I recently discovered British actor Kenneth More in The Admirable Crichton (1956) and, by searching Tubi to see what other films of his were available, that he had starred in a 1959 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935), which is a great favorite of mine. This led me to also discover that there was a 1979 remake of The Lady Vanishes starring Cybill Shepherd, Elliott Gould, and Angela Lansbury. I ended up watching them back-to-back and decided to jot down a quick post with my thoughts.
While enjoyable, The 39 Steps, directed by Ralph Thomas, had none of the suspense of the original. More acted as if he were simply on holiday and there was never any real feeling that his life was in danger. The women in the film - the lady who was murdered in his flat, the wife at the house he took refuge in, and finally Miss Fisher (Madeline Carroll's role) - weren't quite right either. The first was too matter of fact, the second a "fortune teller," and Miss Fisher not nearly annoyed enough. All of the tenseness of the original scenes simply wasn't present. The impromptu political speech Hannay gives in the original is replaced with a botany lecture at a girl's school that isn't nearly as tense or funny and the final scene fell a little flat. It's still worth a watch and the color scenery was lovely, though not as harsh and dramatic as in black and white. It helped lend to the more "holiday" feeling.
The Lady Vanishes, directed by Anthony Page, faired better. I've only seen the original once (as opposed to I think four times for The 39 Steps plus the book by John Buchan). Cybill Shepherd plays the heroine differently than Margaret Lockwood (I do wish Sheperd didn't talk so loud the entire time) but it was a fun film. Again, not as tense as the original but that film also had more of Hitchcock's humor. I would say the remake had a slight screwball element to it as well with Sheperd's portrayal as a seemingly flighty heiress with multiple marriages and on her way to another. It was set in 1939 and had a stronger N*zi presence - our introduction to Shepherd's character is her doing a H*tler impression. There was on-location shooting in Austria, so this film had lovely scenery as well.
Have you seen any remakes of Hitchcock films (aside from the one's he remade himself)? What did you think of them? Did you like them better than the original?
Nominate one or more people to review the film or films of your choice. Or you can request they review something from a certain year, genre, or star. Everyone can review the same thing, or you can request each person cover something different. As long as it’s something they haven’t written about yet, you’re good.
Nominees are allowed to request a different pick for whatever reason no more than five times. Stuff happens. We all know it.
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Nominees may nominate others to keep the tag going. Picking the person who nominated them is allowed, or they can nominate someone else. Maybe both.
All participants need to include these rules in their post, whether they’re nominees or picking nominees.
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Have fun!
At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with that number, but I looked through the films I’ve seen and five was the exact number. Now, I still have several films I haven’t seen. I started Under Capricorn once but it wasn’t grabbing me, and I have no desire to watch his final films, Family Plot and Frenzy. And of course I haven’t seen most of his British films (that includes a The Lady Vanishes - I know). However, here is what I was able to come up with (SPOILERS are marked):
1958
Ok, before you start, I only watched this once probably over a decade ago. I need to rewatch it. At the time though, I really wasn't a fan of Jimmy Stewart, especially when he gets those crazy eyes. I have a thing about close-ups of eyes in movies. I also thought he was too old for Kim Novak (same goes for Grace Kelly in Rear Window). The whole psychedelic sequence was not to my liking either. Being younger, I probably missed a lot of underlying meanings and signs that I would get nowadays. Anyway, this is the first film that pops into my head when asked about my least favorite Hitchcock film.
1944
SPOILERS: It really disturbed me when Walter Slezak (I think it was him?) let Canada Lee fall overboard while everyone was sleeping just because he was black. And William Bendix losing his leg also bothered me.
1948
I watched about 15 minutes but did not like it so I stopped. I will probably never watch it all the way through. It was just too morbid.
1936
I couldn't get on board with Sylvia Sidney being married to Oscar Homolka. And SPOILER, her brother getting blown up at the end was pretty gruesome, even though they didn't show it.
1939
I don't really remember anything about this movie except that it was boring and I didn't like it. Was probably just creeped out by Charles Laughton.
What can I say? Those are my choices and I'm sticking to them!
Thanks to Emily for tagging me! And now I tag Hamlette's Soliloquy to write about her Favorite Movie that was FILMED in Europe!
For the first time in several years, the choice of film - To Catch a Thief (1955) - for the 10th Annual Royal Film Performance was, aside from being an American film, non-controversial and a welcome change for the Royals. An unsigned memo about the event read, "Lieutenant Colonel Charteris, an Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen said that Her Majesty had enjoyed the film (as I did myself) and was happy with the revised arrangement . . . She had particularly welcomed the elimination of the stage show and the fact that, for her, the whole occasion had lasted for no more than 2 hours 40 minutes" (source). If you recall, the previous year's choice of Beau Brummell had so disgusted everyone that the Queen reportedly threatened to cancel the Royal Film Performance altogether.
