Hitchcock | Jamaica Inn (1939)

Jamaica Inn (1939)
written by Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison and J.B. Priestley, based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier

Right off, once I realized this was set a century in the past, the film felt off. Hitchcock normally works in the present; this costume drama thing doesn't feel right for him. The movie was barely reconizable as a Hitchcock picture. Was this just one last paycheck before heading for Hollywood?

Part of the reason the film feels off is that wasn't really Hitchcock's film. Charles Laughton's ego weighs heavily throughout. He's broad and cheeky and often unintelligible and probably has far too much screentime for what the character requires. His character seems to be all over the place, going from arrogant semi-nobleman to suicidally insane in the course of ninety minutes. I liked Laughton as a similar character in The Old Dark House, but here he see-saws the tone of the film too much. Am I supposed to take him seriously? If not, he's an oddly funny character in the middle of some grim subject matter.

Anyway, Hitchcock boiled the movie down himself: "You can't direct a Laughton picture. The best you can hope for is to referee."(5/10)

Watched the region 1 DVD released by Kino in 2003. Fuzzy transfer of a beat-up print with inexplicable windowboxing throughout. Nearly as bad as the public domain silent films. But, this is the only R1 DVD not missing 8 minutes of footage from the middle of the film, so there's that.

OLR: Die You Zombie Bastards! (2005)

Every bit as good as -- and I say this with respect -- Space Zombie Bingo!!! (7/10)

d. Caleb Emerson

OLR: Cruel Intentions (1999)

The movie expects you to somehow respond to a couple of characters with real emotion after everyone's been running around overacting for 90 minutes. (6/10)

d. Roger Kumble

Hitchcock | The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)
written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on a novel by Ethel Lina White

This is the most "English" film I've ever seen. It features a group of English folks vacationing -- er, holidaying -- in a fictitious country on the continent. Hitchcock mines plenty of humor -- er, humour -- out of the language and customs differences between his countrymen and the foreign-language-talkin' natives. At one point early on, the leading lady corrects the pronunciation of the harried hotel clerk ("ahv-ah-lahn-sh"). Two of the characters are eager to get home in time to catch a cricket match. The titular lady gives a waiter a packet of her own tea and tells him exactly how to make it. There's an entire plot point that hinges on the fact that only the English train passages will be in the dining car during tea time.

Knowing that war is only a year away, this is a fascinating look at the English temperament at the time. Only the English people on the train can be trusted. Every one of the foreigners traveling colludes to keep the lady vanished. Every one of the foreigners is odd or off or mean-looking. When the bad guys replace the vanished lady Mrs. Froy with a foreign clone, the clone is a gruff women with a permanent scowl who looks nothing like smiling Mrs. Froy. The foreign spies are cut-throat murders whilst England's spy -- Mrs. Froy -- is a sweet, old woman who exchanges secret codes in songs. The English are infallibly polite throughout their adventures in hostile territory, even to the point of one of them getting shot in the hand for his trouble. Once harmed, however, they fight for hard for their country. The impression this all gives me is that, even a year before the invasion of Poland, the English were psyching their national consciousness up for an inevitable war.

The film takes a little while to get going. Not knowing anything about it going in, I was a bit fearful that this was going to be a 90-minute film about goofy people in an alpine hotel. What it turned out to be is a summation of all of the tricks Hitchcock's picked up during his filmmaking career up to this point. The film starts with some of his beloved models, which is a fun and inexpensive way to crane through the mountains and into the hotel. The plot follows his favorite themes of normal, naive people being thrust into extraordinary situations. Hitchcock's cheeky humor abounds. There's some great, experimental opticals that allow the audience to experience Iris' concussion. There's some nice suspense when the evil doctor tries to poison Iris and Gilbert and even more when the train is diverted and the English passengers realize the spot they're in. The story is exciting and full of mystery and intrigue. I can certainly understand why this was a smash hit 71 years ago. (7/10)

Watched the region 1 DVD released by Criterion in 2007. Flawless transfer as far as I could tell. Disc 2 also has some great extras, including a spin-off (!) movie.

OLR: A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Not quite the mind-trip I was expecting given the source material and animation technique. (7/10)

d. Richard Linklater

OLR: Beerfest (2006)

Beer, boots and balloons is all you need. (8/10)

d. Jay Chandrasekhar

OLR: Starship Troopers (1997)

One reason I love this movie is that it simultaneously makes me revile humanity's brutality while wanting to join the army. (8/10)

d. Paul Verhoeven

OLR: My Bloody Valentine: Extended Cut (1981)

A solid '80s slasher now even better without the distracting censorship. (7/10)

d. George Mihalka

Guest OLR: Sisters (1973)

Totally neato murder set pieces in an unsatisfying narrative. (6/10)

d. Brian de Palma

Hitchcock | Young and Innocent (1937)

Young and Innocent (1937)
written by Charles Bennett, Edwin Greenwood, Anthony Armstrong, Gerald Savory and an uncredited Alma Reville, based on a novel by Josephine Tey

Though there isn't any espionage in this film, it's another wrong man tale in the same vein as The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps. As with Steps, I'm not a big fan of the main character. Robert, on the run from the police over a false murder accusation, is just too chipper about the whole thing. He's waltzes through the movie with a smirk on his face, smoothly flirting with the police captain's daughter. He was so overconfident about being able to prove his innocence, I ended up wanting to see him convicted at the end of the film out of spite.

Most of the rest of the film -- when Robert isn't the center of attention -- is quite good. The scene in the hotel club at the end, in particular, was excellent. I liked how Hitchcock turned the tables a little: the suspense in this sequence comes from the true murder's increasing nervousness at being discovered instead of the wrong man almost being captured. You almost can't help feel sorry for the murderer as he begins to screw up his drumming while his tell-tale face twitches uncontrollably.

I was surprised to read in The Alfred Hitchcock Story that this was Hitch's favorite British-era movie. I can see how the experience of making the film would've been fun. Hitch gets to shoot in some beautiful English countryside, he gets to play with toy trains again and that scene in which the car falls into a collapsing mine is quite exciting. It's often a nicely put together picture, but I'm still a The Man Who Knew Too Much fan when it comes to pre-Hollywood wrong man films. (7/10)

Watched the region 1 DVD released by Fox in 2008 as a part of the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection. The transfer's excellent.

OLR: Death Wish (1974)

I don't know if it's the filth or the mutton chops, but I doubt there's a single 1970s movie set in New York City I won't enjoy. (7/10)

d. Michael Winner

OLR: eXistenZ (1999)

The way it's shot, the way the actors read their lines, the locations, the lighting: there's a subtle off-ness to all of this that makes this movie fascinating to watch. (9/10)

d. David Cronenberg

OLR: Masters of Horror: "The Black Cat" (2007)

Best Poe adaptation ever. (9/10)

d. Stuart Gordon

OLR: Groundhog Day (1993)

A perfect movie to cheer up dreary mid-winter. (8/10)

d. Harold Ramis

Guest OLR: Hi, Mom! (1971)

Mostly a collection of rejected bits from Greetings, and there can be no mistaking why they were rejected. (5/10)

d. Brian de Palma