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In February 1927, London audiences got
their first real taste of an Alfred
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Hitchcock film.
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is now recognised as the first Hitchcock
masterpiece.
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But as the director himself liked to
recall, the film, and with it his
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was very nearly stillborn.
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Unfortunately, when the film was
finished, the distributors sent down two
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representatives to view the film, and
they came out and said it was awful.
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And it was a dreadful picture.
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Well, you know, this is a pretty low ebb
to get.
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And it was on the shelf for about two
months. And then they decided to show it
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after all. They felt they had an
investment.
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And it was shown.
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And it was acclaimed as the greatest
British picture ever made to that date.
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So there you see is that thin red line
between failure and success.
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How do you do?
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I am Alfred Hitchcock and I would like
to tell you about my latest motion
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picture, Marnie, which will be coming to
this theatre soon.
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In a 60 -year career that began with
hand -cranked cameras and silent movie
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stars and ended with widescreen
technicolour and method actors,
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taste both success and failure in
pursuit of a simple goal.
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He wanted fame, he wanted fortune, he
wanted the right to make his own art in
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his own way, and he got all those
things.
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Along the way, he would create a world
as strange as his own personality.
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Don't be afraid.
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A Hitchcockian world where glamour and
thrill were docked by fear and guilt.
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How do you do?
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My name is Alfred Hitchcock.
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And I would like to tell you about my
forthcoming lecture.
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It is about the birds and their age
-long relationship with man.
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Oh, there were a lot of Hitchcocks
involved with Mr. Hitchcock.
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He used to think of himself as being a
very simple man. He was extremely
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complicated.
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Extremely complicated.
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That's a great question.
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Is this man a technician, or is he a
genius with soul and spirit, and if he
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be the greatest filmmaker of all time?
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This is Alfred Hitchcock speaking.
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In the past, I have introduced you to
many kinds of people.
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Murderers, thieves, swindlers, many of
them geniuses at the business of crime.
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Cruelty, fear, loneliness, paranoia,
dark feelings.
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Big stars, outstanding supporting cast,
brilliant color,
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imaginative settings, great locations.
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Murder, mayhem, violence, sex,
beautifully
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pictorially expressed.
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Lovely costumes, perfect cutting.
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And a joke or two.
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Hitchcock's 1936 thriller, Sabotage, is
set in a world of street markets,
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shopkeepers, and bobbyed on the beat.
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Don't you know that's very dangerous?
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What? Leaving stuff like that lying
about.
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Supposing you or me were to break our
leg on that? You'd be very pleased with
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yourself, I suppose.
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That would depend whether it was your
leg or mine.
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Can't tempt you, I suppose? Oranges.
Very nice today. Good for the feet.
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It was a world that Hitchcock knew well.
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It was the world in which he had grown
up.
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Hitchcock is often described as having
working -class company origins.
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He wasn't really working class. I mean,
his father was a greengrocer, wholesale
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and retail.
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And there was a very important
distinction between being lower middle
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having your own business, being a
shopkeeper and something, and being
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working class.
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And Hitchcock was definitely on the
middle -class side of this divide.
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And I think they were always conscious
of it.
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Born in August 1899 above the family's
high street shop in the London suburb of
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Leytonstone, Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was
the youngest of the three children of
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Emma and William Hitchcock.
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The father seems to have been, in
certain respects, a fairly strict
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disciplinarian, but his mother seems to
have been the tougher of the two
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parents, and he remained.
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in awe of her throughout her life.
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My grandmother, my father's mother,
Emma, was a wonderful character.
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I mean, absolutely.
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She was very forceful.
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You can imagine a young person would be
scared of her, you know, a son, because
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she, you know, she made them toe the
line.
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The Hitchcocks were devout Catholics, a
fact that film critics of the future
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would make much of.
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Do you accept to be regarded as a
Catholic
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artist?
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It does come in, it's true.
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But perhaps the biggest influence on the
future filmmaker was an incident that
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became an essential part of the
Hitchcock legend.
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At a very tender age, I was frightened
by a policeman.
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I don't remember now what it was I'd
done, but my father sent me along to the
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police station with a note.
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He locked me in a cell for five minutes
and finally said, that's what we do to
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naughty boys.
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Hitchcock's education in the ways of the
world continued at the age of 11 when
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he was sent to St Ignatius College, a
fee -paying school run by Jesuits.
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The Jesuits were notorious for their
approach to discipline, as a
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of Hitchcock recalled.
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We didn't get up and go straight away.
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The wages of class ended.
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Then, instead of going down into the
playground, we went along the corridor
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the end and joined a queue of about,
what, ten or twelve boys, we think, I
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suppose, coming from the different
classes.
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And you went in one by one.
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Master, on duty that day, did set two.
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Three, six.
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Nine, twelve, twice nine, eighteen.
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Nine on one hand and nine on the other,
you see.
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Going to the Jesuit school, you know,
you're taught that you have to live life
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in fear and guilt.
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You're told that, you know, you have to
be very cautious in life.
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You have to be very cautious, because
you have evil within you, other people
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You know, good and evil are not
separate, but they are inextricably
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and the same person.
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Hitchcock would stand up for himself,
quite naturally, boys calling cocky.
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He wouldn't have it. He would hitch.
