The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) 4:10, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Charles Bennett, Alma Reville, Ian Hay, based on the novel by John Buchan. ph Bernard Knowles. m Louis Levy. Gaumont. 85 min.
Robert Donat (Richard Hannay), Madeleine Carroll (Pamela), Lucie Mannheim (Annabella Smith), Godfrey Tearle (Prof. Jordan), Peggy Ashcroft (Margaret Crofter), John Laurie (John Crofter), Helen Haye (Mrs. Jordan), Wylie Watson (Mr. Memory), Frank Cellier (Sheriff Watson), Peggy Simpson (Young Maid).
When a woman stumbles into his room with a knife in her back, a Canadian vacationing in London finds himself a police suspect. He has only one clue to clear himself: find the secret of the 39 steps. Seeking to prove his innocence, he travels to Scotland and becomes entangled with a spy ring and — even better — Madeleine Carroll.
This film, remarkable for its humor and suspense, captivated audiences everywhere.
"Simply one of the best films of its genre" Baseline Movie Guide
first played at the Stanford Theatre Sep 4, 1935; last played Mar 2019
"Don't you? If that's your attitude, there's nothing more to be said!"
The Lady Vanishes (1938) 5:45, 9:05
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Alma Reville, Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder, based on the novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White. ph Jack Cox. m Louis Levy. Gaumont. 97 min.
Margaret Lockwood (Iris Henderson), Michael Redgrave (Gilbert Redman), Paul Lukas (Dr. Hartz), Dame May Whitty (Miss Froy), Cecil Parker (Eric Todhunter), Linden Travers (Margaret Todhunter), Mary Clare (Baroness), Naunton Wayne (Caldicott), Basil Radford (Charters), Emile Boreo (Hotel Manager), Philip Leaver (Signor Doppo), Zelma Van Dias (Signora Doppo), Catherine Lacey (The Nun).
A lady mysteriously vanishes from a train. The other passengers deny that she ever existed, but a young woman is determined to find her. Hitchcock's last great British film is one of the most consistently engaging films anyone ever made.
"The quintessence of screen suspense." Pauline Kael
first played at the Stanford Theatre Jan 22, 1990; last played Mar 2019
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Charles Bennett, Alma Reville, Anthony Armstrong, Edwin Greenwood, Gerald Savory, based on the novel A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey. ph Bernard Knowles. m Louis Levy. Gaumont. 84 min.
Nova Pilbeam (Erica Burgoyne), Derrick de Marney (Robert Tisdall), Percy Marmont (Col. Burgoyne), Edward Rigby (Old Will), Mary Clare (Aunt Margaret), John Longden (Inspector Kent), George Curzon (Guy), Basil Radford (Uncle Basil), Pamela Carme (Christine Clay), George Merritt (Sgt. Miller), J.H. Roberts (Henry Briggs).
A quarrel leaves a woman dead. Her body washes up on the beach, a raincoat belt wrapped tightly around her neck. The prime suspect is the owner of the belt, the dead woman's gigolo who escapes the authorities and enlists the aid of the daughter of a local constable in seeking out the real murderer.
The innocent charm of this delightful film makes it even more enjoyable than some of Hitchcock's later masterpieces. Highly recommended!
first played at the Stanford Theatre Apr 30, 1990; last played Mar 2019
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, Alma Reville, Helen Simpson, E.V.H. Emmett, based on the novel The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. ph Bernard Knowles. m Louis Levy. Gaumont. 76 min.
Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, John Loder, Desmond Tester, Joyce Barbour, Matthew Boulton, S.J. Warmington, William Dewhurst, Austin Trevor, Torin Thatcher.
The Verlocs manage a small movie theater in London. Mr. Verloc, however, moonlights as an anarchist bomber and saboteur, something his wife doesn't realize until too late.
Compelling and stark, this film was banned in some countries as a textbook on terrorism. It is actually based on Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, but the title had to be changed to avoid confusion with Hitchcock's previous film.
"It may be just about the best of his English thrillers." Pauline Kael
first played at the Stanford Theatre Apr 23, 1990; last played Apr 2019
Rebecca (1940) 3:20, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. ph George Barnes. m Franz Waxman. Selznick International. 130 min.
