The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

The following films are shown in conjunction with the exhibition Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film in the Block Museum's Main Gallery and Print, Drawing, and Photography Study Center September 28–December 9.

Wednesday, September 26, 8pm
Foreign Correspondent
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1940, U.S., 120 minutes, 35mm)
Hitchcock’s second American film, Foreign Correspondent was conceived as a WWII propaganda film, a cry for America to get into the war. Hitchcock's timing was perfect: the film, which depicts the Nazi bombing of London, opened three weeks before the Nazis actually began air raids. Gutsy American reporter John Jones (Joel McCrea) heads to Europe to get the real scoop on the war and discovers that a respected peace organization is the front for an international ring of spies plotting against the Allies. From an assassination attempt on rain-drenched steps to a teetering trans-Atlantic airplane, Foreign Correspondent is Hitchcock pulling out all the stops.

Thursday, September 27, 8pm
The 39 Steps
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1935, U.K., 86 minutes, 35mm)
Spies, sabotage, and espionage — The 39 Steps has it all. An early British preface to Hitchcock’s big budget American “wrong man” suspense films, Hitchcock is in top form here as he traces Richard Hannay’s (Robert Donat) flight from London to Scotland to break up a spy ring and clear his name of murder charges. Hannay finds himself caught in a web of intrigue that's as sticky and complicated as in any Hitchcock film: as the director said at the time, his talkies are like silent movies — lots of action, not much talk. In the infamous handcuff scene, Hitchcock supposedly handcuffed Donat and Madeleine Carroll on the set and pretended, for the next several hours, to have lost the key.

Friday, September 28, 7pm
Lifeboat     
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1944, U.S., 96 minutes, 35mm)
Based on the World War II story by John Steinbeck, Lifeboat captures the harrowing physical and emotional trials of eight survivors from a ship that was sunk by a German U-boat. Their collective distress escalates when they rescue a ninth survivor who turns out to be the Nazi captain of the vessel that attacked them. Despite their fears of what might happen if he can get them rescued by a German supply ship, the Nazi captain is their only chance for survival. Impressively set in a single location, this classic earned three Academy Award nominations, including one for Hitchcock’s direction.

Friday, September 28, 9pm
I Confess
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1953, U.S., 95 minutes, 35mm)
Disguised in a priest’s cassock, church sexton Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) commits a robbery that leads to murder. Keller confesses to Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift), but when Logan himself is accused of the crime, he refuses to violate the sanctity of Keller’s confession. If that's not complicated enough, years ago Logan had an affair with Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), who was being blackmailed over the affair by the man Keller murdered — an obvious motive for the police. An icon for French New Wave filmmakers, I Confess is a rarely acknowledged Hitchcock masterpiece.

Wednesday, October 3, 7pm
Young and Innocent
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1937, U.K., 83 minutes, 35mm)
A movie star’s body is mysteriously found in the surf after her husband accuses her of being unfaithful. It is Robert (Derrick De Marney), one of the movie star’s boyfriends, who makes the discovery and is, thus, accused of the murder. Joined by the jolly, gawky daughter of the Chief Constable, Erica (Nova Pilbeam in her most famous role), he makes a run for it. One of Hitchcock’s more playful innocent-man-on-the-run films, this light and breezy suspense thriller combines several brilliant set pieces with intimations of North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief.

Wednesday, October 3, 9pm
The Lady Vanishes   
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1938, U.K., 97 minutes, 35mm) In pre-World War II Europe, a group of train passengers are delayed by an avalanche. Among the passengers is Miss Froy (May Whitty), an elderly governess who befriends the young Iris (Margaret Lockwood). When Iris awakens after a brief spell of unconsciousness, she discovers that Miss Froy has vanished. The question soon arises, however, of whether Miss Froy ever even existed. Tight and light, The Lady Vanishes is entrancing and perhaps Hitchcock's most popular film of the 1930s.    

Thursday, October 4, 8pm
Rebecca    
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1940, UK, 130 minutes, 35mm)           
Hitchcock’s first American film, Rebecca was also his only film to win a Best Picture Oscar. Based on a Daphne Du Maurier novel, the romantic and gripping thriller tells the story of the recently widowed aristocrat Max de Winter (Laurence Olivier). Haunted by his wife’s sudden death, he remarries a middle-class woman who must live in the shadow of the late and loved Rebecca de Winter. After the house staff refuses to accept the new woman, their obsession with Rebecca leads to a haunting revelation about her past — cue the textbook haunting Hitchcock twist.

