Shadow of doubt...

...still working my way through my Hitchcock boxed set.

This one was dear to Hitch's heart and I unearthed a gem from the nineteen forties. Watched over three nights it's a real belter. A mysterious brother/uncle comes to stay and he has a dark secret. His favourite niece stumbles upon it - he's a serial killer.

The kind of film that used to be on telly late doors when I was a kid.
There are a few bonus features on the dvd - including an interview with Teresa Wright the vivacious (gorgeous) 'favourite niece' which demonstrates the ageing process.....as if I needed it ! -
she still shines sixty years later.

This was very good film noir....
and it must have been massive in its day. Terror comes to a small town...something of a Hitchcock speciality.

More stuff on Ms.Wright - I bet anyone over forty recognises her face...
- I've just discovered she sadly passed away in '05, here...
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Teresa/teresa.htm

To get the real low-down on Hitchcock you must read the interviews with Truffault (French director) You can access them here:

tp://books.google.com/books?id=XTZsFGuUXNYC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=hitchcoc k+frenh+interview

The presence of the French translator is something one becomes used to.
Points to remember are that in Hitchcock films there is an undercurrent of guilt which everyone shares - this is a product of his Catholicism.

Also he likes dirty jokes - the crofter sequence in the 39 steps is an example.
He hates food, he hates mothers - see the sequence in Frenzy where the mother butts out a cigarette in a fried egg. He is not at all happy with sex but has a thing for frigid blondes. He rather likes birds!

And there is much more.

But Truffault scooped everyone - it's indispensible!

So the link doesn't work. Do a google search for Hitchcock Truffault and that should work

I appreciate your pointers but:
I'm not sure I'm sufficiently interested in any individual to try to get inside their heads to this extent. I'm happy to enjoy the final product, and think about it for a while.
The fact that he is a complex character is new to me, although I'm not surprised. Creative and artistic souls usually are. I think it might be a little 'simplistic' to put character traits down to 'that's because of his catholicism' - a bit of a broad brush.

You say 'he hates mothers' which I assume is a summation of your own as nobody, surely would admit to such a blanket character defect. To deeply delve & search the nooks and crannies of anothers mind suggests there are voids in ones own. Unless yer being paid for it of course - a different ball game altogether.

To try to analyse a person to such an extent elevates their importance to a level I'm not sure I could sustain for long. However, I may well have a look.

Meanwhile 'Frenzy' will be watched again very soon - not because I dislike Mums or fried eggs.

Sorry, Percy, the cigarette and the fried egg are in To Catch A Thief.
Psycho has an interesting take on mothers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rich

Sorry, Percy, the cigarette and the fried egg are in To Catch A Thief.
Psycho has an interesting take on mothers.

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You may be reading too much into Hitch's 'psyche'
His reson'detre (spelling?) was to entertain and to persuade producers to finance his next movie surely. You seem to assume that all fiction is fantasised biography. I can only buy that to a certain extent. If it's des riguere (spelling?) for all fiction then surely few would expose themselves to such intensive scrutiny. Myself included.

Yet he insisted in appearing in each of his films.

I can't think of any other director who did this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rich

Yet he insisted in appearing in each of his films.

I can't think of any other director who did this.

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Most of them anyway.
I am currently watching Torn Curtain - nightly, in instalments.
He appears in a hotel lobby scene holding a baby - early on....and the music changes to his familiar little tune. Indulgent methought.