I'm a long-time fan of anything Alfred Hitchcock-ian, both the movies and the forever-ago TV show - loved the way he walked into the profile drawing of himself at the beginning of each week's episode.
His movies were masters of understatement, suspense but not gore - I remember reading once that, in the Psycho shower scene, the knife never touched Janet Leigh's body, but, with the combination of shrieking music, rapid-fire motions and the sheer terror of the situation, it's still one of the most chilling and infamous horror scenes ever. Who could forget the final shot of blood swirling down the drain (the film was in black and white, but you'd swear you saw red)... coupled with a close-up of her glazed, unseeing eye? - many of us took baths only for quite a while!
By Tim Briscoe
Maggie Van Ostrand of Film School Rejects recently posted a great article to commemorate what would have been filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock's 109th birthday. Her article on the movie blog chronicles all 37 of Hitch's cameos in his own movies.
I always knew that this was one of the Master of Suspense's trademarks. He would feature himself in a brief walk-on role in each movie, often times carrying a musical instrument. I had no idea he did it in 37 of his 52 major movies.
Easy Virtue (1927) - :15 walking past tennis court
Blackmail (1929) - :11 reading a book in subway
Murder! (1930) - 1:00 walking past house
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - :31 walking across screen in trench coat (also unconfirmed)
The 39 Steps (1935) - :06 tossing some litter
Young and Innocent (1938) - :15 holding a camera outside courhouse
The Lady Vanishes (1938) - 1:30 wearing a black coat and smoking a cigarette
Foreign Correspondent (1940) - :13 wearing a coat and hat, reading a newspaper
Rebecca (1940) - 2:03 walking near the phone booth
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) - :43 passing by Robert Montgomery
Suspicion (1941) - :46 mailing a letter
Saboteur (1942) - 1:04 in front of drug store
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - :17 playing cards on the train
Lifeboat (1944) - :25 in a newspaper ad for Reduco Obesity Slayer
Spellbound (1945) - :35 carrying violin and smoking a cigar
Notorious (1946) - 1:00 drinking champagne
The Paradine Case (1947) - :36 leaving the train carrying a cello
Rope (1948) - :02 holding a newspaper during opening credits and at :55 his silhouette is shown on a neon sign
Under Capricorn (1949) - :04 in the town square during parade and at :14 on the steps of Government House
Stage Fright (1950) - :39 turning back to look at Jane Wyman
Strangers on a Train (1951) - :10 boarding the train with a double bass
I Confess (1953) - :01 walking across top of stairs
Dial M for Murder (1954) - in class reunion photo
Rear Window (1954) - :25 winding clock in the songwriter's apartment
To Catch a Thief (1955) - :10 sitting next to Cary Grant on bus
The Trouble with Harry (1955) - :22 walking past the parked limousine
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - :25 watching acrobats with his back to the camera
Vertigo (1958) - :11 walking in the street
North by Northwest (1959) - :02 missing a bus
Psycho (1960) - :06 through Janet Leigh's window, wearing a cowboy hat
The Birds (1963) - :02 leaving the pet shop with two white dogs
Marnie (1964) - :05 entering into the hotel corridor
Torn Curtain (1966) - :08 sitting in the lobby with baby on his knee
Topaz (1969) - :33 pushed a wheelchair at the airport
Frenzy (1972) - :03 wearing a bowler hat, not applauding
Family Plot (1976) - :40 shown in silhouette through the door
Looking at the time in the film where Hitch makes his appearance, it seems clear that he started putting it in early. I believe this was so movie-goers who knew of his signature appearances could get it out of the way and focus on the thrills to come.
SONG: Norman by Rod MacDonald
BOOK: The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures by Donald Spoto
POEM: The Eternal Saboteur by Maria Rose
I am an anonymous lodger.
Hey -- thanks for the plug!
ReplyDeleteI only listed Hitch's cameos from the time Selznick brought him to America, and not the English ones.
You've listed them all.
Way to go!
Maggie
Hey, Maggie ~
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you stopping in to comment - wow!
I've edited my post to make it clearer that it was reprinted from the following site - thanks for your work on the subject as well... :-)
http://videoeta.com/news/2580
Such an amazing man - well-deserving of all the accolades he's received... and continues to, even posthumously!