Alfred Hitchcock Film Retrospective Wrap Party Review

Hello fellow Geeks out there! It's that time

again to listen to a podcast from the Geekcast

Radio Network. Hello and welcome to episode 221

of the Cinema Geeks. I am one of your Cinema

Geeks, Optimus Solo, and joining me today, as

usual, is the Comic Concierge. Hello Dan. Hey,

how's it going? It is going well. We have made

it to something that we for a while thought we

might not get to. I don't know. We just kept

extending this Hitchcock series, but we're finally

at a point where we're going to put the bow on

it. We're going to do a Hitchcock wrap party

here today. So we're going to be celebrating

everything that we have watched over the last

15 films that we've covered on here. which has

been a long time, the majority of the year we've

spent talking about Hitchcock films and now we're

gonna wrap it up by ranking our top films. We're

gonna talk about some awards maybe for some performances

and then some fun awards along the way. Before

we get into all the specifics of that, Dan, I

know we'll talk about this a little bit probably

at the end, but what has this 15 film journey

been like for you? It's honestly been a joy like

going into this year. Mentioned like I haven't

watched movies as much as I did and for a lot

of reasons I've been able to get really back

into films and a big reason was doing this retrospective

because it really just reminded me of why I love

movies as much as I have throughout my life and

Just like getting back into the mold of like

old -school Hollywood like these type of films

be watching some movies that we've talked about

that I loved that like don't spend nearly enough

time doing and it was just interesting seeing

like Some big films I have yet to see for the

first time it was overall just a really good

experience to go through these films and just

see the evolution of Of the career of someone

like hitchcock but also some really big stars

That is also expiring inspiring what we're doing

next. So overall good time. How about yourself?

Um, yeah, I definitely enjoyed myself almost

even more than I anticipated I I kind of Came

into most of this thing blind and I wanted to

do it because I knew hitchcock was a major blind

spot for me or the majority of his filmography

was, so I definitely wanted to catch up on these.

But I had no inclination on if I would like a

majority of the films, love a majority of the

films, dislike a majority of the films. I had

seen, and I'll ask you this same question in

a second, because some of these were re -watches

and some of these were first -time watches. You

had seen a few more than I had, but I had only

seen two of these films going into this retrospective,

and I was positive on one. and I'll say lukewarm

on the other. So it wasn't like I had seen three

or four Hitchcock films and loved them all and

just knew that I was going to have a romping

good time with this. It was a complete, we'll

roll the dice and see how this goes. But like

you said, it introduced me to the first time

I've seen a few of these actors and actresses

perform and a couple of the other ones I had

seen perform before, but not extensively. So

it was great to see some of these old school

Hollywood stars and kind of figure out why they

were the stars that they were and I had a lot

of fun with this Obviously we we both had to

have been having fun or we would not have extended

the filmography from 10 films to 15 films What

did you think as far as so two questions for

you number one? How many of these were? First

time watches versus rewatches for you and then

the other thing that I was curious about What

did you feel like with the addition of those

final five films? Like how did those? play a

part in all of this. Were you happy that we added

those additional films and kind of what was your

take on that? I watched six of the films that

we went we went through before Rear Window, North

by Northwest, Psycho, Lifeboat, Dial of the Murderer

and Strangers on the Train. All of which though

it was probably been a decade since I saw so

it was it's been quite a while since I've watched

those. And I'm definitely glad we added some

of the ones we went through, like Lifeboat, I

thought. One I saw before, but I was glad to

watch again. Catch a Thief, the one we just recently

ended it with. I was really happy to watch all

the ones we added. And I think, too, some of

those gave a different side of Hitchcock we didn't

really touch upon. Or something like Lifeboat,

I thought, was another good example of him doing

a really isolated storyline again. So, how about

yourself? Yeah, I was happy and it's kind of

interesting like out of those five that we added

because we're gonna break this up throughout

this record guys We're not gonna we're gonna

keep the suspense rolling So at one point we're

gonna give you our 15 through 11 films and then

the middle five and then the top five and honestly

There's a film of the last five that we cover

that fits into each of those groups for me So

I feel like it was good to see that night. I

agree like There's a lot that you can See connections

with with those first ten I think there's a handful

that you really kind of felt like you were watching

Hitchcock movies and I think that last five had

a little of that for sure but I think it also

sprinkled in some other sides like you said of

Hitchcock which makes you kind of appreciate

him more as an overall director and kind of all

the different things that he had like in his

tool bag I guess you could say so I was I was

happy that we added those I mean we could have

gone on and on I mean I think he has what 50

plus films 53 54 55 somewhere in there but I

think we found a good spot to kind of end at,

like if you're enjoying these 15 that you've

watched with us, obviously there's a bunch more

you can check out, but I think we hit most of

the ones that, I don't know, if you could call

it like the essential films to watch for Hitchcock,

we had to have hit a majority of those, so I'm

kind of happy with that. So the way we're gonna

do is we're gonna break this up a little bit,

we're gonna do some, like I said, our bottom

five, middle five, and top five sprinkled in,

but then surrounding those different reveals,

we're also gonna talk about some acting that

we liked from an actor, actress, supporting roles,

and then just some fun stuff that we thought

were things that we should highlight when it

comes to Hitchcock. And then we'll kind of end

it with some final closing thoughts on, we've

talked a lot throughout this whole filmography

look at different things that are quote unquote

Hitchcockian or aspects that people say are kind

of trademarks of his. We're not going to necessarily

touch on all of those because we've spent time

and a lot of time throughout the reviews talking

about that. But I think it would be fun if we

talked about what we feel like represents Hitchcock

overall and what we think is in our mind, what

are like the things that stood out to us as far

as his filmmaking goes. And we'll talk about

that at the end. So we're going to kick it off

here with a go right into acting awards here.

We're going to talk about the best supporting

actor. And as we do these different awards, just

as a heads up. Some of us, we may only have one

award. We may have a top two, top three, or whatever.

So we'll just kind of play by ear. There's not

like a set number that we decided upon. So when

it comes to supporting actors, and the reason

I really wanted to put supporting actors and

supporting actresses in here is because I think,

especially in the first half of this filmography,

we had a lot to comment on the supporting characters

that Hitchcock had in his films and how that

kind of helped us probably elevate a few of those

early films because of that supporting cast.

So I thought it... Befitting that we talk about

a few of those In this wrap -up party. So Dan,

why don't you start with this one? What stood

out for you as far as best supporting actor roles

throughout the 15 films? So what the one thing

I struggled with was trying to figure out like

I feel like I do this with a lot like is this

a supporting or a leading role because there's

a lot of very hard like a kind of in between

especially the ensemble films that are Not really

like one part more than another so I tried to

just figure one of this is this so that was the

first challenge so but I narrowed it down and

I think one certainly one aspect of. I talk of

course is that he's created a lot of iconic villains

throughout his time you know with the help of

actors of course and there's a lot of great ones

to choose from but the one I went with like one

that stood out the most to me. I went with Robert

Walker as Bruno Anthony in Strangers on a Train.

