Home theater: For diverting films while housebound, try Hitchcock
I have often been asked what movies I would choose to watch if I were stranded on a desert island. Lately the inquiries have been more about what classics to check out while housebound. In both cases, Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 films top my list.
Has any other director made a greater number of peerlessly entertaining movies? Before he even came to Hollywood to make 鈥淩ebecca,鈥� he had already racked up a formidable body of work in England, not only the famous thrillers 鈥淭he 39 Steps鈥� and 鈥淭he Lady Vanishes鈥� but also such lesser-known gems as 鈥淪ecret Agent,鈥� 鈥淪abotage,鈥� and 鈥淵oung and Innocent.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.
Why We Wrote This
One way to focus your movie watching while shut-in is to adopt one genre or director. Film critic Peter Rainer argues Hitchcock films should be at the top of your playlist: 鈥淗as any other director made a greater number of peerlessly entertaining movies?鈥�
鈥淣orth by Northwest鈥澛�
It is Hitchcock鈥檚 Hollywood movies that shine brightest for me, and none more so than 1959鈥檚 鈥淣orth by Northwest.鈥� It鈥檚 the ultimate escapist entertainment because it has, incomparably, everything: thrills, spills, romance, wit. Its crazy-quilt mistaken-identity plot, courtesy of screenwriter Ernest Lehman, features one classic scene after another. And of course 鈥� I almost forgot 鈥� it has Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. In top form.
One year before, Hitchcock made 鈥淰ertigo,鈥� the brooding masterpiece starring James Stewart and Kim Novak that is also his most personally felt film. For his next movie, as recounted in the must-read 1967 book 鈥淗itchcock/Truffaut,鈥� Hitchcock said he wanted to do something fun and lighthearted. Grant plays suave Madison Avenue ad exec Roger Thornhill, who is mistaken for a spy and chased across the country by both government agents and nefarious villains (headed by James Mason and Martin Landau at their silkiest). Two iconic sequences stand out: Grant, on the run in a flat, open field in Indiana, being attacked by a crop duster; and the grand finale, with Grant and Saint clambering up Mount Rushmore. (Reportedly Hitchcock entertained the idea of calling the film 鈥淭he Man in Lincoln鈥檚 Nose.鈥�)
The plot has so many circumlocutions that, on a first viewing, or a fifth, it may not entirely add up. But 鈥� and here鈥檚 the crucial point 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 really matter. Much of the movie鈥檚 wit is bound up in its serial escapades. There鈥檚 always something irresistible going on. Hitchcock and Lehman are playing with us. They understand how avidly we crave all this high-flying escapism, and they know just how to deliver it. 聽聽聽聽
I鈥檝e been friendly acquaintances for many years with Saint and can鈥檛 resist one anecdote here. I asked her once what it was like to work with Hitchcock, and she said he only gave her one real piece of direction: 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e acting opposite Cary, always remember to look into his eyes.鈥� Not, I would venture to guess, a difficult assignment. (Unrated)
鈥淭o Catch a Thief鈥�
Aside from 鈥淣orth by Northwest鈥� and Stanley Donen鈥檚 鈥淐harade鈥� 鈥� the greatest Hitchcock movie ever made that Hitchcock didn鈥檛 make 鈥� the film in which Cary Grant is at his most Cary Grant-ish is probably 1955鈥檚 鈥淭o Catch a Thief.鈥� He plays a retired jewel thief in the French Riviera whose comfortable life growing grapes and flowers is interrupted by a string of copycat robberies. He must clear his name. Along for the jaunt is Grace Kelly (it was during filming that she met her future husband, Prince Rainier III of Monaco) as the daughter of a rich vacationing widow. (Funny footnote: The widow is played by Jessie Royce Landis, who plays Grant鈥檚 mother in 鈥淣orth by Northwest,鈥� even though she was only seven years older than him.) The movie is a glorious trifle, and all that sun-drenched Riviera scenery is good for the soul. (Rated PG)
鈥淩ear Window鈥�
If you鈥檙e up for a somewhat darker Hitchcock movie 鈥� relax, we鈥檙e not talking 鈥淧sycho鈥� or 鈥淭he Birds鈥� here 鈥� 1954鈥檚 鈥淩ear Window鈥� is just the ticket right now for our shut-in lives. James Stewart plays a news photographer laid up with his leg in a cast in his Greenwich Village apartment. He bides his time peering into the windows of his neighbors across the courtyard and gradually comes to believe that one of them has committed a murder. His gold-plated, marriage-minded girlfriend and reluctant accomplice, played by Grace Kelly, does things like ordering him dinner and champagne from 鈥�21.鈥� This probably beats the grocery delivery service you鈥檝e been using. It鈥檚 the ultimate movie about voyeurism featuring cinema鈥檚 most famous peeping Tom. (Rated PG)
These films聽are available to rent on Amazon鈥檚 Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and iTunes.聽