Friday, October 5, 8pm
Jamaica Inn
(Alfred Hitchcock, U.K., 108 minutes, 35mm)
Adapted from Daphne Du Maurier's gothic novel, this period piece is Hitchcock’s last British film before he headed off to Hollywood. In her debut role, Maureen O’Hara plays Mary Yelland, the young and beautiful orphan who is sent to live with her aunt and uncle at the mysterious Jamaica Inn — which turns out to be the base of a gang of pirates who lure ships up on the rocky coast. When Yelland turns to the local magistrate Sir Humphrey (Charles Laughton) for help, she soon discovers she's put herself in even greater danger. Jamaica Inn is now remembered as much for Laughton's mincing performance as for Hitchcock's direction.   

Thursday, October 11, 8pm FREE!
Saboteur
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1942, U.S., 108 minutes, 35mm)
A classic ‘falsely-accused’ installment in Hitchcock’s repertoire, Saboteur, for which Dorothy Parker shared screenwriter credit, tracks the cross-country trials of Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) as he tries to clear his name after he's accused of bombing an aircraft factory. A timely WWII tale of sabotage, Hitchcock’s first feature with an all-American cast finds no shortage of national iconography with action-packed scenes at the Boulder Dam, Radio City Music Hall, and atop the Statue of Liberty. Preceded by a gallery talk at 7 pm in the Block's Main Gallery. This screening is presented free as part of Arts Week Evanston 2007 (October 5–14), a celebration of Evanston arts and culture. For more information visit www.evanstonartscouncil.org.

Friday, October 12, 8pm
Marnie
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1964, U.S., 90 minutes, 35mm)
Tippi Hedren plays the beautiful, cold-hearted thief who uses her good looks to gain confidence of her employers — before she robs them. When she applies for a job at a Philadelphia publishing company, her employer Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), who isn't so easy to play, discovers her secret and blackmails her into marrying him — even though she recoils when any man touches her. Critically disparaged on its release, Marnie has been rediscovered lately and held up as an unsung, and unlikely, masterwork.   

Wednesday, October 17, 8pm
The Trouble with Harry
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1955, U.S., 99 minutes, 35mm)
The trouble with Harry is that he’s, well, dead and everyone in the neighborhood is afraid of being held responsible. That's why Shirley MacLaine, acting in her first feature role, and her quirky neighbors try to hide Harry’s body from the local sheriff. Love blossoms and friendships are forged as Hitchcock turns death into a whimsical black comedy, perfectly complemented by Bernard Hermann’s playful score. A delightful film that's often overlooked by even Hitchcock fans. Introduced by University of Chicago film scholar Tom Gunning with a discussion after the screening.

Thursday, October 18, 8pm
Shadow of a Doubt
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1942, U.S., 108 minutes, 35mm)
Hitchcock’s favorite film, Shadow of a Doubt features a show-stopping performance from Joseph Cotton. Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) lives with her family in small town America and is bored out of her mind. When her worldly Uncle Charlie (Cotton) shows up, things become much more exciting — perhaps too exciting. Charlie begins to suspect her uncle of a string of widow murders. With an unwavering grip on both his characters and the film's slowly mounting tension, Hitchcock circles like a vulture back to motifs that highlight Charlie’s growing fear of her uncle. Preceded by a gallery talk at 7 pm in the Block's Main Gallery.

Friday, October 19, 7pm
Blackmail
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1929, U.K., 84 minutes, 35mm)
Hitchcock’s — and Britain’s — first film with sound will be presented here in its original silent version. Alice White (Anny Ondra) kills her assailant during an assault. Her husband, Detective Frank Webber (John Longdon), is assigned to the case and immediately discovers her guilt. Meanwhile a thief who witnessed the incident intends to blackmail Alice. A sensation upon its British premiere with sound, Blackmail is a proto-Hitchcock film, the origin of many of the director's most famous plot devices. Featuring live musical accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra. The Block Museum's Friends Leadership hosts a reception and discussion of the film at 5:30 pm with members of Alloy Orchestra and Block Cinema director Will Schmenner. Free to Block members and their guests; $10 for nonmembers; $7 for senior citizens 65 and older, and NU students, faculty, and staff with Wildcard. RSVP to block-museum@northwestern.edu or 847.491.7540.

