Drama > H Drama > Hitchcock, Alfred

Advantages: excellent story
Disadvantages: acting a bit stiff in places

...a handsome widower whose wife Rebecca was drowned in a sailing accident the year before. The pair fall in love and marry, but when the honeymoon is over and they return to Manderley, Mr de Winter's grand estate in England, cracks start to appear. Rebecca's memory seems to have a hold over the house and everybody in it, there are reminders of her everywhere and her old room is kept as a shrine exactly as she'd left it the night she died. The housekeeper ...
...about making the timid new bride's life as uncomfortable as possible, pointing out all her flaws and making her see just what a failure she looks next to a woman as beautiful, talented and respected as Rebecca. How could Maxim possibly love her, when everybody knows he's still in love with Rebecca? Just as life seems hopeless for her, a shipwreck changes all their lives forever... The acting is not always fantastic in this film, but that's easy ... Read review

Advantages: A classic.
Disadvantages: A little dated.

...on the future with FilmFirst. Spellbound is one of Hitchcock's most daring experiments and the 1st screen thriller to explore the dark arts of psychoanalysis. It stars Ingrid Bergman as Dr Constance Peterson and Gregory Peck as John Ballantine aka Dr Anthony Edwards. Describable as a film - noir mystery/ romance. Directed by Hitchcock in 1945, written by Hilary St George Sanders (novel) adapted by Angus Macphail, screenplay Ben Hecht. Music score ...
...quite a cinematic novelty at the time (The movie is considered to be the 1st screen thriller to the dark arts of the subject), but this means that we have to put up with an awkward opening sequence, complete with "explanations" on the screen. These follow a rather dull introduction to the credits and cast backed by a tree in autumn wind and a quote from Shakespeare. The film quickly moves into the development of relationships between doctors and ... Read review

Advantages: Superb performance by Ingrid Bergman
Disadvantages: Quite slow to begin with

Introduction Just in case you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of Hitchcock films, particularly the psychological thrillers, and although this film does not quite fit into that category, it is still a strong story directed by a master. Those of you who don't like to watch older films like this because they are black and white and old-fashioned don't know what you are missing. There may not be the special effects of today's films, but there is superb ...
...rarely seen today. And when they're free with newspapers, like this one, there's no excuse really. The director Although Alfred Hitchcock made his best-known films while in Hollywood, he was born in the East End of London and spent the first part of his career in the UK. When he finally moved to the US in 1940, he was already a well-known director, with films such as The Thirty-Nine Steps and Sabotage under his belt. The plot Alicia Huberman's ... Read review

Advantages: None I can think of
Disadvantages: Dark, wooden and boring

To start, Jamaica Inn is my all time favourite book, however, the film is very disappointing. Yes, I know it was made in 1939 but Rebecca was made just a few years after and is a world apart. The film is very dark, the acting is wooden and seems to stray far and wide from the main story. There is, however, good visual effects - a ship wreck on the Cornish coast for example - which does seem to lift the film a little. Mary Yellen is a young woman ... Read review

Advantages: Intriguing
Disadvantages: Slow and hard to follow to begin with

...just his silhouette is seen. Family Plot, Hitchcock's last film before his death in 1980, won an Edgar Award in 1977. The plot Fake medium Blanche is asked to find Harriet Rainbird's son given away for adoption at birth for the princely sum of $10,000. She brings her lover, Lumley, in on the action. Lumley is a taxi driver cum actor who turns private investigator in order to track down the Rainbird boy. Initial enquiries show that he is dead, but ...
...to hide the fact that he murdered his adopted parents. At the same time, we are introduced to another couple, Fran and Arthur Adamson, who are involved in the kidnap and jewellery burglary business. There seems to be little connection between the two couples to begin with, until it becomes clear that Adamson is the lost Rainbird child. When Adamson finds out that someone is making enquiries about him after all these years, Blanche and Lumley are ... Read review