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I remember that quite well, because he
punched a boy in the nose for going in
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cocky.
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In 1914, when Hitchcock was just 15, his
father died.
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Forth to lead, Prince Ignatius.
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He found work in an engineering company.
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But Hitchcock was never the average nine
-to -five office worker.
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When he was a teenager, I think he was
working in the city, he didn't, at
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lunchtime, he didn't go to a pub and
stand around with a glass of beer in his
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hand and a sandwich. He went to a proper
restaurant, dressed properly, went to a
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proper restaurant, ordered a proper
lunch.
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had a cigar afterwards.
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In other words, he knew the kind of
human being and the kind of character he
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going to be even then.
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Were you, or did you tend to be fairly
solitary?
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I was pretty solitary.
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As a child, I was a great first
-nighter, you know, to the theatre, used
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alone, and also to the movies, theatre
and movies, I suppose, were ones.
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Hobby, more or less.
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In 1920, Hitchcock's hobby took him to a
former power station in Islington,
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North London.
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Alfred Hitchcock was about to enter the
movie.
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I heard that an American company were
coming to London to open a studio.
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So I applied for the job of designing
their titles, because those were the
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silent days, and titles were an
important part of the picture.
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It was at the Islington Studios that
Hitchcock would meet the most important
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person in his life,
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Alma Revel, a talented film editor in
her own right, and the future Mrs.
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Hitchcock.
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She was really smart and extremely
knowledgeable
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about film.
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And they were...
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They were so close.
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They were, you know, they were a pair
for all those years.
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And, you know, they read each other's
minds.
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She actually was born in Nottingham.
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And then I think the family moved to
Twickenham.
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When she was in school, I know she was
afflicted with a disease called St.
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Vitus's Dance and had to miss two years
of school.
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And, you know, she was so bright, too,
that it was such a shame. And that's why
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I think she went straight into the
picture business.
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I think when she went to work there, it
became her life.
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She was already in the quite important
position of film editor, whereas he was
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just a general dog's body.
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And he was immediately attracted to her,
but he said he didn't dare ask her to
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come out with him until he was of a
commensurate position himself. So as
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he had become actually an assistant
director, he dared to ask her out.
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Sometimes she could be very sharp.
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I mean, she...
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Just said it right out.
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If she didn't like somebody, you knew it
and he knew it. And if she didn't like
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something he did, she said it.
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Never, she was never shrewish.
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She was simply a woman with opinions
that she voiced.
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I liked her for that.
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She was totally unpredictable, totally
independent.
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And I think he enjoyed this and rather
feared it.
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It was the most extraordinary image of
sort of an elephant being martyred by a
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sparrow Though he liked to say that he
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had no particular ambition Hitchcock
rose rapidly at the Islington studios
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the film industry still in its infancy
his innate self -confidence made him an
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unstoppable force I was very content
when
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I was going to get the job in as
assistant director.
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Then they said, well, do you know of a
good writer we can get? I said, I'll
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write it.
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And then my friend, who was going to be
the art director on the picture, he said
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he couldn't come.
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He had another job.
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He said, what are we going to do for an
art director? I said, I'll do the art
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direction.
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But Hitchcock was still serving his
apprenticeship.
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In 1925, he received the education of a
lifetime, but he was sent to work on an
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Anglo -German co -production at the Ufa
Studios in Berlin.
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Ufa, the world's largest studio, was the
home of German Expressionist cinema.
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Watching the lives of Murnau and Lange
at work, Hitchcock learned much about
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power of the director.
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And there were other lessons, too.
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He learned so much about the use of
shadow, the use of camera angles that
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unconventional, off -center framing,
shots from above, shots from below.
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kind of things were part and parcel of
the style of German Expressionism, and I
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think Hitchcock adapted those very
neatly into his cinematic grammar.
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German expressionism may have exerted a
stylistic influence on Hitchcock, but
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the lessons of Soviet cinema went
deeper.
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Soviet filmmakers showed Hitchcock that
meaning in a film could be conveyed by
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the dynamic juxtaposition of images, a
technique known as montage.
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In a montage sequence, Acting becomes a
matter of stylized gestures and
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expressions, which become significant
only when placed alongside other images.
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It was a principle that Hitchcock would
apply throughout his career to the
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dismay of many of his actors.
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The medium of pure cinema is what I
believe in.
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The assembly of pieces of film to create
fright is the essential part of my
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job.
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00:19:28,180 --> 00:19:34,259
He took me to dinner one night and he
said, Ernie, what we're doing is we're
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sitting at an organ and we're pressing
this chord.
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which makes an audience go, ooh.
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And then we press this chord, which
makes them laugh.
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And we're just playing on them. And he
said, someday we won't need the movie.
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We'll be able to wire them so that we
can just sit at the organ and make them
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have all the sensations that they have
seeing the picture.
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And he believed that, create an effect
on the audience.
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Hitchcock created his first effects
early in 1927, with the release of his
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films The Pleasure Garden, The Mountain
Eagle, and The Lodger.
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The Pleasure Garden performed
respectably, The Mountain Eagle less
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Lodger was a sensation.
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For once, British critics had a
homegrown product to rave about, and for
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00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:48,419
public, there was a sensational
storyline coupled with the charms of
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idols, Ivor Novello.
