The film is set in 1939, before American involvement in the war, thus they will be “above suspicion” by the Germans. Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray are a couple of American newlyweds drafted by British secret service to spy on the Nazis during their European honeymoon. Both are disqualified for being ghost stories, which Hitchcock never indulged in. Also (interestingly) despite his clear fascination with terror, Hitchcock was noticeably, almost stubbornly, unconcerned with the supernatural, thus we leave off certain films like The Uninvited (1944), for example, whose location and atmosphere are reminiscent of Rebecca (1940), or Portrait of Jennie (1948), which has a Hitchcockesque tone. And I’ve left certain obvious things off, such as the James Bond films (not because they don’t fit, they do, but because they constitute an entire branching sub-genre themselves), and parody/tribute like Colin Higgins’ Silver Streak (1976) and Foul Play (1978) and Mel Brooks High Anxiety (1978). With only a couple of exceptions I’ve restricted the list to films made during Hitchcock’s lifetime. These elements are not always all present simultaneously or at all. ![]() Elements that remind us of Hitchcock include: psychology: especially paranoia and obsessive sexuality travelogue: a series of multiple exotic locations, often climaxing at famous landmarks and monuments glamour: top movie stars (usually the best looking ones), wearing costumes by top fashion designers humor: sophisticated, quipping repartee and a self-conscious eye: often incorporating unusual angles or points of view or shot sequences that call attention to their existence, and the fact of looking. ![]() A post for Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday, though not actually about the Master of Suspense himself (whom I wrote about here) but only some of his imitators.
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