FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: jed on July 18, 2008, 11:07:38 AM
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The last two Best Shows, this archive (http://www.wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=10852&archive=12517) (includes Cohen brothers list), and Matthew_S' post (http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,3496.0.html) made me want to make a Hitcock list. He has too many I've never seen for me to really fill out but what are your favorites?
At the top, for me:
1. The Wrong Man
2. Strangers on a Train
3. Vertigo
Filmography:
1922 No. 13
1923 Always Tell Your Wife
1925 The Pleasure Garden
1926 The Mountain Eagle
1927 The Lodger
1927 Downhill
1927 The Ring
1928 Easy Virtue
1928 The Farmer's Wife
1928 Champagne
1929 The Manxman
1929 Blackmail (silent version)
1929 Blackmail
1930 Juno and the Paycock
1930 Murder!
1930 Elstree Calling
1931 The Skin Game
1931 Mary
1932 Number Seventeen
1932 Rich and Strange
1933 Waltzes from Vienna
1934 The Man Who Knew Too Much
1935 The 39 Steps
1936 Secret Agent
1936 Sabotage
1937 Young and Innocent
1938 The Lady Vanishes
1939 Jamaica Inn
1940 Rebecca
1940 Foreign Correspondent
1941 Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1941 Suspicion
1942 Saboteur
1943 Shadow of a Doubt
1944 Lifeboat
1944 Aventure Malgache
1944 Bon Voyage
1945 Spellbound
1946 Notorious
1947 The Paradine Case
1948 Rope
1949 Under Capricorn
1950 Stage Fright
1951 Strangers on a Train
1953 I Confess
1954 Dial M for Murder
1954 Rear Window
1955 To Catch a Thief
1955 The Trouble with Harry
1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956 The Wrong Man
1958 Vertigo
1959 North by Northwest
1960 Psycho
1963 The Birds
1964 Marnie
1966 Torn Curtain
1969 Topaz
1972 Frenzy
1976 Family Plot
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1930 Under Siege 2 and the Paycock
I thought John Ford did this one?
I've only seen 11 of these all the way through (The Wrong Man not included), but this:
1958 Vertigo
1959 North by Northwest
1960 Psycho
1963 The Birds
Talk about a hot streak.
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I watched The 39 Steps for the first time earlier this year, and could not believe how bad it was. Even for a movie of it’s time, I thought it was pretty awful. I was surprised, because I always hear that thrown around as one of his classics – why? Was it a gigantic hit, is that why people always talk about it or something? I don’t get it.
That being said, I saw about 2/3 of The Lodger on TCM once last year, not realizing it as a Hitchcock, and loved it. I’ve been meaning to Netflix it to see it all the way through. Good stuff.
Top three for me: The Birds, Rope, and Lifeboat, in that order.
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I watched The 39 Steps for the first time earlier this year, and could not believe how bad it was. Even for a movie of it’s time, I thought it was pretty awful. I was surprised, because I always hear that thrown around as one of his classics – why? Was it a gigantic hit, is that why people always talk about it or something? I don’t get it.
Maybe not worth all the acclaim, but "bad"? I don't think it's bad. It is a reeeeeally early on the list too.
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1. Vertigo
(then a biiiig gap to:)
2. Marnie
3. The Birds
Then, the rest of the late 50s, early 60s films.
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1. North By Northwest
2. Shadow of a doubt (Joseph Cotton just rules)
3. Strangers On A Train
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Boy, I like Hitchcock but I never got the Birds.* Time to rewatch I guess.
My favorite is Rear Window.
* But this will be the perfect stocking stuffer for the young nieces. http://www.neatorama.com/2008/06/28/alfred-hitchcocks-the-birds-barbie-doll/
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1958 Vertigo
1959 North by Northwest
1960 Psycho
1963 The Birds
Talk about a hot streak.
I think Hitchcock pretty much invented the hotstreak right there.
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1935 The 39 Steps
1938 The Lady Vanishes
1940 Rebecca
1941 Suspicion
1943 Shadow of a Doubt
1944 Lifeboat
1945 Spellbound
1946 Notorious
1947 The Paradine Case
1948 Rope
1949 Under Capricorn
1951 Strangers on a Train
1953 I Confess
1954 Dial M for Murder
1954 Rear Window
1955 To Catch a Thief
1955 The Trouble with Harry
1958 Vertigo
1959 North by Northwest
1960 Psycho
1963 The Birds
1964 Marnie
1972 Frenzy
1976 Family Plot
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top 3 for me
1. Rope - only Hitchcock could pull off a thriller in one room shot in all long takes.
2. Psycho - for obvious reasons, but really for me it's Anthony Perkins' performance. so calmly creepy
3. The Trouble with Harry - one of Hitch's not so often seen comedys and it's dry and dark and hilarious
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It's hard to rank one's I don't like when his early stuff is so different (Rich and Strange), but I think To Catch a Thief is overrated. It misses out for not having a good murder. For non-murderous Hitchcock I like The Wrong Man.