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But for Hitchcock, it had been a tough
initiation.
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All three films had been shelved for
months, condemned by the distributor as
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unshowable. The Lodger, in particular,
was suspected of being arty, a kiss of
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00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,720
death in the British film industry at
that time.
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He used to tell me that when he first
started in the industry, you actually
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00:21:21,650 --> 00:21:26,509
distributors on the doorsteps in Water
Street shouting, have I got a film for
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00:21:26,510 --> 00:21:27,950
you, have I got a film for you?
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And I think he realised early on, even
if he wanted to be artistic himself,
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you couldn't let this be seen too much,
that it would be a great mistake because
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people wouldn't take you seriously if
you did.
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00:21:43,870 --> 00:21:47,619
Throughout his career, Hitchcock would
grouse about the craftiness of
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00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:52,779
distributors and the stupidity of studio
executives, but rarely would he rebel
229
00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:53,830
against them.
230
00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:58,059
He never felt comfortable asserting the
claims of the artist over the
231
00:21:58,060 --> 00:21:59,980
responsibilities of the businessman.
232
00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:04,780
You can't indulge yourself for 5 .9
million.
233
00:22:04,980 --> 00:22:08,900
A lot of people's jobs attach to this
figure.
234
00:22:09,710 --> 00:22:14,569
I used to look at the men lining up at
Warner Brothers, carrying their dinner
235
00:22:14,570 --> 00:22:15,930
pails, clocking on.
236
00:22:16,290 --> 00:22:20,330
In a long line, I said to myself, is
this an art form?
237
00:22:22,170 --> 00:22:26,849
And that is, therein lies the whole
problem between the artistic and the
238
00:22:26,850 --> 00:22:29,090
commercial. It's the cost of expression.
239
00:22:33,130 --> 00:22:36,750
What Hitchcock looked for from a studio
was a simple understanding.
240
00:22:37,610 --> 00:22:40,810
He would turn out popular films on time
and on budget.
241
00:22:41,310 --> 00:22:46,270
In return, he expected to be left alone
to make his own films in his own way.
242
00:22:46,950 --> 00:22:50,890
This was the deal on which his life as a
filmmaker would be based.
243
00:22:54,710 --> 00:22:57,830
But Hitchcock had more to offer studios
than just his talent.
244
00:22:58,490 --> 00:23:03,169
In the opening scenes of The Lodger,
sharp -eyed critics spotted an extra who
245
00:23:03,170 --> 00:23:04,550
looked strangely familiar.
246
00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,390
It was the first of the celebrated
Hitchcock cameos.
247
00:23:25,411 --> 00:23:32,619
My mother wasn't born a Catholic, but
she became a Catholic when she married
248
00:23:32,620 --> 00:23:35,690
father, and they were married at
Brompton Oratory in London.
249
00:23:36,860 --> 00:23:43,579
We lived in London. We lived on Cromwell
Road, number 153, and then on
250
00:23:43,580 --> 00:23:49,479
weekends we would go down to Surrey near
Guildford, a place called Shamley
251
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,980
Green, and we had a place called Shamley
Cottage, and I had horses down there,
252
00:23:55,140 --> 00:23:56,500
and I loved it.
253
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:05,919
He loved making the home movies and, you
know, hammed it up all the time and had
254
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,379
a wonderful time. But that was his great
sense of humour and that's what he had
255
00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:11,430
in everything.
256
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:17,580
And the sort of staid person that
everybody thought he was was purely an
257
00:25:20,460 --> 00:25:23,340
Hitchcock's career, meanwhile, continued
to blossom.
258
00:25:24,740 --> 00:25:28,740
Wooed away from Islington by British
international pitchers at Elstree,
259
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,139
Britain's hottest young director was the
natural choice to direct the first
260
00:25:33,140 --> 00:25:35,500
British talkie, Blackmail.
261
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:43,339
Every conceivable kind of problem
happened, all of which Hitchy took in
262
00:25:43,340 --> 00:25:50,219
stride. But he had one big problem, and
that was Annie Ondra, who was
263
00:25:50,220 --> 00:25:51,720
the little star of the picture.
264
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:57,260
Annie Ondra was supposed to be a little
English girl, a little London girl.
265
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,020
the daughter of a tobacconist.
266
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,120
And Annie Ondra was Czech.
267
00:26:04,980 --> 00:26:08,700
Czechoslovakian. And Annie Ondra had a
very, very strong accent.
268
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:17,100
Now, Ondra, you asked me to let you hear
your voice on the talking picture.
269
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:20,080
But, Heath, you mustn't do that.
270
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:21,370
Why not?
271
00:26:21,420 --> 00:26:23,780
Well, because I can speak well.
272
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,659
Do you realize a squad band will be here
any moment? No, really. Oh, my God, I'm
273
00:26:28,660 --> 00:26:29,619
terribly frightened.
274
00:26:29,620 --> 00:26:31,900
Why? Have you been a bad woman or
something?
275
00:26:32,180 --> 00:26:35,080
Well, not this bad, but... But you've
slept with men.
276
00:26:35,081 --> 00:26:36,239
Oh, no.
277
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,419
You have not. Come here. Stand in your
place. Otherwise, it will not come out
278
00:26:40,420 --> 00:26:42,320
right, as the girl said to the soldier.