And I guess you could also argue maybe he's the

co -lead. I figure since he's not in the majority

of the film, I'm considering him supporting.

I think you're good. Yeah. And I love this character

so much. And you see a lot, I think, of with

this character, things that would be... Seen

in the future it's cock films. I think there's

a lot of Norman Bates in this character But I

love the way Robert Walker plays places characters

very flamboyant. He is Charming but also kind

of creepy He brings a lot of life to the character

and like his scenes are always captivating. But

also there's that There's always something there

that like this this person is just not quite

there and when he kind of goes full psychotic

you certainly understand that And there's just

this like element of true evil to his character.

Just the way he is so addictive Addicted to murder

and like how he approaches it in such a brash

way like, you know, he has a very macabre sense

of humor And I just found him such a fascinating

figure throughout the entire film and big reason

why I enjoy that movie as much as I did. So I

think I thought about going with Norman Bates

as well. I think certainly that performance.

But I also didn't know. It's like, is that leading,

though? I don't know. But I just I really felt

like this was a performance that was truly ahead

of its time in a lot of ways. So that's why I

went with him. Another one I also was thinking

about and close behind was Grace Kelly in rear

window. She's again very captivating plus I think

she just worked so well as Working off Jimmy

Stewart in that film. I think she brings you

know where where he's more down at the dumps

You know, you kind of see this his his I don't

know depression but his his obsession but seeing

her and like seeing the relationship she's every

time she was on screen it was Such a delightful

moment and but also like seeing her take charge

in certain instances seeing like when you see

her being uh scared or being frightened of the

moment you it really amped up to tell that she

just basically could do it all it just also effortless

as well so those were to me too the the best

supporting characters that we in performances

we saw throughout this Makes me think too like

I was trying to take notes as we went through

each film with this in mind because I knew we

were gonna do some type of wrap -up even though

we hadn't necessarily solidified what the categories

may be or different things like that because

we wanted to have a more of a feel for the overall

filmography as we kind of shape that but I was

trying to take notes throughout this and it makes

me think like I need to I need to take better

happy that I did I completely spaced on not space,

but I guess I passed over the guy on Strangers

on the Train, and you're right, he makes a perfect

supporting role performance there, and he was

ahead of his time, and he is what makes that

movie what it is, so I feel like I should have

had him on my list. I have a couple on my list

that are probably more legit supporting roles,

and then I wanted to bring up a couple that probably

wouldn't qualify necessarily, I don't think,

as supporting roles because their roles were

not large enough, but I think I wanted to bring

them in here because for me it highlights Hitchcock's

attention to even guest or like I guess not guest

but like very small roles like bit roles or very

small uh performances and I think he did that

really well so I guess my quote -unquote serious

supporting actors I did go with a villain as

well as one of them and these are in no particular

order but I did think Claude Rains as Alexander

Sebastian in Notorious who is the villain I guess

you can say quote -unquote in that movie he's

the the main guy that is in charge of the guy

in the house that's, I guess you could say, in

charge of the sect of whatever. I mean, there's

different people that you don't really get a

total feeling of what the hierarchy is and who's

got what power, but he comes across as the main

bad guy, and I thought that was a role that really

worked in that film to kind of set the stage

for some of the tension with the almost like

a love triangle -esque aspect between Cary Grant

and, oh God, now I'm blanking on the name. Inger

Bergman. Mark Bergman, yeah. Yeah, Inger Bergman

and then Claude Rains. And I thought it was very

cool how those three kind of played off each

other. So I definitely was a fan of his performance

in Notorious. And on the opposite side, I guess,

quote unquote, almost like a hero character,

I guess, in this film. But I thought Robert Cummings

as Mark Halliday in Dial Him for Murder. who

plays like the guy that's on her side. Granted,

he may not be like, I don't know, she's married

and he's obviously interested and things like

that. But I just kind of liked how that performance

went and it was somewhat subtle or subdued, but

like still adding to the story overall. And I

kind of liked his interaction there in that film

with, God, why am I forgetting everybody that's

in every movie? That's why you're here, Dan.

I have all these names written down, but I didn't

write the whole cast down. So I really liked

those two roles. And then just from a fun standpoint,

I wanted to highlight a couple. I think Nigel

Bruce as Beaky in Suspicion is a lot of fun because

it adds to the fact that you're already questioning

Cary Grant's character in Suspicion, but up to

that point, you're really just getting the...

the two of them interacting, Cary Grant and then

the female lead. And then Biki comes in and it's

like, it kind of subverts some of the stuff you're

thinking and almost makes you want to believe

him even more. But then he's also not a hundred

percent like he's his friend, but he's not afraid

to like throw him under the bus. So I don't know.

I thought he added some good comedy as well to

suspicion. And then because I like, there's a

lot to talk about. I'm sorry. I'm going to like.

Go on and on about some of these but from a fun

standpoint, I really liked Henry Travers and

Hume Cronin as the father and Herbie and shadow

of a doubt The the two guys that are like telling

stories about oh, yes Yes, how to kill each other

and and all that kind of stuff It just added

an element that was very much needed in that

movie. I felt and then Again, I don't know which

one is these are lead or supporting but I thought

William Bendix and Walter Slezak as Gus and Captain

Willie in lifeboat maybe that's considered a

lead role i don't know it's hard there's nine

of them so they're all supporting me so but i

did think that those two were standout characters

that i kind of wanted to highlight as well so

those were some of my choices any thoughts on

any of those guys those are i do love the the

call out of the of the father and his friend

uh in shadow of doubt they were a good time and

i actually forgot because I forgot since we're

doing actress as well. I also had Tulia Tulalip

Bancard as one of my best supporting actresses

as well Because I think one like her presence

makes that film She's like the first person you

see and she can really do it all she adds a lot

of levity now when she's more concerned about

Her typewriter more so than her, you know, you

like she's more part more concerned about getting

the story than being the story But also when

you see that type that that bravado kind of wane

the seriousness of the situation starts to really

pick up and then also her relationship so i thought

i thought she was a big reason why the film worked

so i had her as one of my favorite performances

but the ones that you mentioned too um you know

the gus he is the heart of that movie like him

like his plights like i think they do a really

good job of really making you care about that

character and then everything he goes through

and like his death like if we i know we don't

have the saddest moments but if we did like that

would that would certainly be it's like it's

like you know he just wanted to dance he just

wanted to dance with a couple of them that would

qualify yeah so uh yeah because yeah definitely

um so but yeah good calls out there absolutely

so that's some of our supportive favorite supporting

roles i actually do have some females that i'll

talk about a little bit later that i forgot to

lump in there so i'll throw those in later But

as far as one thing that we kind of noted that

was that Hitchcock is attributed to is is interesting

mom Characters in his films. So I thought it

would be fun to just highlight either one or

or two of your favorite mom performances so I'm

gonna go first because to me I Guess you have

to give it to this person because she played

moms twice So Jesse Jesse Royce Landis plays

Claire Thornhill in North by Northwest Carrie

Grant's character's mother and then she plays

the other role, Grace Kelly's mom, in To Catch

a Thief. And I'm just gonna give her credit for

that because she played two different moms and

I thought both of them were interesting in a

way, especially the one in North by Northwest

probably, but I don't know how many moms she

played in her filmography, but she had a knack

for it, so I'll give some credit to her for that.

