Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail (2024)

[bunniefuu]

[ Dark luminous music plays ]

Elvis Mitchell:

Alfred Hitchcock,

the director once said,

I want to be remembered as a man

who entertained millions

through the technique of film.

Hitchcock, or Hitch,

as his friends and family

called him,

is probably on

the very short list

of the most recognizable

directors of cinema.

He had a specific style

and explored themes repeatedly,

but through different stories

and characters,

and he knew

how to market himself.

Many classic actors

are identifiable through films

they made with Hitchcock,

and even when talking

about composer Bernard Herrmann,

for instance, he is immediately

connected to Hitchcock.

As years go by, however,

there's a tendency

to only focus

on a handful of his films,

but by looking at

his filmography,

one gets an overview

of Film History.

He started during the silent era

and found himself

at the junction

when sound appeared

with a film called "Blackmail."

"Blackmail," 1929,

is significant

in so many ways.

It marks a transition

from one technology to another,

and shows Hitchcock embracing

sound in a compelling

and experimental way.

[ Screams ]

Then there are so many themes

in the film itself

and of the titles surrounding it

that are part

of Hitchcock cinema.

While "Blackmail"

was already Hitchcock's 10th

fully completed

feature film,

it is one that can be seen

not only as one of his best,

but also one that developed

further the director's style

and his singular

cinematic eye...

[ Dish clatters ]

...and ear.

[ Birds chirping ]

"Blackmail,"

and those very early films

mark in many ways,

the birth

of the Hitchcock touch.

[ Projector whirring ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]









[ Tense music plays ]

"Blackmail" is the story

of a young woman,

Alice White, Anny Ondra,

who murders an artist.

Crewe, Cyril Ritchard,

in self-defense.

She is blackmailed by a man

named Tracy, Donald Calthrop,

who saw them together,

but is protected

and ultimately saved

by her fianc,

Frank Webber,

John Longden,

the detective

in charge of the case.

Alice.

Lock that door.

"Blackmail,"

the play by Charles Bennett,

starred Tallulah Bankhead,

in the lead role of Alice.

It premiered at London's

Globe Theater in 1928

and was directed by

Raymond Massey,

himself an actor.

Bennett said that the road began

with Hitchcock attending

a performance of the play

one night,

and then asking to meet Bennett.

He plainly announced he wanted

to make this into a movie.

Bennett answered,

"Talk to my agent about it."

And so he did.

On "Blackmail,"

Bennett didn't adapt his play.

Alfred Hitchcock gets credit

on the film's adaptation

with Benn Levy

for the dialogue,

for the sound version.

"Blackmail" began

as a silent movie.

And as talking pictures

appeared.

Hitch had to deliver

a sound version of the film.

Sorry, sir. Full up.

We have

more room upstairs.

Go on.

I think I told you

there's more room upstairs.

Sorry, sir. Full up here.

More room up

Hey!

Both the silent

and the sound version

were eventually released.

It's interesting to mention

that most Hitchcock films

were based on existing material.

Novels,

short stories,

and plays.

There are few

original screenplays.

"North by Northwest,"

for instance,

was an original script

by Ernest Lehman,

another screenwriter with whom

Hitch had a strong relationship.

In fact,

Ernest Lehman once said,

"You realize very early on

when you're working with Hitch

that you're writing

for a star.

And that star

is Alfred Hitchcock."

John Michael Hays also wrote

four screenplays for Hitchcock.

And Alma Reville,

Hitchcock's wife,

greatly contributed

to everything Hitch did.

Man: Don't be silly, Alice.

Alice: Let me go!

Let me go!

[ Straining, grunting ]

[ Typewriter clacking ]

Mitchell: The writing

in his films was essential,

and was one of the

most important elements

in the success

of Hitchcock pictures.

[ Typewriter clacking ]

"One of my biggest problems

is writing,

and that is why

I can't make films more often,"

Hitchcock declared.

He also admitted with a wink,

"But of course I need writers.

I am a visual man,

but unfortunately,

I must also have delineation

of character and dialogue.

The plot I can depict,

but I must have characters

and good dialogue."

The first play that Hitch

adapted was "Downhill" in 1927,

followed that same year

by "Easy Virtue,"

based on the great

Noel Coward effort,

and "The Farmer's Wife" in 1928.

Even though it was all dialogue,

Hitchcock did his best to make

that film as visual as possible.

[ Lighthearted music plays ]

And have as few title cards

as possible.





[ Lighthearted music fades ]

This was good training ground

for "Blackmail."

"Blackmail"

was advertised as

"The first British

sound feature length film."

John Maxwell,

the producer of "Blackmail,"

set up a temporary

sound-stage studio

with RCA material imported

from the United States.

During the transition

between silent and sound,

films were advertised

as part sound films.

They had been shot silent,

but only the last reel

had sound.

Well, here we are.

I'm right up there. Top.

It seems that during

the production of "Blackmail,"

there would be a sound version.

In fact,

the silent version was released

after the talkie version

of "Blackmail."

Good evening, Miss White.

How are you?

I'm alright, thanks.

I haven't seen you

for a long time.

Therefore,

while sh**ting

the silent version

of "Blackmail,"

Hitchcock was thinking sound.

That's right.

Well,

I must push along.

Good night.

Good night.

Good night,

Frank.

Well, dear.

[ Pensive music plays ]

The first part of "Blackmail"

practically remains

a silent film.

No dialogue, pure visuals

showing detectives on the case.

[ Pensive music continues ]

There's an interesting shot of

the bad guy reading a newspaper,

Hitch would reproduce

a near similar shot,

in "Shadow of a Doubt."

The camera moved

to a mirror,

again,

a shot that Hitch reprized

many years later in "Topaz."

The scene in Scotland Yard

with the different stages

of the villain's arrest

is rich with details.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

It's almost like watching

a documentary.



Hitchcock will film

Henry Fonda's arrest

in "The Wrong Man" in 1957,

in a similar

documentary approach

detailing the steps

of the arrest.

The film was also based

on a true story.

"Blackmail"

is full of innovations,

but that was also true

of "The Ring,"

which the director called

"a Hitchcock picture"

had a scene

where our protagonist,

an up-and-coming boxer,

Jack Saunders,

imagines having to leave

his wife behind

whilst he goes on tour.

Look at how Hitch materializes

Jack's fear and suspicion

towards his wife's interest

in another man.

What could happen

if he left them alone?

[ Jazzy music plays ]

"Champagne"

was very much a comedy

with some interesting

visual gags.

A drunk man on a ship.

When the ship is steady,

he is barely on his feet.

When the ship is rocking,

he is steady.

There's also food being served,

where Hitch shows it

as a mess in the kitchen,

and how it eventually reaches

a table looking appetizing.