279
00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:44,350
That's enough.
280
00:26:45,540 --> 00:26:49,340
Well, Annie Andre, naturally, with a
Czech accent.
281
00:26:50,190 --> 00:26:55,350
She couldn't possibly continue, but too
much had been photographed.
282
00:26:55,850 --> 00:27:02,609
So I got another young actress, whose
name was Joan Barry, to sit on the
283
00:27:02,610 --> 00:27:04,570
side with her own mic.
284
00:27:05,250 --> 00:27:11,789
And Annie Under the Check Girl just
mouthed her words so that they both
285
00:27:11,790 --> 00:27:13,010
synchronized.
286
00:27:14,110 --> 00:27:16,530
Frank, I've changed my mind.
287
00:27:18,290 --> 00:27:19,340
What about?
288
00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:21,920
About going to the pictures.
289
00:27:23,740 --> 00:27:25,480
You mean you don't want to go again?
290
00:27:26,700 --> 00:27:27,920
No, not particularly.
291
00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:33,750
Blackmail was hailed as another
Hitchcock triumph.
292
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,040
But after this, the director lost his
way.
293
00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:42,560
Leaving VIP at the height of the
Depression, he ended up directing a
294
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,660
His first and only venture into the
genre.
295
00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,359
He was rescued by Michael Balkan, the
producer who had given him his first
296
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,820
as a director at Islington.
297
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,559
The man
298
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:20,540
who knew too much was the first of the
so -called thriller cycle.
299
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,100
Six films in four years.
300
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:27,619
which Hitchcock made for Balkan's
Gaumont British Studio, and which would
301
00:28:27,620 --> 00:28:30,240
him the title The Master of Suspense.
302
00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:52,200
Suspense was the key to the Hitchcock
thriller.
303
00:28:53,100 --> 00:28:56,959
Working with screenwriter Charles
Bennett and with Alma contributing to
304
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,720
treatments and continuity, Hitchcock
turned suspense into an exact science.
305
00:29:03,580 --> 00:29:08,040
The element of suspense is giving an
audience information.
306
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,860
Now, you and I are sitting here.
307
00:29:11,860 --> 00:29:13,640
Suddenly a bomb goes off.
308
00:29:15,260 --> 00:29:17,820
Up we go, blown to smithereens.
309
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,590
What have the audience had watching this
scene?
310
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,880
five or ten seconds of shock.
311
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,379
Now, we do the scene over again, but we
tell the audience there's a bomb
312
00:29:30,380 --> 00:29:33,510
underneath this table and it's going to
go off in five minutes.
313
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,680
Now, this innocuous conversation about
football becomes very potent. They say,
314
00:29:45,681 --> 00:29:49,099
don't talk about football, there's a
bomb under there. That's what they want
315
00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:50,150
tell us.
316
00:29:54,890 --> 00:29:58,610
then their anxieties will be as long as
that clock ticks away.
317
00:30:09,890 --> 00:30:12,710
But the bomb must never go off.
318
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:42,679
I once committed a grave error in having
a bomb from which I'd extracted a great
319
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:43,730
deal of suspense.
320
00:30:45,100 --> 00:30:50,659
And I had the thing go off, which I
should never have done, because they
321
00:30:50,660 --> 00:30:52,580
the relief from their suspense.
322
00:30:52,581 --> 00:30:56,979
Somebody should have said, oh, my
goodness, look, there's a bomb.
323
00:30:56,980 --> 00:30:59,030
Pick it up, throw it out the window.
Bang!
324
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,960
I made the mistake. I let the bomb go
off and kill someone.
325
00:31:06,220 --> 00:31:07,270
Bad technique.
326
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,899
In a Hitchcock thriller, the thing which
seems to be of primary importance
327
00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:33,059
generally turns out to be what he called
the MacGuffin, the least important
328
00:31:33,060 --> 00:31:34,110
thing of all.
329
00:31:35,470 --> 00:31:41,949
a matter of days perhaps hours before
the secret is out of the country
330
00:31:41,950 --> 00:31:47,869
I don't care about content at all the
film can be about anything you like so
331
00:31:47,870 --> 00:31:53,789
long as I'm making that audience react
in a certain way to whatever I put on
332
00:31:53,790 --> 00:32:00,609
screen and if you begin to worry about
the details of what are
333
00:32:00,610 --> 00:32:04,510
the papers about that the spies are
trying to
334
00:32:04,511 --> 00:32:09,259
Well, that's a lot of knowledge. I can't
be bothered with what the papers are,
335
00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:13,940
what the spies are after in Kipling's
day with the plans of the fort.
336
00:32:13,941 --> 00:32:17,919
Well, how can you, you know, bring out
the plans of the fort? Do you want the
337
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:19,780
public to measure them or something?
338
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:21,760
What are the 39 steps?
339
00:32:23,420 --> 00:32:26,080
Come on, answer up! What are the 39
steps?
340
00:32:26,740 --> 00:32:30,040
The 39 steps is an organisation of
spies.
341
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,939
collecting information on behalf of the
Foreign Office of...
342
00:32:33,940 --> 00:32:41,399
Haven't
343
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,930
you seen anyone with a twitch yet? Too
many people.