Laurence Olivier (Maxim de Winter), Joan Fontaine (She), George Sanders (Jack Favell), Judith Anderson (Mrs. Danvers), Nigel Bruce (Maj. Giles Lacy), Gladys Cooper (Beatrice Lacy), Florence Bates (Mrs. Van Hopper), Reginald Denny (Frank Crawley), C. Aubrey Smith (Col. Julyan), Melville Cooper (Coroner), Leo G. Carroll (Dr. Baker), Leonard Carey (Ben), Philip Winter (Robert), Edward Fielding (Frith), Forrester Harvey (Chalcroft), Lumsden Hare (Tabbs).
Max de Winter brings his young new wife home, but the new mistress of Manderley is haunted by the memory of the mysterious Rebecca and the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danver.
Best Picture of 1940 and undoubtedly one of the greatest romantic films ever made. David O. Selznick brought Alfred Hitchcock to Hollywood under contract to direct four pictures. Both men were already masters of their trade, but their collaboration yielded this timeless masterpiece, which combines the distinct genius of both. Selznick fought to cast little-known Joan Fontaine for what was her finest performance.
Waxman's music insidiously suggests the ghostly presence of the dead Rebecca. The score employs a novachord, an early electronic keyboard instrument.
Hichcock's cameo appearance: walking by a telephone booth.
Print Courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
first played at the Stanford Theatre May 26, 1940; last played Mar 2019
Suspicion (1941) 5:40, 9:50
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Samson Raphaelson, Alma Reville, Joan Harrison, from the novel Before the Fact by Frances Iles. ph Harry Stradling. m Franz Waxman. RKO. 99 min.
Cary Grant (Johnie Aysgarth), Joan Fontaine (Lina McLaidlaw), Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Gen. McLaidlaw), Nigel Bruce ("Beaky" Thwaite), Dame May Whitty (Mrs. McLaidlaw), Isabel Jeans (Mrs. Newsham), Heather Angel (Ethel), Auriol Lee (Isobel Sedbusk), Reginald Sheffield (Reggie Weatherby), Leo G. Carroll (Capt. Melbeck).
A meek wife grows sick with suspicion when she becomes convinced her charming husband has plans to murder her and claim her fortune. Joan Fontaine isn't quite sure. Don't be surprised if you're not quite sure either: the original story had a different ending.
Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her performance. This was the second of Waxman's four scores for Hitchcock, and the first of the four films that Hitchcock and Grant made together.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 8, 1942; last played July 2023
Foreign Correspondent (1940) 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison, James Hilton, and Robert Benchley, from the novel Personal History by Vincent Sheean. ph Rudolph Maté. m Alfred Newman. United Artists. 120 min.
Joel McCrea (Johnny Jones / Huntley Haverstock), Laraine Day (Carol Fisher), Herbert Marshall (Stephen Fisher), George Sanders (Scot ffolliott), Albert Basserman (Van Meer), Edmund Gwenn (Rowley), Eduardo Cianelli (Krug), Robert Benchley (Stebbins), Harry Davenport (Mr. Powers), Martin Kosleck (Tramp), Barbara Pepper (Doreen), Eddie Conrad (Latvian Diplomat), Charles Wagenheim (Assassin).
Another four-star Hitchcock masterpiece, with an American reporter stumbling upon a Nazi espionage ring. The film contains a remarkable series of set-pieces, including the Dutch windmill rotating backwards.
"The picture was pure fantasy, and as you know, in my fantasies, plausability is not allowed to rear its ugly head." Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock passes Joel McCrea on the street.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Oct 27, 1940; last played Apr 2018
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, Dorothy Parker, based on an original story by Hitchcock. ph Joseph Valentine. m Charles Previn. Universal. 108 min.
Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter, Clem Bevans, Norman Lloyd, Alma Kruger, Vaughan Glaser, Dorothy Peterson, Ian Wolfe.
An innocent aircraft worker is accused of sabotage and must find the guilty person in order to clear himself. The famous finale takes place on top of the Statue of Liberty.
"Still, there's a serious error in this scene. If we'd had the hero instead of the villain hanging in mid-air, the audience's anguish would have been much greater." Hitchcock
"Probably, but the scene is so powerful that the public can't help being terrified just the same." Truffaut
Cameo appearance at a newstand.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 5, 1992; last played Nov 2023
Notorious (1946) 3:35, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Ben Hecht. ph Ted Tetzlaff. m Roy Webb RKO. 101 min.
