Ed has a great post about the Hitchcock movie Rope and a disturbing news story that parallels the thriller’s premise.
My question for PJ Lifestyle readers: what’s Hitchcock’s best movie?
For my money my favorite period of Hitchcock films is the tail end of his British period and the beginning of his American career (1935-1946). Back in my film obsessive days in high school and the beginning of college (which preceeded my politics obsessive days which began in earnest circa the Iraq War) I acquired the Wrong Men and Notorious Women Criterion Collection box set. The collection includes fantastic editions of The 39 Steps, Rebecca, The Lady Vanishes, Notorious, and Spellbound. (Incidentally, the boxset is now out of print and retailing new for about four times what I originally paid for it. Cool. Not that I’d ever expect to get that given how much my box has been smacked around moving from here to there over the years.) Another Hitchcock from this period that I really enjoy is 1940’s The Foreign Correspondent, particularly because it has a nice supporting performance from George Sanders, the British character actor with a really cool voice that most people recognize from his role as the tiger Shere Khan in Disney’s The Jungle Book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T0I5UepXMA
This whole period of Hitchcock is wonderful because by and large the films are more upbeat and positive than the work he did in the ’50s and ’60s. I can respect and appreciate films like Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho, Rope and The Birds but they’re just not as enjoyable as the films in my boxset.
If I had to pick a favorite right now I’d say Rebecca but I really need to give Notorious another viewing before saying for certain.
Does anyone care to dissent? Am I wrong i holding this era of Hitchcock above all others? Please make your arguments in the comments section.
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