344
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,860
You must find him. Can't ask more if
they twitches, can I?
345
00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:51,020
He must be here somewhere.
346
00:32:52,660 --> 00:32:57,359
Hitchcock was indifferent to content
because what really interested him was
347
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,000
he called pure cinema.
348
00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:03,240
An elaborate montage sequence or a
complex camera move.
349
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:08,179
For him, these were the efforts of the
filmmaker's heart. I'm right here to
350
00:33:08,180 --> 00:33:11,140
you, sister, no one can like the drummer
man.
351
00:33:11,420 --> 00:33:15,640
Every man who plays in the band is
wonderful too.
352
00:33:16,620 --> 00:33:20,640
I've got to give credit where credit is
due.
353
00:33:21,100 --> 00:33:26,959
But when it comes to make that music up,
make you give it all it's got, I'm
354
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,170
right here. to tell you mister no one
can like the drummer man
355
00:34:09,190 --> 00:34:12,680
The British thrillers gave Hitchcock an
international reputation.
356
00:34:12,929 --> 00:34:17,290
And by the end of the 1930s, he was
ready for the biggest move in his
357
00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:35,589
Between 1939 and 1945, the biggest
audience for American movies thus far
358
00:34:35,590 --> 00:34:37,110
happened.
359
00:34:38,020 --> 00:34:42,679
80 million Americans were going to
movies week in, week out.
360
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,459
And as far as technology goes, it was
the best technology in the world that
361
00:34:47,460 --> 00:34:49,020
Hitchcock came to.
362
00:34:49,500 --> 00:34:53,239
Sound, which came in in 1927, was
already licked.
363
00:34:54,179 --> 00:34:56,600
Camera and projection equipment was
refined.
364
00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,519
And as for black and white, ah, ah, what
the lacquers were developed, the dye
365
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,420
systems were developed to make the black
velvety.
366
00:35:05,421 --> 00:35:09,039
You saw a black and white movie, the
blacks were velvety and the whites, I
367
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,580
it looked like the light was burning on
the screen.
368
00:35:21,460 --> 00:35:25,639
Hitchcock had been circling Hollywood
for a number of years, tempted by the
369
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,590
resources that only the big American
studios could offer.
370
00:35:31,380 --> 00:35:35,059
He knew that a move to Hollywood meant
giving up the autonomy he had won in
371
00:35:35,060 --> 00:35:40,960
England. In return, he was looking for
money, security, and prestige projects.
372
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:49,459
In 1938, he signed a seven -year
contract with producer David O.
373
00:35:49,460 --> 00:35:51,580
the following fateful year, 1939,
374
00:35:52,420 --> 00:35:55,120
the Hitchcocks left England for America.
375
00:35:57,230 --> 00:36:01,109
We always knew that it was a permanent
move to coming over, you know. There's
376
00:36:01,110 --> 00:36:05,269
gamble at all because he had a seven
-year contract with David Selznick. So
377
00:36:05,270 --> 00:36:07,980
knew, you know, he was going to be at
least seven years.
378
00:36:08,490 --> 00:36:11,450
And pretty much after that, you would
live there.
379
00:36:17,830 --> 00:36:23,029
Hitchcock's first American film was to
be Rebecca, based on the popular novel
380
00:36:23,030 --> 00:36:24,080
Daphne du Maurier.
381
00:36:24,710 --> 00:36:28,140
It didn't take too long to discover what
working for Selznick meant.
382
00:36:30,030 --> 00:36:34,730
David O. Selznick was born in 1902 and
he died in 1965 at the age of 63.
383
00:36:35,190 --> 00:36:40,070
No wonder, for he was an obsessive, pill
-popping workaholic.
384
00:36:40,390 --> 00:36:46,710
He is a very dogmatic and imperious sort
of man. He controlled his films.
385
00:36:46,970 --> 00:36:52,629
No one else made them, no one else
condemned them. He was always the
386
00:36:52,630 --> 00:36:53,680
person.
387
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,600
And with Hitchcock, this didn't go over
so well.
388
00:36:57,660 --> 00:37:02,939
The two of them would fight about script
mostly because David Selznick had great
389
00:37:02,940 --> 00:37:05,640
respect for the original material that
he used.
390
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:12,819
He demanded that the dialogue be from
the book, that the settings should match
391
00:37:12,820 --> 00:37:14,980
the descriptions in the book.
392
00:37:15,380 --> 00:37:17,800
David insisted on...
393
00:37:18,170 --> 00:37:22,329
lifting the book right into the film.
And Hitchcock wanted to make the film
394
00:37:22,330 --> 00:37:23,690
regardless of the book.
395
00:37:24,790 --> 00:37:28,040
How could I ask you to love me when I
knew you loved Rebecca still?
396
00:37:29,690 --> 00:37:33,060
Whenever you touched me, I knew you were
comparing me with Rebecca.
397
00:37:33,061 --> 00:37:37,469
What is the mystery of Rebecca? What
dread secret is hidden within the silent
398
00:37:37,470 --> 00:37:38,590
walls of Manderley?
399
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:45,560
David thought that Hitchcock's idea of
casting was all wrong.
400
00:37:45,860 --> 00:37:50,640
The disagreements, of course, arose on
the role of the young girl.
