This list is very much incomplete. More will be added.
28. The Skin Game [1931]
“I had forgotten their existence.”
The Skin Game was one of Hitchcock’s earliest “talkies,” and it mostly feels remarkable both for the skill Hitchcock displays here and also the lack of obvious Hitchcock qualities (beyond the obvious skill for filmmaking). It is an interesting exploration of class if not terribly profound. The rich play their games against each other and everyone suffers (except for the rich). You can easily see how this was originally a play, as there is nothing inherently cinematic about it. It’s worth watching, but also feels inessential in some ways.
27. Foreign Correspondent [1940]
Never one of the most beloved Hitchcocks, Foreign Correspondent very much feels like Hitchcock going through the motions. He’s not aiming high or taking any chances. This ensures the film is solid and an entertaining time, but it also means it never has a chance of really grabbing you. It is not bad or anything. It just feels relatively inessential on the Hitchcock scale.
One of the biggest areas of improvement would have been the lead. Joel McCrea feels old fashioned as a lead in a way that is uninspired. Hitchcock often benefitted from having someone truly exception up and in front for his movies, and he really needed it here.
26. Torn Curtain [1966]
While missing some of the spark and energy from the top Hitchocks, the film has a great premise and leans on the charms of Paul Newman and Julie Andrews to successfully carry the film. Newman is a legit citizen nuclear scientist who is doing an unsanctioned spy mission behind the Iron Curtain in the hopes of developing technology that will make nuclear bombs obsolete. The premise leads to a fun first three quarters of a film. As Newman and Andrews are fleeing East Germany, the film slows to a crawl for reasons only Hitchcock knows. A lot of the tension went out the window, and it leaves you feeling underwhelmed more than anything. Still, this was solid.
25. The Man Who Knew Too Much [1956]
What is so odd about this movie’s lack of punch is that it has all the classic elements of a successful Hitchcock and is in the middle of a run when he made some of his very best work…and yet…this film feels extremely mid. The pacing feels incredibly off overall that cuts the tension. The movie goes at a snail’s pace and you are just find yourselves wondering when the film is going to kick it into gear. Hitchcock does craft a beautiful near-climatic set piece at the concert hall as the dialogue of all the characters gets drowned out by the music. It gives the film a badly needed shot of adrenaline and gives this underwhelming picture something positive to (kind of) end on. The film also has an all-time sign-off so points for that.
24. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
A few of things really stand out about this film that I would like to take a moment to call attention to here. There are two action set pieces that stand out for sincerely positive reasons. There was a CHAIR FIGHT! THEY THREW CHAIRS AT EACH OTHER!! You get a tiny glimpse of the chair fight scene above but it was just a bunch of people fighting via throwing chairs at one another. It whipped. Then the climax of the film was this crazy shootout where the villains and the real villains (cops) were just picking each other off for what seemed like 10-15 minutes. Once again, it whipped. Finally, it would be malpractice to not call attention to how delightful Peter Lorre was here in the main villain role. From when I was very young and watching Casablanca and Arsenic and Old Lace, I have loved this man. Everything he does is just simply perfect.
23. Spellbound [1945]
The concept for this film was a rather ingenious variation of the classic Hitchcock concept of a man confused for someone else and all hell breaks out. Gregory Peck has amnesia and has taken the identity of someone who was presumed to be murdered which makes Peck the number one suspect for said murder. If there is one hangup on the story is that Ingrid Bergman just so quickly dives all the way in to being in love with Peck and moving heaven and earth to save him and prove his innocence. If they were together long or if the movie was more dependent on Peck driving the action, the movie would have been better off. As such, a little bit of emotion feels false. A good, not great Hitchcock.