Among those early titles,

you find the seed of some

of Hitch's later films.

The state fair in "The Ring"

is echoed

in "Stage Fright"

and "Strangers on the Train."

The POV of a man drinking

from a glass in "Champagne"

can also be found in

"Spellbound."

The slapstick comedy

in that same film

is present in another

Hitchcock comedy.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

the historical setting

of "Juno and the Paycock"

is in "Foreign Correspondent,"

"Saboteur" and "Lifeboat,"

for instance.

a costume ball party

in "Rich and Strange,"

is like in "To Catch a Thief."

For $9,000.

Once...

[ Gavel bangs ]

twice...

[ Gavel bangs ]

the third and last time.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

There's an auction scene

in "The Skin Game,"

just like in

"North by Northwest."

Auctioneer: $22.50 once.

$22.50 twice.

Last call.

$1,500.

There are many more examples

underlining that

the Hitchcock sensibility

was already forming,

not only during

those early years,

but in films that are

way different from the ones

that he would become

most known for.

We meet Anny Ondra.

Now, uh, Miss Ondra,

you asked me to let

you hear your voice

on the talking picture.

[ Chuckles ]

But, Hitch,

you mustn't do that.

Why not?

Well,

because I can't speak well.

Do you realize a squad

van will be here any moment?

No. Really. Oh, my gosh.

I'm terribly frightened.

Why? Have you been

a bad woman or something?

Well, not just bad.

But, er...

But you've slept

with men?

Oh, no! [ Laughs ]

You have not? Come here.

Stand in your place.

Otherwise it will

not come out right,

as the girl said

to the soldier.

[ Laughing ]

That's enough.

[ Laughter ]

Anny Ondra,

who plays Alice White,

a prophetic name,

as in "Alice in Wonderland,"

or so she thinks,

but instead falls

into a rabbit hole

and gets involved

with m*rder.

In white, but first shown

dressed in black,

although after her ordeal

at the end,

dressed in bright colors,

ready to start over.

[ Gentle music plays ]

Anny Ondra, whose real name

was Anna Ondrkov,

was German and Czech.

She also starred in

"The Manxman," released in 1929,

which Hitchcock directed

a few months before "Blackmail."

"The Manxman" was Hitch's last

silent movie before "Blackmail,"

which included

some interesting shots.

But Ondra's career

in England was k*lled

when the talkies came in.

She returned to Germany

and appeared in a few films,

and then retired after marrying

prizefighter Max Schmeling.

Michael Powell,

who later became writer,

director, producer

of films such as...

...began his career at

British International Pictures.

"Although I was head

of the stills department,"

Powell wrote

in his autobiography,

"It was agreed

by Hitch and me

that I should personally sh**t

all stills on his pictures.

I went down to Elm Street

to see him.

He was sh**ting

extra sound scenes

between Anny Ondra

and Cyril Ritchard,

her seducer in the film.

Anny had a Czech accent

you could cut with a knife.

So Hitch had hired a bright

young actress,

Joan Barry,

to speak Anny's

c*ck lines off camera

while Anny mouthed them

in front of the camera.

It was a mad idea,

but it worked.

Unless you know that fact,

the switch is seamless."

Oh no, I don't think so.

Besides,

I have to go home soon.

I see it.

Michael Powell continues,

"Hitch was listening

to the scene

on a dead set of earphones.

He waved to me

and I waved back,

And then I looked around.

Where was Jack Cox,

the director of photography?

Where was the soundproof camera?

I edged carefully

around the set

to where the camera was

presumably hidden,

and found it

in a sort of sweat box

which contained the camera

and the whole camera crew."

By the way,

Ronald Neame,

the director of

"The Poseidon Adventure,"

among others,

was assistant cameraman

on "Blackmail."

Visuals and camera movements

were always important

to Hitchcock.

"I don't decry dialogue,"

Hitch once said,

"but I feel that technique

is not necessarily cinematic."

He told French filmmaker

Francois Truffaut

for the iconic interview book

"Hitchcock/Truffaut"

that to him,

silent movie-making

was the purest form of cinema.

But that didn't stop Hitch

from experimenting.

In "m*rder!," at one point,

Herbert Marshall is shaving,

listening to the radio.

He has a stream

of consciousness monologue,

something quite novel

at the time.

Had to drink a drop of brandy.

For that scene,

Hitch had an orchestra

playing music live,

but off screen.

[ Orchestral music playing ]

I'm sure I was right

when I raised that point,

and I feel more certain now.

How did we know that someone

else didn't drink the brandy?

Perhaps there was someone else.

That's the whole thing.

Whoever drank that brandy

[ Knock on door ]

Alice is one of Hitchcock's

complicated blondes.

She starts off as one

of Hitchcock's

strongest female characters.

I must be getting home.

You are frightened?

I'm certainly not.

Take more than the man

to frighten me.

Yeah. [Chuckles]

That's what I thought.

She is in love

with her boyfriend Frank,

but is bored with him

and wants to explore

other potential,

namely an artist.

She lies to Frank

and hooks up with a guy.

What happens next

is literally a journey

to get her to realize that

Frank is the right man for her.

You find that theme

throughout the Hitchcock oeuvre.

For example, in "Stage Fright,"

Eve, played by Jane Wyman,

falls in love with a detective

while trying to prove that a man

she loves is innocent of m*rder,

but is in fact a k*ller.

"Blackmail" also announces

more directly

Hitchcock's "Dial M for m*rder,"

based on a hit play by

Frederick Knott,

in which Tony Wendice,

Ray Milland, arranges the m*rder

of his adulterous wife,

Margot, Grace Kelly.

But when the k*ller strikes

attempting to strangle

his victim,

Margot grabs a pair of scissors

and stabs the man in the back.

A scene reminiscent

of "Blackmail,"

in which Anny Ondra

stabs the man

who is trying to r*pe her.

[ Gasping ]

You think Margot is lucky

to have escaped m*rder,

but things turn against her

when her liaison

with Mark Halliday,

Robert Cummings, surfaces.

The husband made it look

like the k*ller

was blackmailing Margot.

She loses the sympathy

of the jury

and is condemned to death

for m*rder.

The detective in charge,

John Williams,

is skeptical, however,

and with Mark's help

manages to prove

Margot's innocence.

Like Anny Ondra's own journey

in "Blackmail,"

what is memorable about

Grace Kelly

in "Dial M for m*rder"

is her transformation

throughout the film.

We'd better drop in here

first and have a drink.

Mitchell: She goes from

glamorous and sexy

to vulnerable and defeated.

What's the matter with me,

Mark?

I don't seem able to feel

anything.

