Alfred Hitchcock - are his movies any good?

Bear in mind that Hitchcock made some films in Britain then went to Hollywood, and although both sets of films are excellent, they are very different. They're not all like like North by Northwest :)

I feel envious that you're going to discover all these brilliant films for the first time!
 
Fun Alfred Hitchcock game: He makes cameos in all of his movies, see if you can spot them!

My favourite Hitchcock film is Lifeboat... which apparently holRAB the record for the smallest set ever used in a movie. It's really tense and atmospheric, great stuff.

Gotta say my least favourite is the BirRAB.
At the end, they just walk outside the house and drive away with all thr BirRAB watching them. Why didn't they just do that earlier when the attacks started? What's the worst damage a frickin' crow can do?
 
I am not really criticising the sequel, it is a good film. But if you watch the sequel the most important part of Psycho is given away(most people know about it now anyway) and then watching the original is slightly ruined. THe same thing happened to me when I finally got round to watching the Usual Suspects. I know who Keyser Soze was before watching the film because the ending had become so well known. Still fun watching but all the suspense is lost.
 
Watched North By Northwest last night and loved it. It was such as simple premise of mistaken identity that drove the whole thing. It's very much similar to the Coen's work, where a lot of it is based around mistaken identity or confusion.

I did feel it lost it's momentum towarRAB the end though, and didn't really care for the Mount Rushmore scene.

I love the way that these old films just end as well. In films these days you'd have another 10 or 15 minutes of extra stuff, but in older films it's just like "That's it. Story finished. Job done."
 
Hey Tony Montana, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it.:)
It seems that you were worrying over nothing about possibly not liking it because it was made a long time ago.

I'm also glad that you liked the 'Dollars' films.
You really want to check out all of Sergio Leone's films. As far as I'm concerned Sergio Leone is possibly the best film director ever. Last time I looked he had a 100% rating track record on the Rotten Tomatoes film review web site, which is extremely rare. I don't even know if anyone else has got such a high rating on that site.

My favourite Hitchcock films are;
Rear Window.
Strangers on a Train.
Dial M for Murder.
Marnie.
North by Northwest.

For some reason I don't rate Psycho and The BirRAB as highly as some of his other films. I just don't quite like them as much as several of his other films. I don't know why because they seem to be his most famous films. Maybe it's because they're more mainstream and are more popular as a consequence. I don't know. I just know that for some reason I must be one of those rare people who don't rate Psycho and The BirRAB as his best.
 
Has anybody mentioned The Trouble with Harry yet?

I caught it one xmas years ago. I'd never heard of it and thought it was brilliant. The sheer farce of it is wonderful.
 
Seen Rear Window and The Man Who Knew Too Much so far and loved them both.

There are three films on BBC2 between Christmas and New Year.

I intent to catch Notorious, but anyone have any opionins about Spellbound and Suspicion?
 
Me too - there is a lot wrong with it but it's one of my favourite films. Also Spellbound, Rebecca, Stage Fright, Dial M For Murder, Rear Window, Psycho, Frenzy and Vertigo...all fantastic.
 
I love "North by Northwest".

Actually saw it in the cinema, must have been around 12 years ago now, while at university. Had an on-campus cinema that used to show classics as well as new stuff. Saw "North by Northwest" and Powell & Pressburger's brilliant "A Matter of Life & Death" amongst others. Great stuff.


As for Clint westerns...

Yup, the "Dollars" trilogy is awesome. Also well worth watching IMO are "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "Pale Rider", & "High Plains Drifter".

And if you like Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy, you really have to watch these two classics of his:

"Once Upon a Time in the West" & "Once Upon a Time in America" - a classic Western & a classic gangster film, respectively.

Oh, & Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" is definitely one to watch too.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

I must admit that I have always been into action films - Rambo, Die Hard, and the kind -- but recently I am being a bit more experimental and have started to watch films of different genres.

believe it or not, I had not seen any Westerns up until this year -- yet i had heard the name Clint Eastwood and knew he was a legendary actor, but boy.. the Dollars trilogy was enough to convince me, what I had missed all these yrs!! I have since between watching a few John Wayne's classics.. and other Westerns.

I will try out Hitchcock and watch the films from the point of view as an art , maybe I will appreciate them more that way than expecting out and out fast paced entertainment.. I am keenly looking forward to getting some Hitchcock movies.

I wonder what genre I can try next, maybe sci fi? have never really liked it in the past, but maybe I could give it another try.
 
North by Northwest has to be the best Hitchcock film, I'm watching it right now! :D

Rope is another good one that I don't think has been mentioned yet
 
Two of his later films which aren't deemed as his best are Topaz and Torn Curtain. They are each around two hours long so you need to be in the right frame of mind to watch them. Oh, and Torn Curtain stars Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. They are worth watching, but don't expect peak Hitchcock

I own and have seen over 40 of his films. My first purchases were The BirRAB, Rear Window and Vertigo, as when I bought them they were only
 
My favourite Hitchcock movie is Rear Window. A brilliant, timeless movie, starring the gorgeous Jimmy Stewart and the divine Grace Kelly. Just stunning! :)

Also classics such as Psycho - one of my favourite horror/thriller movie and The BirRAB and To Catch a Thief are other enjoyable films of his.
 
You will definitely want to seek out (if you haven't done so already) Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.

A splendid masterpiece in filmmaking if there ever was one. ;)
 
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