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I've seen
Dial M for Murder
Psycho
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Rebecca
Suspicion
The 39 Steps
North by Northwest
The Trouble with Harry
The Birds
Rope
Notorious
Saboteur
Lifeboat
Shadow of a Doubt
To Catch a Thief
Vertigo
Marnie
The Wrong Man
Spellbound
Psycho, Vertigo, and North by Northwest are all my favorites.
I'm surprised that there's a lot of Birds-lovers. That's probably my least favorite.
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1. Rear Window
2. Strangers On a Train
3. Vertigo
4. North By Northwest
5. Spellbound
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I haven't watched too much Hitchcock but I did watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents a ton when I was a kid on Nick at Nite. Once Netflix comes to the 360 I'm going to watch all of those because I think a lot of the seasons are on the instant queue.
My favorite Hitchcock movie and it's not even close: The Stewart/Day Man Who Knew Too Much. That's one of my favorite movies of all time.
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Top five (alphabetically)
High Anxiety
North by Northwest
Psycho
Rear Window
Vertigo
The Wrong Man
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but I did watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents a ton when I was a kid on Nick at Nite.
Me too. I've been buying up those DVD sets and it's been a complete blast - I could watch those all night and day, even the crummy ones.
The best part about watching a bunch in a row on a DVD is the intros and outros with Hitch - when you see anough of them back to back, it becomes really clear what ones were filmed at the end of a long, long, long day of filming intros and outros. There are a few where he's just clearly drunk. So much fun.
Also, the casts are a blast. I watched one the other night with Dick York as a sleazy mobster. There was another nuts one with a very young Rip Torn - I wouldn't even have recognized him. I wanna change my list and put the entirety of Alfred Hitchcock Presents at number 1.
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I forgot to say which ones I like best:
Lifeboat: Haven't seen this for ages, but as a romantic child I liked Tallulah Bankhead and John Hodiak. Also, the thought of having to survive on a lifeboat has always given me the creeps, so naturally I was drawn to this.
Notorious: Another one that appealed to the romantic child me. Plus I have a soft spot for Claude Rains.
Rear Window: James Stewart is so unpleasant in this. I liked that.
North by Northwest: Fun
Psycho: Fun
The Birds: Fun
I don't really like Hitchcock all that much (don't let the length of my list fool you: I've just watched a lot of movies for a lot of years, and his were often on television in the afternoon. I ended up watching a fair number of Elvis Presley movies for the same reason).
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but I did watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents a ton when I was a kid on Nick at Nite.
Me too. I've been buying up those DVD sets and it's been a complete blast - I could watch those all night and day, even the crummy ones.
The best part about watching a bunch in a row on a DVD is the intros and outros with Hitch - when you see anough of them back to back, it becomes really clear what ones were filmed at the end of a long, long, long day of filming intros and outros. There are a few where he's just clearly drunk. So much fun.
Also, the casts are a blast. I watched one the other night with Dick York as a sleazy mobster. There was another nuts one with a very young Rip Torn - I wouldn't even have recognized him. I wanna change my list and put the entirety of Alfred Hitchcock Presents at number 1.
Hulu has all of these and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour up for your viewing pleasure.
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In no particular order:
Marnie
The Trouble with Harry
The Birds
Rear Window
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Torn Curtain
The Man Who Knew Too Much(both versions)
Sabotage
Strangers on a Train
Psycho
I love them all, hope to see more. He was a true master. I recently met someone who got to watch Hitchcock at work, filming a scene for North by Northwest in Chicago way back when. Hitchcock Presents are great....Lamb to Slaughter and The Case of Mr Pelham to name a few favorites.
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Are there any The Birds fans up for defending it? It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember it not being one of my favorites. I want to know where you guys are coming from.
I haven't seen enough of his filmography to list definitive favorites, but I do love North by Northwest.
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Are there any The Birds fans up for defending it? It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember it not being one of my favorites. I want to know where you guys are coming from.
The short story is more believable and scarier.
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Are there any The Birds fans up for defending it? It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember it not being one of my favorites. I want to know where you guys are coming from.
I haven't seen enough of his filmography to list definitive favorites, but I do love North by Northwest.
I saw Rear Window at an impressionable age(I was 12-13? in the mid 1980s) that made me think about what elements make a good movie other then car chase scenes, imperial storm troopers or massive explosions. I was young and my exposure to films was limited to family friendly blockbusters. Watching Rear Window, I could feel my brain expand. The whole story takes place in some guys apartment?! No special effects, straight story. I was amazed that I could be captivated by a film in such a deceptively plain setting. The next Hitchcock film I saw not too long after, The Birds. Again, it is the story keeping me glued to my seat. Tippi Hendren is a bit much to take in some scenes. The story upstages everyone which allows me to forgive the imperfections of the film. Hitchcock confines your understanding of why the birds are attacking, limits the information from outside the small town to almost nothing. He uses fear of the unknown adding panic and terror...mix with water=a fun film to watch. The ending leaves everything open. No neatly wrapped up conclusion, all the loose ends left to the imagination. Twenty+ years later I can see it is not his strongest film, I still love watching it.