Alfred Hitchcock (1 Viewer)

[Dome Vongvises]

I am by no stretch of the imagination a fan of Hitchcock. I do however, can see the genious behind his work. He ranks either second or third on my list of favorite directors. Rear Window has got to be my favorite Hitchcock film followed by Vertigo than Psycho. North by Northwest I hate soley for the reason that the ending killed me (it was going to be my favorite Hitchcock film until that stupid ending). Anyways (after dodging myriads of fireballs), I want to know why the "Master of Suspense" didn't do comedy? I mean, I think his sense of humor, macbre or not, was better than his sense of suspense. The goofy look he gets, his cameos, it's all priceless.
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Check out The Lady Vanishes. Criterion has released it on DVD. While not a screwball comedy, it is definitely different than what people normally associate with Hitchcock. I know it really threw me for a loop the first time I saw it. Not what I expected at all.
I'm not sure what bothered you about the end of North by Northwest. Do you mean the stuff on the train? Before that?
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[Mitty]

The Trouble With Harry is definitely a comedy.
I think all of Hitch's films (well, the ones I've seen) have a sly wit about them to varying degrees. He seems to infuse everything with a touch of comedy.
The Lady Vanishes is maybe the most overt example of this (It's also my favourite pre-Hollywood Hitch film), especially with the Charters and Caldicott characters - sort of a Hitchcockian Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
To Catch a Thief is sort of a romantic comedy as well as a mystery and a heist film. It has everything!

 

[Ken Seeber]

I am by no stretch of the imagination a fan of Hitchcock. I do however, can see the genious behind his work. He ranks either second or third on my list of favorite directors.

OK, let me get this straight: You're not a fan of Hitchcock, but he's your "second or third" favorite director. How does that compute?

Anyway, I second Mitty's recommendations. "The Trouble With Harry" is a particular favorite of mine, even though it isn't one of Hitch's better-known films.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hitchcock made a romantic comedy in the 1940's called Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard. Though, the film is not one of his best, however, it still had it's moments.
Crawdaddy
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[Hendrik]

Family Plot is a comedy...
"Blaaanche! Blaaaaanche!!!"
. . .

 

[GlennH]

I agree with Ken. You seem to contradict yourself in your post. You're "by no stretch of the imagination a Hitchcock fan" but he's your second or third favorite director.

Does that mean you're only a "fan" of your #1 favorite?
Anyway, I second the note about The Trouble With Harry - a really quirky movie that gets better as it goes along and has a lot of dry humor.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

It takes more than liking his movies to be a fan. I just like his movies. The true fans of Hitchcock seem to know everything about the English man with the diabolical plan. Everything about his life right down to his shoe size. A Hitchcock fan can probably recite all the lines in his movies and has each one of them analyzed down to the last dot on the last credit line. I can't do any of this stuff. I just like his movies. But thanx for the suggestion guys.
As far as North by Northwest goes, the whole movie except for the ending was fantastic. I found the humor for the ending to be seriously missplaced. I mean really
Spoiler: it's like:
"Help I'm falling off a cliff!"
"I got ya! I got ya...TADA!!! WE'RE MARRIED AND ON A TRAIN!!!
That's got to be the dumbest cut in all of movies.
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson

 

[Steve Enemark]

That's got to be the dumbest cut in all of movies.

Either that, or one the best. But what do I know, I'm a Hitchcock fan!

 

[GlennH]

Well, under that strict definition I'm not really a "fan" either. I can't recite all that trivial minutia about Hitch.
But I enjoy a lot of his movies and find the documentaries about him and his movie-making interesting too. So in that more casual sense I consider myself a "fan" as people commonly use that word.
Come to think of it, I guess "fan" is short for "fanatic" so maybe your definition is better...
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[Steve Christou]

Hitchcock is the Greatest.Director.Ever.
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imho

 

[george kaplan]

I guess I'm not as much of a fan of Hitchcock as I thought. There are tons of his movies I haven't even seen (such as The Pleasure Garden). But I have to say that I have no problem whatsoever with the ending of North By Northwest. It was just a humorous little cut. Nothing great or horrible in my opinion. Certainly nothing to dislike the entire movie over. It's not like Spoiler:Roger Thornhill really turned out to be George Kaplan
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[Ken Seeber]

George,
This is how "North by Northwest" will end if M. Night Shyamalan directs a remake!

 

[george kaplan]

Spoiler:"They've obviously mistaken me for a much shorter man." Out of the closet steps Haley Joel Osment, playing Kaplan.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Adrian_N]

george kaplan, do you ever get up to answer a public phone?
I thought the ending was neither bad nor good. It was a tongue-in-cheek ending. I'm curious to know what other "cliffhangers" were out at the same time.
As for comedy, I really do recommend AH's Trouble With harry.
What is AH's shoe size anyways?

 

[CharlesD]

I thought the very last image was a hoot, an example of Hitchcock's humor?
Spoiler:The train going into the tunnel.
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-- Will Work for Five Million Dollars

 

[george kaplan]

I thought the very last image was a hoot, an example of Hitchcock's humor?

Actually it's a time-honored symbolic image.
Spoiler:Going into a tunnel to represent sex. Waves crashing, ala From Here to Eternity and Rebecca - orgasm. There are lots of others
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001
[Edited last by george kaplan on July 10, 2001 at 05:15 PM]

 

[TheoGB]

Hi, just resurrecting this to ask if anyone knows why the ending of NbNW is how it is? Is there a site about it? I was hoping there'd be something about it in the commentary but nothing! It's the only downside of the movie for me. Vandam's final line would have been a far better finisher.

Theo

 

[Wes Ray]

Yes, Dome. If you come in for Fall Break, we will watch The Trouble With Harry. It is pretty funny.
Personally, I thought some of Hitchcock's best comedic touches came in Frenzy. All the stuff with the policeman and his wife at dinner. The body in the sack of potatoes. Very amusing, and tense.

 

[Rain]

Since the original question was why didn't Hitchcock do comedy, I have to ask: Am I the only one who thinks that NBNW is hilarious?
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