The Canberra Times, 9/21/55
Even though it was an American film, To Catch a Thief was not without ties to England. Both its director (Alfred Hitchcock) and leading man (Cary Grant) had been born in England. The leading lady was Grace Kelly, who would marry into the Monagasque Royal Family the following year. However, only Hitchcock attended the royal event on October 31, 1955.
This 48 second video shows Norman Hartnell in attendance, who designed many gowns for the Queen, including her wedding and coronation gowns.
Another video of the stars. You can see Katy Jurado at 0:41, but her name is not mentioned. At 1:42 you see Rossano Brazzi bowing to the Queen.
Held at the Odeon Theatre, stars in attendance included Ava Gardner, Rossano Brazzi, Diana Dors, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado, Anna Neagle, and Jack Hawkins. Some of the star's attire were deemed inappropriate to be worn in front of the Royals.
You would imagine that such and occasion would get a fair amount of press. However, a more shocking royal event overshadowed everything.
If you know anything about Princess Margaret, it is that she fell in love with her father's equerry, Peter Townsend. They wanted to marry but, as he was divorced, this would cause a big problem, as the Queen was the head of the church which did not recognize divorce. Margaret was told to wait until she was of age that she didn't need the Queen's permission to marry but, when the time came, Margaret gave him up rather than lose her royal status. She released a statement on Oct. 31, the same day as the Royal Variety Performance, that read:
I would like it to be known that I have decided not to marry Group Captain Peter Townsend. I have been aware that, subject to my renouncing my rights of succession, it might have been possible for me to contract a civil marriage. But mindful of the Church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others.
This of course became the Big Royal Story. Several articles commented on the fact that Margaret, understandably, did not attend the performance that evening. The Queen Mother was also absent.
The Canberra Times, 11/2/55
Looking at the Queen, you'd never know that this event took place on the same day.
The caption reads: "Film stars from five countries were presented to the Queen at the
Royal Command film show last week. But the Queen, magnificently gowned, stole the show."
This month I was busy participating in the 50 Years of Hitchcock class (offered by TCM and Ball State University on Canvas) and binge watching Suits to catch up for season 7. There was a smaller than usual amount of films I wanted to see on TCM this month, which is good because I was able to clear off the dvr for Summer Under the Stars. Below are the films I watched (* means I've seen it before).
Anthony Adverse (1936) - Fredric March & Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains
Andy Harry's Private Secretary (1941) - Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone
Tortilla Flat (1942) - Spencer Tracey, John Garfield, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) - Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demerest
The Dude Goes West (1948) - Eddie Albert, James Gleason
*The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949) - Jane Wyman & Dennis Morgan, Eve Arden
Clash by Night (1952) - Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe
The Moon is Blue (1953) - William Holden, Maggie, David Niven
The Gun That Won the West (1955) - Dennis Morgan
Our Miss Brooks (1956) - Eve Arden
Teacher's Pet (1957) - Clark Gable & Doris Day, Gig Young
Gigi (1958) - Leslie Caron & Louis Jourdan
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) - Glenn Ford & Shirley Jones, Ron Howard, Jerry Van Dyke
*Rocky (1976) - Sylvester Stallone & Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith (one of my top ten favorite movies)
*Down Periscope (1996) - Kelsey Grammar, Bruce Dern
*Star Trek Beyond (2016) - Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho
La La Land (2016) - Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling
Despicable Me 3 (2017) - Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Julie Andrews (I saw it at a drive-in theater, my first!)
Least Favorite: Anthony Adverse (really long and boring) and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (depressing and a little too frank about sex).
Favorite Film of the Month: Our Miss Brooks and Teacher's Pet, both about teachers!
When I first started this blog, my second post was a list of Halloween Films. They were almost all comedies. Since then I have watched some scarier (to me) films that I would like to share with you:
The Leopard Man (1943) - another Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur classic, this one came out the year after the more well-known cult-film Cat People (1942). Set in New Mexico, it features Lewton's signature shadows and sounds, and even the same panther!
That moment when you show up to a party in a killer dress and with a panther
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The Uninvited (1944) - starring Ray Milland and Gail Russell, this haunting film is a must-watch. Milland and his sister (Ruth Hussey) buy a cheap mansion that happens to be haunted. At night they hear a woman moaning but no one can ever be found. Gail Russell is a neighbor who lived there as a child - until her mother fell, or jumped, of the nearby cliff. When Russell comes to visit her new neighbors she falls into a trance.
