Blogathon | the m0vie blog

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mr. Blanchard’s Secret (Review)

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Darren

As part of the “For the Love of Film” blogathon, I’ll be taking a look at Alfred Hitchcock’s contributions to his celebrated anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I’ll be looking at some of the episodes of the classic show that he directed. The “For the Love of Film” blogathon this year is raising money to keep one of Hitchcock’s earlier works, The White Shadow (which he wrote, edited, designed and assistant-directed), available on-line and streaming for free. It’s a very worthwhile cause and you can donate here.

Mr. Blanchard’s Secret is a fun watch, if only for the joy of watching Hitchcock gleefully spoofing Hitchcock. Pitched by the director as “a tale of mystery and intrigue, played in middle-class suburbia” during his introduction, Mr. Blanchard’s Secret reads an affectionate parody of Rear Window, perhaps the Hitchcock film that lends itself so easily to comedic skewering. Mr. Blanchard’s Secret is hardly a groundbreaking or astonishing piece of television, but it is highly enjoyable and quite clever, proving that Hitchcock has a wonderful sense of humour about himself. (As if we needed proof.)

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, alfredhitchcock, Angela Lansbury, anthony hopkins, Birds, Blanchard, Blogathon, hitchcock, Love of Film, Marriage, Mary Scott, Psycho, rear window, White Shadow | 2 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Hidden Thing (Review)

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Darren

As part of the “For the Love of Film” blogathon, I’ll be taking a look at his celebrated anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The “For the Love of Film” blogathon this year is raising money to keep one of Hitchcock’s earlier works, The White Shadow (which he wrote, edited, designed and assistant-directed), available on-line and streaming for free. It’s a very worthwhile cause and you can donate here. I thought it might be worth taking a look at an episode from a director other than Hitchcock.

The Hidden Thing is a bit of a strange little episode. It has a strong central theme, even if it is a little blunt about it. It also has an interesting set-up, playing off a sense of unjust randomness. However, it never really ties all of its ideas together, finishing on a rather bland and – inappropriately enough – forgettable ending. In many ways, it seems like the ending to The Hidden Thing is a twist that just fell apart and, rather than enhancing the surrounding story, ultimately detracted from the episode.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Anthony Hopkin, anthony hopkins, Blogathon, helen mirren, hitchcock, John Hurley, Laura, Love of Film, Psycho, Satan, the hidden thing, White Shadow | 1 Comment »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Banquo’s Chair (Review)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

Banquo’s Chair has a rather standard little plot. There’s no sense that any of the ideas are overcrowding one another, or that they’ve been rushed along to fill the twenty-five minute slot. Indeed, the plot and the script are about as standard as they could be, using a simple set up to play through a familiar drama and leading to a somewhat trite and predictable conclusion. Without being harsh, I think that’s a fair description of Banquo’s Chair. However, it is well served by an experienced cast and by Hitchcock’s direction. Neither truly distinguishes it from the rest of the series, but they do elevate a fairly simple set-up into an entertaining little adventure.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, alfredhitchcock, anthony hopkins, Banquo, Blogathon, hitchcock, hollywood, John Williams, Love of Film, macbeth, Psycho, roald dahl, Scotland Yard, White Shadow | 1 Comment »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Case of Mr. Pelham (Review)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

Due to circumstances outside our control, tragedy will not strike tonight. I’m dreadfully sorry, perhaps some other time.

– Hitchcock’s introduction; well, at least he apologises

The Case of Mister Pelham picked up the series’ first Emmy nomination, with Hitchcock himself nominated for outstanding direction. It’s not too hard to see why, as The Case of Mister Pelham is a wonderfully compelling piece of television, a psychological character study masquerading as a supernatural mystery. In many ways, it feels like the best episode of The Twilight Zone that was never an episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s sharp, cleverly constructed, and features and astounding central performance from Tom Ewell as the eponymous Mister Pelham. What more could you want?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Anthony Hopkin, anthony hopkins, Blogathon, Emmy Award, helen mirren, hitchcock, Love of Film, Psycho, Tom Ewell, Tony Award, twilight zone, White Shadow | 4 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Breakdown (Review)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Darren

Breakdown is an interesting concept, but one that feels like it has been adapted into the wrong medium. Most of the story centres around an executive who survives a car crash, paralysed. We are treated to his inner monologue as various people come along and interact with him. Adapted by Francis M. Cockrell and Louis Pollock from the latter’s short story, I can’t help but feel the concept might have worked better as a radio play than in television. Still, the idea is solid, and Joseph Cotton gives a nice central performance. It just feels a bit clunky for a television adaptation.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, anthony hopkins, art, Blogathon, helen mirren, hitchcock, Joseph Cotton, Love of Film, Psycho, United States, White Shadow | 2 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Lamb to the Slaughter (Review)

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Darren

It’s amazing to think of the talent involved in some of these Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes. Obviously the director himself was the host and directed seventeen episodes, but he also had a star-studded cast on hand for a great many installments. That said, there was just much talent behind the camera. Robert Altman, Sydney Pollack and William Friedkin were among the other directors to work on the series, and author Roald Dahl contributed some episodes as well. Dahl contributed the much-loved Man From The South, featuring Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen, but he also offered this wonderful little murder tale about an especially inventive killing.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, anthony hopkins, Barbara Bel Geddes, Blogathon, hitchcock, lamb to the slaughter, Love of Film, roald dahl, robert altman, steve mcqueen, toby jones, White Shadow, William Friedkin | 6 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Revenge (Review)

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Darren

Good evening. I’m Alfred Hitchcock, and tonight I’m presenting the first in a series of stories of suspense and mystery called – oddly enough – Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I shall not act in these stories, but will only make appearances, something in the nature of an accessory before and after the fact: to give the title to those of you who can’t read, and to tidy up afterwords for those who don’t understand the ending.

– Hitchcock lays down the rules

It’s interesting to look back at Hitchcock as a director who had an exceptional gift for working with material that might be derided as “trashy.” Certainly, if one divorces the subject matter from the director himself, a significant amount of his work can be seen as somewhat exploitative, inside genres that are traditionally dismissed by those more serious and elitist film commentators. (Indeed, one could argue that Psycho laid the foundation for the much-maligned “slasher” genre.) I’ve actually found this a significant appeal in examining Hitchcock’s work. Like many of the very best directors ever to work in film, he has a knack for elevating his subject matter beyond the expectations of the genre. I think that his anthology television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is especially fascinating, because it illustrated the director taking an entire medium far more serious than many of his contemporaries.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, alfredhitchcock, Anthony Hopkin, anthony hopkins, art, Blogathon, dustin hoffman, helen mirren, hitchcock, Love of Film, martin scorsese, Movie, Psycho, Ralph Meeker, Vera Miles, White Shadow, Wrong Man | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Outrage (Autoreiji)

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “foreign noir” – a look at some of the neo-noir films from outside America.

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

Outrage (also known as Autoreiji) is the latest film from actor/director/writer Kitano “Beat” Takeshi. He’s known to Western film fans perhaps best for his role in Battle Royale, but that significantly undersells his talent and his prolific career. He’s probably better known to wider audiences for his role as “Count Takeshi” on the gameshow Takeshi’s Castle (which became all the rage over here a few years ago). Outrage is essentially a Japanese crime thriller, and it follows the typical structure that one might expect from a conventional crime film – all the classic themes are there, from pride to arrogance to honour to betrayal – but what makes the film especially interesting is the way that it deals with the inherent paradox of the Japanese Yakuza.