Hitchcock did

a masterful job making

making a seemingly

unsympathetic character

she is, after all,

cheating on her husband

completely sympathetic.

The audience roots for her

even before we find out

the husband's murderous

intentions.

Many years later,

the consequence of impulse

like Alice's own desire

to hook up with Crewe,

the artist in "Blackmail"

would be deadly for Janet Leigh

in Hitchcock's "Psycho."

There is a blonde

who would change the face

of thrillers and cinema

altogether.

There are many other blondes

in Hitchcock's films,

but truly, the impulsive

one started with "Blackmail."

Alice and Frank

go to Lyon's Corner Hall,

a popular spot in London.

It's a fascinating scene

to watch.

There, something happened

that shows

Hitchcock's brilliance

at setting things up.

Frank,

I've lost one

of my gloves.

I think I left it

at the other table.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

[ Laughter ]

[ Indistinct chatter continues ]

[ Mid-tempo orchestral music

playing ]

Is this it?

Yes, thanks.

Hm, thought so.

There's a hole

in two fingers.

Would you like a pair of

nail scissors for Christmas?

Funny, aren't you?

And later,

she loses her glove again

at the home

of the man she kills.

It's the perfect payoff

when Frank finds the glove

when investigating the m*rder.

[ Dramatic musical sting ]

He knows it was her.

On one hand,

by keeping the evidence,

he is protecting her.

On the other,

Alice becomes, in a way,

his prisoner forever,

since he is the only one

who knows the truth.

In "Blackmail,"

Hitchcock makes

his cameo appearance

on a subway train sitting

behind John Longden,

who is across

from Anny Ondra.

Hitchcock had appeared in

a silent thriller, "The Lodger,"

in 1926,

three years before "Blackmail."

"It all started with a shortage

of extras in my first thriller,"

Hitchcock once said.

"I was in for a few seconds

as an editor

with my back to the camera.

It really wasn't much,

but I played it to the hilt.

Since then,

I have been trying to get into

every one of my pictures.

It isn't

that I like the business,

but it has an impelling

fascination that I can't resist.

When I do it, the cast,

the grips and the cameramen,

and everyone else gather

to make it as difficult

as possible for me.

But I can't stop now."

Hitchcock said, regarding

his cameo roles,

that he tried to keep

those roles as short as possible

so that he wouldn't

have to suffer the indignity

of being an actor any longer

than necessary.

He also liked

to get this gimmick over with

early in his films,

so that the audience wouldn't

just sit there looking for him.

[ Train whistle blows ]

Hitchcock like trains.

[ Train engine chugging ]

He appeared on a train

in "Shadow of a Doubt."

He's playing cards

with another passenger.

He is coming out of a train

station with Gregory Peck,

in "The Paradine Case,"

and trying to climb

aboard a train holding

holding a cello case in

"Strangers on a Train."

[ Bell clanging ]

Menier: It's proving

astonishingly difficult

to find the right person

for one particular part.

Might I ask you

to stand up for one moment?

The really frightening thing

about villains

is their surface likableness.

Menier: You know Bennett,

he looks it.

He looks it

quite perfectly.

Exactly what

I've been thinking, Sir John.

An Agatha Christie

type character

in Hitchcock's "Suspicion" says

about the villains

in her mystery novels...

I was completely fascinated

by the way your villain

My villain?

My hero you mean.

I always think of

my murderers as my heroes?

That quote seems to parallel

Hitchcock's own approach

to the bad guys

in his films.

I'm afraid you're wasting

your time.

You see, she can

neither here nor speak.

"I always make my villains

charming and polite,"

the director said.

Do you mind?

Hmm?

Hands up.

"It's a mistake to think

that if you put

a villain on screen,

he must sneer nastily,

stroke his black mustache,

or kick a dog in the stomach.

Some of the most famous

murderers in criminology,

men for whom arsenic

was so disgustingly gentle

that they did women in

with a blunt instrument,

had to be charmers to

get acquainted with the females

they eventually m*rder*d."

Will you search

this gentleman?

I take it

you've no objection.

I don't mind.

In "Blackmail,"

Hitch said that the shadow

to suggest a mustache

on the artist's face

was his farewell

to the silent films.

Hitchcock was a master

at making his villains

almost as charming

as his heroes.

They all seem

to possess a sense of humor,

and though their view

of the world was sinister,

they kept smiles on their faces.

I'm so sorry, Sir John.

I'm afraid I understand

so little about playwriting.

I always think

a girl knows instinctively

when she

can trust a man.

Yes, of course she does.

Do you trust me...Alice?

In "Blackmail," there are,

in essence, two villains,

Crewe, the artist,

truly a champagne villain,

And Tracy the blackmailer,

a sleazy type.

This again will become

a bit of a staple for Hitch.

Look at "Dial M"

suave Ray Milland,

the mastermind behind the

attempted k*lling of his wife

and the creepy henchman

he hires,

played by Anthony Dawson.

Another example

might include Mr. Krug

from "Foreign Correspondent."

Krug has a sketchy history,

as revealed by

the scar on his neck

hidden under

his turtleneck sweater

versus Stephen Fisher,

played by Herbert Marshall,

who never gets his hands dirty.

Marshall had also appeared in

"m*rder!"

in a much more likable role.

Also think of silky James Mason

versus his dedicated-to-a-fault

subordinate

played by Martin Landau in

"North by Northwest."

Rotten.

[ Laughing ]

Never mind.

We'll finish this masterpiece

together.

That's the idea.

Art and framing

take a special place

in Hitchcock's body of work.

[ Dark luminous music plays ]

The painting of a court jester

is a very important image

in "Blackmail."

[ Laughing ]

Hitchcock, himself a great

appreciator of art and fashion,

had an eye for paintings

in his work.

Think about a few examples

a painting

of Carlotta Valdes

and the self-portrait

that Midge does

of herself in "Vertigo" later.

The portrait in "Rebecca,"

or the one done by Bruno's mom

in "Strangers on a Train."

The painting of Joan Fontaine's

father in "Suspicion,"

or the painting

in the hallway

that an inspector looks at

enigmatically

in a separate scene.

The bird stuck

on a painting in "The Birds."

John Forsythe is a painter

in "Trouble with Harry,"

and Hitch collaborated

with Salvador Dal

to visualize the dream sequence

in "Spellbound."

In "Blackmail,"

the court jester painting

makes a big statement

until the end of the film.

There.

Oh!

You are awful.

[ Chuckles ]

In the scene where Crewe

asks Alice to change,

Hitchcock uses almost

a split screen device.

The artist playing

the piano on one side

while we're put in

the position of a voyeur,

with Alice undressing

on the other.

Voyeurism

would be a central theme

to "Rear Window," for instance,

where Jimmy Stewart

uses a camera

to look across at his neighbors.