Yeah, she's very likable. I mean, she almost

has this like... panache, like when you look

at her, but then her performances are very different,

especially the way like she would stand up for

her son and things like that. So I think she

had similar, she had a lot of comedy. I'm going

to go with a different mom. I'm going to go with

Patricia Collinges in Shadow of a Doubt. For

one, I think her character is really important

because a lot of that movie is seeing like your

standard, typical suburban family juxtaposed

with this, you know, Killer and she seeing her

kind of just almost being aloof, but also like

I think she has a really good performance in

the way that she undercuts Uncle Charlie in certain

ways. There's this one scene where Charlie's

going off about his mantra of life and how he's

all about today. That's what he is really focused

on. He's like, well, if you're all about today,

make sure to eat your breakfast. Because he has

this hatred in him, but she just sees this broken

child. I like the way she almost... Defangs him

without even realizing what she's doing. But

also the way she supports her her her daughter

In her family unit all together I just thought

she was a good representation of a different

type of mom that we Didn't really get but I thought

her performance and the purpose of that character

really stood out to me Yeah, I agree. And it's

just crazy the amount of different mom portrayals

in this film I are because he also had like the

one she wasn't really a mom so to speak but the

character in the beginning of Rebecca who's kind

of acting like a mom. You have the mom from Birds,

obviously was involved there. I thought she was

a little bit, maybe too over the top for me,

I guess, as a person. And then you had the evil

mom, right, from Notorious, the Claude Rains'

mom in that film that was helping with the bad

guys, I guess you could call it. That was a mom,

right? Yeah Yeah, so there's a lot of different

moms and it's kind of interesting how we we go

through that So I did have a couple supporting

actresses that I just wanted to throw out there.

I'll just talk about two Number one, I would

put Thelma Ritter as Stella in rear window. I

Thought that character was fun as far as what

she added from just kind of like an outsider's

perspective Like yeah, she sees what he's doing

the whole time and she's adding it but you get

to see like that moment it's the same with uh

grace kelly's character right when you see grace

kelly become part of the the thing but you also

get to see it almost simultaneously when stella

starts joining in and it's just like a genius

part of that film when you get like everybody

who's at one point kind of arm's length away

from jimmy stewart's character and then they

get sucked in and they're like well i'm into

this story now it's like it's like watching a

bad reality show or something right like yeah

you're like why am i watching this and all of

a sudden you're like 17 episodes in like what

happened So I just wanted to throw out those

guys' names as well. So, all right, let's get

into, did you have any other supporting roles

or anything else on Moms you wanted to talk about

before we reveal our 15 through 11? I guess I'll

give Grace Kelly another shout out for her work

in To Catch a Thief. I thought she was quite

good in that. And we talked about that last week,

so I don't have to go into great detail. But

I thought the way she was able to kind of go

tit for tat with Cary Grant and kind of be ahead

of where... Where he thought she was and kind

of didn't really fall for his game and you know,

she does that role really well, so yeah I agree

Um, all right. So that means we're gonna start

to reveal our bottom third here. I guess you

could call it Remember that he's made like 50

plus films. We probably watched 15 of the better

ones so this isn't like uh It's not like these

are all one -star films necessarily, but we're

gonna be revealing our 15 through 11 And i'm

sure you know with some of years these main have

a decent amount of stars. I'm probably gonna

get, this may be a point where some people are

gonna stop listening to us because I probably

am gonna have one in our bottom five that nobody

is gonna appreciate. But we can go through here.

So I'll go through my 15 through 11 and then

you can talk about your 15 through 11. We'll

just kind of name them off and then react afterwards.

So for my number 15, I have Rope. Number 14,

I have The Birds. 13, I have Shadow of a Doubt.

12, I have Suspicion. And it was really hard.

9 through 11 were really hard for me. But I'm

actually going to go with number 11 as vertigo.

And that's when people are going to stop listening.

So what are your 15 through 11, Dan? Actually,

our 15 through 11 are not that different. 15

and 14 are the same. I have Rope as well. Again,

I don't think any of these, I would not give

any of these like a negative review. But if you're

wondering, you know, bigger thoughts on these

and more in -depth thoughts, you can check out

the episodes. But 15 with root rope was rope

14. I also have the birds 13 I have the 39 steps

good movie I think it's that's where you certainly

see like Hitchcock coming into his own It was

like a good rookie season that was bound for

even though it was like his 80th movie But like

it certainly was the first one. I think that

they really Showcase his talents on a major level

And then Shadow of a Doubt, I have at 12. Honestly,

from 13 to 7 are really interchangeable for me.

But I have Shadow of a Doubt there. And then

at 11, I have Suspicion. And that's been all

over the board for me. When I first did this,

it was higher than lower. But that's where I

sit right now. Rope, The Birds, 39 Steps. Shadow

of a Doubt at 12. And then Suspicion at 11. So

that's interesting. We do have four of the same

in that five. So the only ones we have different

as I have vertigo and you have the 39 steps,

but it seems like we're somewhat in consensus

on the other four. So like I said, I don't, I

didn't really like rope. Like that was probably

the one that I didn't like. Birds, I understand

why, but it may be not for me type deal. And

then I would just. Go really back and forth on

I think suspicion is better than shadow of a

doubt like I'm pretty confident in that as far

as my taste But I just thought there's so many

that are really good that it's hard to put either

of those films into that mix But I think you're

right for me. I think it's probably 12 through

7 that I really have a hard time Rearranging

and figuring out what order they go in. So any

other overall thoughts on that set of five Dan?

Yeah, I mean with rope like a I thought like

there was some technical genius in that film,

but I just I was always so aware of its creation

Like it's the use of the long shot and I just

was never invested in it someone with the bird

I think has some great spectacle some amazing

shots Which will actually I'll get to with some

of the things we'll talk about but I just felt

it was a bit hollow and then like I mentioned

39 steps I think was good, but it just it wasn't

quite there yet and then shadow of the doubt

like Go back and forth for that. There's a lot

I love about that movie. There's some really

great Dynamics in that and same thing with suspicion.