Thursday, October 25, 8pm
Strangers on a Train
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1951, U.S., 101 minutes, 35mm)
Co-adapted by Raymond Chandler from Patricia Highsmith's novel, this carefully constructed, white-knuckled thriller begins with the chance encounter of tennis pro Guy Haynes (Farley Granger) and Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train. What begins as a joke about an “exchange” murder between two complete strangers ends with Haynes’ wife dead — and Anthony demanding that Haynes to hold up his end of the deal. Brilliantly cast — Robert Walker's ice-cold performance is haunting — Strangers on a Train, routinely cited among the director's finest, is cruel, chilling, and altogether marvelous.

Friday, October 26, 8pm
The Ring
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1927, U.K., 72 minutes, 35mm)
Widely considered the best of Hitchcock’s silent-era films, this love-triangle boxing story follows the life of “One Round Jack” (Carl Brisson), a circus sideshow boxer whose streak of one-round knockouts ends when he faces a strapping Australian boxer (Ian Hunter). Hunter offers the defeated Brisson a sparring position, but Hunter's real interest lies with Brisson’s fiancé/wife (Lillian Hall Davis): the two boxers meet again in the ring to win the woman's heart. With live musical accompaniment by the Andreas Kapsalis Trio. Admission to this special event is $10 or $7 for Block Museum members, senior citizens 65 and older, and NU students, faculty, and staff with Wildcard.

Cary Grant Week

Wednesday, October 31, 8pm
Suspicion
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1941, U.S., 99 minutes, 35mm)
In this quietly suspenseful thriller, the shy and wealthy Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) is swept off her feet by charming playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant). Warned that Grant is after her fortune, Fontaine marries him anyway — but when she catches wind of his disreputable business schemes she becomes suspicious of his motives. In an Academy Award-winning performance, Fontaine begins to fear the man she loves as she tries to avoid becoming her husband’s next victim.

Thursday, November 1, 8pm
North by Northwest
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1959, U.S., 136 minutes, 35mm)           
Saul Bass’s frantic opening credits and Bernard Herrmann’s sweeping musical score set the tone and pace: from its first frames, North by Northwest is breathlessly entertaining. The story's a classic Hitchcock variation on the theme of the innocent man wrongly accused and the cast is dynamite. Cary Grant transitions from standard issue advertising executive to accidental spy with the ease that only he possesses; Eva Marie Saint brings a highly seductive intelligence to their cat-and-mouse romance. Featuring perhaps the iconic Hitchcock chase sequence — man versus biplane, shot in nearby Indiana — this isn’t to be missed. Preceded by a gallery talk at 7 pm in the Block's Main Gallery.

Friday, November 2, 7pm
Hitchcock's Lost World War II Prints: Adventure, Malgache and Bon Voyage
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1944, U.K., 60 minutes, 35mm)
In the 50 years following the end of World War II, hundreds of fascinating stories have surfaced regarding unusual strategies used by the Allies to achieve victory. Perhaps one of the most bizarre plots involved Alfred Hitchcock, the government of Winston Churchill, and a pair of short films intended as propaganda to glorify the French Resistance. This unlikely scenario resulted in a surreal conclusion: Churchill’s government censored the films after they were completed and the prints were put away in a London vault for a half-century, unseen by the world. Fortunately, these missing productions have been rediscovered, offering a fascinating insight into the work of Alfred Hitchcock and the machinations of wartime propaganda.

Friday, November 2, 9pm
Notorious
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1946, U.S., 101 minutes, 35mm)
The shadow of WWII hangs over Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), a hard-drinking, sophisticated playgirl. Constantly reminded of the past she cannot forget — her father was a Nazi, whose ideology she privately and vehemently opposed — Huberman is persuaded by U.S. Agent Devlin (Cary Grant) to spy on her father’s friends. Employing a noir style while turning noir conventions upside-down, Notorious is an inspired synthesis of espionage thriller and black romance. A film of subtle sympathies, including a remarkable performance by Claude Rains, Notorious anticipates the despair and misanthropy later found in Vertigo.