In "Blackmail,"

Alice goes from black,

possibly woman in control,

to white,

pretty much hinting

at a virginal,

untouched look.

Prove unpleasant

for the latter

The camera is telling

two stories.

Anny Ondra is nervous

while Cyril Ritchard

is getting excited.

The soundtrack tells us

the third story through music.

Miss Up-to-Date

The song describes

the situation

in the most literal sense,

"Miss Up-to-Date"

about a wild,

pretty, and naughty

girl meeting an awful fate.

They say you're wild

A naughty child

Miss-up-to-date

For whom if you predict

For you an awful fate

The song sets the stage

for what's about to happen.

But look at the difference

between the silent version

and the sound version

of that same scene.

And that's a song

about you, my dear.

[ Chuckles ]

You haven't said

how you liked it.

It's quite a lesson on

how Hitchcock adapted

to this new

revolutionary technique.

Wait a minute.

Where is this trouble?

This scene, which was probably

quite shocking at the time,

introduces yet another theme

that preoccupied

Hitchcock's characters

Sex.

[ Gentle music plays ]

"My attitude towards sex,"

Hitchcock said,

"is the same as it is

to other aspects of my work

'understatement' all the time.

I'm not a believer

in hanging sex all over women.

It should be discovered

in the story."

This quote applies perfectly

to what is happening here

between Anny Ondra

and Cyril Ritchard.

Hitchcock didn't have

complete nudity in his films

until "Frenzy" in 1972.

However, he shocked

the nation in 1960

when he showed Janet Leigh

in her sexy bra in "Psycho."

And used that image

for the poster of the film.

This is one of the scenes

that Hitchcock had to reshoot

For the sound version

of "Blackmail."

[ Gentle music swells ]

At the Lincoln Center tribute

for Alfred Hitchcock,

Cyril Ritchard recalled

that in that scene,

mics were hidden all

over the set."

[ Up-tempo piano tune playing ]

"And I had to talk into

the first one

and then another

as I walked about,

sometimes having to pause

in mid-sentence..."

That's an idea.

"...while I walked

out of the range

of one microphone

into the second."

Let's see it on you.

"I thought

that Anny and I

were getting a little glazed

from sh**ting

the scene so many times.

It turned out

that Hitch had substituted

real gin in our glasses."

Oh, it's so strong.

"To give the scene

a bit more 'vitality.'"

[ Up-tempo piano music plays ]

There it is.

[ Up-tempo playing continues ]

[ Discordant final note play ]

We are now reaching

the turning point in our story

as the curtain rises on m*rder.

Hitchcock had different ways of

k*lling his victims in movies...

[ Sinister music plays ]

...mainly strangulation

and stabbing,

like in "Blackmail."

[ Sinister music continues ]

Other killings with knives

or sharp objects

are featured

in the following films

In "m*rder!," a woman was k*lled

with a pointy fire poker.

In "The 39 Steps,"

a spy is stabbed in the back.

[ Gasps shakily ]

[ Groans, gasps ]

In "Sabotage,"

Sylvia Sidney kills her husband

with a kitchen knife.

In "Dial M for m*rder,"

Grace Kelly kills her assailant

with a pair of scissors.

In "Rear Window,"

a man cuts up his wife

with sharp instruments.

[ Sinister music continues ]

In the second version of

"The Man Who Knew Too Much,"

released in 1956,

a man is stabbed

in the back.

In "North by Northwest,"

a man at the United Nations

is also stabbed,

but in "Torn Curtain,"

a knife fails to k*ll

an East Berlin security officer.

And of course,

in "Psycho"...

[ Screams ]

...Janet Leigh and Martin Balsam

are both stabbed to death

in two separate scenes.

[ Sinister music continues ]

Don't be silly, Alice.

Like he did with nudity,

Hitchcock was careful

to use violence

in the best possible taste.

Alice: Let me go!

Let me go!

"People ask me constantly,"

Hitchcock declared,

"Why are you so interested

in crime?

The truth is, I'm not.

I'm only interested in

that it affects my profession."

At the same time, the director,

who was born in England

and lived there a good part

of his life,

acknowledged that crime had

always been an English passion.

[ Alice grunting ]

Visually, Hitchcock filmed

murders with style.

"Blackmail"

is no exception,

but it happens behind a curtain.

"Blackmail"

is also self-defense,

as we will see again in

"Dial M for m*rder."

[ Dark, gloomy music plays ]

Ondra delivers

a brilliant performance

through attitude

and body language.



Look at how she strikes

the painting laughing at her.

[ Canvas rips ]

She breaks the fourth wall

in the same way

that Norman Bates would

in "Psycho"

as she walks towards us.

[ Dark, gloomy music continues ]

Hitchcock dissolves

from a close up of Ondra's face

to a long shot of the studio.

While the dissolve technique

is typically used to indicate

to the audience a time lapse.

Here there is no disruption

of the temporal continuity.

Look at a freeze frame of

Ondra's face in the dissolve,

and compare it to that of Norman

Bates at the end of psycho.

The effect and resulting

subliminal image you get

are almost similar.



Hitchcock's brilliant visual

storytelling is in full swing

as she is drifting,

following the k*lling.

[ Melancholy music plays ]



Everything reminds her of it.



In a similar way,

Hitchcock will express

Jimmy Stewart's vertigo

literally.

In "Marnie,"

she's afraid of red,

and we see it.

[ Frantic music plays ]

Here, he gives us

more visual information

that reflects Anny Ondra's

own state of mind.

She's dizzy and confused.

Hitchcock used some

interesting visual associations

to convey Alice's state of mind.

Film historian

Gene D. Phillips points this out

in his book on Alfred Hitchcock

that analyzes imagination.

[ Horns honking ]

The c*ck shaker on the scene

suddenly turns into

a phallic knife,

stabbing at the first syllable

of the word "c*ck,"

leaving no doubt about the link

between the lethal weapon

that Alice employed

to defend her purity,

and the sexual weapon Crewe

had intended to use on Alice.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

The director's understanding

of sound, music,

visuals is masterful,

and is in contrast

by the following segment,

which is pure silent movie.

The dissolve at the door

is another reminder

that Alice has a dream-like

relation to time.

[ Suspenseful music continues ]

Just when we think

that Alice is safe,

the shadow

of the blackmailer appears.

And of course,

this creates suspense.

According to Hitchcock,

the essential element

of suspense

was always to let the audience

know more than the hero.

Let them know that there is a

b*mb under the character's seat.

Let them suffer as they see

the characters of the drama

grope for solutions

they already know.

"It was much easier,"

Hitchcock said

regarding the silent era.

"There were no nuances of

dialogue to be concerned with,

and the acting

was much more elemental.