I think I like some suspicion more than you do

But it's just you know, it's just that third

tiered Right, it's got for me compared to some

of the other films will get to you Absolutely.

All right, let's get back into some of the fun

awards here. So Dan mentioned some good shots

So that's where we're going to next the best

shots that we saw Across the 15 films. I have

two or three that I'll mention but Dana let you

go first What were some of the best shots in

your mind? So I'll get some love to the lowest

movie on my list which was Rope But I do find

the final shot of that to be one of the best

shots of all the films we've done thus far It's

kind of just the simple shot of Jimmy Stewart

looking Throughout the city and has one of my

favorite parts of that movie, which was that

crazy A map that they used as the landscape that

was just a really good way of closing that film.

I'm actually gonna go back to catch thief. Honestly,

like my favorite thought shot and there's so

many, you know, iconic shots with. With Hitchcock,

of course so many that I've been done again and

talked about but one that I felt like was quite

good But I didn't see as much conversation around

was with and to get to catch the thief of the

fireworks scene that we talked about last week

where you have Grace Kelly and you have Oh my

goodness, why did I forget? Carrie Grant's Carrie

Grant's you grace killing Carrie Grant in a room

And in the in the background we see little fireworks

going off and they're going back and forth and

it's so brazen so in your face it's so over the

top but that's what i love about it because it

was just like it's cock is you know like i mentioned

last week but i'm his cock you know they are

who they are and this is going to work and it

did and then another one we mentioned with. Suspicion

I do love the the drink scene where it's just

such a simple Choice of having a little flashlight

in the cup as he's going up I just thought that

really brought you into the mental state of a

character and such a small but brilliant way

So those are some of my favorite shots of the

retrospective Awesome. I have a little carryover

or a little crossover with you there, but I'll

talk about the other ones first so I just I have

three that I'll bring up and the one I don't

have a specific shot because to me it's hard

to I guess I could but in birds there's so many

shots where you get to see a great number of

birds assembled in different ways I guess the

one where they're outside the schoolhouse where

they continue to just like build and there's

more and more of them is probably one of the

best shots I mean you could even say like the

the gas fire the fire the gas station could be

a decent shot from that overhead view. That's

one thing that I do appreciate about The Birds

is there's a lot of shots or scenes that are

interesting to look at from that standpoint.

I thought in Strangers on a Train, I believe

it is, the murder scene that we see through the

eyeglasses. I think I have the right film. Hopefully

I'm not misplacing that. But there's a murder

scene that we basically get to see through a

reflection on a pair of eyeglasses. So I thought

that was kind of interesting. But my number one

was the was one of the ones that you brought

up to. I think that milk, the glass of milk glowing

as we as we travel. I can't remember if it was

up the stairs or down the stairs. I think it

was up the stairs. Yeah. It was like you said,

it's such a simple, subtle move, but it looked

so effective in that film that it really brought

attention to the fact that like, is this or is

this not poison and different things of that

nature? So I thought that was really well done

as well. Any other shots that you want to bring

up? No, I think and because I was really trying

to separate like shots from like the more suspenseful

moment So yeah, I think we'll get into something

there. Yeah, totally agree. I agree So next word

we're gonna do is we're gonna do best actress.

So this is just best actress We'll have best

actor coming up towards the end So this is best

actress and again, don't fault us for not knowing

the difference between lead and supporting roles

because I don't know if anybody in the universe

does. The Academy certainly doesn't because they

seem to get it wrong from time to time as well.

So I'll go first with this one, a couple that

I just wanted to highlight as well. I think Kim

Novak as Madeline Elster in Vertigo, even though

I'm not as high on that film as probably the

rest of the universe is, I do think that her

performance is amazing in the fact that she is

Basically playing three different parts in this

film She's playing you know someone that she's

pretending to be and then she has her real self

I guess and then she has another person that

she then pretends to be later and I just thought

it was very Effortless the way that she pulled

all of that off and it was so effective in the

third Personality that she was playing that I

honestly at first wasn't convinced if it was

the same person or not. I was like, wait a second,

is this still the same actress or what is going

on? I'm so confused. So I thought she was phenomenal.

I will also highlight, I'll just call it my Grace

Kelly Award. Again, I don't know if these are

supporting roles or lead roles, but her roles

in To Catch a Thief and Rear Window are, to me,

sublime. And especially To Catch a Thief, I think

she's just on another level. She's good in Rear

Window, don't get me wrong, but it's almost like

she's teasing. as to what else she can do. And

I think we get even a bigger glimpse of that

into Catch a Thief. And then my last one, and

then I'll let you name some actresses, but my

last one, I have to go with Joan Fontaine as

Mrs. Winters in Rebecca. I just think it's actually

a tie. It's between her and Judith Anderson as

Mrs. Danvers. Like, I don't know. Guess you could

say mrs. Danvers is more of a supporting role

and I guess that would potentially put Joan Fontaine

as the main role But I just I really like they're

both of their performances I think if you were

trying to name like the the most memorable characters

like mrs. Danvers has to be in the conversation

for a Character that's not gonna like she's gonna

stick with you and like if you're trying to think

oh, what's the famous Hitchcock character? I

think that one definitely stands out. So I think

there's definitely some good performances there

in Rebecca. What about you for some actress awards?

I'm gonna go go back to Rebecca like you mentioned

with Joan Fontaine. She was probably my favorite

leading Actress performance throughout that movie

is so dependent upon her and she has to do so

much like it's such a short period of time You

know, you have to buy that she didn't fall in

love you that she can go from this a bit of a

meek Person that is being controlled by this

overbearing, you know suitor kind of pseudo mom

But then get the courage and then but this be

overwhelmed by A memory like that's not easy

to do you're not playing off a person you're

not playing off you're playing off a memory and

certainly Hitchcock helps a great deal with the

staging and You know the use of that home is

a big part of that But I think she's such a fascinating

presence throughout why the movie works as well

as it does in a similar vein Joe Fontaine in

suspicion She is Again similar almost a similar

role in a way where she has to just You just

see the concern and like again that movie is

all dependent upon her as well like her just

Not believing and wondering what exactly is Cary

Grant doing like what is he you know? What is

this milk poisonous? especially the the ending

of that so the Those her overall work is I think

were pretty pretty stellar throughout. Absolutely.

Definitely agree with that. This next category

is probably one of the ones that I was very interested

in just because I thought a few of them really

stuck out. And it's also interesting because

this is something that Hitchcock sometimes I

think gets more criticized for. I think at times

people criticize Hitchcock for not necessarily

knowing how to end his films. I've heard that

from a few different things that I've both listened

to in podcast form and read and things like that.

But I feel like it's a mixed bag. I feel like

yes, some of his endings are not the greatest.

