Once again, I am teaching a section on Hitchcock to my advanced film history course. I told the students that we would study one filmmaker this semester, and I let them choose a director from a short list. The students selected Hitchcock, which was also the choice last year. The Hitchcock section consists of four films, one from his early period in England and three from his Hollywood career. I am letting the students pick the director’s Hollywood-produced movies, but I will start out with a film from his early period when he was England’s best and brightest director. Ay, there’s the rub. I can’t seem to decide which early Hitchcock to show.
Last summer, I was undecided about whether to show Night Moves or The Long Goodbye in my film noir course. I put the choice to the knowledgeable Morlocks readers, and based on your helpful input, I decided on The Long Goodbye. So, I thought I would ask for your educated opinions once more.
I have narrowed the selection to the five movies detailed below. With the first film, the intent is to introduce the students to the director’s basic style, character types, and famous themes, though the film does not have to include every style element, character preference, or theme. I also want to whet their appetites for Hitchcock’s movies in general, so they are excited to view more of his films. The students at Ringling are quite talented and include painters, filmmakers, illustrators, computer animators, and game-artists. In other words, they are all visually oriented, so that is factor to consider.
HITCHCOCK WITH SYLVIA SIDNEY BETWEEN SCENES ON ‘SABOTAGE.’
Sabotage is the front runner so far. Released in England in 1936, the film absorbed the uneasy political atmosphere in Europe at the time—and then radiated it back. In a storyline that seems surprisingly modern, a group of saboteurs (terrorists?) create havoc in London, causing a blackout in one district and planting a bomb in another. The saboteurs hide in plain sight because they are ordinary shop owners and residents of working class London—like the owner of a neighborhood movie theater whose wife has no idea who her husband really is. Thus, Sabotage is a good example of two recurring Hitchcock themes: appearances are deceiving and evil can be anywhere. It also includes that nail-biting, beautifully edited dinner scene with Sylvia Sidney and the huge carving knife, which is a terrific example of Hitchcockian suspense. And, it makes creative use of the Disney cartoon Who Killed Cock Robin, which will appeal to the animation students in my class.
HITCHCOCK AND DAME MAY WHITTY CONFER ON ‘THE LADY VANISHES.’
The Lady Vanishes, the director’s last British thriller, has the advantage of a light tone. Its deft combination of wit and mystery is also Hitchcockian. The “lady” of the title, played by Dame May Whitty, is a British spy returning home by train from a Balkan dictatorship. The train’s passengers, including Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood, are unaware of her true identity; when she disappears, no one remembers that she was aboard except for Lockwood. Again, appearances are deceiving as Lockwood begins to question her memory and her sanity. The banter between Redgrave and Lockwood sparkles; good dialogue is generally appreciated by the film students in my class, because they know first-hand that it is not easy to write. I also like the train’s colorful passengers, who are amusing portraits of archetypal British characters.
HITCHCOCK WITH ROBERT DONAT ON ‘THE 39 STEPS’
Released in 1935, The 39 Steps represents the earliest film on my list, and it stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, two movie stars the students have probably never heard of. However, it offers an example of Hitchcock’s famous falsely accused man storyline—making it a good introduction to the director’s style and themes. Donat stars as Richard Hannay, a visiting Canadian who unwittingly becomes involved with espionage while in London. When a British spy suddenly dies in his apartment, she hands Hannay dangerous information that “a certain foreign power” wants to acquire. Hannay has to answer for her murder and so goes on the run from the police while trying to prevent the hot information from being exposed. More interesting than the storyline is the use of acting and performance to foreground the disparity between appearance and reality, again a key theme for Hitchcock. In the beginning, Hannay asks the spy if she is an actress, and she coyly replies, “Not the kind you mean.” Other spies pretend to be police; even, the good Professor Jordan turns out to be a spy. Hannay himself assumes several false identities throughout the film. Carroll, who is one of Hitchcock’s cool, collected blondes, finds herself handcuffed to Hannay, which focuses attention on male-female interaction and relationships—another Hitchcock preoccupation. Finally, The 39 Steps offers an example of a MacGuffin.
DIRECTING ‘SECRET AGENT.’ A YOUNG JOHN GIELGUD IS ON THE LEFT.
The two dark horses in this five-film race are Secret Agent and The Man Who Knew Too Much. The former is based on the Ashenden stories by Somerset Maugham, not The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. (Conrad’s short novel was the basis for Saboteur.) In Secret Agent, John Gielgud stars as a WWI-era British spy who is sent to Switzerland to locate a German agent. One of the reasons I am considering this film is because Peter Lorre costars as Gielgud’s sidekick. Lorre is someone the students know little about, but they typically become fans after being introduced to his work. The other plus for this film is the very-American Robert Young, who ends up being the German spy. The Man Who Knew Too Much, which also costars Lorre, was originally supposed to be a Bulldog Drummond tale, but that idea was quickly dismissed. Aside from Lorre, the appeal of this film is the story of an ordinary, innocent husband and wife who are naïve to the monsters of this world. They are pitched into international intrigue because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hitchcock re-made this film 20 years later, and comparing and contrasting the British and Hollywood versions would make a decent topic for a paper. The down side of these two films is the fact that I have not seen either in a while, and my memories of them are not the sharpest.
With all this in mind, I would appreciate any memories, recommendations, and thoughts on these films.