Rebecca (1940)
Some might argue that Hitchcock's First American film Rebecca belongs more to its producer David Selznick than to Hitchcock. I would disagree, Rebecca has Hitchcock's master touch in every scene. Whether it be the framing of the shots, the timing of the cuts, or the close ups this is a Hitchcock film through and through. The reason for the misconception is that Hitchcock and Selznick did not get along while making this film because they were both very strong artistic personalities. Selznick did not allow Hitchcock to have any control over the final editing process thus people find this film to be more of a Selznick picture than a Hitchcock picture. However, prior to the film ever going into editing Hitchcock shot the film so that it could only be edited his way, thus the credit for this fantastic tale of mystery and suspense belongs with him. Rebecca is the story of a young woman who marries a mysterious and haunted aristocrat. She is not used to the aristocratic life and also feels very overshadowed by her husband's dead first wife Rebecca. This film has elements of the gothic tale and of the murder mystery. Hitchcock manages to create just the right amount of suspense and misdirection and although the actors give great performances there is no question this is a director's film. The close ups and the evocative camerawork really help the audience enter the world of the film. Fontaine gives a fantastic performance as the woman really represents the audience and is therefore unnamed. The supporting cast is absolutely fantastic, full of great character actors like George sanders and Nigel Bruce This film plays like a modern gothic mystery thriller done with the elegant touch of the master of suspense. What more could you want! 5/5!
Suspicion (1941)
Suspicion was Hitchcock's next film and in many ways it is similar to his first American film Rebecca. Both star Joan Fontaine, both feature husband's to the main character who are mysterious, and both had Hitchcock not getting what he wanted because of the studio system. Suspicion is the tale of a bookish young woman who falls in love with a mysterious, handsome man played by Cary Grant. Unfortunately grant is not all he seems and soon she becomes suspicious that he may be capable of murder. This movie is all about building slow and calculated suspense and as always Hitchcock excels. This film has Hitchcock experimenting even more with the better technology he found when he moved from Britain to America. It would take until Shadow for a Doubt in 1942 for Hitchcock to really figure it out but you can see many glimpses here of what was to come. Fontaine won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role and she really does deserve it. Cary Grant really displays some dramatic talent here and a dark side. Grant would become one of Hitchcock's favorite leading men. The supporting cast includes Nigel bruce who is most famous for playing Watson along side basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in those films. Here he gives a great performance as a bumbling Englishmen. Unfortunately, while to first half of the film is truly fantastic, the ending of the film leaves much to be desired. Part of this was due to the production code and talking about why the ending isn't good would give away the film but It really just wraps up to quickly. So while I liked suspicion a lot and felt it had many great performances it is not among the Hitchcock's greatest achievements. 3.5/5
Some might argue that Hitchcock's First American film Rebecca belongs more to its producer David Selznick than to Hitchcock. I would disagree, Rebecca has Hitchcock's master touch in every scene. Whether it be the framing of the shots, the timing of the cuts, or the close ups this is a Hitchcock film through and through. The reason for the misconception is that Hitchcock and Selznick did not get along while making this film because they were both very strong artistic personalities. Selznick did not allow Hitchcock to have any control over the final editing process thus people find this film to be more of a Selznick picture than a Hitchcock picture. However, prior to the film ever going into editing Hitchcock shot the film so that it could only be edited his way, thus the credit for this fantastic tale of mystery and suspense belongs with him. Rebecca is the story of a young woman who marries a mysterious and haunted aristocrat. She is not used to the aristocratic life and also feels very overshadowed by her husband's dead first wife Rebecca. This film has elements of the gothic tale and of the murder mystery. Hitchcock manages to create just the right amount of suspense and misdirection and although the actors give great performances there is no question this is a director's film. The close ups and the evocative camerawork really help the audience enter the world of the film. Fontaine gives a fantastic performance as the woman really represents the audience and is therefore unnamed. The supporting cast is absolutely fantastic, full of great character actors like George sanders and Nigel Bruce This film plays like a modern gothic mystery thriller done with the elegant touch of the master of suspense. What more could you want! 5/5!
Suspicion (1941)
Suspicion was Hitchcock's next film and in many ways it is similar to his first American film Rebecca. Both star Joan Fontaine, both feature husband's to the main character who are mysterious, and both had Hitchcock not getting what he wanted because of the studio system. Suspicion is the tale of a bookish young woman who falls in love with a mysterious, handsome man played by Cary Grant. Unfortunately grant is not all he seems and soon she becomes suspicious that he may be capable of murder. This movie is all about building slow and calculated suspense and as always Hitchcock excels. This film has Hitchcock experimenting even more with the better technology he found when he moved from Britain to America. It would take until Shadow for a Doubt in 1942 for Hitchcock to really figure it out but you can see many glimpses here of what was to come. Fontaine won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role and she really does deserve it. Cary Grant really displays some dramatic talent here and a dark side. Grant would become one of Hitchcock's favorite leading men. The supporting cast includes Nigel bruce who is most famous for playing Watson along side basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in those films. Here he gives a great performance as a bumbling Englishmen. Unfortunately, while to first half of the film is truly fantastic, the ending of the film leaves much to be desired. Part of this was due to the production code and talking about why the ending isn't good would give away the film but It really just wraps up to quickly. So while I liked suspicion a lot and felt it had many great performances it is not among the Hitchcock's greatest achievements. 3.5/5
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