Cary Grant (Devlin), Ingrid Bergman (Alicia Huberman), Claude Rains (Alexander Sebastian), Louis Calhern (Paul Prescott), Leopoldine Konstantin (Mme. Sebastan), Reinhold Schunzel (Dr. Anderson), Moroni Olsen (Walter Beardsley), Ivan Triesault (Eric Mathis), Alexis Minotis (Joseph), Ricardo Costa (Dr. Barbosa), Eberhard Krumschmidt (Emil Hupka), Peter von Zerneck (Wilhelm Rosner), Friedrich von Ledebur (Mr. Knerr), Sir Charles Mendl (Commodore).
U.S. agent Cary Grant enlists the help of notorious party girl Ingrid Bergman to infiltrate a ring of Nazis in South America.
Notorious is without doubt one of the supreme creations of Hollywood's golden age. Many persons (including Truffaut) regard it as Hitchcock's greatest film, and it is a leading candidate for top rank among the films of Ingrid Bergman and of Cary Grant. In any case, it is one of the most popular films at the Stanford Theatre (topped only by Casablanca, Roman Holiday, and Sabrina).
first played at the Stanford Theatre Jan 5, 1947; last played July 2023
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 5:30, 9:25
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson & Alma Reville, from a story by Gordon McDonell. ph Joe Valentine. m Dimitri Tiomkin. Universal. 108 min.
Teresa Wright (Charlie Newton), Joseph Cotton (Uncle Charlie), Macdonald Carey (Jack Graham), Henry Travers (Joseph Newton), Patricia Collings (Emma Newton), Hume Cronyn (Herbie Hawkins), Edna May Wonacutt (Ann Newton), Wallace Ford (Fred Saunders).
A young woman gradually discovers the shocking truth: that her charming visiting uncle may be the notorious Merry Widow murderer.
The film was shot on location in Santa Rosa (highly unusual for 1943). The younger daughter is played by a Santa Rosa girl whose father ran the local grocery store. Thornton Wilder's screenplay captures the flavor of small-town America.
Tiomkin's score is great fun, twisting the "Merry Widow Waltz" into a phantasmagoria.
Hitchcock claimed this was his favorite.
Hitchcock (cameo appearance as a bridge player on the train):
He's a killer with an ideal; he's one of those murderers who feel that they have a mission to destroy. It's quite possible that those widows deserved what they got, but it certainly wasn't his job to do it. There is a moral judgement in the film... Uncle Charlie loved his niece, but not as much as she loved him. And yet she has to destroy him. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: `You destroy the thing you love.'
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 7, 1992; last played Aug 2023
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Jo Swerling, based on the story by John Steinbeck. ph Glen MacWilliams. m Hugo Friedhofer. 20th Century-Fox. 96 min.
Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn, Canada Lee.
Victims of a torpedoed freighter (among them a society woman, a left-wing crew member and a Nazi) struggle for survival aboard a lifeboat.
"The technical challenge was enormous. I never let that camera get outside the boat, and there was no music at all; it was very rigorous. Of course the characterization by Tallulah Bankhead dominated the whole film.We wanted to show that at that moment there were two world forces confronting each other, the democracies and the Nazis, and while the democracies were completely disorganized, all of the Germans were clearly headed in the same direction. So here was a statement telling the democracies to put their differences aside temporarily and to gather their forces to concentrate on the common enemy, whose strength was precisely derived from a spirit of unity and of determination." Hitchcock
Cameo appearance in newspaper ad for Reduco.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 9, 1944; last played Mar 2019
Spellbound (1945) 5:30, 9:20
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Ben Hecht, Angus MacPhail, from the novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by Francis Beeding. ph George Barnes. m Miklós Rózsa. David Selznick. 111 min.
Ingrid Bergman (Dr.Constance Peterson), Gregory Peck (John "J.B." Ballantine), Leo G. Carroll (Dr.Murchison), Michael Chekhov (Dr. Alex Brulov), Rhonda Fleming (Mary Carmichael), John Emery (Dr. Fleurot), Norman Lloyd (Garmes), Steve Geray (Dr. Graff).
A psychiatrist (Ingrid Bergman) falls in love with the new head of a mental hospital (Gregory Peck), then must try to help him when she discovers he is an amnesiac imposter and quite possibly a murderer as well.
