The Bodyguard, 1992

THURSDAY MOVIE CONNECTION!!!
Debbie Reynolds-- Kevin Costner



Director: Mick jackson

Stars: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, Ralph Waite, Debbie Reynolds










This is one of those movies (like The Fugitive and Independence Day) that I can't stop watching whenever it's on tv and I am bored and channel-surfing.  This almost never happens, but still!

Former secret service agent Frank Farmer (Costner) gets a new job: he becomes a diva's bodyguard.  Rachel (Houston) has been receiving death threats and crazy letters, and although she knows she needs a bodyguard, she and frank clash instantly.  Rachel is used to having things her way, but Frank insists on certain precautions being taken.  After more attempts are made on her life, she begins to trust Frank, and do what he says.

I really enjoy watching this one.  But I can't say I like the end.  SPOILER!  Why couldn't they just end up together?  Not entirely happy....

Torn Curtain, 1966

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews,









And now, the last review of April!

American physicist Michael Armstrong (Newman) is on his way to Europe with his secretary/fiancee Sarah (Andrews) for a big mathematics conference or something.  (Is it ridiculous that I don't completely understand what is going on?)  Anyway, the whole point is that everyone thinks Armstrong is defecting to Germany, and he can't tell them that really he is working for the US government as a sort of spy, trying to get a formula for something!  

Okay, I don't know why I don't know the details because this truly IS one of my favorites.   It has PAUL NEWMAN!  Enough said.

Torn Curtain is not at all scary, just suspenseful, and of course, romantic.  And, no, Julie Andrews does NOT sing.

CAMEO:  In the hotel in the beginning, Hitch is seated, holding a baby.

North by Northwest, 1959

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason






Have you ever seen this clip form the movies-- a man running down a road with a crop duster chasing him?  It's from Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

Advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies.  When he escapes from them, he goes to the police, who don't believe him, and then the government contacts him.  They want to use him because the spies already think they know who he is.  He works with another agent, (Saint), who is working with the foreigners under cover.  Anyway, it's a great story and very suspenseful.  It all ends with an exciting scene on Mount Rushmore!

CAMEO: Hitch appears right at the beginning, just as the credits ends and his name is shown, he is trying to get on a bus, which closes its doors just as he gets there.  It's one of my favorites!  :)

The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK


Stars: James Stewart, Doris Day





While vacationing in Morocco, Dr. Benjamin McKenna (Stewart) and his wife, Jo (Day), accidentally become involved in an assassination plot, and because of their knowledge (as in, they "know too much"), their son is kidnapped to keep them quiet.  They follow the criminals to London, where they try to track them down and save their son, and maybe the ambassador set to be assassinated.  All without the involvement of the police.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is so suspenseful, and so emotionally moving.  When Jo finds out her son has been taken, I cry along with her every time!  And when she sings "Que Sera, Sera" (which was written for this movie) at the end, I am a complete wreck.

 

To Catch a Thief, 1955

Re-post (original post- June 15, 2011)



Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams







Retired jewel thief John Robie (Grant) is compelled to prove his innocence in a new string of robberies which bears a striking resemblance to his old M.O. He decides to anticipate the moves of his "copy-cat burglar" hoping to catch him in the act and hand him over to the police. Tipped off by an insurance agent (John Williams), he befriends the people he himself would target, the wealthy Mrs. Stevens (Landis) and her daughter Francie (Kelly).

This was filmed in Monaco and the French Riviera, and it's such a beautiful movie! To me, it is just perfect for summer.

Grace Kelly's wardrobe makes me want to go back in time!

This isn't like other Hitchcock films. This is more romance than suspense, so don't worry, those of you who don't like Hitch's style. Try this out- you're in for a treat!

Rear Window, 1954

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK


Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr






One of the best!

Photographer Jeff (Stewart) broke his leg on an assignment, and cannot leave his apartment.  So, he sits   in his wheelchair and watches all of his neighbors across the building's courtyard.  His fiancee Lisa (Kelly) joins him, and they witness something in Mr. Thorwald's apartment that strikes them as suspicious.  Together, they investigate, and stumble across the shocking truth!