401
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,560
Miss She, they called her.
402
00:37:54,180 --> 00:38:00,659
And she had a very important role to
play in the success of the film. And the
403
00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:03,640
people we had been considering, we were
not happy with.
404
00:38:04,100 --> 00:38:06,840
What do you mean?
405
00:38:07,780 --> 00:38:08,960
What? What do you mean?
406
00:38:08,961 --> 00:38:12,549
Well, I don't know. Why do you look at
me that way? Who's been talking to you?
407
00:38:12,550 --> 00:38:16,209
No one, no one at all. Why do you look
like that, Maxine? What's the matter?
408
00:38:16,210 --> 00:38:17,470
Why do you look like that?
409
00:38:18,050 --> 00:38:19,100
What's the matter?
410
00:38:19,101 --> 00:38:22,369
Why do you look like that? What's the
matter?
411
00:38:22,370 --> 00:38:25,849
Why do you look like that? Who's been
talking to you? No one, no one at all,
412
00:38:25,850 --> 00:38:27,170
Maxine. What's the matter?
413
00:38:27,350 --> 00:38:28,450
We're back at test 16.
414
00:38:32,590 --> 00:38:36,990
David Selznick at that time was truly in
love with Joan Fontaine.
415
00:38:37,980 --> 00:38:42,960
And he demanded that she go into the
role, so Hitchcock finally gave in on
416
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:44,360
What do you mean?
417
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,200
What? What do you mean?
418
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,170
I don't mean anything. Why do you look
at me like that?
419
00:38:51,171 --> 00:38:52,519
Who's been talking to you?
420
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:53,860
No one, no one at all.
421
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:55,530
What's the matter?
422
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,000
She was just great.
423
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,360
And Selznick, he was very satisfied, but
he didn't gloat.
424
00:39:05,910 --> 00:39:10,189
Rebecca had one of Hitchcock's most
popular pictures, but he felt it was
425
00:39:10,190 --> 00:39:14,809
more Selznick's than his, a feeling
confirmed when the film won the 1940
426
00:39:14,810 --> 00:39:19,750
for Best Picture, an award that went to
the producer, not the director.
427
00:39:20,870 --> 00:39:24,829
It was to be the first of several near
-misses for Hitchcock, and he would end
428
00:39:24,830 --> 00:39:27,390
his career without a single Oscar to his
name.
429
00:39:27,391 --> 00:39:34,109
But Selznick had other lessons to teach
Hitchcock about the powerlessness of the
430
00:39:34,110 --> 00:39:35,160
contract director.
431
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:41,019
After Rebecca, he began to loan him out
to other studios, charging them double
432
00:39:41,020 --> 00:39:42,340
what he paid Hitchcock.
433
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:45,820
He lived on Hitchcock.
434
00:39:46,620 --> 00:39:51,440
He had a seven -year contract with
Hitchcock and sold him all over the
435
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:57,799
It was the profits from the Hitchcock
contract that kept him alive. He didn't
436
00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:58,850
have any money.
437
00:39:59,020 --> 00:40:01,600
He didn't make any money on Gone with
the Wind.
438
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,620
But he...
439
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:09,480
He had Hitchcock. That was his annuity
for five or six years.
440
00:40:12,780 --> 00:40:14,960
Do you know the world is a foul sty?
441
00:40:15,980 --> 00:40:19,440
Do you know if you rip the fronts off
houses, you'd find swine?
442
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:24,659
Of the ten films Hitchcock made while
under contract, only three were for
443
00:40:24,660 --> 00:40:29,779
Selznick. But the loan art films include
some of his most powerful work, with
444
00:40:29,780 --> 00:40:33,199
memorable performances from the stars
with whom he would be most closely
445
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:34,250
associated.
446
00:40:37,190 --> 00:40:38,240
How do you feel?
447
00:40:38,390 --> 00:40:39,490
A little bit dizzy.
448
00:40:39,950 --> 00:40:41,090
Take some deep breaths.
449
00:40:41,230 --> 00:40:42,280
Hurry, hurry.
450
00:40:53,090 --> 00:40:54,890
Now, just a minute. I must sit with her.
451
00:40:54,910 --> 00:40:55,960
No room, Sebastian.
452
00:40:55,961 --> 00:40:58,669
But you must take me there. Watch your
back. It's your headache.
453
00:40:58,670 --> 00:40:59,770
Please take me. Please.
454
00:41:00,050 --> 00:41:01,100
Please. Please.
455
00:41:03,130 --> 00:41:05,840
There is no telephone in her room to
call the hospital.
456
00:41:07,750 --> 00:41:09,250
Alex, will you come in please?
457
00:41:10,050 --> 00:41:11,290
I wish to talk to you.
458
00:41:34,420 --> 00:41:38,639
Hitchcock was by now a familiar, if
rather unconventional, part of the
459
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:39,690
landscape.
460
00:41:40,460 --> 00:41:44,720
On the home front, however, life at the
Hitchcocks was, according to Alma,
461
00:41:44,940 --> 00:41:46,860
anything but unconventional.
462
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:52,340
Our house is in Beverly Hills, no
swimming pool.
463
00:41:52,660 --> 00:41:54,760
He says that would be too obvious.
464
00:41:55,420 --> 00:41:58,380
We have a very average home life, I
should say.