Rozsa's celebrated score introduced the theremin, an electronic instrument with an unfamiliar, surrealist quality that seems to float up out of the subconscious mind, especially in the dream sequences (designed by Salvador Dali).
first played at the Stanford Theatre Feb 3, 1946; last played May 2018
Rear Window (1954) 3:25, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w John Michael Hayes, from the novel It Had to be Murder by Cornell Woolrich. ph Robert Burks. m Franz Waxman. Paramount. 112 min.
James Stewart (L.B. Jeffries), Grace Kelly (Lisa Carol Fremont), Wendell Corey (Thomas J. Doyle), Thelma Ritter (Stella), Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald), Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonely Hearts), Ross Bagdasarian (Songwriter), Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso), Sara Berner (Woman on Fire Escape), Frank Cady (Man on Fire Escape).
A reporter confined to his apartment with a broken leg passes his time watching the neighbors from his rear window.
"To my mind, Rear Window is probably your very best screenplay in all respects: the construction, the unity of inspiration, the wealth of details." Truffaut
"He's a real Peeping Tom. [A critic] complained that Rear Window was a horrible film because the hero spent all of his time peeping out of the window. What's so horrible about that? Sure, he's a snooper, but aren't we all?" Hitchcock
"We're all voyeurs to some extent, if only when we see an intimate film. And James Stewart is exactly in the position of a spectator looking at a movie." Truffaut
Cameo appearance winding a clock.
first played at the Stanford Theatre July 19, 1987; last played Aug 2023
Dial "M" for Murder (1954) 5:30, 9:35
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Frederick Knott, from his play. ph Robert Burks. m Dimitri Tiomkin. Warner Bros. 105 min.
Ray Milland (Tony Wendice), Grace Kelly (Margot Wendice), Robert Cummings (Mark Halliday), John Williams (Chief Inspector Hubbard), Anthony Dawson (Capt. Lesgate).
A man plots to have his wealthy wife killed, but when his plan backfires he frames her.
"I should mention that this is one of the pictures I see over and over again. I enjoy it more every time I see it. Basically it's a dialogue picture, but the cutting, the rhythm, and the direction of the players are so polished that one listens to each sentence religiously. It isn't all that easy to command the audience's undivided attention for a continuous dialogue. I suspect that here again the real achievement is that something very difficult has been carried out in a way that makes it seem quite easy." Truffaut
Cameo appearance in a college photo on wall.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 14, 1992; last played Sep 2023
Vertigo (1958) (3:00), 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Alec Coppel & Samuel Taylor, from the novel D'entre les morts by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Paramount. 128 min.
James Stewart (John "Scotttie" Ferguson), Kim Novak (Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton), Barbara Bel Geddes (Marjorie "Midge" Wood), Tom Helmore (Gavin Elster), Henry Jones (Coroner), Raymond Bailey (Doctor), Ellen Corby (Manageress of McKittrick Hotel), Konstantin Shayne (Pop Leibel), Lee Patrick (Older Mistaken Identity), Paul Bryar (Capt. Hansen), Margaret Brayton (Saleswoman).
A San Francisco man engages a detective to investigate his wife's unusual fantasy that she comes from a different time. Widely regarded as Hitchcock's greatest masterpiece, Vertigo is a film that deserves to be seen over and over. Here is another chance!
Despite Hitchcock's outspoken reservations about her, Kim Novak gave one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema.
The film was photographed in and near San Francisco. If you are inspired to make a pilgrimage to San Juan Bautista, you will discover that the actual mission does not have a tower.
"That whole erotic aspect of the picture is fascinating... when Stewart hauled Kim Novak out of the water... he takes her to his place, where we find her asleep in his bed. As she gradually comes to, there's an implication, though it's not specifically stated, that he's probably taken the girl's clothes off and has seen her in the nude. The rest of that scene is superb, as Kim Novak walks around with her toes sticking out of his bathrobe and then settles down by the fire, with Stewart pacing back and forth behind her." Truffaut
"So it is a masterpiece and an endless mystery — a love story, yet a hate story, too… If you are moved by this film, you are a creature of cinema." David Thomson
Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance crossing the street.
first played at the Stanford Theatre June 15, 1958; last played Aug 2023
d Alfred Hitchcock. w John Michael Hayes, Angus Macphail, based on a story by Charles Bennett and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Paramount. 120 min.
