Classic cinema - thoughts and questions

I saw The Conversation quite a few years ago, and two things spring to mind: the very cool and interesting opening, and a weird and disturbing scene towards the end of the film.
 
Holy cow. Right now there are no less than 10 Hitchcock films in IMDB's Top 250:

1. Rear Window (1954) #29
2. Psycho (1960) #30
3. North by Northwest (1959) #40
4. Vertigo (1958) #50
5. Rebecca (1940) #122
6. Strangers on a Train (1951) #136
7. Notorious (1946) #149
8. Dial M for Murder (1954) #174
9. Rope (1948) #203
10. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) #227

And deservedly so! Not that the world falls down when this list does not exist, but I like it that his lesser known films (to the broad audience) such as Dial M for Murder are apparently getting more recognition.
 
I always thought Dial M for Murder is one of his most famous ones...
 
I think Notorious deserves a higher spot. Probably Hitchcock's most accomplished film in my view.

In vaguely related news, Vertigo once again topped the Sight and Sound critic's poll, and came in seventh in the director's poll. I only skimmed through the lists, but it looks like it's mostly the usual suspects.
 
Per, I was a bit vague when I said "lesser known". What I meant was that it's a very well known film (and one of my favs!), but not as well known as e.g. Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, North By Northwest or Vertigo.

Shadow, I thought Vertigo was no. 1 for the first time. Citizen Kane led that one for years (unless we speak of two different lists). :)

And I think all these Hitch films deserve a higher spot. ;)
 
Apparently it was the first time. I thought it topped the last one as well, but I was wrong.
 
Not quite cinema, but I have started watching (in most cases re-watching) Alfred Hitchock Presents TV show, the first 3 seasons are streaming on Netflix. What a fantastic show, the Hitchcock intros and outros are funny and the level of writing and quality of actors that appeared on the show were just fabulous.
 
I should probably add, I really grew up watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and One Step Beyond ... (in re-runs, not quite that old :) ) ... I would probably rank them

Twilight Zone
Hitchcock
Outer Limits
One Step Beyond

All fantastic series though and they really hold up today (though watching one episode last night, I had to remind myself, they did not have GPS, email or Cell Phones back then .. any of those inventions would have killed the plot).
 
Cool that you're also into this bearfan! My wife and I have been watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour & The Twilight Zone for a number of years now. We're not really watching the episodes in chronological order, but we're using lists to know exactly what we still need to see. Definitely need to see all episodes. :)

While the Twilight Zone might have some of the greatest episodes ever made in the history of television, I think that the Hitchcock series were more consistent.
 
I agree Hitchcock was more consistent, I pretty much have those two neck and neck, though I slightly prefer TZ. There is a bit of a drop between those two shows and Outer Limits/One Step .. I think the two of those are pretty close in quality as well. They both had some excellent espisodes, but their share of so-so shows and flat out duds.
 
Hmm, sounds like it could be the next family Netflix series.
Really enjoy how Netflix lets you discover a series after the fact and watch it at your convenience.
 
Forostar said:
You mean this One Step Beyond?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa_Presents:_One_Step_Beyond

Haven't seen it yet, and also not Outer Limits. Will keep them in mind!
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That is the one, both of those shows had later incarnations, which were so-so to pretty poor IMO.

The originals were quite good, though I think a decent notch below Twilight Zone, but still quality shows. They are a bit more science fiction than Twilight Zone, but similar in forumla to Hitchcock/TZ where a host has an opening and closing with a story in the middle and the series is an anthology.
 
This one could fit in the Trivia topic, but I thought it is a movie buff kind of a question. Here goes:

Over a career spanning more than half a century, Alfred Hitchcock directed over 50 films.
How many of these and (if possible) which films were shot in colour?

(Don't look it up! ;-)
 
That's tricky unless you know all the films. Of the ones I've seen, I can only think of 11 in colour off the top of my head:

Rope
North by Northwest
Vertigo
Family Plot
Topaz
Frenzy
Dial M for Murder
The Man who Knew Too Much
The Trouble with Harry
Rear Window
Marnie
 
national acrobat said:
That's tricky unless you know all the films.
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Hmm, indeed. I hadn't realized it that well, when I posted the question. Still you might pull it off by guessing some titles of films you haven't seen, if you know some by heart.
national acrobat said:
Of the ones I've seen, I can only think of 11 in colour off the top of my head:
Rope
North by Northwest
Vertigo
Family Plot
Topaz
Frenzy
Dial M for Murder
The Man who Knew Too Much
The Trouble with Harry
Rear Window
Marnie
Click to expand...
My answer to that is: there are some more (not saying how many yet, also not in the hints below).
Some hints in spoilers, in case someone wants to guess it without this info:
- Rope is the earliest Hitchcock film in colour.
- Family Plot is the latest (his last film) in colour.
- One of the films you didn't mention is one of his most famous movies.
- One other features Ingrid Bergman.
To be continued... I suspect some other people might be doing a guess as well, as soon as they hit this topic.
(if they're on time ;-)
 
That is a tough one without looking it up

Color
Rope
Under Capricorn
Then I Confess, Stage Fright and Strangers on a Train were B/W (not sure what order those were released though)

Then a whole string of color films
Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, Trouble With Harry, Man Who Knew Too Much (remake), Vertigo, North by Northwest

Then Some B/Ws ... Wrong Man and Psycho (think Wrong Man was earlier though)

The rest are color
Birds, Marnie, Topaz, Torn Curtain, Frenzy, Family Plot
.. on another Alfred note, if you have not read the book Hitchcock and Truffaut, it is incredibly interesting, basically it is a long series of interviews Hitchcock did with Truffaut going movie by movie.
 
You mentioned them all (in total 15 films).
Nush came close and the 4 remaining ones he hadn't seen are (in blue):


Then Hitchcock switched back to black and white for the following three:
He returned to colour with:
Again black and white with:
Colour:
Black and white:
wiki:
Hitchcock chose to film Psycho in black and white, keeping the budget under $1,000,000. Other reasons for shooting in black and white were his desire to prevent the shower scene from being too gory and his admiration for Les Diaboliques's use of black and white.

Back to colour:
bearfan said:
.. on another Alfred note, if you have not read the book Hitchcock and Truffaut, it is incredibly interesting, basically it is a long series of interviews Hitchcock did with Truffaut going movie by movie.
Click to expand...
I have that book! Very interesting indeed. I must confess that it was a long time ago when I started reading it and I skipped all entries of the films I had not seen yet. Now I have seen way more films, so I have much to catch up.

By the way I am currently watching The Manxman! I still need to see:


* Mary (German version of Murder!)
* Juno and the Paycock
* Waltzes from Vienna
* Elstree Calling
* The White Shadow (Alfred Hitchcock did not direct it, but he handled the writing, editing, and art direction, as well as being the assistant director)
* The Pleasure Garden
* Easy Virtue
 
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