the list of 9 for september 1, 2006:
MY NINE FAVORITE HITCHCOCK FILMS
Few film directors have ever achieved the level of notoriety that Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed duringhis long, successful career. Yet today there are countless filmmakers who have only seen one ortwo of "the master's" fifty-plus features. There are millions of moviegoers who erroneouslyremember him as a "horror" director, though only two of his films - Psycho and TheBirds - qualified as such. There are studio marketers who routinely pull quotes fromreviewers, declaring some tepid modern-day thriller to be "Hitchcockian" - usually inaccurately.But as most of my contemporaries pay lip service to "Hitch" while finding their true inspirationin directors of lesser interest, such as Quentin Tarantino and Michael Mann, I remain anold-fashioned devotee to Hitchcock's lean, clever cinema - his balance of fear and levity, ofpersonal depth and polished storytelling, of romance and black comedy. I really do try to make"Hitchcockian" films myself, and of the twenty or so of his features that I've seen, these are myfavorites:

  1. Strangers on a Train (1951). This is my favorite movie ofall time, period. For those new to Hitchcock's work, start here: It remains in my opinion his mostexciting film, his funniest, and the one with his greatest villain - the murderous Robert Walker,who died soon after the film was completed. Some people complain about the "weak" leading man andlady, but I disagree. And who can resist Hitchcock's own daughter Patricia in a particularlysmart-assed role?

  2. Vertigo (1958). Snubbed by critics and audiences alikeduring its initial release, Vertigo went into hiding for many years before beingre-released to later viewers better attuned to Hitchcock's artistry. It's not a perfect film -some slow, quiet scenes will bore as many as they mesmerize - but its dark storyline, complexemotional landscape and Bernard Herrmann's overwhelming score are a few of the many reasons whythis is Hitchcock's most haunting masterpiece.

  3. Rear Window (1954). This may be the "perfect" Hitchcockfilm, and for that reason I include it on this list, though after seeing a new print of it a fewyears ago, I found it to be such a tidy package that I don't really think much about it afterward.But it's Hitchcock's most financially successful picture by far, and arguably his mostcreative.

  4. Frenzy (1972). Hitchcock's career suffered badly in the1960's due to his crippling obsession with actress Tippi Hedren, but his penultimate feature -shot back in England, with a cast of no-names - is the only "classic" Hitchcock work after TheBirds, nine years earlier. Wrong man scenario? Domineering mother character? Charismaticvillain? Coal-black comedy? Taut suspense? It's all here. However, those who claim the directornever had to resort to explicit sex or violence to send chills down audiences' spines obviouslydidn't see Frenzy's graphic rape/murder scene.

  5. Lifeboat (1944). This wartime drama does the impossible:It tells a gripping story that entirely takes place on one small lifeboat on the high seas. Andother than in the opening and closing of the picture, there's no musical score. (Hitchcock'srationale: you wouldn't hear an orchestra in the middle of the ocean.) It's extremely well-shot;not for a moment did I stop believing that the boat was in the Atlantic, and not on some Hollywoodsound stage. There are also a lot of moral ambiguities in Lifeboat, courageous for an Americanfilm released during World War II.

  6. Foreign Correspondent (1940). Shortly before the U.S.entered WWII, the dazzling Foreign Correspondent showed Europe in the early throes ofwartime espionage. Lots of superb Hitchcock "set pieces" here, including an assassination on rainysteps amidst a throng of umbrellas and a to-this-day believable plane crash scene, shown from theinside of the cockpit as it smashes into the sea. By the way, there is no connection between this film and my own Foreign Correspondents.

  7. The Wrong Man (1956). Hitchcock's least characteristicpicture, despite the eponymous theme which was recurrent in his work. Shot verite-style, with anaturalistic leading man (Henry Fonda) whose introspective presence seemed an ill fit for theusual snappy-patter Hitchcock heroes, this sad, affecting true-crime story is among thedirector's most underrated efforts.

  8. Shadow of a Doubt (1943). While I still have problems withthis movie that I can't quite put my finger on, there's no doubt - pun not intended - that thecasting of geeky Joseph Cotten as a beloved uncle who's also a serial killer is a stroke ofgenius, and the film's themes of doubles and moral decay make it a great counterpart to Strangerson a Train. It also, in many ways, presaged David Lynch's Blue Velvet in its depictionof evil lurking in the heart of small-town America.

  9. Psycho (1960). Perhaps you've heard of it? While fans ofthe master may drub me for not including North by Northwest (which I do find veryentertaining), Notorious (I couldn't get into it), The Birds (it has some terrifyingsequences, but the first hour is bloated) or Rebecca (not bad, but a little dull), I'd bepositively strung up if I didn't mention Psycho. Though most of the film still doesn't domuch for me personally, no matter how many times I watch that shower scene, it still devastatesme. And of course I appreciate it for laying the groundwork for all the horror, thriller andslasher flicks to follow - for better or for worse.

Copyright © Mark Tapio Kines 2011