I thought there was some definitely dud endings

out there, but then there was some that like

really stood out for me. So I have three that

I wanted to highlight. But what did you think

as far as like best endings and how Hitchcock

handled endings of films overall? I do think

if there is one consistent. Criticism or like

one area where he suffers from the most or not

history as strong as it is endings. I think that's

honestly Although I feel like if we did a retrospective

almost any at any director that that that's always

a challenge You know endings are always so much

harder than beginnings Um, but there are some

really good ones and one that i'm going to go

with I was I think you would meet me more mixed

on it when we ended The when we did the review

of it, but as I sat on it and thought about it

I just actually really loved the choice And it's

again and I gave some love to rope even though

it was 15 on my list and give love to The birds

even though it's 14 on my list. I do really love

that ending where you just a emerge from their

home and there's just Birds everywhere and we

don't get a lot of Endings like that with Hitchcock

usually they're straightforward But here, you

know, it's it's not a way almost not a satisfying

ending But I feel like it's the only way you

could end that film It's a bit brave at that

time because not super common, you know, a lot

of his movies tend to be More straightforward

is movies at that time in general. So I just

I like that decision and just the imagery itself

I think is really compelling and it just kind

of burned into my brain So that's one of the

that's the ending that stood out the most to

me. Awesome I have a couple that I wanted to

highlight. I'll have two that are just kind of

We'll call them three and two and then there's

like a mile and then there's my number one. I

just really loved one of the endings. So I do

want to shout out to the ending of Psycho. I

do think that one's a decent way to end it as

we kind of see him in the jail cell, et cetera,

and revealing some more inner workings of him.

I like the ending of Rear Window in respect to

the fact that it kind of resets our main two

characters. in Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly,

but you know, obviously now he's got the two

broken legs, but she's still sitting there and

it's just kind of, I don't know. I found it satisfying

that it was like, she was still there. She was

still a little not like submitting to like what

he wanted, but like they can't deny that they

are into each other. So I just thought it was

kind of a clever way to end that one, but my

favorite ending and it's not even close. is the

ending to Notorious. So, there's some suspense

that leads up to it, but basically you have Cary

Grant taking the female lead, it's Ingrid Bergman,

right? I'm gonna get it right eventually. Ingrid

Bergman, and he's, you know, we're not sure how

he's gonna get out of this situation, but what

my favorite part of is that they, you know, get

down to this car, and then Claude Rains' character

has to basically turn around as the car drives

off, knowing that like, It's probably not gonna

end well for him now either and they just usher

him back into the door and shut the door Yeah,

I just thought that was a perfect ending for

that film. So like that one for me It was my

favorite ending out of the 15 films. We saw Good

call. That's a good. It's really that that's

actually have you know as we move into Actually,

we'll get into suspenseful moment. So that might

come that might come up again. So yeah, I totally

understand why So all right, so that makes it

time for our middle tier, our 10 through six.

I don't know which one I'm more interested in

yours. It may be this set of five because it's

going to obviously tell us what's going to be

in the top five, but not the order. But this

is our 10 through six. So I went first with the

15 through 11. I'll go first again, I guess,

with these and then I'll let you lead off on

the five through one. So my 10 through six, and

like I said, this was hard because for me, 12

through Seven is really almost interchangeable.

So my number 10 is psycho. So if you didn't leave

Like lose all respect for me by putting vertigo

at number 11 that you can for me putting psycho

at number 10 I'm probably way higher than I should

be on the 39 steps, but that's what I have at

number 9 Maybe it was because it was the first

film we watched and it just like really set a

positive tone for me for the rest of the Filmography

and what we were covering but I have a soft spot

I guess for 39 steps. So I have that at number

9 I have to catch a thief at number eight, the

last film that we watched with Cary Grant there.

I have strangers on a train at number seven,

and then I have Rebecca at number six. What is

your 10 through six, Dan? I think we have a little

bit more variety differencing here, but compared

to the last one, it's still some crossover. At

10, that's actually where I have to catch a thief.

At nine, if they didn't leave, When you brought

it up they might leave now. That's where I have

vertigo At eight, I have strangers on the train

at seven. I have dial m for murder and then at

six I have lifeboat So, okay So a couple crossovers

there we both have uh to catch a thief and strangers

on the train here Yes, yeah To catch a thief

has been all over my list, but I I find that

movie really enjoyable. It's just it's entertaining.

That's like if The I think we mentioned it last

week if that's like I think a great entry into

the world of Hitchcock I like strangers on a

train a lot as well Obviously we're putting it

but to go with vertigo because obviously that's

probably the the one that you know people have

as one of the greatest movies of all time which

I think is You try not to think about that when

you go into a movie, but it's hard not to so

it does set a certain level of expectations And

I think on a technical level I think there's

a lot to love on that with that film as we mentioned

it in the review I just thought the story the

thing I'm supposed to be invested in that love

story I just I never fully bought it and I think

when you don't buy it as much as the film needs

you to It's not the experience that you're hoping

for so that's why I have it down at nine I still

think it's certainly influential and there's

a lot to be impressed by but when it comes to

just the experience of watching a film it It

wasn't I had a lot of movies. I ended up enjoying

much more with this experience Yeah, I think

the addition of the final five films that we

watched helped me out a little bit because there

was a while where I had like a four or five film

chunk of films that I just could not decide the

order of and Yeah, for some reason watching those

final five helped me separate them into a few

different groups I guess so but strangers on

a train was definitely in that mix where I was

really having trouble separating it from a few

of the other films My list now Rebecca for me

is a solid like to me. That's number six I said

seven through twelve was kind of the ones that

I was having trouble with in my final rankings

But Rebecca's not part of that Rebecca was solid

number six for me It was more the strangers on

a train to catch a thief 39 steps that I was

having problems with and then I guess psycho

and vertigo for me It's I just am not as big

of a fan of those two films as the rest of the

world. So You can leave your comments below and

reach out there as far as that goes but Interesting

so that means we're gonna have some crossover

in our top five But we'll have to wait and see

what the order is going to be So one thing that

Hitchcock is definitely known for is his cameos,

right? He's he appears in all of his different

films So I'm wondering Dan. Did you have a favorite

one or two? Cameo appearances from the man himself

Alfred Hitchcock Yeah, I had to go with one where

I'm just like how are you gonna do a cameo in

this movie that you're There's not a lot of room

to play with you can't just force yourself into

the background How are you going to do it? But

he finds a way in lifeboat or his cameo is literally

on a newspaper Maybe that's a cop -out, but I

think that's just kind of funny Like how do you

find a way of doing a classic cameo in this situation?

And like dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, Alfred Hitchcock

finds a way of putting his image on a newspaper.

And there you go. That's his that's his cameo.