The whole atmosphere

was more relaxed."

For instance,

there's an interesting scene

in "The Farmer's Wife"

that underlines this point.

Unable to find a wife,

the protagonist of the story

stares at an empty chair.

Ghostly images of women

he met appear.

Then...

[ Romantic music plays ]

...the woman he loves

comes and sits,

and he realizes she is the one.

[ Romantic music fades ]

In "m*rder!,"

a couple comes to meet Sir John

and to convey the fact

that they're intimidated...

How do you do,

Mr. Markham?

As a man advances

towards him,

Hitchcock had him

on something soft.

Probably a mattress of some kind

rather than a hard floor.

How do you do,

Sir?

Why don't you

sit down?

After the m*rder,

Hitchcock explains visually

that Alice is now in a trance.

[ "Miss Up-to-Date"

tune plays hauntingly ]

The music on the soundtrack

is the slow version

of the song Cyril Ritchard

was playing on the piano

before his death.

Hitchcock understood perfectly

the importance

of music in film.

He uses the "Miss Up-to-Date"

tune here as a cynical touch.

It's as if he's saying to us,

"See, I told you so."

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Here is a great use of sound.

Alice is roaming the streets.

She sees a man asleep

in a corner.

His hand reminds her

of the man she k*lled.

[ Screams ]

Then we cut with a scream

to the landlady,

finding the victim's body.

Hitchcock also used sound

to mark a narrative transition,

as in the case of

"The 39 Steps."

In that film, a landlady finds

a corpse of a woman.

[ Woman screams,

train whistle blares ]

We immediately cut

the loud whistling

of a train leaving the station,

and on board is Richard Hannay,

the man who will

be wrongly accused of the crime.

In "Young and Innocent,"

two women discover

the lifeless body

of a victim washed ashore

as they're about to scream...

[ Seagulls squawking ]

...Hitchcock cuts to the sound

of seagulls above,

an ominous foreshadowing

of "The Birds,"

where Jessica Tandy,

who played Rod Taylor's mother,

goes to visit

a neighboring farmer.

She enters his house,

notices that all the cups

that hang on hooks

in the kitchen have been broken.

She goes towards the bedroom

and finds the poor man dead.

The instinct here would

have been to have her scream,

but Hitchcock knows better.

Instead,

she runs out of the house,

completely unable

to make a sound.

[ Muted scream ]

It's as if the scream

is strangled in her throat.

And it is we in our seats

who want to scream,

because the absence of it

on the soundtrack is so potent.

What do you think?

There's been a m*rder

last night around the corner.

Another use

of sound in "Blackmail"...

And they tell me the police

are round there now.

...of a bird chirping

allows Hitch to play up

the contrast

between Alice's internal world,

the trauma she suffered,

and the otherwise innocent world

that surrounds her.

[ Bird chirps merrily ]

And all that,

under the watchful eye

of her boyfriend Frank,

a framed photo of him

on her wall.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Because Hitchcock had started

making movies

in the silent era,

there was a sense that he

understood to a greater degree,

perhaps over directors

who came afterwards,

the potential power

of a soundtrack.

But the pice de rsistance,

the true mark

of Hitchcock genius,

and his understanding of sound

takes place over breakfast.

A good clean, honest

whack over the head

with a brick is one thing.

There's something British

about that.

But knives...

The news

of the crime is everywhere.

Alice is at a table and is

asked to cut a slice of bread

while a neighbor, or maybe

she's just a regular customer,

tells everyone present

about the m*rder,

but all we hear is each time

the woman

says the word "knife."

...knife.

Man: Alice cut us a bit

of bread, will you?

The rest of her dialogue

is purposely garbled.

[ Muffled speech ]

...knife.

The poor girl responsible

for the k*lling

is hesitant

in handling the knife.

[ Muffled speech ]

...the knife...

[ Muffled speech ]

...musn't use a knife!

[ Knife clatters ]

And eventually drops it

when the neighbor delivers

one last and loud "knife."

Man: Really you ought to be

more careful.

You might have cut

somebody with that.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Mitchell: But now,

observe the same scene

in the silent version.

[ Suspenseful music continues ]



[ Suspenseful music swells ]



[ Suspenseful music fades ]

Hitchcock's manipulation

of the word knife

in the talkie version

announces other important sounds

in Hitch's films.

Like in both versions of

"The Man Who Knew Too Much"...

[ Scream echoes ]

...the unforgettable scream.

[ Blood-curdling scream ]

[ Cymbal crashes ]

...meant to prevent

an assassination.

Screams, of course,

are trademark of anything scary.

[ Curtain rattles ]

[ Screaming ]

As is the anticipation

of the scream in "Frenzy,"

as a secretary

returns to her office.

But Hitchcock keeps his camera

outside on the street.

[ Footsteps receding ]

We know she is about to discover

that her boss

has been strangled.

We wait...

and wait until,

to our great relief,

we hear the horrifying scream.

[ Blood-curdling scream ]

But Hitchcock sometimes

used prosaic sounds

to provide suspense,

as in an amazing sequence

in "Torn Curtain,"

when Paul Newman,

aware that he is being followed,

tries to lose his tail

by going into a museum.

Hitchcock in that scene

creates a score using

only footsteps...

[ Footsteps tapping ]

...sounding against the marble

floors of the galleries.

[ Footsteps tapping ]

The pacing of the sound alone

is what drives the action

and suspense.

Later silence is as important

when Newman is forced

to k*ll Gromek,

Wolfgang Kieling,

an East German security

officer who is onto him.

The m*rder takes place

in a kitchen

and in order to not alert the

taxi driver waiting outside...

[ Cabinet clatters ]

[ Windows clatter ]

...Newman tries his best

to keep the man from screaming.

He and a woman end up dragging

Gromek on the floor

and shoving his head

inside a gas oven.

[ Both panting ]

[ Gromek groaning ]

It's really the struggle

to keep the man silent

that creates

the suspense.

Well did anyone else

enter the house that night?

Ad lady says not.

Girl says not.

They were alone.

That's right.

All: Any answer to that,

Sir John?

Mitchell: There's also a similar

approach to sound in "m*rder!"

See the cadence in that scene.

But no one else

could have done the m*rder.

'Cause they were alone.

Says they quarreled.

Admits it.

That's right.

All: Any answer to that,

Sir John?

She does not admit it.

She says

she doesn't remember.

A totally abstract approach

that takes full advantage

of what sound offered

to filmmakers like Hitch.

Man:

And not against all of us.

Man #2: Make an exhibition

of yourself.

Man #3: Waste of time.

Woman: Waste of my

quality brandy.

Man:

Hands all over blood.

All: Any answer? Any answer?