465
00:41:59,050 --> 00:42:05,329
Most days, even non -working days, we go
to bed early, around 9 .30, and we wake
466
00:42:05,330 --> 00:42:11,529
early. Hitch wakes about half past six,
his masseur arrives at seven, pummels
467
00:42:11,530 --> 00:42:12,580
him around.
468
00:42:12,990 --> 00:42:15,150
When he gets home at night, we have
dinner.
469
00:42:15,790 --> 00:42:20,109
Sitting in our breakfast nook, then read
for a while, before you know it, it's 9
470
00:42:20,110 --> 00:42:21,570
.30 and time for bed again.
471
00:42:23,110 --> 00:42:27,610
He was curiously a homebody who
enjoyed...
472
00:42:28,030 --> 00:42:33,950
his work, that was his life, and his
wife, and he was mad about Pat.
473
00:42:38,150 --> 00:42:40,730
My parents were not social.
474
00:42:41,030 --> 00:42:46,309
They'd rather stay at home, and they
would entertain, you know, at home. They
475
00:42:46,310 --> 00:42:49,649
would go to, you know, a couple of
parties, but only if they were very
476
00:42:49,650 --> 00:42:50,700
friends.
477
00:42:51,590 --> 00:42:56,070
If Hitch liked you, you were invited to
dinner.
478
00:42:56,570 --> 00:43:01,490
Family dinner, he said, and there I was
in my 20s, and I go to family dinner,
479
00:43:01,510 --> 00:43:06,209
and there's Cary Grant and Ingrid
Bergman, and Ingrid Bergman's husband
480
00:43:06,210 --> 00:43:12,009
jitterbugging with Pat Hitchcock,
Hitch's teenage daughter. It wasn't my
481
00:43:12,010 --> 00:43:13,630
family life, but it was terrific.
482
00:43:16,510 --> 00:43:19,850
Hitchcock's contract with Selznick was
due to run out in 1946.
483
00:43:21,150 --> 00:43:22,930
Selznick urged him to renew it.
484
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,350
but the director was already planning
his bid for freedom.
485
00:43:26,900 --> 00:43:33,159
In 1946, the trade papers announced the
setting up of Transatlantic Pictures, an
486
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:37,139
independent production company headed by
Hitchcock and producer Sidney
487
00:43:37,140 --> 00:43:38,190
Bernstein.
488
00:43:39,620 --> 00:43:46,439
Sidney was the producer, which I suppose
meant that he took care of the
489
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:51,100
money and anything Hitch wanted.
490
00:43:52,110 --> 00:43:54,210
was there before Hitch Aspert.
491
00:43:54,490 --> 00:43:59,370
And the reason was he thought Hitch was
a consummate artist.
492
00:43:59,670 --> 00:44:04,490
He absolutely believed in him totally
and thought he could never set foot
493
00:44:06,670 --> 00:44:11,969
Bolstered by Bernstein and a $5 million
loan from an American bank, Hitchcock
494
00:44:11,970 --> 00:44:15,830
finally revealed the kind of filmmaker
he was when left to his own devices.
495
00:44:16,570 --> 00:44:21,010
The master of suspense announced plans
for Under Capricorn.
496
00:44:21,390 --> 00:44:26,529
a costume melodrama starring Ingrid
Bergman, and a modern -day version of
497
00:44:26,530 --> 00:44:27,930
with Cary Grant.
498
00:44:29,310 --> 00:44:31,870
But first, claim rope.
499
00:44:37,730 --> 00:44:43,829
One of the reasons that Hitch was
interested in rope
500
00:44:43,830 --> 00:44:48,270
was that he's interested in anything
kinky.
501
00:44:50,190 --> 00:44:56,210
He was fascinated with homosexuality
because that was the subject.
502
00:44:56,550 --> 00:45:00,950
Though the word homosexual was never
used, I thought it was quite obvious.
503
00:45:03,230 --> 00:45:09,190
He did like to know what he considered
perverse things about anyone.
504
00:45:09,550 --> 00:45:14,869
He had no moral judgment about it. He
just kind of enjoyed knowing. He was
505
00:45:14,870 --> 00:45:17,470
more interested in people who were off
-center.
506
00:45:18,730 --> 00:45:20,330
in every sense of the word.
507
00:45:22,010 --> 00:45:26,869
Reveling in his newfound independence,
Hitchcock also devised a radical
508
00:45:26,870 --> 00:45:30,010
technique for Rope, the ten -minute
take.
509
00:45:32,070 --> 00:45:36,630
He wanted to make a film that had no
editing in it.
510
00:45:36,930 --> 00:45:41,210
He wanted to make it look as though it
was all done in one take.
511
00:45:42,470 --> 00:45:46,110
This was the first film he had done...
512
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:53,160
away from Selznick, who evidently he
grew to loathe and despise.
513
00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:57,579
And so I think he wanted to do
something, you know, quite different and
514
00:45:57,580 --> 00:45:58,630
interesting.
515
00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:04,040
Rope was the antithesis of Hitchcock's
tried and trusted montage method.
516
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:09,759
Rather than being made from the assembly
of small pieces of film, it was shot in
517
00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:13,760
continuous ten -minute takes, the length
of a single reel of film.
