It's Only a Movie…

It's Only a Movie…

Posts filed under Alfred Hitchcock

Blackmail… Sound or Silent?

Following on from yesterday’s post, here’s another archive clipping about Blackmail (1929) from the Hull Daily Mail (11/Sep/1929)… SOUND v. SILENT FILM VOTE. BERLIN, Tuesday. The first showing in Berlin of the British International Pictures production, “Blackmail,” was used to test the feeling of the public here on the vocal film. The whole work was passed twice across the screen, once with and once without the voices, and the audience, consisting mainly of people connected… (read more)

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, Blackmail (1929) by Dave Pattern
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Hitchcock and Huntingtower

The list of Hitchcock projects that failed to move into production (or even pre-production) is long and relatively well documented. However, I believe this is one which has been missed by Hitchcock scholars — a project to film John Buchan’s Huntingtower. It’s well known that Hitchcock was a fan of Buchan’s novels and he would eventually adapt The Thirty-Nine Steps in 1935. It is also well-known that he considered adapting two other Richard Hanney novels… (read more)

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, films, John Buchan by Dave Pattern
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“Frenzy”… why was the hero named Richard Blaney?

I’ve put the Hitchcock Family Tree blog posts on hold until I finish the research, but I’ll carry on with some of the trivia that I’ve unearthed… Firstly, I’ve often wondered why Hitchcock and writer Anthony Shaffer decided to change the lead character’s name in Frenzy (1972) from “Richard Blamey” (as used in the source novel) to “Richard Blaney”. Although Hitchcock books usually note the change in character name, I’m not aware that any have… (read more)

Posted in Frenzy (1972), Hitchcock Family Tree by Dave Pattern
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RIP: Tony Palladino, designer of the ‘Psycho’ lettering

Many thanks to Alain for alerting me to this article: Tony Palladino, Designer of ‘Psycho’ Title, Dies at 84 (New York Times). Palladino designed the original fractured “Psycho” cover typography for Bloch’s novel. According to the article, Hitchcock purchased the rights to the lettering, which was then used on most (if not all) of the original publicity material. In turn, Palladino’s fractured lettering gave the inspiration to Saul Bass to create his horizontally fractured opening… (read more)

Posted in Psycho (1960) by Dave Pattern
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Happy Birthday, Brigitte!

A slightly belated happy 86th birthday to French actress Brigitte Auber, who played Danielle Foussard in To Catch a Thief (1955)! According to Patrick McGillian’s biography, both Alma and Alfred grew fond of Auber during filming and she was considered for the role of Jennifer Rogers in his next film, The Trouble with Harry (1955). However, apparently, the hassle of redubbing some of the French actors in To Catch a Thief eventually put the director… (read more)

Posted in Brigitte Auber, To Catch a Thief (1955) by Dave Pattern
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The US National Film Registry

Many thanks to Donna for leaving this comment on the wiki: There are still lots of Hitchcock titles eligible for the National Film Registry, so submit your nominations today. Since the Registry was established to ensure the preservation of our American film heritage, it’s best to stick with the director’s US productions. For more information on the nomination process, go to http://www.loc.gov/film/vote.html Donna Ross Library of Congress National Film Registry For more info about the… (read more)

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, films by Dave Pattern
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“Elstree Calling” DVD screenshots

My copy of the Elstree Calling (1930) DVD has arrived, so I’ve given the disc a quick spin. As expected, the quality of the transfer is a step up from the various bootleg DVDs (which were taken from VHS recordings of a UK Channel 4 broadcast) although there’s plenty of print damage throughout the film, from scratches to film shrinkage. The film is an interesting curio that Hitchcock completists will want in their collection, although… (read more)

Posted in Elstree Calling (1930) by Dave Pattern
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“Smooth skin – the Open Sesame to screen loveliness”

Time for a commercial break and a quick word from Hitchcock’s sponsors! Here’s a fun advert, taken from the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper (01/May/1929)… Alfred Hitchcock, director for British International Pictures Ltd., says — “Smooth skin — the Open Sesame to screen loveliness” “The girl who goes into pictures — and makes good — looks after her skin. For it is useless to rely on make-up. The skin underneath must be smooth, flowerlike, beautiful, to… (read more)

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, The Pleasure Garden (1925) by Dave Pattern
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Andy Schummer of Sherman Oaks, California

As I’ve said before, I love finding fun bits of Hitchcock trivia and here’s a bit of trivia from To Catch a Thief (1955)! This photograph shows Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchcock outside the Hotel Carlton in Cannes talking to an unnamed man in uniform. With a little bit of online detective work, I’ve found out that he’s named Andy Schummer and came from Sherman Oaks in California. Schummer was interested in becoming an actor… (read more)

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, Grace Kelly, To Catch a Thief (1955) by Dave Pattern
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