The Innocents (1961) - a classic starring Deborah Kerr, a governess who is convinced that the two children in her charge are possessed by a couple that died there. I only watched a little bit of it on TCM, but I plan to watch the whole film soon.
Ten people are invited to an isolated island, only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. Could one of them be the killer?
That is the premise of one of my favorite mystery stories by the Queen on Crime, the great Agatha Christie. Originally written in 1939, the book, a best seller with over 100 million copies sold, has been made into a movie more times than any of Christie's other novels and has appeared as a television production even more, attesting to the popularity of the story through the decades. You can read more about the book and it's adaptations here.
The Island "prison."
The story was first adapted for the stage, with a alternate ending. This ending is the one mostly used in the film adaptations, the first of which was And Then There were None (1945) starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Roland Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Richard Haydn, and Judith Anderson. The young couple and romantic interest in the film is played by Louis Hayward and June Duprez. Like the book, the story takes place on an island (changed to the Alps in the 1965 film titled Ten Little Indians). A group of strangers are invited there by a Mr. U. N. Own (get it - "unknown"), of which none of them has ever actually met. They arrive by boat and are informed that it will be back to pick them up in a few days. The guests are met by two servants, husband and wife, whom they learn have just been hired and also do not know their mysterious host. Everyone is settled in their rooms and have dinner, where they begin to get to know one another. After dinner, a record begins to play. A voice identifies itself as their host and proceeds to tell them why they are there. It seems that everyone has a shady past, whether it was murder or some other sort of crime. The guests are indignant and attempt to tell their stories to clear their names of their supposed crime.
Judith Anderson, the perfect person to put in the middle of a Christie story.
Here is the rhyme (the word Indians has since been replaced with Soldier Boys):
Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got into Chancery and then there were Four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Two little Indian boys were out in the sun;
One got all frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none
Released on Halloween of 1945, the film was highly successful. Unfortunately it has fallen into the public domain so copies of the film are extremely poor.
Although I really like this movie, I highly recommend reading the book first, as it is superbly written and with a truly thrilling climax. You can watch the movie in its entirety below:
A silent film. A woman playing the piano. A man cranking the film. An enraptured young woman. Upstairs, a limping young woman, an impending storm, and a closet full of dresses. Behind the dresses? An eye! The limping girl is strangled! The piano continues to play.
So begins The Spiral Staircase (1945) starring Dorothy McGuire, Kent Smith, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, and a few other familiar faces. We know from the moment the credits start that this is going to be a suspenseful film. The eerie music can mean nothing else as the notes slide up and down, immediately inducing a feeling of uneasiness. And when a murder happens before the first line is spoken, one can only wonder, how many others are going to die during its course? But back to the scene of the crime.
Downstairs at the hotel where the murder took place, the moviegoers are sent home and the town doctors come to inspect the body. Through their conversation it is established that the younger doctor, Dr. Parry (Kent Smith) is new to the town and gets on the nerves of old Dr. Harvey, who resents the fact that some of his patients prefer Dr. Parry.
On his way home, Dr. Parry picks up the young woman (Dorothy McGuire) who had been watching the movie. We learn that her name is Helen, she works at the Warren house as a caretaker to old Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), and today is her day off. We also learn that she is a lost her voice several years ago. Dr. Parry believes that with a specialist's help, she could regain her voice back. It is apparent that Dr. Parry and Helen are attracted to one another.
Before they reach the Warren house, a boy runs up to their buggy and says that his mother is sick. Dr. Parry lets Helen out and leaves with the boy. As Helen walks home through the woods, the tension builds along with the growing storm. A rustling noise turns out to be a rabbit. As she reaches the gate, the storm lets loose. She drops her key in a puddle and we suddenly see that she is not alone. A dark figure in a raincoat is watching her and starts to move towards her just as she finds her key and takes off running to the house.
In the house, Helen heads to the kitchen to dry off before going upstairs to see Mrs. Warren. We learn from the housekeeper (Elsa Lancaster) that this murder was not the first and that the murderer targets only young disabled or disfigured women. The first had a scar on her face, the second was "simple-minded," and now this third girl who had a limp.
While going upstairs, Helen stops to look at her reflection in the mirror, moving her lips as if talking and then putting her hands to her silent throat. The camera backs away from the stairs and again that dark figure is watching her and his eye fills the screen. He sees Helen's reflection without a mouth, as she can't speak. This time he only watches, then disappears into the shadows.
Up in Mrs. Warren's room, the atmosphere seems to be more relaxed. She appears to be asleep but as Helen builds up the fire, she opens her eyes and tell Helen to come to her. It is obvious that the invalid woman is very fond of Helen. Her little smile turns serious and she warns Helen that she isn't safe there and must leave tonight!