Vera Miles Week

Wednesday, November 7, 9pm
The Wrong Man
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1956, U.S., 105 minutes, 35mm)
Based on a true story, the film follows Emmanuel Balestrero (Henry Fonda in a spot-on portrayal) as his life falls to pieces after he's arrested for a crime he did not commit. Probably the purest version of Hitchcock’s Kafkaesque “innocent man wrongly accused” theme, The Wrong Man was interpreted at the time as an attempt by the Master of Suspense to emulate an existential style. While the tonality of the film is shockingly cold, The Wrong Man is still consistent with Hitchcock’s highly stylized approach to filmmaking.

Thursday, November 8, 8pm
Psycho
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, U.S., 109 minutes, 35mm)
Hitchcock’s most commercially successful movie changed horror films forever. After embezzling $40,000 from her real estate firm in Phoenix, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) tries to escape to a new and better life with her boyfriend (John Gavin) in California. A sudden rainstorm on the highway forces Crane to find shelter in the middle of the night — and what better stop is there than the Bates Motel, with its complete vacancy and awkward, eccentric manager Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)? To make Psycho as raw and lean as possible, Hitchcock used a low budget, lesser-known stars, and the crew from his television program.

Friday, November 9, 8pm
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Block Cinema presents three episodes from Hitchcock's television anthology series.

Revenge
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1955, U.S., Season 1, Episode 1, 26 minutes, DVD)
After suffering a nervous breakdown, Elsa Spann (Vera Miles) moves into a trailer park in California with her husband Carl as part of the doctor’s prescription for a more peaceful lifestyle. However, things turn into a tumultuous nightmare when Carl comes home to find Elsa shocked and traumatized after being assaulted by an intruder. Carl is determined to kill the man responsible, if he can find him, and if Elsa can clearly remember the incident.

Breakdown
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1955, U.S., Season 1, Episode 8, 26 minutes, DVD)
Joseph Cotten stars as William Cale in one of the most chilling episodes of Hitchcock Presents ever. Cale is a hard-nosed businessman who gets involved in a terrible car accident while racing to keep an appointment in New York. Once he wakes, he finds that he is completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak. Everyone thinks he is dead, though we can hear his every thought.

Lamb to the Slaughter
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1958, U.S., Season 3, Episode 28, 26 minutes, DVD)
When Mary Malone’s detective husband informs her he is leaving her she kills him with a leg of lamb in a fit of rage. Thinking quickly, she goes to the local store to create an alibi for herself, and when she returns home, calls the police. They begin the search for the murder weapon while Mary cooks them dinner.  

Grace Kelly Week

Wednesday, November 14, 8pm
Dial M for Murder
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1954, U.S., 105 minutes, 35mm)
Arguably more than any of his other murder thrillers, Hitchcock rendered Dial M for Murder with style and grace. And Grace — Kelly, of course — is no small part of the film’s elegance: this was the first of three consecutive films in which Hitchcock cast Kelly as the lead. Adapted by Frederick Knott from his own play, Dial M's the gripping story of Tony Wendice's (Ray Milland) plot to murder his wife (Kelly), who has been cheating on him with Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). After he blackmails a former college peer to do the deed for him and the plan goes awry, Wendice must quickly formulate a clever backup plan. 

Thursday, November 15, 8pm
Rear Window              
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1954, U.S., 112 minutes, 35mm)
For this classic thriller, Hitchcock took a hard-boiled detective story by Cornell Woolrich and mixed it with a love story by screenwriter John Michael Hayes. Then he built an enormous set on Paramount’s backlot, used only sound which had a source from within the film (diegetic sound), and made a movie that's kept film studies majors busy ever since. World-class photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) has broken his leg, and confined to his wheelchair and bored out of his mind, Jefferies takes to spying on his neighbors: he begins to suspect, without any proof, that Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame) may have murdered his wife. Jefferies’s point of view, limited to his camera lens and window, echoes the framing of the film itself, drawing the audience into his growing obsession.  With an introduction by Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and discussion after the film.

Friday, November 16, 8pm
To Catch a Thief
 (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955, U.S., 106 minutes, 35mm)
“Set a thief to catch a thief,” according to the proverb and that idea made for what's considered among Hitchcock’s most beautiful films. That's easier to do with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly as leads, of course: Pauline Kael wrote that in To Catch a Thief, Kelly's “sexier than she is in anything else.” She plays Frances Stevens, the daughter of a well-to-do jewel collector on the Riviera. When the Stevens’ collection is stolen and the crime resembles those of retired cat burglar John Robie (Cary Grant), Robie has to track down the real bandit to save his own skin. A popcorn Hitchcock, To Catch a Thief is suave, feather-light entertainment.