22. The Lady Vanishes [1938]
A killer mystery and limited location (only two) is pretty much all the setup Hitchcock ever needed to create a tense suspense tale. I think a later Hitchcock would have felt more confident to just stick the entire thing on the train and not spent so much time with the character setup in the hotel the night before the murder and then the titular lady vanishing. There is nothing really wrong with the opening act, but I think the tension of never leaving the train and suffocation of the one-set film would have added to the film. As is though, the movie is a great early look at Hitckcock fine-tuning his skills.
21. Notorious [1946]
Hitchcock’s WW2 period is quite fascinating. In many ways, it feels like he was anticipating the Cold War era with how many films were about who you could trust and the fear that someone who was close to you or you felt strongly about could be hiding a deep dark secret from you. In the time of a worldwide battle against Nazis, Hitchcock’s films want to know if they can trust you and what side you are on. The setup here is rather strong especially since Nazis hiding in South America is always an area worth exploring in film more. The film is bit too dependent on a rushed “love” story between the two leads, but Bergman and Grant are such icons that is helps cover for it and makes the film quite enjoyable.
20. The Ring [1927]
This was the first silent Hitchcock film I watched. It is also apparently the only original screenplay that Hitchcock ever wrote. It is about a love triangle where a woman leaves her fiance for a richer, bigger, stronger, and more successful-in-the-same-field man. This is what we in the film business like to call the Hitchcock Rosetta Stone. And it made for an absolutely thrilling film. It also has this absolutely insane moment.
19. Saboteur [1942]
As a general rule, I find Hitchcock’s WW2 films less interesting than his other stuff. It’s all about pushing you to think you cannot trust people. He wants to know what side you’re on. And he wants to ask you about these things over and over again. And when he gets tired of asking you, he starts to tell you over and over again. It is just not Hitchcock at his most compelling. 75-80% of this film is a real fun romp though with a lot of hilarious moments (be them intentional or not). Strongly recommend to watch this in a sold-out NYC theater.
18. The Trouble with Harry [1955]
Hitchcock went full black comedy here with his of his most bizarre yet breezy murder mysteries. The relatively zany story never really hits the peaks required to be a classic or anything, but it’s a brisk romp with a bunch of dopes trying to figure out who killed the deceased Harry. Hitchcock probably needed a bit more practice with pure morbid comedies to really nail down the timing and pacing, as the film does tend to drag a tiny bit and there is a repetition to the story that does not help with the latter.
17. Frenzy [1972]
Before anything else, you need to know that early in this film an absolutely gruesome rape/murder happens to one of the female characters. It is so goddamn unpleasant and in a way that just makes you feel sick while watching the movie.
In a way, it represents a shift in how these stories get told. So many movies from Hitchcock involved violence against females but they were always shot and conveyed to the audience in a very sanitized way.
Artists like de Palma really shined a light on the absurdity of that sanitized portrayal of the world that Hitchcock popularized and was lapped up by adoring masses.
This film potentially shows an old master trying to join the brave new world, and the messiness that unfolds on screen is every bit as interesting as it is unpleasant. It is a film worthy of study for how one of the creators of the cinematic language was attempting to get with the times towards the very end of his career.
(In another way, someone can do some very in-depth analysis of noted alleged sexual criminal, Alfred Hitchcock. And why the protagonist is made to be so utterly unlikable? Is there something there? Who’s to say.)
This is overall a very mixed bag of a film. While there is undoubtedly some very cool shit executed in the film (the rigor mortis sequence in particular) and the film is anything but boring, the women violence stuff is just more often than too unpleasant and uncomfortable.
16. The Birds (1963)
The thing about this movie that stands out the most is that the first hour of the film is not about the birds but in fact about establishing that all the players in the ensemble are completely sociopathic in their behavior but in the most low-key manner possible. These people are just completely off the reservation but just so casual about it! It is essentially community of people that just have moments of reckless extreme impulsivity and then are forced to just kind of live in the situation they inexplicably created for themselves. And then a bunch of birds attack them. It is good fun.