Any answer to that,

Sir John?

I hope you don't mind

if I have something to eat,

but I'm rushed today.

[ Plucky music plays ]

Hitchcock's greatest

preoccupation

was food.

"Cinema is not a slice of life.

It's a piece of cake,"

Hitchcock said.

Food plays an important part

in many Hitchcock films.

In "Blackmail,"

Alice and Frank

had their argument

at a restaurant.

Alice k*lled Crewe with a knife

that was placed next

to a loaf of bread.

The news of the m*rder takes

place at the breakfast table,

and later the blackmailer will

conduct his business over food.

"A few years ago in

Santa Rosa, California,

I caught a side view of myself

in a store window

and screamed with fright,"

Hitchcock once said about

his rather corpulent figure.

[ Plucky music continues ]

"Since then,

I limit myself

to a three-course dinner

of appetizer,

fish, and meat

with only one bottle

of vintage wine

with each course."

On another occasion,

he said,

"It's been my observation

that a man does not live

by m*rder alone.

He needs affection, approval,

encouragement,

and occasionally a hearty meal.

[ Plucky music continues ]

Food was as abundant

in his films

as it was on his table.

The Hitchcocks would, in fact,

bring their own cook

to Hollywood.

[ Plucky music continues ]

This fascination with food

made it to the screen.

Hitchcock loved to show

his characters eating

and discussing food,

but his own commentary

on the subject was best.

This applied to both

his culinary predilection

as well as his preference

for visuals revealing seduction,

marriage,

relationship and m*rder,

you know, appetites.

[ Plucky music continues ]

His gastronomic sensibility

also extended

to the graphic nature

of violence,

as evidenced

in his observation that,

"There will obviously be

a lot of drama

in the steak that is too rare."

Mmm!

Best meal

I've tasted for ages.

[ Utensils clatter ]

[ Man slurping noisily ]

[ Boat creaking ]

[ Slurping continues ]

[ Creaking continues ]

[ Slurping continues ]

In "Rear Window,"

Grace Kelly is bringing food

to Jimmy Stewart.

Ah.

Her way of suggesting

he should marry her.

There is a similar scene

in "Notorious"

where Ingrid Bergman

invites Cary Grant for dinner,

hinting at how wonderful

it is to eat in style...

I've decided we

are going to eat in style.

Marriage must be wonderful

with this sort of thing

going on every day.

...and hinting

at a married life.

But it's also over food

that in "Rear Window,"

Stewart and Thelma Ritter

discuss m*rder

and the neighbors

across the way.

Since we haven't witnessed

any crime,

the only reaction we get

from the gruesome

speculative details

spilled out by Thelma Ritter...

That's the only place

where we could have washed

away the blood.

...is through watching

Jimmy Stewart lose his appetite.

The most celebrated line

about food

in a Hitchcock film

may be in "To Catch a Thief"

when Grace Kelly innocently,

or perhaps not so,

asked Cary Grant

over a picnic basket...

You want a leg

or a breast?

You make the choice.

A similar conversation is

featured between Eva Marie Saint

and Grant

in "North by Northwest,"

as he sits across from her

in a dining car on a train,

and she declares

that she never discusses love

on an empty stomach.

I never discussed love

on an empty stomach.

You've already eaten.

But you haven't.

When they're kissing later

in the train compartment

their exchange

has to do with

Cary Grant having taste

in food, clothes, and women.

Same taste and women.

"Rope" is completely centered

on a meal served on a chest

in which

a m*rder victim is hidden.

Placing candlesticks

on the chest,

one of the K*llers

proudly observes

that they suggest a ceremonial

altar from which the guests,

including the family, friends

and girlfriend of the dead man,

will be eating

our sacrificial feast.

I think they suggest

a ceremonial altar,

which you can heap with the

foods for our sacrificial feast.

Later on, it is mentioned

that Farley Granger's character,

the other k*ller, is quite good

at "strangling chickens."

A discussion of death and m*rder

takes place at the table

in "Suspicion,"

"Strangers on a Train,"

and others, including "Frenzy,"

in which the wife

of the detective

in charge of the necktie murders

experiments with

mostly repulsive-looking

nouvelle cuisine

throughout the film,

adding a layer of humor...

It's delicious.

...to the progress

of the investigation.

But I find the...

ingredients are

somewhat mystifying.

The k*ller Bob Rusk,

played by Barry Foster,

works at a fruit market

and hides one of the bodies

in a potato bag.

He later has to retrieve

a piece of evidence,

his tie pin,

which the victim grabbed

when she was being strangled.

And of course,

food is on the menu in "Psycho."

You never did

eat your lunch, did you?

I better get back

to the office.

These

extended lunch hours

give my boss

excess acid.

From the first scene

where Janet Leigh

and John Gavin

meet to have sex

during her lunch hour,

to her last meal

with Norman Bates,

a simple sandwich

and a glass of milk

during which he observes...

You...You eat like a bird.

You know,

of course.

In "Rebecca,"

Mrs. Danvers terrorizes

the second Mrs. de Winter...

I'd like to know

if you approve of the menu.

...by asking her to fill in

blank spaces on the menu

with suggestions for sauces.

I've left a blank space

for the sauce.

In "The Paradine Case,"

Lord Horfield,

played by Charles Laughton,

observes on one hand

that Ann Todd

is very appetizing.

You look very,

very appetizing.

She replies in fashion...

Charming compliment

from such a gourmet

as yourself,

Lord Horfield.

Part of the plot

of the second version

of "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

unfolds in a restaurant

in Morocco,

with Jimmy Stewart being unable

to eat the local food properly.

Hitchcock declared

he hated eggs.

No surprise, then,

in "To Catch a Thief,"

that Jessie Royce Landis

puts out a cigarette

in an egg dish.

Not literally.

There's also a suggestion

in "The Birds"

that birds are getting

their revenge on mankind

because we've been eating them.

His trailer for "The Birds"

began with Hitchcock

eating chicken.

I've come to feel

very close to the birds,

and I've come to realize

how they feel when...

[ Quizzical music plays ]

I don't think I'll eat just now.

Hardly proper

with all of you here.

Mitchell: Similarly,

he introduced "Frenzy"

by standing in front

of a bag of potatoes.

And the horrors of vegetables.

I've heard of a leg of lamb,

a leg of chicken,

but never a leg of potatoes.

[ Jaunty music plays ]

The examples of food

in Hitchcock's films go on.

the systematic and almost

compulsive inclusion

of something as common

as food in cinema

was, on Hitchcock's part,

another device

to engage his audience

with his plots and characters,

A way to wet our appetite

and keep our attention to alert

and on edge.

A way to keep us wanting more,

coming back,

and asking for seconds.

