Directors Rate the Hitchcocks (1 Viewer)

[MartinTeller]

A thread over in Software got me curious about how other people rank the various Hitchcock films. Here's how I look at them:

Top tier:
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Birds
The 39 Steps
Shadow of a Doubt

2nd tier: (slightly flawed but still immensely enjoyable)
Psycho
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Lady Vanishes
Rope
Notorious
Rebecca
Sabotage
Foreign Correspondent
Dial M for Murder
The Trouble With Harry
Young and Innocent
Strangers on a Train

3rd tier: (problematic, but worth watching)
Marnie
Frenzy
Saboteur (would be 2nd tier if Robert Cummings weren't so lame)
Lifeboat
Spellbound
To Catch a Thief

4th tier: (don't enjoy much at all)
Topaz
Torn Curtain
The Paradine Case
The Lodger


The rest I either haven't seen or don't remember seeing.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Still missing a bunch of his,

Notorious
North By Northwest
Rebecca

Psycho
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
Vertigo
The 39 Steps

Rear Window
Suspicion
Rope
The Lady Vanishes
Marnie
The Birds
Saboteur
Frenzy

Spellbound
Dial M for Murder
To Catch a Thief
The Trouble with Harry
The Wrong Man
Torn Curtain

 

[SteveGon]

Top tier:

Vertigo
Rear Window
Psycho
The 39 Steps
Shadow of a Doubt
Foreign Correspondent

2nd tier: (slightly flawed but still immensely enjoyable)

The Lady Vanishes
Frenzy
Lifeboat
Notorious
Rebecca
Strangers on a Train
Rope

3rd tier: (problematic, but worth watching)

The Trouble With Harry
Sabotage
Saboteur
Spellbound
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)


4th tier: (don't enjoy much at all)
Marnie
Dial M for Murder
To Catch a Thief
Topaz
Torn Curtain
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

 

[Steve Christou]

There's nothing flawed about Psycho, it's Hitchcock's masterpiece.


Psycho
North by Northwest
Rear Window (my personal favorite of his films)
Vertigo
Rebecca
The Lady Vanishes

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Notorious
Foreign Correspondent
Strangers on a Train
The Birds
Shadow of a Doubt
The 39 Steps

Saboteur
To Catch a Thief
Dial M For Murder
Spellbound

 

[Kristian]

I have a lot of Hitchcock films left to see, but I'll rank what I've seen, anyways:

Top Tier

North by Northwest
Strangers on a Train
The Birds


2nd Tier

Notorious
Lifeboat


3rd Tier

Marnie
Spellbound


4th Tier

Dial M For Murder
Blackmail

 

[Cary T]

How can anyone(Kirk) rank Rear Window in the third tier?!

Top Tier
Rear Window
Psycho
Rebecca
Vertigo
The Lady Vanishes

2nd Tier(Great to good, but not in the same class as the top tier)
Rope
The Birds
Frenzy
North By Northwest
Strangers on a Train
Notorious
Spellbound
Shadow of a Doubt
The 39 Steps
Saboteur
The Trouble with Harry

3rd Tier
Family Plot
The Man Who Knew Too Much(1956)
To Catch A Thief

4th Tier (The Hitch's I didn't like)
Topaz
Torn Curtain
Marnie

 

[Kirk Tsai]

How can most people not see the utter brilliance of Notorious I don't know either. FWIW, I tried to rank them in order, so Rear Window is still among my 9 favorite Hitchcocks.

 

[Steve Christou]

I love Notorious, but I had to single out 5-6 super classics and it just missed out.

You know this thread would have had more action in the Movies section, it's wasted in the Polls.

Hitchcock remains my favorite movie director, no other director comes close.
He's made more great films than any other director in cinema history IMO.

 

[george kaplan]

Top tier:

The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Strangers on a Train
The Birds
Psycho
The Trouble With Harry
Suspicion
Shadow of a Doubt
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Rebecca
Notorious
Rope
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
To Catch a Thief
Vertigo

2nd tier:

Lifeboat
Marnie
Saboteur
Spellbound
Blackmail

3rd tier:

Sabotage
Secret Agent
The Paradine Case
Frenzy
Family Plot
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Murder!
Number 17
The Ring
The Lodger
Stage Fright
Foreign Correspondent
Mr. and Mrs. Smith

4th Tier:

Jamaica Inn
Under Capricorn
The Wrong Man
I Confess
Topaz
Torn Curtain

 

[MartinTeller]

I'm surprised that Dial M for Murder is being ranked so low (and more surprised that George apparently hasn't seen it).



It probably would have been moved here anyway.

 

[george kaplan]

Just a typo on my part. I've definitely seen it, and think quite a bit of it - I'd actually put it in Tier 1, although I have to admit that 4 tiers isn't enough, I could easily subset each of these (e.g., Dial M for Murder is nowhere as good as Rear Window, although it's still top-notch Hitchcock).