James Stewart (Dr. Ben McKenna), Doris Day (Jo McKenna), Brenda de Banzie (Mrs. Drayton), Bernard Miles (Mr. Drayton), Ralph Truman (Buchanan), Daniel Gelin (Louis Bernard), Mogens Wieth (Ambassador), Alan Mowbray (Val Parnell), Hillary Brooke (Jan Peterson), Christopher Olsen (Hank McKenna), Reggie Nalder (Rien, the Assassin), Richard Wattis (Assistant Manager), Noel Willman (Woburn), Alix Talton (Helen Parnell), Yves Brainville (Police Inspector), Carolyn Jones (Cindy Fontaine).
When a doctor on vacation in Morocco (Stewart, in his third Hitchcock film) accidentally hears a secret message, his son is kidnapped to ensure his silence. This is a remake of Hitchcock's 1934 British film with the same title and basic story, and the famous suspenseful scene in Albert Hall where a murder is planned to coincide with a cymbal crash during a concert.
Doris Day sings the Oscar-winning Que sera, sera.
"The reason why the cantata record is played twice is to prevent any confusion in the viewer's mind about the events that are to follow... It was also important that the public be able not only to recognize the sound of the cymbals but to anticipate it in their minds. Knowing what to expect, they wait for it to happen. This conditioning of the viewer is essential to the build-up of suspense." Hitchcock
Cameo appearance from the back, watching Arab acrobats.
first played at the Stanford Theatre June 14, 1956; last played May 2019
North by Northwest (1959) (3:05), 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Ernest Lehman. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. MGM. 136 min.
Cary Grant (Roger Thornhill), Eva Marie Saint (Eve Kendall), James Mason (Philip Vandamm), Jessie Royce Landis (Clara Thornhill), Leo G. Carroll (Professor), Philip Ober (Lester Townsend), Josephine Hutchinson (Handsome Woman), Martin Landau (Leonard), Adam Williams (Valerian), Edward Platt (Victor Larrabee), Robert Ellenstein (Licht), Les Tremayne (Auctioneer).
In Hitchcock's most successful blending of romance and suspense, and one of Hollywood's most enduring classics, mild-mannered advertising executive Cary Grant answers the wrong page one afternoon and finds himself embroiled with spies, murderers, the FBI, and Eva Marie Saint — which only gives Hitchcock the chance to display some of his most extravagant fantasies, such as the crop dusting scene and the Mt. Rushmore climax.
"Cinema, approached in this way, becomes a truly abstract art, like music... It's obvious that the fantasy of the absurd is a key ingredient in your film-making formula." François Truffaut
"The fact is I practice absurdity quite religiously." Hitchcock
"Since that [crop-dusting] scene doesn't move the action forward, it's the kind of concept that would simply never occur to a screenwriter; only a director could dream up an idea like that." Truffaut
Hitchcock appears crossing the street.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Jan 24, 1990; last played Aug 2023
To Catch a Thief (1955) 5:35, 10:00
d Alfred Hitchcock. w John Michael Hayes. ph Robert Burks. m Lyn Murray. Paramount. 103 min.
Cary Grant (John Robie), Grace Kelly (Frances Stevens), Jessie Royce Landis (Jessie Stevens), John Williams (H.H. Hughson), Charles Vanel (Bertani), Brigitte Auber (Danielle Foussard), Jean Martinelli (Foussard), Georgette Anys (Germaine), Roland Lessaffre (Jean Hebey), René Blancard (Commissioner Lepic).
Cary Grant plays a retired cat-burglar who is suspected of a series of jewel thefts committed by a copy-cat.
More romantic comedy than suspense thriller, the film was made on location on the French Riviera, where Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier.
"Grace Kelly actually looks alive, and she's sexier than she is in anything else." Pauline Kael
"Sex on the screen should be suspenseful, I feel. If sex is too blatant or obvious, there's no suspense." Hitchcock
Hitchcock's cameo appearance is on a bus, next to Cary Grant.
Print Courtesy of the Constellation-Center Collection of the Academy Film Archive.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Sep 14, 1955; last played Aug 2023
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Maxwell Anderson, Angus Macphail, based on The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestero by Maxwell Anderson. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Warner Bros. 105 min.
Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Esther Minciotti, Charles Cooper, Nehemiah Persoff, Laurinda Barrett, Norma Connolly, Doreen Lang, Frances Reid, Lola D'Annunzio, Robert Essen, Kippy Campbell, Dayton Lummis, John Heldabrand.