15. To Catch a Thief (1955)
This movie was about Cary Grant being hot, Grace Kelly being hot, and France being very fucking pretty. Pretty sure there was also something about stolen jewels or something. But really this was just about being fucking hot in very cool locales. Sometimes, that is all you need to make an entertaining film.
14. Lifeboat (1944)
A film so simple yet so brilliant yet also so difficult to pull off. A bunch people are stranded on a lifeboat in the ocean during World War II. It’s a deeply cynical tale of the stupidity and worthlessness of society despite the fact that on an individual level we’re all pretty whatever at worst. We are just completely incapable of developing any sense of community to keep ourselves alive let alone building anything better.
13. Stage Fright [1950]
This was a film I was having trouble connecting with at first and found myself restarting from the beginning a couple of times instead of just powering through. I finally got hooked enough but then had trouble figuring out what was drawing me to this film that seemed very obviously far from perfect. I realized eventually that I just found the characterization of Jane Wyman’s Eve Gill just utterly fascinating. The film’s setup seems like rather standard Hitchcock stuff: murder, twists, etc. But this Eve Gill makes the film stand out. She is a young woman who is trying to figure herself out. Instead of very obviously having the character do it though, it is happening through her trying to catch the murderer. Her messiness reads less like incompetence and more like youth being confused by their desires and wants. It feels very distinct in this way.
12. Shadow of a Doubt [1943]
The first time I watched this film in college, I did not connect with it much. I am not sure why beyond possibly being too close to the protagonist’s age and not being able to reflect on how it felt to be young and frustrated with being trapped in dull suburbia. Now, when I watch the film, I empathize deeply with Teresa Wright, her frustration with her boring home life, and her love of her “different” uncle who goes about life less inside the lines. To go back to the Suspicion well but to put a angsty teenager at the center of it who is punished for her longing to escape the doldrums is almost cruel of Hitchcock. But there is something so true about it. As a child, you have an outsider’s view of so many things that seem far preferable to the life you lead. Only, you really have no idea what those things are like. The heart of this film is Teresa Wright experiencing the truth, the harsh reality of the world outside the bubble your parents protect you from. And discovering that truth can be devastating.
11. Suspicion [1941]
I just love the use of Cary Grant in this film. For a man so naturally charming and charismatic, it is so tempting to position him as the hero of the film. While he seemingly never played a white meat babyface hero or anything like that, he is also positioned to be lovable in spite of his flaws. His casting here as the suspect is so brilliant for that reason. Everything is screaming that this man is a sociopathic murderer, but a part of you still doubts simply because it is Cary Grant.
The best sequence in the film which captures that very idea is when Joan Fontaine becomes convinced that Cary Grant is going to kill his best friend. She is finally convinced he is that bad of a person and chases them around the country to see if Grant actually killed his best friend. When she cannot find them, she returns home to discover Grant and his best friend, safe and unharmed. The screen grows bright, the music conveys elation, and Fontaine has never been happier throughout the whole film. Despite having every reason in the world to think of Cary Grant as a scoundrel and potential murderer, she still desperately wants to believe he is the hero.
`10. The 39 Steps (1935)
While this film was missing some of the flourishes and pure star power sexy appeal that his later films had, this was otherwise Hitchcock at his more pure, distilled form. There is a secret group of evil douchebags. A himbo has gotten caught up in their schemes against his will. A hot woman is there to banter with him. Tension, excitement, hilarity, and sex eyes ensue.
9. Strangers on a Train (1951)
While there is so much connective tissue among all the Hitchcocks, Strangers feels especially spiritually close to Rope. One extremely horny for murder man pressures his unwilling partner in crime to murder with him. Hitchcock was just so great at exploring the concept of how humanity has great innocence and terror inside of them. Inside of us.
Hitchcock takes that idea and takes you on an emotional roller coaster of suspense. Bruno is terrifying and you cannot help but feel empathy for Guy. You want Bruno to gets his comeuppance but it feels like Guy gets screwed over if they all go down.
