‘Flix Flick: Watch "Hitchcock" and Watch Hitch Watch

“Why do they keep looking for new ones, when they still have the original?” Just one of the questions uttered by the true Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) in the film, Hitchcock, directed by Sacha Gervasi. Based on Stephen Rebello’s book, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, the film traces the period after North By Northwest. The old adage of “You’re only as good as your last picture” starts to peck at the director, due in part to skepticism from others that Hitch could keep his streak going, especially at the age of 60.

Looking for his next project, Hitch and his trusted advisors, his wife and professional collaborator, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) and assistant, Peggy Robertson (Toni Collette) search high and low for something that will stop those bent on looking for a new Master.

Hitch discovers Robert Bloch’s book, Psycho, based on the life of the Wisconsin serial killer, Ed Gein. Not only having an appetite for sneaking drink and paté de foie gras, Hitch’s appetite for something unexpected needs satiating, and thus this question is posed to Alma: “What if someone really good made a horror picture?” Against all good sense, according to just about everyone around him—press; studio heads; even an initially reluctant Alma—he persists with the professional and monetary risk that is Psycho. The actress Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson) is cast to play the “bird,” Marion “Crane”; the actor Anthony Perkins (James D’Arcy) Norman Bates; the actress Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) Marion Crane’s sister, Lila.

Anthony Hopkins is definitely credible and holds Hitch’s deep, garbled, slow-paced delivery, even saying quite convincingly the classic deadpan salutation, “Good evening,” made famous by Hitch as he welcomed viewers to his television series, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Yet when Hitch on set directs Leigh in the scene from Psycho, where a perplexed Marion is nervously driving her car, Hopkins vocal delivery slips, intentionally perhaps? One can’t help but hear the voice of Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins definitive role in Silence of the Lambs.

In Lambs, Lecter taunts Agent Starling during their first meeting, mocking in a southern drawl her “pure West Virginia” accent, speculating about her daddy being a “coal miner,” and the “…sticky fumblings in the backseats of cars…” Hitch taunts Leigh, calling Marion, “Daddy’s perfect little angel,“ and making reference to Marion’s “…sticky little lunchtime trysts with the oh-so-handsome failure Mr. Samuel Loomis.” Thankfully, the filmed highway on the backdrop screen behind the car skips, causing Hopkins, now vocally back as Hitch, to yell, “Cut.” Hitch then walks behind the blank screen, which casts his iconic silhouette, a self-referential cameo added into at least one scene in most of his films.

There’s also another predominant reference throughout Hitchcock. The Director of Photography, Jeff Cronenweth manages to frame shots that present several visual references to birds, creating a sense of foreshadowing to what became Hitch’s next picture after Psycho, aptly coined, The Birds.

Note the following:

• Paintings on Hitch and Alma’s bathroom and bedroom walls.
• The lampshade in the house library.
• A silhouette of a bird over Hitch’s shoulder as he peers out at Alma and her friend, Whit through a set of blinds.
• Bird sculptures on a liquor cabinet in Hitch’s studio office.
• Birds flying low over the ocean as Alma and Whit talk on the beach.
• A reference to birds in the John J. McLaughlin–penned screenplay: Vera Miles was contracted to do one more film for the notoriously involved, “he’s always watching” Hitch. As Miles is changing in her dressing room, she says: “One more picture and I am free as a bird.”

The relationship between Miles and Hitch is also briefly explored. Hitch all but ignores Miles on set, and we later discover why; his focus is on Leigh, yet another fantasy blond, for which the director was famous. Here, Miles offers some cautionary advice to Leigh, after Leigh endures Dr. Lecter’s, I mean, Hitch’s relentless taunting:



Hitchcock most definitely highlights Hitch’s obsession with his work, and perhaps through speculation and creative license, the viewer is able to see just how consumed—voluntarily or involuntarily—he could be with his subject matter, no matter how dark and sinister. Disappointment by women plays out often as well, providing a glimpse into Hitch’s sensitivity to feeling abandoned, so much so, extreme control at any cost was exuded.

On a related note, the film, rightly so, focuses equally on wife/mother figure, Alma, spotlighting how important professional collaboration and personal support are to the birth of a creative project, and in the case of Psycho, how the absence of this union could have easily resulted in something “stillborn.” Together, the Master and Mistress of Suspense became the proud parents of, arguably, the best thriller in film history. BSo