The Wrong Man
Essential title, and I forgot just how good this movie is. Basically this is Henry Fonda put through hell in 50's NYC. Hitchcock is playing with location shooting and a more verite style, which was alien to him. The Catholic overtones make it quite apparent why Scorsese references this film consistently. Beautiful cinematography as well. Sets the stage in some ways for Vertigo, and displays what Hitch saw in Vera Miles-and perhaps gives a glimpse of what her Madeline would have been like.
3.5 balls out of 4. Underrated and seldom seen.
Vertigo
The film that has haunted me for nearly 15 years. Though I don't believe in ranking films, one of the few that could justfully usurp Kane. One of the few films where I get genuinely emotional, though I really can never explain why. Deeply personal, from a story written expressly for Hitch by the writers of Diabolique. Masterfully directed, shot, staged, performed, and scored. This is beyond art, it gets at the frailty of the human condition and psyche. It is also the culmination of everything Hitchcock had done up to that point, his favorite themes and ideas revisited and reworked, much like North by Northwest, but with no sense of his trademark humor. Here Jimmy Stewart gives no reference to his famous persona, and finally shakes off the remnants of Jeff Smith, fully channeling the dark moments of George Bailey, and the gritty toughness he displayed in Anthony Mann's westerns. It is also a culmination of his previous three Hitchcock roles, here he is fully cracked open and a truly weak man.
It may not have been fully intentional, but no one else could have played this part like Kim Novak at that point in time. She caries this sort of eternal sadness in nearly all of her roles, but this combined with some sort of internal resistance to Hitch's controlling nature really makes the character seem even more fascinatingly distant. Combine this with the otherworldly looking San Francisco, the razor sharp yet soft VistaVision photography, haunting color through almost a ghostly haze, a story so buried in the memories of frail beings, and Bernard Herrmann's most captivating score and you have this film that damn near traumatized me as an 8 year old.
And the story, oh god, the sheer amount of levels it works on; from the spiritual aspects, to the mystery set up, the creepy tone in places, the reversal of standard plot unfolding, the way everything mirrors itself, the fact that it feels like it's from another world, and the fact that Mr. Jimmy Stewart himself, the most overtly "good" seeming actor ever, is so captivated by his dream image of the dead that he tries with feverous zeal to remake the living into the dead.
There is nothing else like it. Hopefully Robert Harris will be able to fully complete his 1998 restoration with modern tools as he has stated would be ideal. And the 5.1 mix is beyond atrocious. Despite the dropouts and hiss, the 5th gen mono track on the MC DVD is essential. i still feel like the restoration has never been ported to disc quite well as it could, and even RH has admitted they did the best they could with the color but it isn't fully accurate.
One of the movies that holds you in the palm of its hand like an insignificant little grain of sand. It looms over you just like one of the giant sequoias. Unforgettable, and with perhaps the finest ending shot ever shot.
Despite knowing Hitch's darkly funny reasoning behind the scene in the empire hotel where Judy goes into the bathroom and emerges...it is still perhaps the most emotional scene in all of American film. Never before or since has anyone dealt with the living and the dead in such fashion. Just look at Jimmy's face welling with tears and try to not do the same. That goes beyond mere acting. Easily the finest screen performance I've ever seen next to O'Toole in Lawrence.
4 balls of course. Beyond essential to see. I can live with people not liking certain films, but this is one of the few that criticism of is like a knife in the heart.
North by Northwest
The follow-up. One of the great running for cover after a string of relative failures that hitch did, and perhaps his finest. It ironically uses several techniques from Vertigo, with the softer VV photography and the blending of many previous themes and motifs into one script. Here it was the intention to make the ultimate crowd pleasing wrong man film, and it succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Cary Grant wears the indestructible gray suit and does a quasi-throwback to his screwball performances, James Mason is so charming that you don't care if he gets away with it or not, the chase is all important instead of the MacGuffin, and Eva Marie Saint is tantalizing. What's not to love? One of those exceedingly few perfect classics that never ages or tires. Constantly inventive and goes for broke.
That said, I becoming less and less a fan of the new restoration. It has too much darkness and too much of a blue cast. The Blu-ray features some kind of crushing going on, and though possibly accurate to the OCN it isn't what was dis[played in theaters in 1959. All previous editions couldn't utilize the negative due to damage on one of the layers and thus had to use lower generation materials. The previous DVD was a newly struck print that was extremely overscrubbed and overcooked in color by Lowry (of course) and had a pink cast to the film which was not correct. The most accurate to my eyes, and the one I find myself drawn back to is the Criterion laser, despite being a bit washed out. It is print sourced, and like we've reasoned on their Bond transfers likely comes from a studio show print and possibly one that was original or maybe Technicolor. Still need to check out the MGM LD which has a different transfer from an IP.
And the Criterion has the mono! even though the 5.1 new mix has no new effects, it is too artificial sounding with a surround setup, and once you've heard the mono you cannot go back.
4 balls out of 4 stolen Mercedes.