This film is missing the gravitas of a big star like James Stewart to help carry the load, but the concept is so good and Hitchcock just has so much fun with this one. The tennis sequence, the carousel stuff, and the moment where Bruno is revealed waiting for Guy in his bed stand out as just Hitchcock showing off. A damn fine film.
8. Rope (1948)
The fake continuous shot gimmick feels completely trite now, but at least it feels like with Rope that it is for a greater purpose. Rope is as much as an exercise in tension as anything else. Brandon is walking up to the edge of the cliff and is expecting Phillip to look with him. Phillip cannot take it and is crumbling in real time whereas Brandon gets turned on more and more from the rush of staring one’s demise in its face. With each passing moment, Brandon and Phillip come closer and closer to falling off the cliff and perishing. The whole film is this tightrope act (mixing my metaphors) that you cannot look away from and one of the most interesting films Hitchcock ever made.
7. Dial M for Murder [1954]
The first time I got to watch to watch this was on the big screen, in a packed theater, and in restored 3-D. The first two points are so notable because this movie is fucking hilarious. The movie is simultaneously a compelling Hitchcock suspense/mystery in its own right but also a great farce of Hitchcock films. The film finds new ways of having fun with the absurdity of this type of film. Its winks at the audiences feel more in good fun and well within the tone of the film.
The film also mines plenty of humor from its explorations of the absurdity of marriage. At its core, the motivations of the main characters are about what it feels like to be stuck in a loveless and passionless long-term relationship. You’re desperate to escape and yet you take no healthy steps to communicate your emotions let alone extricate yourself from the relationship. Instead, you manage to self-destruct and take out everyone else in the area with you.
6. Psycho (1960)
Psycho is one of those cultural touchstones that is so embedded into our brains from a young age that it can be difficult to get past that when assessing the film. I’ve only seen the film 4-5x but I feel like I have the shower scene memorized. But what that means is that it puts the film in a position where you can focus more on the offbeat moments; the moments replayed less. You can focus on the genuine sadness in Anthony Perkins’ eyes. And that while the film may be making him an “extreme” character, that sadness is very real and captures what you see in a lot of people. The way Janet Leigh makes a series of bad decisions that begin to quietly pile up without her even realizing it until she feels like she’s drowning. Who could not relate to that? There’s just something beautifully human about this film which makes the insanity all the more sad and terrifying.
5. North by Northwest (1958)
The film combines one of the best uses of the Cary Grant star persona along with Hitchcock being in peak form. From jump with the overwhelming score and the in-your-face opening credits, the tone is set right away. This will be a film of excess. Everything is done to the nth degree, and the film is a roller coaster as a result. Every once in a while, a filmmaker gets the opportunity to deliver the ultimate expression of their best moviemaking values and this here was Hitchcock’s. It’s not my favorite. It doesn’t leave the biggest emotional impact on me. But it is most in-your-face Hitchcock of them all.
4. Rebecca [1940]
“Our marriage is a great success, isn’t it? We are happy, aren’t we? Terribly happy?”
“If you say we’re happy, let’s leave it at that.”
In what is clearly one of his very best films, Hitchcock manages to take a bunch of universal truths about human existence, create a gripping mystery, fill the film with a bunch of freaks, and mix them altogether for a true horror show of a film. Olivier is haunted by his past life with his first wife, the deceased and titular Rebecca. There is no path forward with his new wife as long as he is still hung up on that. His new wife is then thrown to the wolves in a household and community full of fucking freaks looking to tear her down due to the crime of not being Rebecca. Because in their minds, how could anyone live up to Rebecca. And in the community’s eyes, how could it be better than the marriage of Olivier and Rebecca. Of course, it is revealed that Oliver and Rebecca’s marriage was a sham in so many ways. Once again, Hitchcock capitalizes on the important and often not understood idea that you really have no idea what is going on in a relationship behind closed doors. This is all a cocktail of crazy and leads to mass chaos and near total destruction. A sublime slow burn thriller if ever there was one.