It's wonderful!  Really!  It does go slowly, but I love it!  I am always on the edge of my seat.  Hitch truly is the Master of Suspense!

CAMEO: Hitch appears winding the clock in the songwriter's apartment, about 25 minutes in.

NOTE: I've watched the extras on the DVD, and it's really neat to hear about how it was filmed.  The set was 4 or 5 stories high and all constructed on a stage because they had to be able to control everything.  I love watching the extras on movies, and this one has plenty.

Dial 'M' for Murder, 1954

repost (original post: September 28, 2011)

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings

When ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice (Milland) discovers that his wife Margot (Kelly) is having an affair with her old school friend Mark (Cummings), he begins to plan her murder.

His intricate plan involves hiring someone to kill his wife, preferably someone who can be blackmailed into it. After finding the perfect man for the job, Wendice explains the whole detailed plan to him, and the next night, while Wendice takes Mark to a party (using Mark as his alibi), the murderer is to get in using a key Wendice hid for him, and then strangle his wife when she goes to answer the telephone call from Wendice himself. Everything goes just fine.....until Margot fights back as she's being strangled, and ends up stabbing her assailant with a pair of scissors.

I LOVE this film. Wendice is chilling. Mark is desperate to protect Margot. And the detective in charge (John Williams) is absolutely brilliant in the way he solves the crime.

Strangers on a Train, 1951

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Patricia Hitchcock

Tennis star Guy (Granger) meets Bruno (Walker) on a train while travelling to see his wife, who has smeared his good name all over the papers with her behavior- though she won't give him a divorce. As it's all common knowledge, Bruno knows it too, and begins a disturbing conversation with Guy, offering to kill his wife if Guy will kill Bruno's father. Guy shakes it off, and wonders what is wrong with this crazy man. He thinks nothing of it until his wife ends up dead. And because Guy is in love with another woman (Ruth Roman), suspicion will naturally fall his way.

One of my favorites! Crazy suspense, and Bruno is so creepy!

I love it.

CAMEO: Hitch appears early on, carrying a double bass onto the train, as Guy leaves.

Rope, 1948

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall

I find this one to be chilling. Absolutely chilling!!

It's not scary, though, just crazy with suspense. In the first minute of the film, a man is murdered by Brandon (Dall) and Phillip (Granger), and then the two young men throw a small dinner party- right there in their apartment, in the very room where the murder took place. They invite their old teacher Rupert Cadell (Stewart) as well as the victim's parents and fiancee, and as everyone is chatting, the body is just sitting in a large chest, the top of which is used as a place for the refreshments.

The whole time, you are just dying of suspense, wondering if Cadell will catch on to their hints, and connect the dots, and figure out what his former students have done.

Amazing and awful at the same time. Really.

The Paradine Case, 1947

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton

When she is accused of poisoning her blind husband, Mrs. Paradine hires Anthony Keane (Peck), a brilliant and successful lawyer. As he gets to know her, Keane begins to fall in love with her, which doesn't help his relationship with his wife Gay (Todd). Gay can see that her husband has feelings for Mrs. Paradine, and so she hopes that there will be a verdict of not-guilty. Otherwise, she will lose her husband forever.

Keane begins to investigate the Paradine home, and soon finds Mr. Paradine's servant, Andre Latour, to be a very suspicious character. Could Latour have killed his master? The outcome, is- I thought- surprising. This isn't the most pleasant film.

CAMEO: Hitch is leaving a train station, carrying a cello.

Shadow of a Doubt, 1943

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers

Young Charlie (Teresa Wright) is thrilled when her uncle Charlie (Cotten) comes for a visit. Uncle Charlie has always favored his namesake, and his sister, young Charlie's mother, has always favored Charlie, her much younger brother.

