but even you can't make your character's objections seem credible! Just marry her.

Here's the trailer:

 

2. PSYCHO, 1960
Written by Joseph Stefano
Based on the novel by Robert Block

Secretary Janet Leigh steals money from her employer to run away and start a new life with her lover, but things go horribly awry when she stops at the Bates Hotel.

Filmed on a relatively low budget in black and white with the crew from his television show, Hitchcock created the true shocker of the period. I am loathe to describe the film in detail because even now I want to protect its twists and turns. This is a film I wish I could see for the first time again and again. What is nearly as much fun is watching it with someone who had never seen it before. However, no matter how often you've seen the film, it always entertains and enlightens. It is a master class in shot composition. And the Bernard Herrmann score....  That alone is worth the price of admission.

Here's the trailer:

  

Written by Ernest Lehman

Cary Grant, a Manhattan adman, finds himself, as a result of mistaken identity, on the run across the country from both the police and foreign agents. In the process, he seduces and finds himself seduced by Eva Marie Saint. Great work if you can get it.

In 1977, Mel Brooks made a Hitchcock spoof called High Anxiety. It was a noble but failed effort. The ultimate Hitchcock spoof had already been made: North By Northwest. Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman had been hired by MGM to write a thriller about the real-life mystery of the Mary Celeste, a merchant ship found adrift in 1872. The two found the subject matter uninspiring and decided to write instead the ultimate Alfred Hitchcock film employing all of his familiar tropes. The only theme was that an innocent on the run would move in a northwesterly direction. The result was indeed the ultimate Alfred Hitchcock film and perhaps one of the best films ever made.

The film features Cary Grant at his best. Eva Marie Saint brings the sex appeal. James Mason provides one of his best performances as the sophisticated villain. Martin Landau is also terrific as Mason's chief henchmen, who seems to have a homoerotic attachment to his boss. The film is witty and sophisticated, and features many suspenseful set pieces, most famously Cary Grant being attacked by a crop dusting plane. You will frequently find a clip of that sequence in any "greatest moments in cinema" montage.

To top it all off, the film ends with a train going into a tunnel. You can't ask for more than that!

A must-see.

Here's the trailer:

 

Honorable Mentions:

The 39 Steps, 1935. Robert Donat plays an innocent man on the run from the police and foreign agents in this film. Perhaps his best British film, but I enjoy The Lady Vanishes more. Notorious, 1946. Ingrid Bergman, the daughter of an American traitor, is coerced the by FBI into becoming a spy and infiltrating a Nazi ring in South America. She marries the head Nazi, a mama's boy played by Claude Rains, while falling in love with her FBI handler, Cary Grant. Rope, 1948. I doubt there was another major Hollywood filmmaker during the talkies who was as committed to cinematic experimentation as Alfred Hitchcock. This one of his boldest endeavors. He wanted the film to play out as one continuous shot. The camera was in constant movement and they would stop to change reels when it came to rest behind a piece of furniture or someone's back. Jimmy Stewart plays a professor who slowly come to realize that two of his arrogant students had murdered a friend and hid his body in a room where they held a cocktail party. Shadow of a Doubt, 1943. Teresa Wright begins to suspect that her beloved uncle, Joseph Cotton, is a serial killer who murders women for their money. This was Hitchcock's favorite film. (Script by Thornton Wilder, among others.) Frenzy, 1972. Hitchcock had a hard time finding his cultural footing during the mid-to-late-sixties, but this film, the story of an innocent man accused of being a serial killer, was a return to form. He shot this film in his native England. Family Plot, 1976. This is Hitchcock's last film. It is the tale of a phony medium, Barbara Harris and her cab driving boyfriend, Bruce Dern, trying to find a missing heir, William Devane, who, unbeknownst to them is a criminal mastermind. Most people consider this film a disappointing farewell from the master, but I find it to be an enjoyable ride. Lifeboat, 1944. Survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves trapped on a lifeboat with one of the Germans from the sub that sank them. This is a taut WWII propaganda piece that, like Rope, essentially takes place in one location. Still, Hitchcock cleverly managed to find a place for his trademarked cameo....

Least Favorite:

I am not including any of Hitchcock's British films. I have seen most if not all of the talkies, but the weaker efforts didn't stay with me long enough to earn my abrogation. I feel also Hitchcock went through a dry period between 1947 and 1950 making films like The Paradine Case, I Confess, Under Capricorn,  and Stage Fright. They were all solid studio fare, but I feel no need to watch them again. Instead I am only including misfires he made at the height of his powers. Hitchcock's films are usually laced with humor. His third American film was a fine screwball comedy called Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It wasn't a Hitchcock film, per se, with his normal droll humor. Hitchcock attempted a comedy built around his own style of humor with The Trouble With Harry, about an inconvenient corpse buried and reburied continually by some New England locals. The central gag-- the nonchalance of the locals -- gets tired after a while despite some game performances. The 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much was a remake of Hitchcock's previous 1934 British film. Hitchcock preferred the new version. I liked the older one. I think my problem was Doris Day. She feels out of place to me. And enough Que Sera Sera already.  Torn Curtain was a fine spy thriller, but it didn't have the snap or humor of his best work. I blame the cast. Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are fine actors, but not for an Alfred Hitchcock film. Imagine Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint as the leads and you'd have something. The ripped from the headlines international spy thriller Topaz shows Hitchcock floundering in the late-60s trying to stay relevant. He would recover next with Frenzy. 

Here are my other lists:



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