[ Jaunty music crescendos

and ends ]

Perhaps it's

rather fortunate

that your little secret,

uh, only came into the hands

of a man like me.

Do you know

there are some men

who would make money

out of a thing like that?

What a chance

for blackmail.

Tracy, the blackmailer here

is played by Donald Calthorpe,

who was mainly a stage actor

and whose film appearances

were usually as villains.

Calthorpe worked with Hitchcock

on three other films

"Elstree Calling,"

"m*rder!,"

and "Number Seventeen."

Michael Powell recalled

in his autobiography,

"Hitch had already decided

that Donald Calthorpe,

a complex and brilliant actor,

would play the blackmailer.

Calthorpe came of a famous

and gifted theatrical family.

He despised films

but liked money.

Opinions that are often combined

in the superb piece

of screen acting.

I looked everywhere

for that...

other glove last night.

But of course, you detectives

are better trained

at finding these things.

For fun, look at the way

Hitchcock frames the actors

and how there's an ad

that spells out "sex to come."

Clearly a reference

to what led to this situation.

Calthorpe is not the only

blackmailer in Hitchcock films.

The standouts would be

Ray Milland,

who blackmails a man

into k*lling his wife

in "Dial M for m*rder."

There's blackmail in

"I Confess,"

in Strangers on a Train,"

or even in "Rebecca"

with the line...

Blackmail is not much

of a profession.

[ Dark luminous music plays ]

John Longden,

who was a British leading man

in the early '30s

and who played the role

of Frank,

had this to say about

his experience on "Blackmail."

"I don't remember any feeling

that it was

an historical occasion."

Like Cyril Ritchard,

John Longden had

a difficult time adjusting

to the microphones

and the new sound techniques.

He said, "Besides tending

to produce a crick in my neck,

it hardly contributed to the

smooth portrayal of my part."

But this is not the only

Hitchcock film

in which a detective

chooses love over duty.

Why didn't you tell me?

In "Sabotage,"

Sylvia Sidney kills her husband

with a kitchen knife

over dinner.

Only a detective who was in

love with Sylvia Sidney

knows of the crime.

As she is about to confess

to the police...

He's dead.

[ b*mb explodes ]

...a b*mb

then destroys her home

along with the evidence

of her crime.

Rather unfortunate,

the way that poor man

round the corner

er, died last night.

During the whole confrontation

with the blackmailer...

Perhaps it's fortunate...

...Alice is nervous,

but Frank defends her.

That a suspicious

looking man

with a criminal record

was seen hanging

around.

What's interesting

in "Blackmail"

is that the story swerves

from the detective's

ethical choice

of apprehending

the culprit...

Don't you try and swing

this thing on me.

That won't get you

anywhere.

...to protecting her instead.

Frank even goes

further by implying

to shift the blame to a person

who did not commit the crime.

Rather unfortunate that

Scotland Yard are at present

looking for that man.

The blackmailer is dodgy

and has a criminal background,

but he did not k*ll the artist.

In this he is innocent.

But that doesn't stop Frank.

[ Tense, dramatic music plays ]

Hey!

The chase of the villain

and the cl*max

at the British Museum

is pure Hitchcock.

The villain gets to the top

of the museum.

It's not me you want.

It's him.

Ask him!

Why his own

[ Glass shatters ]

And eventually

falls through the roof

into the galleries below.

The fall in

"Blackmail" is echoed

in "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

at the Royal Albert Hall,

Mount Rushmore

in "North by Northwest,"

The Statue of Liberty

in "Saboteur,"

The mission in "Vertigo,"

Even in "m*rder!"

the k*ller,

realizing

that he has been revealed,

hangs himself during

a circus act.

[ Crowd screaming ]

The chase

is an essential element

in many Hitchcock movies.

Hitchcock developed

his taste for chase scenes,

mainly through books.

"I have derived more

from novelists like John Buchan,

J.B. Priestley,

John Galsworthy,

and Marie Belloc Lowndes

than from movies,"

Hitchcock said.

"I like them

because they use multiple chases

and a lot of psychology.

My chases are the result

of using all of the resources

of modern film technique,

combined with what I got

from these novelists."

[ Train engine chugging ]

For Hitchcock,

in the ideal chase structure,

the tempo and complexity

of the chase

is an accurate reflection

of the intensity

of the relations between

the characters in "Blackmail."

[ Dramatic music continues ]

"The chase is the ultimate

payoff in many ways,"

Hitchcock said.

"The chase makes up

about 60% of the construction

of all movie plots.

[ Dramatic music fades ]

"When it came to the chase

through the streets,

I broached an idea that

had been maturing for a while."

Michael Powell said,

"Hitch, don't let's do

an ordinary chase

through the streets

like you did in "The Lodger."

"Let's take it

into some bizarre location

that is entertaining in itself.

I had been thinking of my visits

to the British Museum

reading room

to see my grandfather

and the impression

that he had made upon me

by his bent figure at the desk,

dwarfed by the height

of the shelves

and topped by the glass dome

over the whole vast room."

Michael Powell continues,

"Let's have him slip into

the British Museum at night,

get chased through the rooms

full of Egyptian mummies

and Elgin marbles,

climb higher to escape

and be cornered,

and then fall through the

glass dome of the reading room

and break his neck."

Hitch, being a Londoner,

of course,

had never been near

the British Museum reading room,

but he saw the possibilities

of the idea.

And so I think I can make

a modest claim

to being the inventor

of the Hitchcock cl*max,

unveiled to the world

through the chase

in 'Blackmail.'"

Unfortunately,

Hitchcock was not allowed

to sh**t that scene in that way.

Hitchcock used

many trick shots in "Blackmail,"

especially during the sequence

at the British Museum.

"We used the Schfftan process

because it wasn't enough light

in the museum to sh**t there,"

Hitchcock told

Francois Truffaut.

For "Blackmail," the producers

knew nothing about

the Schfftan process,

a technique

that consisted of covering

part of the camera's view

with a mirror

and allowed to assemble

an image from multiple parts.

And there was a fear they

might have raised objections.

It was all done without

their knowledge.

In fact, John Maxwell,

the producer of "Blackmail,"

thought that the sh**ting

of the visual effects

would delay the production

and put the film over budget.

While he was doing

the visual effects,

Hitchcock set up a camera

on the sidelines,

photographing

a letter for an insert

in case someone

from the production office

showed up uninvited.

When Maxwell saw the film,

he was totally surprised.

Framing the story around

a specific place

was a clever way

to engage audiences

with the characters.

In "Saboteur,"

the fact that

the climactic confrontation

between the hero

and the villain took place

on top of the Statue of Liberty,

tied in with the plot,

which revolved around traitors

and, in essence,

the fight for freedom.