Everyone is talking about a serial killer on the run; a man who gets to know rich women and then strangles them and takes their money. And soon young Charlie's suspicions are roused by the behavior of her beloved Uncle. There might be more to Uncle Charlie than meets the eye.

SPOILER!!!!!This film is absolutely chilling! I mean, imagine finding out a beloved family member is a serial killer! A really nice guy, your favorite Uncle who always brings you presents and cheers up the whole family. And he's actually a psychopath. It's nto actually scary, just very suspenseful. One of my favorites.

NOTE: This was Hitch's favorite of all his films.

CAMEO: Hitch appears in this one, but with his back to the camera playing cards. It's on a train.

Saboteur, 1942

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger

Barry (Cummings) is on the run from the bad guys and the police when he is falsely accused of setting fire to the aircraft factory where he and his best friend worked. As this factory made aircraft for use in the war, this was a distinctly anti-American act. But Barry has a clue to who might have started it, because of a chance encounter at work, and he sets out on his own to prove his innocence because if he waits for the police, it will be too late. The bad guys are planning some big event and he must stop it.

But he isn't completely alone. When he seeks shelter in a cabin in the woods, he meets Pat (Lane), who eventually comes to believe that he is telling the truth.

Because of Robert Cummings, this is one of my favorites of Hitch's films! Cummings is so brilliant. (And handsome, too!) Hitch has a common theme of the common man being wrongfully accused. And Cummings plays it well.

CAMEO: Hitch appears on the street when the real Saboteur's car stops, and it's actually about an hour into the movie.

Young and Innocent, 1937

Director: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Stars: Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont

Robert (De Marney) is accused of murdering a famous movie star, and when there's a commotion at the court house during his hearing, he escapes in the back of a car, which happens to belong to Erica (Pilbeam), the daughter of the chief magistrate. She is shocked to find him in her car, but she's out of gas and he helps her push it to a station. Soon, Erica is convinced that Robert is innocent, and together they are on the run from the police, searching for proof of Robert's innocence.

It's good! Not at all scary- not even a bit.

CAMEO: Near the beginning of the movie, outside the courthouse, Hitch is trying to take a picture during all the commotion.

Patriot Games, 1992

Director: Philip Noyce

Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin

Jack Ryan (Ford), an analyst for the CIA, is visiting Ireland with his wife (Archer) and daughter, when he happens upon an assassination attempt, and saves the life of the intended target. In so doing, he kills one of the radicals, a young kid who was dragged along by his older brother (Bean). Now the brother wants Ryan dead, and will stop at nothing to harm him and his family.

Very suspenseful!

The Fugitive, 1993

Director: Andrew Davis

Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward

Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) comes home to find his wife (Ward) murdered, and fights off an intruder in his house. But no one believes him about the intruder and he gets sent to prison for her murder.

While being transferred to another prison, another prisoner tries to escape, causing the bus to go off the road and onto a train track, where it gets hit by a train. (What are the chances?) Anyway, the Federal Marshals arrive (including Jones) and the manhunt begins. They are to search every "warehouse, farmhouse, hen house, doghouse, and outhouse" until their fugitive is found!

But Kimble puzzles them all by heading right back into Chicago, rather than escaping, and investigating his wife's murder himself, since no one else believes him.

I am weird about this movie. It's not like I love it, I just can never look away from it. I think yesterday was the first time I had ever watched it from the beginning. Usually I come across accidentally on tv, and then I just have to watch it!

Double Indemnity, 1944

Director: Billy Wilder

Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G Robinson

I was watching NCIS a few days ago, and at one point in the episode, two characters, Tony and Ziva, talk about this film, Double Indemnity, as a classic. Tony usually knows what he is talking about concerning films. (But don't even get me started with his opinion of Strangers on a Train! Those writers need to actually WATCH that movie before they write his lines about it!!)

Walter Neff (MacMurray), an insurance salesman, visits the home of Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) in a routine house call to renew her husband's auto insurance. Her husband is not at home, and they begin a flirtatious exchange, until she asks if she can get a life insurance policy on her husband without his knowing.