518
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:19,129
To achieve this, the massive Technicolor
camera had to be able to roam at will
519
00:46:19,130 --> 00:46:23,529
through a specially designed set crowded
with actors, technicians, props and
520
00:46:23,530 --> 00:46:24,580
equipment.
521
00:46:24,910 --> 00:46:31,229
The walls moved and stage and snatch
chairs away. It was all about cameras
522
00:46:31,230 --> 00:46:37,089
cables and moving walls all timed
perfectly, except for the actors who
523
00:46:37,090 --> 00:46:38,230
it fend for themselves.
524
00:46:39,210 --> 00:46:46,209
We had to have a lot of prop men to move
the furniture out of the way, or you'd
525
00:46:46,210 --> 00:46:49,769
go over and start to sit down and hope
that he was going to put a chair under
526
00:46:49,770 --> 00:46:52,110
you, you know, if not you went on the
floor.
527
00:46:52,111 --> 00:46:57,869
Undeterred by Rope's disappointing box
office performance, Hitchcock pushed on
528
00:46:57,870 --> 00:46:59,590
with plans for Under Capricorn.
529
00:47:00,590 --> 00:47:04,969
Still wedded to the ten -minute take,
Hitchcock struggled to adapt it to a
530
00:47:04,970 --> 00:47:06,270
sprawling costume drama.
531
00:47:06,271 --> 00:47:11,539
I remember one day when we were working,
Hitch threw down his pencil and stood
532
00:47:11,540 --> 00:47:14,240
up and said, this film's going to be a
flop.
533
00:47:15,720 --> 00:47:16,770
Oy.
534
00:47:17,460 --> 00:47:19,380
And he disappeared.
535
00:47:20,500 --> 00:47:22,140
Now, this wasn't like him.
536
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:27,940
This really wasn't like him. It was like
a temperamental outburst.
537
00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:32,220
And that haunted me. This film is going
to be a failure.
538
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,180
Yes. Bring it up here, please, quick.
539
00:47:34,491 --> 00:47:36,559
In there.
540
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:37,610
On the end of my bed.
541
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:39,600
Where did you say it was?
542
00:47:39,820 --> 00:47:43,120
There, on my bed. You can see it quite
plainly. It won't move.
543
00:47:44,380 --> 00:47:48,999
For all its technical virtuosity, the
ten -minute take proved an expensive way
544
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,039
to make films.
545
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:54,640
One mistake, however trivial, meant
reshooting an entire reel.
546
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:02,279
On Under Capricorn, Hitchcock finally
admitted defeat, reserving the technique
547
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:03,600
for a few set pieces.
548
00:48:06,410 --> 00:48:07,730
It won't worry you anymore.
549
00:48:09,710 --> 00:48:10,760
Thank you.
550
00:48:11,370 --> 00:48:13,050
I'm so sorry to bother you.
551
00:48:16,110 --> 00:48:18,130
I'm very much obliged to you, Charlie.
552
00:48:18,770 --> 00:48:20,050
You've been most kind.
553
00:48:21,690 --> 00:48:22,740
Good night.
554
00:48:23,770 --> 00:48:25,730
But by now the film was over budget.
555
00:48:26,070 --> 00:48:27,810
It died at the box office.
556
00:48:28,050 --> 00:48:30,430
And Transatlantic died with it.
557
00:48:31,170 --> 00:48:32,430
Driven into bankruptcy.
558
00:48:37,130 --> 00:48:38,630
You're bothered by rats, I see.
559
00:48:41,650 --> 00:48:47,970
What prompted Hitch to do any particular
film in any fashion,
560
00:48:48,110 --> 00:48:50,610
I have no idea.
561
00:48:51,710 --> 00:48:58,469
He would get what became almost an idée
fixe, and he
562
00:48:58,470 --> 00:48:59,520
would pursue it.
563
00:49:00,510 --> 00:49:06,050
And if you didn't approve of it, then
you were free to walk away from it.
564
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,340
if you wanted to be part of it.
565
00:49:09,100 --> 00:49:11,940
This was, after all, Alfred Hitchcock.
566
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,940
The failure of Transatlantic was a
watershed in Hitchcock's career.
567
00:49:19,940 --> 00:49:22,900
Never again would he venture outside the
studio system.
568
00:49:23,291 --> 00:49:31,059
The system would make him one of the
richest and most successful directors in
569
00:49:31,060 --> 00:49:32,099
Hollywood.
570
00:49:32,100 --> 00:49:35,700
It would support the creation of his
most popular and enduring work.
571
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:38,850
It would turn him into an international
star.
572
00:49:39,660 --> 00:49:45,179
And ultimately, it would frustrate his
ambitions and make him a prisoner of his
573
00:49:45,180 --> 00:49:46,230
own success.
574
00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:01,520
Tomorrow night, the Hitchcock blonde and
box office flop.
575
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:05,600
Reputations continues here on BBC4 at 12
.45.
576
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:11,219
And before that, a murder mystery with
great comedy performances from Alastair
577
00:50:11,220 --> 00:50:16,839
Simm and Joyce Grenfell alongside
Marlena Dietrich and Jane Wyman. Stage
578
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:17,889
is at 11.
579
00:50:17,890 --> 00:50:22,440
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