But that was but if you were going to go with

like an actual one where he shows up in the movie,

the next one would probably be to catch a thief

because maybe it's the most blatant because it

calls it out so much. It's almost like a Stanley

cameo in the way it happens. But that's what

I love about it. I think it just that also goes

in the tone of that movie as well. So those are

my two favorites. Yeah, I thought about the one,

you know, with him holding the bird cage or with

him holding the deck of cards and things of that

nature. But to me, he's very clever with in rope,

I guess, in a way. But I'm with you. It's lifeboat.

Like, how do you do this? The only other thing

I can think of is when the ship gets attacked

right in the beginning that he's like just some

random Navy person or whatever that's floating

around in the water. But like I think the newspaper

is just straight up genius. So I am in lockstep

with you on this one. It's the lifeboat cameo.

That's the best one. All right. Go ahead. I was

also the only other one that also rear window

like fighting. That's not nice when he's just

an easy just in the room. But yeah, we're good

to go. Yeah, no, I totally agree. There's there's

some interesting and I was still shocked at the

number of times I didn't catch it right away.

when we were watching and I had to figure out

where it was after the fact. Where was it? And

then some of them, like you said, some of them

it's really obvious and you see it and there's

no way to avoid it, but there's other ones that

I'm like, I don't remember where it was in this

one. Anyways, let's get into some of, I guess

our last acting category here. We're gonna have

our best actor awards and then we're gonna round

out with our most suspenseful moments before

we reveal our five through one. So. Best Actor

Awards. Who stood out to you in this category,

Dan, over the 15 films? Well, I feel, you know,

knowing we're going to be moving into a Cary

Grant retrospective after this seems fitting

that he would be one that stood out the most

to me. And there's a buddy to choose from, but

I'm going to go with his performance at North

by Northwest. Just the befuddlement. The physical

toll, too, we had to go with through that film

as well, you know, that's not an easy movie to

do running away from airplanes on top of Matt

Rushmore, all of that. And like we mentioned,

I think during that it was basically him doing

his James Bond, but with his charm and everything.

So that was the one performance I would go with.

The other one that came to mind, too, was Jimmy

Stewart in Rear Window, similar to like with

Rebecca. That movie's all on him. And he has

to do a lot with his body language and his eyes

because that's all he has that's all you have

and I think it's up there as perhaps the best

performance of his entire career which is saying

a lot for someone that's you know, the with the

filmography of a Jimmy Stewart, so Those are

my top two. I agree So even though I had psycho

at number 10 and I'm not a hundred percent sure

This is a lead role, but I do think Anthony Perkins

as Norman Bates is somebody that yeah a shout

out I know you talked about him a little bit

in the supporting and it could very well be that

but that's why I don't have him as number one

because I wasn't sure if it was a lead or a supporting

role. I also do think that Robert Donat as Richard

Hanay in 39 Steps does a decent job of carrying

that belt in a completely different way I guess

but I'm going to go completely Unoriginal as

well, and I'm just gonna say Cary Grant and Jimmy

Stewart They're really good guys Jimmy Stewart

obviously in rear window and then Cary Grant

take your pick I loved him in notorious, but

he's on another level in North by Northwest So

that would probably be my favorite role that

we watched over the fourth or the 15 films So

big Cary Grant fan after this and that's probably

why we're gonna talk about him a little bit more

moving forward So alright Hitchcock is supposed

to be the master of suspense, right? He's the

the suspense the thriller genre is his so it

makes only makes sense for us to look at what

were the most successful suspense or thrill moments

throughout these 15 films and this one I had

a hard time narrowing down because I unlike the

endings like He's not known for his ending. So

it was fairly easy to pick out a few of the good

ones Yeah, he's known for his suspense, right?

So like yeah coming up with just a handful of

those is a little bit more challenging so Why

don't you start us off with some of your favorite

suspenseful moments? Some of them we mentioned

already and I'll go with the descent down the

staircase in Notorious. And think about it too,

it's a very simple act. He's just walking down

the stairs, but there's so much tension there

because of what's happening and the way it's

played and shot so well. That was such a suspenseful

moment. Mentioned with vertigo. I don't love

it as much as other people. But if you talk about

suspense, you have to mention vertigo You know

the ascent up the staircase is Iconic and I'm

surprised that's the first time I've said that

word so far in this podcast But it's it's up

there. It's it's a huge birds has a lot of You

have like you mentioned with the scene at the

gas station, but also the playground Shot like

the the birds just quietly Gathering like that

is just full of suspense and so they finally

or the ending like or yeah bird like you mentioned

before and then with I didn't the apartment scene

where finally they go into the apartment and

You see Jimmy Stewart just from afar having to

hope that she gets out. And then finally the

use of the camera at the end. I didn't include

that in my best endings. I'm kind of saving it

for... it here but that was also super suspenseful

just you know that idea of like you're watching

you're seeing potential awfulness happening and

there's you're just helpless to do that and you're

really putting you into the seat of jimmy stewart

in that sequence so i had to mention wear window

with that so absolutely there's so many good

ones to choose from so i had A lot of the I had

the playground of crows as well from the birds

or whatever kind of birds those were Definitely

suspenseful there. I like you. I called it the

staircase to freedom, but the notorious Ascent

down or descent down the staircase but I also

think there's a scene earlier in that film too

that that could work too with the wine cellar

And yes, you know, they're scrambling to try

to like get out of that situation So i'm definitely

with you on those. I had two other ones that

we didn't mention yet in dial m for murder the

murder attempt gone wrong was somewhat suspenseful

to watch because you're like, what is happening?

This is going not how it should have been. And

I don't know what's going to happen next. So

it was more of a like the unknown. Like, is she

going to survive this? How is she going to survive

it? What's going to happen in this? So I appreciated

that one. I think Rebecca, there's a scene with

Mrs. Danvers and. What's the lead Joan Fontaine

at the window where you're not exactly like.

you feel like mrs danvers could kill her right

there and instead she's just standing next to

her and talking fear into her uh i thought that

was a somewhat of a suspenseful moment but man

rear window has a has a few like you said iconic

ones and i think there's two that stand out the

most for me and you kind of alluded to them as

well i think the one is the shot where you see

both windows across from the apartment. And you

see Grace Kelly in the one in a precarious situation.

And then you see Miss Lonely Hearts in the bottom

window in the same shot. Oh, yes. Yeah. And it's

like somebody needs to do something right now.

And it was very suspenseful because you just

felt like you wanted to jump out of the, you

know, into the TV screen and be like, you have

to make a decision and you need to help the person

that's about to die. So I thought that was great.

And then I think when Lars actually enters the

apartment, like you said, with Jimmy Stewart

in there and obviously we get the whole camera

flashes and stuff like that. But I just think

when he turns around and sees like it's before

he actually enters, you see Jimmy Stewart panicking

and you're it's hard not to panic a little with

him. Right. Even if you've seen the movie before,

you're like. This is uncomfortable. So yeah Great

with suspense any other thoughts as far as Hitchcock's

use of suspense. I Mean, obviously it's what

he's known for he's the king of it Like there's

he set the stage or so many people we can go

on. I mean didn't mention psycho Certainly scenes

in that I did So I think there's so many you

can choose from and you probably could do an

entire retrospective just on those scenes and

not get no Not get bored or not. I did some people

talk about the talk about the carousel and strangers

on a train But I just had to leave that one off.