Semi-documentary about a man accused of a crime he did not commit, filmed in the locations where the actual events took place, using some of the actual people involved in the real case as extras.
"We come back again to my eternal fear of the police. I've always felt a complete identification with the feelings of a person who's arrested, taken to the police station in a police van and who, through the bars of the moving vehicle, can see people going to the theatre, coming out of a bar, and enjoying the comforts of everyday living." Hitchcock
Cameo appearance narrating prologue.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Feb 6, 1957; last played Apr 2019
d Alfred Hitchcock. w George Tabori, William Archibald, based on the play Nos Deux Consciences by Paul Anthelme. ph Robert Burks. m Dimitri Tiomkin. Warner Bros. 95 min.
Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, O.E. Hasse, Dolly Haas, Roger Dann, Charles Andre, Judson Pratt, Ovila Legare, Gilles Pelletier, Nan Boardman, Henry Corden.
A priest hears a murderer's confession but will not divulge the man's identity to the police, even when he himself is accused and arrested for the crime.
"We Catholics know that a priest cannot disclose the secret of the confessional, but the Protestants, the atheists, and the agnostics all say, `Ridiculous! No man would remain silent and sacrifice his life for such a thing'." Hitchcock
Cameo appearance crossing at top of staircase.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 17, 1992; last played Apr 2019
Strangers on a Train (1951) 3:35, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, Whitfield Cook, from the novel by Patricia Highsmith. ph Robert Burks. m Dimitri Tiomkin. Warner Bros. 101 min.
Robert Walker (Bruno Antony), Farley Granger (Guy Haines), Ruth Roman (Anne Morton), Leo G. Carroll (Sen. Morton), Patricia Hitchcock (Barbara Morton), Laura Elliott (Miriam Haines), Marian Lorne (Mrs. Antony), Howard St. John (Capt. Turley), Jonathan Hale (Mr. Antony), John Brown (Prof. Collins), Norma Varden (Mrs. Cunningham), Robert Gist (Hennessey).
In one of Hitchcock's most fascinating films, a sympathetic psychopath (Robert Walker) ensnares a champion tennis player (Farley Granger) into a murder pact.
This film is noteworthy for Robert Walker's remarkably subtle portrayal of the demonic Bruno, who is one of Hitchcock's greatest creations.
Tiomkin's score is especially effective in the famous tennis match, alternating the musical themes of the two characters.
"One of the best things... is the explosion, with the follow-shots on feet going one way and then the other. There are also the crisscrossing rails. There's a sort of symbolic effect in the way they meet and separate." - François Truffaut
"A key exposition of the madman hero." David Thomson
Cameo appearance boarding train with double bass.
first played at the Stanford Theatre July 8, 1951; last played Aug 2023s
Psycho (1960) 5:30, 9:25
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Joseph Stefano, from the novel by Robert Bloch. ph John L. Russell, Jr. m Bernard Herrmann. Paramount. 109 min.
Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates), Janet Leigh (Marion Crane), Vera Miles (Lila Crane), John Gavin (Sam Loomis), Martin Balsam (Milton Arbogast), John McIntyre (Sheriff Chambers), Lurene Tuttle (Mrs. Chambers), Simon Oakland (Dr. Richmond), Frank Albertson (Tom Cassidy), Patricia Hitchcock (Caroline), Vaughan Taylor (George Lowery), John Anderson (California Charlie).
Hitchcock's most notorious and terrifying film. A lonely young man and his mysterious mother run a small roadside motel where people check in... but don't always check out. Taking a shower was never the same again after 1960.
Psycho was shot by a television unit at a cost of $800,000. The notorious shower scene took 7 days to shoot, has 70 camera setups, and lasts 45 seconds on screen. What we see and what we think we see are two different things: the knife never touches the body.
When originally released, no late-comers were admitted once the film had started, and audiences were asked not to reveal the ending to their friends.
"Psycho has a very interesting construction and that game with the audience was fascinating. I was directing the viewers. You might say I was playing them, like an organ... I take pride in the fact that Psycho, more than any of my other pictures, is a film that belongs to film-makers... The way in which it was told caused audiences all over the world to react and become emotional." Hitchcock
"Despite decades of parody and imitation, this picture has lost none of its power to manipulate auidences' emotions. Pure filmmaking at its finest." Leonard Maltin
Cameo appearance on sidewalk in Texas hat.