Jimmy Stewart Week

Wednesday, November 28, 8pm
Rope
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1948, U.S., 80 minutes, 35mm)
Inspired by the Leopold and Loeb murder, Rope is the story of two friends, Brandon and Phillip (John Dall and Farley Granger), who, driven by an ambition to commit the perfect murder, invite over and strangle an intellectually inferior classmate  Afterwards they host a party for the victim’s family and friends while the body is hidden among them, but the crime surfaces when a former teacher's (James Stewart) growing suspicion of the boys becomes to strong to ignore. Hitchcock's most experimental film, Rope was shot in a remarkable series of long continuous takes with very little editing.  

Thursday, November 29, 8pm
Vertigo
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1958, U.S., 129 minutes, 35mm)
“One of the landmarks — not merely of the movies — but of 20th-century art,” according to film critic Dave Kehr. Like a great painting, Vertigo yields more with every viewing. Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) is a retired San Francisco detective with a paralyzing fear of heights. One day, an old friend asks Ferguson to spy on his wife, Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), who is acting as if she had some sort of strange, paranormal connection to the past. Drawn to Mrs. Elster in a hypnotic way, Ferguson begins to follow a path he feels, strangely, that he's been on before. With Bernard Herrmann’s acclaimed score and imagery that invokes a dizzying vortex, Vertigo is Hitchcock’s dark masterpiece. Preceded by a gallery talk at 7 pm in the Block's Main Gallery by Northwestern film professor Scott Curtis. Professor Curtis will also introduce the screening in the auditorium and lead a discussion afterwards.

Friday, November 30, 8pm
The Man Who Knew Too Much
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1956, U.S., 120 minutes, 35mm)
Vacationing in Marrakech, Morocco, Doctor Benjamin McKenna (James Stewart) and his wife (Doris Day) and son witness a murder, and Dr. McKenna is the only one to hear the dying man’s last words. Shaken by the tragedy, the McKennas look at their foreign surroundings with newly suspicious eyes — only to discover their son has been kidnapped. A Technicolor remake of Hitchcock's 1934 identically titled film, The Man Who Knew Too Much is about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary trouble. It's accompanied by a famous score, including Doris Day’s rendition of “Que Sera Sera,” an original composition for the film.

Wednesday, December 5, 8pm
Spellbound
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1945, U.S., 111 minutes, 35mm)
The psychiatrist Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) falls in love with her new boss, Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck), who's an amnesiac and,possibly a murderer. Spellbound, which originated in producer David O. Selznick's experiences in psychoanalysis, was the first popular picture about the practice. It's a classic murder mystery, but with a Freudian twist: the clues which unravel the case can only be found in dreams. The epic dream sequences were famously designed by someone very well-qualified for the assignment, Salvador Dalí.

Thursday, December 6, 8pm
The Birds
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1963, U.S., 119 minutes, 35mm)
Socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren in her first starring role) ends up in the small town of Bodega Bay to get even with the lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) for a prank he'd played on her. It doesn't take long before she wishes she'd never come: what begins as an attempt to win over Mitch's possessive mother (Jessica Tandy) ends with them just trying to stay alive. A peck on Melanie’s head from a dive-bombing seagull turns out to be far more than a freakish accident as the bird population launches a ferocious attack. A highly eccentric horror film, The Birds has an extraordinary array of special effects, all used to truly terrifying effect. Preceded by a gallery talk at 7 pm in the Block's Main Gallery.

Friday, December 7, 8pm
The Lodger
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1927, U.K., 75 minutes, 35mm)
The original Hitchcock “wrong man” movie, The Lodger was later called the first true Hitchcock film by the director himself. This “story of the London fog” focuses on the unsolved case of “The Avenger,” a killer of blonde women who's on the loose in London. When an unusual lodger (Ivor Novello) arrives at the Buntings’ residence with a picture of a blonde girl he keeps in his bedroom and frequent outings in the foggy night, their blonde daughter, Daisy, and her detective fiancé, Joe, grow suspicious. The oldest film on our calendar, The Lodger packs plenty of suspense without dialogue or sound. With live musical accompaniment by pianist David Drazin. Admission to this special event is $10 or $7 for Block Museum members, senior citizens 65 and older, and NU students, faculty, and staff with Wildcard.