Yeah, I that's like my yeah, that's like That

was my one issue with that film talking about

ending is that that's that I would like too big

too necessary I mean knowing that guy was actually

crawling underneath it like in real life that

suspense like but that's the man's me worrying

for him But yeah, I thought that was Little unnecessary

totally agree. All right, so that leads us to

our five through one films we're gonna reveal

our number fives through one and then we'll talk

a little bit about like our Overall takeaways

from Hitchcock as a director in the films that

we've covered. So Dan, I'll let you start this

off I'm interested to see what order these are

gonna be in but what is your five through should

we do one at a time? Or should we just do them

all at once? I say we just do them keep it consistent

with all right, go ahead So at five I have psycho

just great combination of noir and horror and

thriller all in one, you know Or so say iconic

again super iconic, of course at four have notorious

We talked about it a lot in this episode at three

To me like four and five like one two three or

all five star films for me like legitimately

I would consider in the category of greatest

of all time. I have three. North by Northwest,

as mentioned, is basically the best James Bond

movie that is not in James Bond. Just such a

fun, thrilling time. Amazing set pieces. So well

made. Cary Grant's great. At number two, and

this was the highest ranking first time watch

for me, is Rebecca. I was just fascinated by

this where we talk about a lot of shots and use

of music and things like that. Rebecca really

got me for the story, which that was, I think,

what stood out for me as well. And it's a bit

more subtle in its approach than some of the

other Hitchcock films. So that's why and just

great performances throughout the use of that.

That location is so great. And then, of course,

at number one, that leaves a rear window. Speaking

of location. Probably the greatest set ever created

for a film is rear window what they did with

that set This it's and it's just great performances

throughout so many great characters Many of which

don't speak a line and many of which don't actually

have a name And I think this it is so much in

the zeitgeist We've seen it copied from everything

from you know, the Simpsons to the Simpsons So

but I love it legitimately be watching again.

It's making like man. This is This will creep

up into my top 10 films of all time and it's

it's it's close into that. So yeah, that's at

my number one. So I have Psycho, Notorious, North

by Northwest, then Rebecca. And then lastly,

at number one, I have Weird Window. All right.

So like I said, I really wanted to put my number

six into the top five. So I really wanted a top

six to be separated. Because if your number six

was Rebecca for me and it's really hard for me

to. distinguish between Rebecca and lifeboat

which is my number five those two are just like

neck and neck for me I may have to revisit dial

-in for murder because for a long time I couldn't

that was one of the ones that I couldn't separate

between like strangers on a train dial -in for

murder I had the 39 steps in there I probably

would have eventually put to catch a thief in

that group that I just really couldn't distinguish

but for some reason a dial -in for murder just

creeps up into my number four spot it stuck with

me a little bit Then my top three I have notorious

at number three I this movie has stuck with me

like the more I think about notorious the more

I like it and I just think it was a very good

early on showing that we were in for a treat

with Hitchcock it's like before he really started

like I Guess making the movies that everybody

talks about like notorious was there and I think

it deserves more love and then I don't know Can

you call this a 1a and a 1b? I don't know. I

have North by Northwest at two and Rear Window

at one. I think they're both phenomenal five

-star films that I can't find anything bad to

say about either one. So Rear Window, I gave

the slight edge just because I guess I like the

limited set piece and all the craziness that

went into this and how he was able to add all

of these side characters that just really worked.

And we talked about just before we revealed this,

the amount of suspenseful moments. I don't know

if there was ever a time where I more was wanting

to try to like get involved with the film than

when I was watching Rear Window and it was a

second time watch. Like I knew, I already knew

what happened, but I was still right there. So

yeah, so my five through one is Lifeboat, Dialing

for Murder, Notorious, North by Northwest and

Rear Window. So obviously we had some carryover

in each of the sections with just a few films

here and there that were separating us, which

is somewhat surprising with 15 films that We're

in as much I guess agreement as you could hope

for which is not always how you tan and I see

things so Interesting journey so either in reflection

of the films that we revealed or just talking

about Hitchcock in general like what are some

of your takeaways? From the films from him as

a director like we always have heard the things

that other people attribute to Hitchcock But

what would you attribute to Hitchcock as some

of his? Trademarks and things that you kind of

take away from this whole whole ordeal. I Think

I didn't realize how good he was at getting performances

out of actors and letting actors do their thing

and putting them in good spots because you could

see why so many actors and actresses returned

because they do some of the best work with him

and That and then also, you know, of course,

he's known for suspense and everything like that.

But also like There's a lot of like social commentary

i wasn't really aware of within his movies like

i think shadow of a doubt is a good example of

that. But also in a way that he would approach

like there's a lot of characters that were clearly

like homosexuals in the way that. In a time and

place when that was super taboo and you know

one of them was my best supporting actor award

you see that in rope as well. And I do wonder

like what his movies would have been like under

less, you know, censorship and things like that.

So I think he even tried to push boundaries in

ways that he would not expect for that time and

maybe some ways that still go over people's heads

today. So in the sense of like being able to

have some representation, you see that a little

bit in Lifeboat as well. Not that there isn't

things also you can criticize him for to in those

areas as well, but And I think he's also like

the center of his films ultimately He just keeps

in mind that he's always trying to entertain

he's trying to tell stories he's always trying

to entertain he's trying to thrill and When we

talked about a lot of the contemporary reviews

of the time you could see how it was much more

mixed you know a lot of people weren't as as

fond of him as we are now and you can kind of

maybe see why because he would Approach the taboo

in ways that certainly was probably unappreciated

at the time But now it almost you know, it's

almost quaint in a way, you know, we're only

only murder that that's it. That's all we have

That's not so bad. Um, but yeah, i'm glad we

did this but what were some of your takeaways?

A couple things like I do think number one. I

really enjoyed How as a director and this kind

of goes to like what you're saying with getting

performances out of people But I think even to

take it a step further and I've talked about

it a couple different times, but he didn't forget

about the side characters. Like the side characters

weren't just there to progress the story. Like

they're there, but he makes them interesting

in and of itself. And I think it's easy for directors

to just focus on the leads and pay all their

attention to there. And if a side character is

there to progress the plot or to add some humor

or this, that and the other, then they're there.

But I felt like with Hitchcock, like he really...

paid attention to the details on these side characters

that makes you want to have more information

just on their story. And that was evident right

from the get -go with the 39 steps. We see the

lady with her husband in the shack that you're

like, well, what's the story with these two?

