With the onset of winter comes many things: the fading of the summer tan, the thirst for red wine and hunger for chocolate self-saucing puddings, and the desire to wrap oneself in warm blankets and vegetate on the couch. Sounds thrilling doesn’t it?
OK, perhaps it doesn’t sound especially thrilling, but with the careful tailoring of DVD lists, your winter could be exhilarating after all. Here we have compiled a list of the top five Hitchcock films sure to send your pulse racing this winter (best to leave that up to movies anyway, because it’s too damn cold to exercise): grab a mate, a bottle of wine and a fluffy doona, because you won’t want to leave your couch…
5. THE LODGER
Like so many filmmakers caught in the awkward transition period between silent films and “talkies”, Hitchcock’s filmography boasts both filmic forms. However unlike directors who found the technical advancement somewhat difficult to master, Hitchcock flourished with both medium. THE LODGER is silent Hitchcock’s homage to German Expressionism: an irreverent and stylistically virtuosic thriller based on the Jack the Ripper story which is as thrilling now as it was in 1927.
4. SECRET AGENT
Everyone knows that Hitchcock was a wildly witty man: while his films were always suspenseful (and sometimes downright horrific!), they were always imbued with a kind of bemused humour, representative of the bone-dry comedy of Hitch’s English homeland. SECRET AGENT is one film which goes beyond possessing just a touch of humour: it is just as full of laugh-out-loud comic moments as it is of dramatic thrills. Furthermore, it was adapted from the Ashenden stories by Somerset Maugham, which were also the basis for Ian Fleming’s Bond character (if he rings a bell).
3. YOUNG & INNOCENT
Starring the luminous Nova Pilbeam in her first top-billed role, YOUNG & INNOCENT is a strikingly photographed and suspenseful thriller which pre-empts Hitchcock’s later hits THE BIRDS and NORTH BY NORTHWEST. When Robert Tisdall notices the body of a young woman washed up on a beach, he rushes to get help. Tragically, his benevolent act is misconstrued by two sunbathers, who take his speedy exit as a sign of his guilt and accuse him of murder. Now on a run from the law, Tisdall seeks the help of Erica, daughter of the local police chief, who agrees to help him clear his name. YOUNG & INNOCENT is sure to warm your heart this winter.
2. THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Starring Peter Lorre from Fritz Lang’s M and the classic CASABLANCA, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH is one of Hitchcock’s finest films from his prolific British period, and is set in the icy beauty of ski-season Switzerland (a perfect reminder that we Aussies aren’t doing it too rough come wintertime). While holidaying in Switzerland with their daughter, an English couple, Jill and Bob, stumble across a plot to assassinate a French statesman. But just as they are about to inform the British consul, they discover that their beloved daughter, Betty, has been kidnapped by thugs who wish to keep them silent…What will the plucky British pair do?
1. THE 39 STEPS
Hitchcock’s preferred narrative thread of the “man on the lam” gets one of its best treatments in THE 39 STEPS, in which humour and – of course – suspense are united in a stylish thrill-ride through the Hebridean countryside… Considered the best of Hitchcock’s British films, THE 39 STEPS centres on Richard Hannay, whose life is disrupted after a mysterious woman is murdered at his London flat, placing him squarely in the frame. Fleeing to Scotland, Hannay finds himself pursued by police and enemy agents and, desperate to clear his name, he teams up with the icy blonde Pamela to keep one step ahead of his would-be captors and find out what on earth the 39 steps are…
So there you have it folks – five reasons not to leave your lounge room as the rain pelts down outside this wintertime. Now where’s my wine glass…?
