Alfred Hitchcock

                                                             Part One

         It’s time to roll out the films of the all-time master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. I started out to do his top 5 and wound up with his top 20. I’ll start at the bottom and work our way up. I promise it will be fun all the way! Alfred Hitchcock directed over 50 films, plus a hugely popular TV show that still surfaces on some of the weirder cable channels. He was the master of suspense, misdirection and whimsy. 

While he had his share of dogs in his kennel, I found at least 20 winners. Herewith Hitchcock’s “bottom five.” 

20. The Wrong Man (1956) is Henry Fonda, a musician falsely accused of robbery. This film lacks the tongue-in-cheek fun of most Hitchcock outings, but is a riveting and harrowing experience. It generates a nice sense of outrage and there-but-for-the-grace-of-God. Vera Miles is excellent as the wife who cracks under the stress. 

19. Rope (1949) features James Stewart and Farley Granger as outwardly normal youths who murder a friend just for the thrill of it, hide the body in their small apartment, then invite various friends and family members over. The suspense builds from the opening credits, because we know where the body is.  Will they be found out? As with all early Hitchcocks, there is not one bit of on-screen violence or gore. Both are suggested rather than thrown in our faces, a device most modern film makers seem incapable of (and which Hitchcock himself abandoned with Psycho in 1960 and his subsequent films).

18. To Catch a Thief (1955) won an Oscar for its beautiful cinematography of the French Riviera. Cary Grant is a suave jewel thief and Grace Kelly the gorgeous love interest (she met her real life prince of Monaco while making this film). There has been a new series of jewelry heists. Grant insists he has reformed and is not the culprit.  So he must find the real thief, hence the title. The fireworks scene is justifiably famous (and copied). 

17. In Suspicion (1941), Joan Fontaine becomes convinced that her husband (Cary Grant) is trying to do her in. Hitchcock uses one of his patented devices:  not letting us know whether Grant is or is not a villain, adding to the suspense and giving the most commonplace incident a double meaning. Fontaine won the Oscar, but the ending of Suspicion won’t win a thing. The Production Code required the dopey ending.  

16. The Birds (1963) is Hitchcock’s nightmarish version of nature gone berserk. While this idea is a favorite of horror movies, the master brings suspense and realism to a film that could have been merely campy. Think how many birds there are. What if they became our enemies, and attacked us? Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette (and you) find out! Remarkably realistic and scary as heck. Not for the squeamish but hang on if you can.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. Next time- more Hitchcock!