In "North by Northwest,"

that very same type

of confrontation

takes place on top

of Mount Rushmore,

also a fitting location

since the movie is

about government secrets.

"Stage Fright"

is about travesty.

The villain is an actor

and plays the role of the victim

quite convincingly.

He is in fact

a psychotic k*ller.

Therefore, dramatic art plays

center stage in the story.

[ Dramatic music continues ]

Key elements of "Secret Agent"

take place in Switzerland,

so Hitchcock stages a scene

inside a chocolate factory.

The beginning

of "Foreign Correspondent"

is set in Holland,

so Hitchcock playfully

uses windmills

as a plot device.

Other monuments

indelibly identified

with Hitchcock's cinema

include the Royal Albert Hall

for both versions

of "The Man Who Knew Too Much."

The Tower Bridge in "Frenzy,"

and the Golden Gate Bridge

in "Vertigo."

Real cities like Bodega Bay

in "The Birds"

are also as iconic

as the films themselves.

[ Dramatic music ends ]

Hello!

It isn't very often I see you

so early in the day is this.

Call to see Frank?

No.

I want to see

Inspector Wald, please.

In "Blackmail,"

Alice wants to confess.

Well, I suppose you're going to

tell him who did it, miss.

Hitchcock here carefully

designed how she looks.

Yes.

She is dressed

in bright colors.

No longer the black outfit

from the beginning.

[ Solemn music plays ]

Costumes

would very much be a part

of the Hitchcock language.

"Vertigo" being possibly

the extreme

as it was part of the plot.

I better say what

I have to say now.

Ironically,

as Alice is about to confess...

What I wanted to say

is that

[ Telephone ringing ]

I was the one.

One moment, please.

...the phone rings.

In a way, Alice,

Just like the film itself

is saved by sound.

Yes. Hold on.

You deal with this young lady.

I should be busy

for a minute.

Cinema wins.

Yes, sir.

The phone ringing

allows Frank

to take Alice out,

saving her from telling

the truth.

And to let people think

that Tracy,

the blackmailer,

was in fact, the k*ller.

Aha!

So you found him, miss.

Did she tell you

who did it?

Yes.

You want to look out.

Or you'll be losing your job,

my boy.

[ Laughter ]

it's an ironic twist,

and perhaps

even a life sentence.

Would she really wanted to stay

with this man

under normal circumstances?

But what choice does she have?

Hitchcock declared

that he originally wanted

another ending for "Blackmail."

He said after the chase and

the death of the blackmailer,

the girl would have

been arrested

and the young man would have

had to do the same things to her

that we saw in the beginning.

Handcuffs, working at the

police station, and so on.

Then he would see his

older partner in the men's room,

and the other man,

unaware of what had taken place,

would say, "Are you going out

with your girl tonight?"

And he would have answered,

"No, I'm going straight home."

And the picture

would have ended that way.

But the producers claimed

it was too depressing.

In the play,

it was revealed that the artist

had a heart condition,

died because of it,

and had fallen on the knife.

We've seen the painting

of the jester

on several occasions

throughout the film.

When Alice entered

the artist's studio,

she looked outside the window

and saw a policeman.

She then looked at the painting

and laughed.

The traditional court jester

was hired to ridicule society.

Alice identified

with the painting

when she laughed at

the policeman

because in fact

she was laughing at Frank.

After the m*rder,

Alice tore up the painting

as she realized

that the accusatory finger

of the jester

was pointing at her all along.

[ Mocking laughter echoes ]

But who is the jester laughing

at now at the end of the film?

At the irony

of Alice's situation,

at love, at authority?

Maybe he's laughing at us

the audience.

[ Mocking laughter continues ]

The irony in the ending

was also a Hitchcock trademark.

The ironic conclusion

of "m*rder!"

where what drove

the k*ller to k*ll

was to protect a secret

from his paramour.

A m*rder

on an impulse

to silence the mouth

of a woman

who knew his secret

and was going to reveal it

to the woman

he dared to love.

There is a melodrama for you,

Sir John.

The same secret she already

knew from the beginning.

Other ironic endings

can be found in "Frenzy"

"Mr. Rusk,

you're not wearing your tie."

Mr. Rusk,

you're not wearing your tie.

"To Catch a Thief"

"Oh,

mother will love it up here."

So this is where you live.

Oh, mother will love it

up here.

[ Ominous music plays ]

Or "Strangers on a Train"

"Aren't you Guy Haines?"

[ Whimsical music playing ]

I beg your pardon,

but aren't you

Guy Haines?

A question

that set the plot into motion

at the very beginning

of the film.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

"Blackmail" was publicized

as the first British talkie.

Michael Powell wrote,

"It was a smash hit

and put Hitch on the top

of the heap."

All the atmosphere and suspense

of "The Lodger,"

plus a few clever tricks

with sound,

the film had all the

visual appeal of a silent film,

plus the suspense.

When the film reached Hollywood,

Hitch was deluged with offers,

but he wasn't ready to go yet.

[ Uplifting instrumental

music plays ]

"I think that somebody

once said to me,"

Alfred Hitchcock declared,

"'What's your idea

of happiness?'

And I said, 'A clear horizon.

No clouds, no shadows,

nothing.'"

This remark is quite unexpected,

coming from someone

who left behind such

a legacy of moving images.

But rather,

what Hitch may have meant here

is his idea of happiness

was a blank screen

on which he could create

his own images.

And with "Blackmail,"

and those early films,

Hitch, it seems,

legitimized sound,

but also made a giant step

for motion pictures.

[ Uplifting music continues ]

He went on to have one of the

most amazing cinematic careers,

and it's those early films

that set the tone

and connect all the films Hitch

did subsequently.

[ Uplifting music continues ]

You have the blonde...

the wrong man or woman...

villains...

detectives...

the chase...

the humor...

the food...

spies...

voyeurism...

suspense...

sexuality...

m*rder.

[ Uplifting music continues ]

The singular

cinematic language

and the MacGuffin,

the thing

that motivates the plot

but is of no importance.

Very few filmmakers can claim

to be a brand name.

Hitchcock was, is,

and always will be a brand.

[ Uplifting music swells

[ Music fades ]

[ Pensive music plays ]

Francois Truffaut said,

"When I direct a movie,

I realized if I'm having

problems with a scene,

I always find a solution

if I think of Hitchcock."

[ Music continues ]

No doubt most filmmakers

are indebted to Hitchcock,

and as audience members,

so are we.

To paraphrase Truffaut,

If you're having problems

with a film you're watching,

you can always find solace

in revisiting a Hitchcock movie.

No doubt it will remind you

how far reaching the art

of cinema can be.



[ Dark luminous music plays ]