And then you see the lady with her husband in

the hotel, and you're interested in them, and

he does that. Rear window's a prime example.

There's all of these characters across that we

don't even necessarily have real names for. but

we want to know more about their story what happened

before this you like what happens after this

like so i thought that was something that he's

very like his attention to detail is not just

behind the camera from a shot standpoint or from

a cinematography type standpoint like i feel

like his attention to detail was also on every

character that appears in his films um yeah he's

really good at building building those worlds

that you like Want to be part of because there's

so much going on even with like 39 steps like

the living computer like that was such a Kind

of throwaway character, but then how it comes

back into play. I thought was really well done.

So Yeah, and I think another thing that we saw

and then we would probably see this even more

if we had covered all 50 films Which i'm not

suggesting um, but if you did I think he's also

someone that was always learning right like he's

always Reflecting from what he's done learning

about a movie that he's done and then using that

in future movies. Like you see the seeds of certain

movies in his early movies, right? Like he even

did one where he did the movie twice because

of it, basically. Like he does the same movie

twice in his filmography. But you got that like

from 39 Steps to North by Northwest or from,

you know, you could, there's a lot of these films

that you could connect one to the other and be

like, well, here was his initial run. Here's

his rough draft. And then here's when he actually

perfected it and was like in his element. So

he wasn't someone that I feel like he wasn't

a know -it -all in a way. He was someone that

was willing to take chances and willing to do

things that other directors weren't, but then

also learn from them and perfect them and be

like, well, I think I can do that better now.

Which I thought was interesting. Like, yes, are

there, is the Hitchcock blonde thing a thing?

Sure. Is some of these other, I don't know about

the mom thing, like that's to me like, are you

supposed to make 50 films without having a mom

in them? You know what I mean? I guess you could

read into some of that stuff, but I feel like

it's more about what he did with the characters,

his willingness to experiment. Yes, these are

thriller suspense films overall, but so many

of them have a different angle, or some of them

have a limited set, a limited cast. Some of them

are these rambunctious all over the place, like

a North by Northwest, or 39 Steps. I felt like

there's enough variety that even though they

all have suspenseful elements for the most part,

it's wrapped up in different wrapping paper every

time. So I definitely appreciated that. Other

thoughts as far as the journey through these

15 films for you? No, like I said, I think it's

worth doing if you're thinking about doing it.

Where would you start? If you were telling somebody

that had to watch none of these films, where

would you tell them to start? I do think 39 steps

is a good place to start. It's also available

like for free because they lost the rights to

it, which is a whole other story to catch a thief.

I think it's great. I wouldn't want I wouldn't

start with the big hitters like the rear window

or like like work up to those just because you

know, it let you see that progression. But I

think starting at 39 steps was a good call because

it's it's I think he. It's Hitchcock becoming

like the director we know but also it's not like

his top -tier film In my opinion and in yours

as well. So I think that's a good place to go

and then like, you know You can go in all different

directions, but there's a you know, I've even

I haven't stopped honestly I still I just watched

as we're doing this yesterday. I finished watching

The man who knew too much the remake of it speaking

of him remaking movies crazy then that's crazy

because it's I literally Started it last night

as well Yeah, it's it's off on Netflix I think

on the 31st so like alright, well, let me let

me watch this before it's off of Netflix But

Netflix does have a lot of the Hitchcock films

on there now. I'm not saying we started that

or you know, we Inspired that but a lot of his

movies are there like the birds I think for her

to go rear window are all on Netflix now. That's

And then I was literally laying in bed thinking

I was like What other Hitchcock films are free

that I can just watch, even though we're not

covering it? Like, what else can I just add to

it? Oh, yeah. That's funny. So, yeah, I mean,

I think it's worth if you haven't if you have

a big blind spot for Hitchcock, like I did kind

of going into this. I mean, I'd seen Rear Window

and Vertigo, and that was basically it. I would

highly suggest taking on a few of these. Like,

you don't have to watch all 50 films. You don't

even have to watch all 15 films that we covered.

But I think you should watch, you know, eight

to 10 of them. Like for sure and I think dan

you're right 39 steps, uh to catch a thief are

good entry points I could even see notorious

being like an entry point um, but those three

kind of set the set the groundwork and then you

can kind of experience some of the the More iconic

ones like you said, but if you know if you haven't

seen north by northwest rear window lifeboat

rebecca Like you need to watch those films Um,

at least in my opinion, so i'm very glad that

we did this and knocked out some blind spots

and uh we're gonna keep the train going a little

bit with classic film so i know we've already

said it once but dan let the people know what

we're doing next so as we mentioned a few times

we're gonna be kind of shifting and kind of evolving

this you know we mentioned how we love carrie

grant doing this and we're gonna keep that going

and we're gonna be doing a carrie grant retrospective

and the first one we're gonna be caught Getting

into is bringing up baby. I think it's available

on a number of platforms as well Be interested

to see just you know, what his work is like with

different directors and different casts in different

genres And there's you know, plenty of great

films for to go forward for him How how many

movies have you seen of him besides the hitchcock

films? Have you seen I've seen more hitchcock

films. Yeah I have seen the Philadelphia story

I have seen arsenic and old lace and I have seen

oh I feel like there's one more that I'm missing

but I have for sure seen those two what about

you? I've seen arsenic and old lace I watched

that actually because we did we read that play

in English class and then I wanted that we ended

up watching the movie and then also I saw his

girl Friday I was in a Billy Wilder kick for

a bit. So but I'm really excited that we watch

that movie again because but also that's one

that actually has Been remade and it's because

it's based upon a play I could be wrong. It's

been a while, but I believe that's been remade

or like the paper chase or something like that

with Walter Matthew and Jack Lemmon and again

that could be completely wrong because it's my

memory is awful, but But yeah, that's basically

it those those two groups Okay, so we've both

seen a couple of them outside of our four Hitchcock

films, and we're still solidifying what all the

films are that we'll cover, but we're gonna start

with bringing up Baby. There's a lot of ones

that we could watch. There's Holiday, there's

The Philadelphia Story. We talked about Arsenic

and Old Lace. There's Charade. There is, oh gosh,

what else is there? Oh, Operation Petticoat.

I know that one. Fair to remember. So we'll figure

it out. If you have one that you think is a must

watch, you can go ahead and let us know by commenting

at us on social media. The show name is at the

Cinema Geeks. Dan, how can people reach out to

you? I'm at Comic Concierge on pretty much all

social media platforms. and you can get a hold

of me at Optimus Solo and let me know why I am

crazy for not having Vertigo and Psycho in my

top five, as well as letting us know which Cary

Grant films we for sure should cover as we kind

of make our way through that. I'm excited to

do that and kind of see where that takes us.

So that does it for this episode. Tune in next

time for another chance to listen to more of

the Cinema Geeks.