Recently, I attended a screening of a retrospective of a young director's work, and found myself comparing the artist's filmic style to Hitchcock's - a compliment - to be sure.
What makes a film decidedly Hitchcockian in nature?
The way a location is used, for instance.
Hitchcock was a firm believer that if a director had a distinctive setting - it should be dramatized and become indigenous to the whole picture - not just remain in the background.
An exemplary example of this was in the intense drama, "Foreign Correspondent".The tale was set in Holland.
What was the prominent landmark the auteur chose to weave into the storyline?
Ah, the windmill.
In one key scene, the character astutely notices that when his hat blows off - it does so in the direction of the wind - the opposite way the arms of the distinctive Dutch landmark were turning. It suddenly dawns on the lead character that the odd reaction to this natural force of nature is a secret signal to conspirators.
Pure genius on the part of Hitchcock, eh?
Placing an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances was a common element of Hitchcock's scenarios, as well.
In - "The Man Who Knew too Much" - an ordinary man from Indianapolis is vacationing in Morocco when his son is kidnapped.
In - "The Wrong Man" - Henry Fonda is arrested for a crime he didn't commit.
Also, Janet Leigh is an ordinary secretary whose plans are violently interrupted by a schizophrenic, in the outstanding spine-tingler - "Psycho".
Mistaken identity (or the loss of one) was a common plot device in the English director's films, too.
For example, in "North by Northwest" the lead character Roger Thornton is mistaken for a non-existent CIA agent.
In "Vertigo" - in a clever twist - the intriguing plot revolves around actor James Stuart's investigation of a woman (Kim Novak) and her elusive identity.
Hitchcock also leaned toward the use of suspense over surprise in his films.
If he relied on a jolt last minute, the director felt that was tantamount to simply banging the audience over the head with frightening things. Not very inventive, according to Hitch.
With the tools of suspense, on the other hand, the legendary director argued that he could reveal things to the filmgoer which the characters in the film did not know, and then artfully build tension as the characters began to learn the truth as it unfolded.
He was also fascinated by imagery and often used repeating themes.
For example, stairwells often played a central role in a Hitchcock films.
In Hitchcock's first movie - "The Lodger" - he tracked a suspected serial killer's movements on a staircase with diabolical effect.
Meanwhile, in "Psycho", several staircases were featured prominently; on the path up to the Bate's mansion and at the entrance to the fruit cellar, for instance.
And, who could forget the actual movie with the image in the title, "39 Steps"?
"39 Steps" is arguably Hitchcock's best British film.
The compositions on-screen were remarkable, too; undoubtedly influenced by the great German and Russian filmmakers of an earlier era.
The camera often angled up and down, cut off faces, and framed action in highly-unusual stunning and dramatic ways. A style of filmmaking European directors were well-known for.
Hitchcock also got a perverse thrill out of taking audiences on a voyeuristic roller-coaster ride.
In "Rear Window", as James Stewart's character stares across the courtyard at his adversary for most of the film - without the subject being none-the-wiser - the filmgoer titters over the intrigue on the sidelines.Then, he used an unexpected element of surprise to rivet the audience to the edge of their seats.
The audience is thrown - and literally gasps out loud - when Raymond Burr's character suddenly (without warning) turns his face to the camera and pointedly asks,
"What do you want of me?"
In another instance in "Psycho", the camera zeroes in on a hotel-room window, through which the audience is first introduced to Marion Crane and her divorced boyfriend, Sam Loomis.
The characters are partially undressed. Subsequently, Marion and Sam end up titillating the filmgoers - who surmise from snatches of clues in the frame - that the two had been engaged in a passionate sex romp on their lunch break.
Later, in the same psychological thriller, Norman Bates delights in secretly watching Marion undress through a concealed peephole in the wall.
Hitchcock's films were regarded as highly sexed.
And, the English director often dealt with taboo subjects.
Sometimes, due to the conventions of the day, sexuality was cloaked in a symbolic fashion. For example, in one classic scene, the shot cuts abruptly from two aroused lovers to a train entering a tunnel in the next.
In fact, Hitchcock found a number of ways to convey sexuality without depicting it graphically; for instance, he inferred explicit sexual craving with the passionate consumption of food.
In an amusing scene in "Psycho", Anthony Perkins carries on a conversation with Janet Leigh while one of his hands strokes a dead animal and the other lingers on his crotch suggestively.
When it came to casting, the celebrated director was a firm believer in selecting unknowns for lesser roles, and for good reason.
Sure, he understood the need for star recognition and box office appeal and the value of high-calibre actors to the success of a film; but, felt the smaller parts - the cameo gems - should not be inhabited by faces that were recognized by the movie-going public at the local theatre.
This approach lended more credibility to the project, he felt.
In his own words, he noted,
"The best casting man is the novelist; his principals are always new, unfamiliar."
An old-familiar face popping up in a scene in some foreign far-off locale would jar the sense of reality to the audience, he conjectured.
How he achieved his effects on screen was legendary, too.
The infamous shower scene in "Psycho" was painstakingly achieved by facilitating the head of a nude - and a girl in full figure - with the woman doing the stabbing.
Hitchcock shot a lot of the nude scenes in slow motion because it was important to have the breast covered by an arm at a crucial moment. Later, Hitch sped up the footage for the final cut.
There were an amazing seventy-eight cuts used in a short forty-five second sequence.
His 1958 film "Vertigo", contains a camera trick that has been imitated and re-used so many times by filmmakers that it has become known as the Hitchcock zoom.
Although famous for inventive camera angles, Hitchcock generally avoided points of view that were physically impossible from a human perspective.
For example, he would never place the camera looking out from inside a refrigerator.
This was a device to draw the audience into the film's action, in his opinion.
During an interview conducted by Francois Truffaut a few years ago, Alfred Hitchcock said,
"What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?"
Years ago, I had a funny experience near the set of "Frenzy" (a film about a necktie murderer) in London, England.
I noticed some cameras and a lot of activity in the street and asked someone what was going on.
A passer-by noted that Hitchcock was filming his latest movie.
Well, I thought to myself, Hitchcock is such a great director; with an eye for talent. Maybe I should watch from afar - who knows - I might get discovered.
A few minutes later, there was an announcement over a loud speaker,
"Would the man in the white shirt get out of the shot?"
Shame-faced, I realized it was me they were referring to, and moved on.
Oh well, that's show business.
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