Wise to her game, Neff leaves immediately, putting her in her place, or so he thinks. He knows all the tricks in the business, and this one reeks of murder. Mrs. D shows up at his home later that evening, to flirt some more and assure him she doesn't want to kill her husband, though she's not very convincing in the latter argument, since Neff decides he loves her and that the two of them should kill her husband together.

It's crazy how when you're watching a movie, and your point of view is with the thief (like The Italian Job- love the new version of that one!) or the killer, in this case, you are cheering them on, in the case of the theft, or at least not wanting them to get caught, as in a murder. How do movies do that to us?

If you like the genre (film noir) or suspense, or crime movies, I'm sure you'll be delighted. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Barbara Stanwyck was a killer!

The Birds, 1963

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette

I am not crazy about this movie, but I do like the suspense and mystery of it. Flocks and flocks of birds inexplicably start attacking and killing the people of a small California town. They attack and then sit calmly, and then attack again, even breaking violently into homes and through windows.

SPOILER!!!

Two things: The scene in the playground is the best! There's a few birds at first, she looks away, more birds, she lights her cigarette, and suddenly there are hundreds of birds on the playground! And then when the kids and the two women are running down the hill with the birds behind them! I just like how the scene looks.

What I hate: Tippi is really afraid of the birds, and she listens, horrified as they swoop around the house. So WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY does she go upstairs when she hears them IN the house and open that door??????? That part is one of those stupid moments in scary movies (not that The Birds is scary-it really is not) where the girl goes somewhere where you KNOW she is going to get hurt and you want to throttle her through the screen!

The ending is the strangest ending ever.

Witness to Murder, 1954

Director: Roy Rowland

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill

I recorded this one on TCM (my favorite channel- no surprise there!) and didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed it!

The excitement starts off right away in the first minute! Cheryl (Stanwyck) wakes up in the middle of the night to close her bedroom window. When she gets to the window, she witness the strangling of a woman across the street in a lighted apartment. Horrified, she calls the police, who come at once to her building. The murderer, Albert Richter (Sanders), sees them arrive and quickly hides the body. When they arrive, he is perfectly bewildered! Why would anyone think he had murdered a young woman!? How ridiculous.

Police Lieutenant Larry Matthews (Merrill) takes an interest in Cheryl, puzzled that she seems so obsessed with the fact that she witnessed a murder, when no evidence of any murder could be found. But when a woman's body is found in a park, Cheryl is sure that she was the victim of the crime. Richter insists that Cheryl is insane, however, and everyone is more inclined to believe him than Cheryl....

I like Barbara Stanwyck in the few movies I've seen her in. The first film I saw her in was Christmas in Connecticut. Love that one! I can't wait until Christmas time!

Vertigo, 1958

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak

There are a few films out there (well, probably a lot more than a few, actually) that are truly meant to be watched on a rainy day. And Hitch knew how to make them.

Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (Stewart) was on the force for years before he discovered he has acrophobia (fear of heights) while chasing a criminal. When the man dies, having fallen from a building while being pursued by Scottie, Scottie takes an early retirement, knowing he can't do his job while suffering from acrophobia.

A few months later an old friend, Gavin Elster, looks him up. Elster heard about his early retirement and acrophobia, but wants Scottie to follow his wife. Elster suspects that the spirit of his wife's grandmother, Carlotta, who committed suicide many years ago, is possessing his wife. He fears that Carlotta's spirit will cause his wife to commit suicide, as well.

Scottie begins to follow the beautiful and mysterious Mrs. Elston (Novak), and begins to become obsessed with her. A wonderful and chilling mystery follows......

I can't give too much away, it's brilliant! It's very suspenseful, very colorful, very crazy! I especially love the effects of Scottie's dream/nightmare. Stewart's disembodied head against a swirl of color. It's so funny! Sorry, Hitch.

But this movie was made for a rainy day, I promise!