For the Love of Film - An interview with Hitchcock

Today is the last day of For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III and my last post Hitchcock themed post invites to watch this interview with him from Monitor, a BBC show from 1964.

There are some fantastic quotes from this interview, here are a couple of examples:

You’re a master, aren’t you, of the unexpected...
Well, that’s only because one’s challenged by the audience. They’re saying to me “show us” and “I know what’s coming next”... and I say, “do you?” And therefore, that’s the avoidance of the cliché automatically. They’re expecting a cliché and I have to say “we cannot have a cliché here”.

Have you ever been tempted to make what is nowadays called a horror film, which is different from a Hitchcock film?
No, because it’s too easy. Are you talking about visual horror like Frankenstein and that kind of thing?

Yes.
No, they’re... they’re props. I believe in putting the horror in the mind of the audience and not necessarily on the screen.

I always enjoy listening to anything Alfred Hitchcock says. I find his articulation, humour and point of views all very delightful.

Sit back and enjoy.



Monitor - Huw Wheldon meets Alfred Hitchcock

The last quote about happiness in the Monitor interview is a perfect segway into to the next clip, where we can hear Hitchcock talk more about his definition of happiness. I absolutely love, love, LOVE what he says.

And there you have it folks, an interview with Hitchcock and his definition of happiness seems like the perfect way to end this blogathon. Hope you have been enjoying reading these posts as much as I have been putting them together. You can find all of my previous For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon posts here.

I will ask you one last time to donate by clicking on the Donate badge below. If you believe in film preservation, your donation will not go to waste.

Links to blogposts by other participants in For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III:
- Links posted on 13-14 May can be found on Ferdy on Films
- Links posted on 15-16 May can be found on Self Styled Siren
- Links posted on 17-18 May can be found on This Island Rod

You can also donate by clicking on the Donate badge on the left side or by going here.

www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook

For the Love of Film - Hitchcock on What's My Line?

Continuing my Hitchcock themed posts that's part of For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III, today I share a video with the man himself.

The clip is from a TV game show called What's My Line? that ran from 1950-1967 in the US. I've never watched any episodes, but familiar with the show it because I've seen some clips online in the past. 

The game consisted of four celebrity panelists who would try to determine the occupation of the contestant by asking different questions. They could only ask questions that could be answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'.  There was also a segment that included a mystery guest, usually a celebrity.

This is where Hitchcock comes in. In this clip you see him disguising his voice, being cheeky with some of his answers and for some questions, answering 'Oui' instead of 'Yes'. I really enjoyed this and wish shows like this could make a come back (God knows we need something to replace the awful 'reality' shows that have taken over our TV stations).

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. It's a gem of a clip.

Links to blogposts by other participants in For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III:
- Links posted on 13-14 May can be found on Ferdy on Films
- Links posted on 15-16 May can be found on Self Styled Siren

You can also donate by clicking on the Donate badge on the left side or by going here.

www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook

For the Love of Film - Hitchcock Presents

If you've been here the past few days, you will know I'm taking part in For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III and sharing Hitchcock themed posts. I'm really enjoying researching material for this blogathon and hope you are enjoying reading the posts so far.

Today's post is about a television show produced by Hitchcock called called Hitchcock Presents. The famous signature opening sequence is a classic and Hitchcock's monologues before and after each episodes are always fun to watch. I wish someone can compile them all in one clip. I remember watching Hitchcock Presents as a child, but don't remember specific episodes.

Whilst looking up some of the episodes, I found out there's a long list of famous Hollywood actors that appeared in Hitchcock presents.  

I compiled 10 episodes here featuring Bette Davis, Roger Moore, Steve McQueen, Walter Matthau, William Shatner, Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Redford and Rober Duvall. Take a pick and enjoy  some good old fashioned mystery and suspense.

Bette Davis in Out There - Darkness (Season 4, Episode 16)
An egocentric woman refuses to loan money to a young man.

Roger Moore in The Avon Emeralds (Season 4, Episode 24)
A woman tries to smuggle an emerald necklace.

Steve McQueen in The Human Interest Story (Season 4, Episode 32)
A man claims to be a martian in the body of a human. A reporter investigates.

Walter Matthau in Dry Run (Season 5, Episode 7)
Many twists happen in this story of a gangster sent to kill a seasoned criminal.

William Shatner in Mother, May I Go out to Swim (Season 5, Episode 26)
A mama's boy plans to get rid of his mother so he can peacefully marry his love.

Gena Rowlands in The Doubtful Doctor (Season 6, Episode 2)
Winning marketing executive, Ralph Jones, is plummeted two years into the past, where he finds himself unaccompanied, single and penniless.

Peter Falk in Gratitude (Season 6, Episode 28)
A gambling-club owner is afraid a possible police crackdown when a customer kills himself.






Leslie Neilsen in Ambition (Season 6, Episode 38)
DA Rudolf Cox expects to get a politically valuable conviction with the help of stool pigeon Lou Heinz.

Robert Redford in The Right Kind of Medicine (Season 7, Episode 11)
A burglar escapes from the police with a nice loot and a worsening wound.