Stephen, Dr. Parry, and Albert
Downstairs we meet the rest of the family. There is Professor Albert Warren (George Brent), his secretary Blanche (Rhonda Fleming), and his younger step-brother Stephen. Stephen, who has just returned from a long stay in Paris, is a bit of a womanizer and turns his attentions to Blanche. The constable stops by and warns them to keep an eye on Helen, as they have traced the murderer to their vicinity. Albert tells Helen to stay in the house and trust no one.
Back in Mrs. Warren's room, she has another attack. She expresses displeasure that Stephen has returned, as he always brings trouble with him. She also knows that there has been another murder, even though no one told her. When Dr. Parry arrives, Mrs. Warren tells him that she likes him because he is strong like her husband, not weak like her sons. She also tells him to take away Helen at once. The strain causes another attack. They send a man to town for some more ether, which they use as a stimulant.
Downstairs, Dr. Parry tells Helen to pack her things and he will bring her to his mothers and then to Boston to see about restoring her voice. He also tells her that he has learned how she lost her voice from a visitor from her hometown that was at the home of his last patient. When Helen was a girl, she saw her house burn down with her parents still inside. Dr. Parry believes that if she stops blocking the memory out, her voice will return. After he leaves, Helen has a daydream where she and Dr. Parry are getting married. It is broken when she can't say the words "I do."
While she is packing, Blanche visits her in her room and decides to leave too, as she doesn't like being the cause of the animosity between Albert and Stephen (she had been Albert's girl first). She heads down to the basement to find her suitcase. She is frightened by someone she knows and her smile of relief turns to terror as whoever it was strangles her, her face and the murderer shrouded in darkness.
While all of this is taking place, Mrs. Warren tells Helen of a murder she saw many years ago, on the grounds of this very house. It was a simple-minded girl. A "tree" moved and threw her into the well. Mrs. Warren couldn't find a rope to save her. Then she says something strange: "You were that girl, Helen." Again she warns her to leave, or at least hide under the bed.
Full movie
*THE REST OF THE POST CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Helen then goes downstairs to find Blanche and finds her body. She now knows the murderer is in the house. Suddenly she hears someone behind her. It is Stephen. He tells her to go call Dr. Parry. Helen runs out and locks Stephen in, thinking he is the murderer. She rushes to the phone but when the operator asks for the number she can't say anything. Albert walks in and she writes down what has happened. He starts to take her upstairs to his step-mother's room but stops at the mirror. He reveals that he is the murderer. "There is no room in the whole world for imperfection." He explains his actions as disposing the weak that his father detested. "He would have admired me for what I'm doing."
Helen manages to get away from him and locks herself in Mrs. Warren's room. She frantically begins searching for the gun that is usually on Mrs. Warren's nightstand. Then she sneaks back downstairs to let Stephen out but stops when she sees Albert's shoes at the bottom of the spiral staircase, where he was about to go tend to Stephen. She turns to go back up the stairs and who should be standing there with a gun but Mrs. Warren! Albert comes our of his hiding place and she shoots him multiple times, "ten years too late." Helen, for the first time, screams. She then goes and lets out Stephen, who rushes to his mother, who has now collapsed. "Forgive me, Stephen, I thought it was you. He always waited until you came home, so I thought it was you." Stephen again sends Helen upstairs to call Dr. Parry. This time she is able to speak.
1. What was the first Hitchcock film you ever watched? I don't remember but it was probably Rear Window that I watched first in one sitting.
2. What’s your favorite Hitchcock film? There's several that are up there: Rebecca, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious and The Trouble with Harry but it was Strangers on a Train that started my interest in Hitchcock. I had only seen his more famous films before (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North By Northwest) none of which I particularly like. Psycho and The Birds are favorites too but not really ones I would want to watch a lot.
3. What’s your least favorite Hitchcock film? Vertigo. I've never been a huge fan of James Stewart, though I like several of his movies, and I don't really like Kim Novak.
4. What’s your favorite Hitchcock cameo? Either Lifeboat or Strangers on a Train.
All of Hitchcock's cameos
5. Who’s your favorite Hitchcock villain? Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt.
6. Hero? Rod Taylor in The Birds.
7. Heroine? Ingrid Bergman in Notorious.
8. What’s your favorite Hitchcock quote? Edmund Gwenn in The Trouble with Harry [after Dr. Greenbow trips over the body]: Couldn't have had more people here if I'd sold tickets.
9. And, finally, how many Hitchcock films have you watched? 21