3. Read Window (1954)
Rear Window is not the best movie Alfred Hitchcock made, but it is the best Alfred Hitchcock Movie (to be reductive). There is really nothing quite like watching Hitchcock at the peak of his powers with either Grant or Stewart in the leading role. There is something about that dynamic that screams “Hitchcock” to me more than anything else. Hitchcock in particular was so good at using one location to craft thrilling films. While there is not quite the claustrophobia that comes with Lifeboat here, there is that feeling of being trapped and being powerless. James Stewart is quite literally confined to a wheelchair due to a broken leg and has no ability to definitely solve the mystery that only he has been able to put together. He is powerlessness. Full of self-doubt. Sabotaging his idyllic relationship. All he can do is Look. He is left with no other choice but to send others to do dirty work for him while he can only sit back, direct others, and mostly play a supporting role in solving the mystery. Despite the rather simple premise, Rear Window is one of most the enriching and rewarding film experiences out there. I have watched this movie countless times, and I will watch it countless more.
2. Marnie [1964]
There is no Hitchcock movie quite like Marnie. It is a terrifying horror film where a woman (Tippi Hedren) suffering a deeply traumatic childhood incident is hunted by a monster of a man (Sean Connery) determined to “save” her even as he further destroys her in the process.
While there is much to commend about the film, one of the most important elements is the pitch perfect casting of Sean Connery as the monster. Because Sean Connery does not play it like he is a monster. He is just doing Sean Connery. It never doesn’t feel like James Bond is on the screen. And the movie itself never really stops sympathizing with Connery in the film even as he systematically terrorizes Hedren in the name of helping her. The movie is just a total mindfuck in that way.
Much of the movie could be discussed in that context, but the sequence I want to highlight is when Connery blackmails Hedren into marrying her and kidnaps her on a honeymoon from hell. Here is when the horror imagery gets more literal.
Connery corners Hedren in their bedroom, and she does not want consummate their marriage. Connery strips her naked in a shocking and terrifying moment. Connery takes off his jacket and you brace for an explosion of violence. Connery approaches Hedren having no idea what terror he has unleashed on her. He takes his jacket…and actually covers Hedren up.
Connery has no idea what he is actually doing to Hedren and in his sick and twisted head thinks he is genuinely helping and saving her. To hammer home how much he doesn’t understand what he is doing, after covering up Hedren, Connery proceeds to rape her. Hedren falls back onto the bed, her eyes gone cold and dead as it happens.
No other sequence in the film better captures the feeling of disgust and dread you are constantly made to feel in this one. Read a better analysis of this movie by Willow!
1. Vertigo (1958)
I can only discuss this film from the context of my experience with it. I watched it first at twenty years old, raised on the importance and greatness of Hitchcock. Of all the big Hitchcock entries, this was one of the few I had not seen in my teenage years. I finally saw it though…and was completely underwhelmed. It was not Hitchcock as I knew him to be, and I resented the film for it.
Years later, I saw the film again. A mild amount of age and experience did wonders for my appreciation of what Hitchcock created here. It is one of the few outings from Hitchcocks that truly feels like it is capturing something about the tragic nature of the human experience.
While there are so many aspects of the film, that one could (and has focused on), the character I keep coming back to time and time again is Midge. So much about this film is about how we deal (or don’t deal, more precisely) with the fantasies we construct in our minds to get through the day. Jimmy Stewart’s deep friendship with his ex-fiancee really captures that perfectly. It is such a tranquil image to hold onto. That this person we shared everything with when we were younger can be kept in a box where we only get the parts of them we like and can manage without consideration of their feelings and needs at all. The pure heartbreak that comes when Midge throws her tantrum halfway through the film when she fears she has accidentally pushed Stewart away. That terror that lived deep inside of her comes pouring out. I cannot get it out of my head.
The Reel World 