Robert Duvall in Bad Actor (Season 7, Episode 14)
A new play becomes a real life drama when during the casting sessions an actor changes his prop gun for a real one.

Links to blogposts by other participants in For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III:
- Links posted on 13-14 May can be found on Ferdy on Films
- Links posted on 15-16 May can be found on Self Styled Siren

You can also donate by clicking on the Donate badge on the left side or by going here.

www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook

For the Love of Film - The Hitchcock Kiss

My second post for the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III is about the Hitchcock kiss. After spending time on the gorgeous Dial S for Sensuality that was set up for the blogathon, I started looking for kissing scenes from Hithcock films.

My research led me to Alfred Hicthcock Geek who explains The Kiss by Rodin was a sculpture admired by Hitchcock and how the kissing scenes from Hitchcock's films have been compared to this sculpture.

Hitchcock and Rodin loved the sensuality of the human form – both genders included. They had a healthy sense of the ambivalence of the human condition: that we are no better than animals, yet can approach the nobility of gods; that while happiness can be pursued, it cannot be attained; that when it comes to human passions, comedy and tragedy are one and the same.

Hitchcock's love scenes have often been compared to Rodin's The Kiss. The voyeurism I mentioned above was deliberately implied in many of Hitch's kissing scenes. Speaking of his famous 2 ½- minute kiss in Notorious (1946), he said it was “it was a kind of temporary menage a trois.” Similarly, the erotic power of The Kiss was such that when Rodin loaned it out to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, it was hidden away in a separate chamber, viewable only upon special application. You'd have thought it was radioactive.
[via Alfred Hicthcock Geek]

My research also led me to this video essay by Writing with Hitchcock which goes into more details about the Hitchcock kiss.

Discussion of the kissing scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's films—his preference for having the camera circle around the lovers, the influence of Auguste Rodin's sculpture "The Kiss" on his love scenes, and the way in which multiple kissing sequences are used to illustrate the relationship between the principal characters in several of his films, most notably in VERTIGO and NOTORIOUS.

I leave you with these delicious kissing scenes from four different Hitchcock films. Enjoy!

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious

Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren in Marnie

James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest

You can access links to blogposts by the other participants in the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III here and you can donate by clicking on the Donate badge on the left side or by going here.

www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook

For the Love of Film - Restoring Alfred Hitchcock Movie Posters

Today is the first day of the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon III and will go on till 18th May.

This is the third edition of the blogathon, the aim every year is to raise funds for the National Film Preservation Foundation (an independent, nonprofit organization created to rescue endangered films) to support restoring a specific film each year.

This year, the aim is to raise funds to make The White Shadow, a film that has already been restored,  more accessible to the public.  NFPF estimates that it will cost $15,000 to stream The White Shadow for four months and record a new score written for it by Michael Mortilla and our mission this year is to raise that money so that anyone with access to a computer can watch this film

The White Shadow, directed by Graham Cutts was the first film Alfred Hitchcock had a major role in creating. He was the assistant director, screenwriter, film editor, production designer, art director and set decorator.

Between today and 18th May I will be posting Hitchock themed posts along with the other participating bloggers.

You can find links to the other posts on ferdyonfilms.com and you can donate by clicking on the Donate badge on the left side or by going here.

I will start off with post about restoration of old movie posters. I stumbled upon this video recently about Posterfix, about the restoration of old Hithcock movie posters. Think it's quite befitting with the film restoration theme.

As much as I love movies, I don't own any movie posters and after I found this video, it has piqued my interest in old movie posters and might start looking into collecting them. In the meantime, please join me and enjoy this short clip about the art of restoring old movie posters. May it never die.

You can access links to blogposts by the other participants here.

www.posterfix.com
www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook

For the Love of Film - The Film Preservation Blogathon 13th-18th May

For the Love of Film blogathon is back this May. I've been taking part since it started two years ago and can't wait to be part of this year's edition. Self-Styled Siren and Ferdy on Film will be hosting it this year (like they have for the past two years), but this year we also have This Island Rod.


The blogathon aims to raise funds for the National Film Preservation Foundation - an independent, nonprofit organization created to rescue endangered films that will not survive without public support.

In 2010, funds were raised to help the National Film Preservation Foundation repatriate and restore The Sergeant and The Better Man, two of the 85 silent-era American films found in the New Zealand Film Archive.
In 2011, the blogathon raised funds to restore The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me), directed by Cy Endfield. 

This year's goal is to raise $15,000 to help get The White Shadow , directed by Graham Cutts and written, assistant-directed by Alfred Hitchcock to stream online for free for everyone to enjoy and to also record the music score. 

Look out for Hitchcock themed posts during 13th-18th May. Please come back to read and I hope you can donate to this blogathon.

If you want to take part, let one of the following hosts know by leaving a comment on their blogposts about For the Love of Film - The Film Preservation Blogathon III:
ferdyonfilms.com, selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com, thisislandrod.blogspot.com

You can read my posts from the last two For the Love of Film - The Film Preservation Blogathon here.

www.ferdyonfilms.com
www.selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com
www.thisislandrod.blogspot.com
www.filmpreservation.org
www.moviepreservation.blogspot.com
For the Love of Film on Facebook