 

[Jim_K]

Masterworks

Psycho
Vertigo
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Notorious
The Birds

Excellent

Shadow of a Doubt
Foreign Correspondent
Suspicion
Rebecca
Strangers on a Train
Dial M for Murder
Rope

Good

The Lady Vanishes
Spellbound
To Catch a Thief
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Lodger
Saboteur
Marnie
The Paradine Case
Blackmail

Average

The 39 Steps
Frenzy
Lifeboat
Sabotage
The Wrong Man
Young and Innocent
Bon Voyage
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Secret Agent
Stage Fright
I Confess
Number Seventeen
Jamaica Inn


Poor

The Trouble with Harry
Family Plot
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Under Capricorn
The Skin Game

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’m wondering how many who have ranked Dial M for Murder have seen it in 3D? It remains my choice for 3D films even though I would probably place in the 2nd tier.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Top Tier
Rear Window (my favorite)
Vertigo
Notorious
Psycho

Second Tier
Rebecca
Spellbound

Third Tier
Marnie
The Birds

The jury is still out on this one
North by Northwest

 

[Angelo.M]

Love 'em:

Rear Window
North by Northwest
Notorious
The 39 Steps
Vertigo

Like 'em:

Rebecca
The Birds
Strangers on a Train
Rope
To Catch a Thief
Suspicion
The Man Who Knew Too Much ('50s)
Dial M for Murder

Coulda been contenders:

Lifeboat
Saboteur
The Trouble with Harry
Foreign Correspondent

Doesn't work for me:

Psycho (sorry)

 

[MartinTeller]

Oh heck, don't feel obligated to use my system. Rank 'em in whatever way makes the most sense to you.

 

[Kristian]

I've only seen it in 2D, but I don't think watching it in 3D would make much of a difference. The visuals are not the reason I rank it so low; it's the story and the pacing.

 

[Brook K]

Masterworks

Psycho
Rear Window
Vertigo
Rebecca
The Birds
Blackmail

Excellent

Notorious
Marnie
North By Northwest
The Lady Vanishes
Shadow of a Doubt

Good

Secret Agent
The 39 Steps
To Catch a Thief
The Lodger
The Skin Game
Strangers On A Train
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Farmer's Wife
Saboteur
Topaz
Juno and the Paycock

Average

Frenzy
Sabotage
Aventure Malgache
Bon Voyage
Number Seventeen

Poor

The Trouble with Harry
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

 

[MartinTeller]

Hmm, ratings for Blackmail are all over the map. I'll have to check that one out for myself.

 

[Steve Christou]

I started a Hitchcock thread 3 years ago on the HTF which was my longest running thread at that time. I posted a list of Hitchcock cameos on it, here it is...

THE 39 STEPS (1935): Tossing some litter while Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim run from the theater, seven minutes into the movie.

YOUNG AND INNOCENT (1938): Outside the courthouse, holding a camera.

THE LADY VANISHES (1938): Very near the end of the movie, in Victoria Station, wearing a black coat and smoking a cigarette.

REBECCA (1940): Walking near the phone booth in the final part of the film just after George Sanders makes a call.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940): Early in the movie, after Joel McCrea leaves his hotel, wearing a coat and hat and reading a newspaper.

MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941): Midway through, passing Robert Montgomery in front of his building.

SUSPICION (1941): mailing a letter at the village postbox about 45 minutes in.

SABOTEUR (1942): Standing in front of Cut Rate Drugs in New York as the saboteur's car stops, an hour in.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943): On the train to Santa Rosa, playing cards.

LIFEBOAT (1944): In the "before" and "after" pictures in the newspaper ad for Reduco Obesity Slayer.

SPELLBOUND (1945): Coming out of an elevator at the Empire Hotel, carrying a violin case and smoking a cigarette, 40 minutes in.

NOTORIOUS (1946): At a big party in Claude Rains's mansion, drinking champagne and then quickly departing, an hour after the film begins.

THE PARADINE CASE (1947): Leaving the train and Cumberland Station, carrying a cello.

ROPE (1948): His trademark can be seen briefly on a neon sign in the view from the apartment window.

UNDER CAPRICORN (1949): In the town square during a parade, wearing a blue coat and brown hat, in the first five minutes. Ten minutes later, he is one of three men on the steps of Government House.

STAGE FRIGHT (1950): Turning to look at Jane Wyman in her disguise as Marlene Dietrich's maid.

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951): Boarding a train with a double bass fiddle as Farley Granger gets off in his hometown, early in the film.

I CONFESS (1953): Crossing the top of a staircase after the opening credits.

DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954): On the left side of the class-reunion photo, thirteen minutes into the film.

REAR WINDOW (1954): Winding the clock in the songwriter's apartment, a half hour into the movie.

TO CATCH A THIEF (1955): Ten minutes in, sitting to the left of Cary Grant on a bus.

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955): Walking past the parked limousine of an old man who is looking at paintings, twenty minutes into the film.

THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956): Watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace (his back to the camera) just before the murder.

THE WRONG MAN (1956): Narrating the film's prologue.

VERTIGO (1958): In a gray suit walking in the street, eleven minutes in.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959): Missing a bus during the opening credits.

PSYCHO (1960): Four minutes in, through Janet Leigh's window as she returns to her office. He is wearing a cowboy hat.

THE BIRDS (1963): Leaving the pet shop with two white terriers as Tippi Hedren enters.

MARNIE (1964): Entering from the left of the hotel corridor after Tippi Hedren passes by, five minutes in.

TORN CURTAIN (1966): Early in the film, sitting in the Hotel d'Angleterre lobby with a blond baby.

TOPAZ (1969): Being pushed in a wheelchair in an airport, half an hour in. Hitchcock gets up from the chair, shakes hands with a man, and walks off to the right.

FRENZY (1972): In the center of a crowd, wearing a bowler hat, three minutes into the film; he is the only one not applauding the speaker.

FAMILY PLOT (1976): In silhouette through the door of the Registrar of Births and Deaths, 41 minutes into the movie.