Important notice: Many who first saw Psycho in their youth have reported lasting emotional disturbances. Parents are cautioned, therefore, against bringing young children to this film.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Aug 21, 1960; last played Sep 2023
The Trouble with Harry (1955) 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w John Michael Hayes, based on the novel by Jack Trevor. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Paramount. 99 min.
Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock, Jerry Mathers, Royal Dano, Parker Fennelly, Barry Macollum, Dwight Marfield, Leslie Woolf.
"The trouble with Harry is... he's dead!" was a publicity tag line for this black comedy. When Harry's body turns up in the woods, several people assume they are responsible for his demise.
Beautifully filmed on location in Vermont in the Fall. This was Shirley MacLaine's first movie.
"The whole humor of the picture hinges on a single device: an attitude of disconcerting nonchalance. The characters discuss the corpse as casually as if they were talking about a pack of cigarettes." Truffaut
"That's the idea. Nothing amuses me so much as understatement." Hitchcock
Cameo appearance walking past outdoor art exhibit.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 19, 1992; last played Apr 2019
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Arthur Laurents, Hume Cronyn, Ben Hecht, from the play Rope's End by Patrick Hamilton. ph Joseph Valentine, William V. Skall. m David Buttolph, Leo F. Forbstein, Francis Poulenc. Transatlantic. 80 min.
James Stewart (Rupert Caldell), John Dall (Shaw Brandon), Farley Granger (Philip), Joan Chandler (Janet Walker), Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Mr. Kentley), Constance Collier (Mrs. Atwater), Edith Evanson (Mrs. Wilson), Douglas Dick (Kenneth Lawrence), Dick Hogan (David Kentley).
Two college students kill a third for intellectual thrills and hide his body in a chest from which they serve cocktails to the man's parents, fiancée, and former professor.
This intense film was an important experiment from a technical point of view, in that it is shot in continuous 10-minute takes and lacks normal film editing.
"I undertook Rope as a stunt; that's the only way I can describe it... I got this crazy idea to do it in a single shot." Hitchcock
This was the first of James Stewart's four films with Hitchcock.
Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance crossing the street under main title.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Nov 1, 1948; last played Sep 2023
The Birds (1963) 2:55, 7:30
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Evan Hunter, based on the story by Daphne du Maurier. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Universal. 120 min.
Rod Taylor (Mitch Brenner), Tippi Hedren (Melanie Daniels), Jessica Tandy (Lydia Brenner), Suzanne Pleshette (Annie Hayworth), Veronica Cartwright (Cathy Brenner), Ethel Griffies (Mrs. Bundy), Charles McGraw (Sebastian Sholes), Ruth McDevitt (Mrs. MacGruder), Joe Mantell (Salesman), Doodles Weaver (Fisherman), Richard Deacon (Man in Elevator).
Birds begin to take over a small oceanside town in northern California, launching mysterious attacks on the humans who live there.
The Birds took three years to complete, due to technical requirements and special effects. Cary Grant turned down the lead. Filmmaker Federico Fellini considered The Birds "One of the great films of all time."
Bernard Herrmann, who composed many memorable scores for Hitchcock films, also created every bird sound in this film.
"The story construction follows the three basic rules of classic tragedy: unity of place, and of time, and of action. All of the action takes place within two days' time in Bodega Bay. The birds are seen in ever growing numbers, and they become increasingly dangerous as the action progresses." Truffaut
"An audacious use of science fiction apocalypse to dramatize intimate emotional insecurity." David Thomson
Cameo appearance walking two small dogs.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Mar 30, 1992; last played Sep 2023
Marnie (1964) 5:05, 9:40
d Alfred Hitchcock. w Jay Presson Allen, based on the novel by Winston Graham. ph Robert Burks. m Bernard Herrmann. Universal. 120 min.
Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker, Martin Gable, Louise Latham, Bob Sweeney, Milton Selzer, Alan Napier, Henry Beckman, Edith Evanson, Mariette Hartley.
A frigid kleptomaniac? It must have been something about her childhood.
Tippi Hedren's compelling performance banishes the otherwise natural thought that the story resembles a Freudian pot-boiler.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Sep 2, 1964; last played Apr 2019