'Vertigo' (1958)

James Stewart Movie #5

Alfred Hitchcock Movie #4

Synopsis: War veteran-and-bachelor becomes obsessed with cute blonde, goes off the deep end, and winds up as creepy weirdo. Oh wait – that’s the Synopsis for Taxi Driver! 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Considered by many to be director Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest achievement, Leonard Maltin gives VERTIGO four stars, hailing it as ‘A genuinely great motion picture.’”

What Did I Learn?: If you’re going to participate in an elaborate murder conspiracy, don’t keep souvenirs!! 

You Might Like This Movie If: You don't think a fear of heights is all that unreasonable.

 

Really?: 1) Funny how Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) pretty much disappears right before the third act, isn’t it? 2) Hmm....so Scottie is a detective, but aside from flashing his badge once, he never uses any of the resources available to the boys-in-blue. 3) Wait, how does Madeleine sneak past the hotel clerk (not once, but twice), get into the room, and then zoom away in her car? This is left unexplained. 4) Hold on, why would Judy stay in San Francisco after the murder? I realize she still loves Scottie, but she doesn’t look him up. Come to think of it, I had a hard time believing Gavin would leave her more-or-less broke afterwards. It would make a lot more sense for him to either bump her off, or pay her a nice chunk of change to guarantee her silence. 

Rating: I haven’t watched every single Hitchcock film, so I honestly don’t know if ‘Vertigo’ is his best work, but it is a mesmerizing, original, and genuinely suspenseful thriller. It's well worth viewing. Highly recommended. 10/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/?ref_=rvi_tt

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

James Stewart Movie #4

Alfred Hitchcock Movie #3 (Please click the link to read my review of the 1934 version of this film)

Synopsis: Hmm.... attractive blonde and goofy-looking tall guy thwart assassination plot at the symphony. Hey, it’s basically Foul Play without the laughs! 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “James Stewart and Doris Day, in a rare dramatic role, are superb in this brilliant suspense thriller from the undisputed master. Stewart and Day play Ben and Jo MacKenna, innocent Americans vacationing in Morocco with their son, Hank. After a French spy dies in Ben’s arms in the Marrakech market, the couple discover their son has been kidnapped and taken to England.” 

What Did I Learn?: The rules for eating at a Moroccan restaurant are more complicated than IKEA assembly instructions.  

You Might Like This Movie If: You know there's nothing more annoying than a guy who knows too much.

 

Really?: 1) Holy crap, how many fucking times do we have to hear Doris Day sing “Que Sera Sera?” 2) So wait, Louis Bernard was obviously in cahoots with the Arab on the bus, but it was the Hank who provoked the phony scuffle by accidentally removing a woman’s hijab. How could they have planned that? 3) Um...exactly how long did those fans of Jo wait for the McKennas to return to their London hotel room? I had a hard time believing they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable and simply leave. 4) I realize the 1950s were a little more formal than our current decade, but why does Ben feel the need to wear a suit and tie on the bus to Marrakech? Wouldn’t it be about a zillion degrees outside? 

Rating: The Man Who Knew Too Much is a stylish remake of Hitchcock’s 1934 thriller, and overall, it’s a much more entertaining movie. That said, I have to deduct a couple of points for an extremely lacklustre ending, and the overuse of Day’s God-awful “Que Sera Sera.” 8/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049470/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Rear Window (1954)

James Stewart Movie #3

Alfred Hitchcock Movie #2

Synopsis: Obsessed peeping tom spies on troubled neighbour, breaks into his home, and ruins a man’s life. Attentive super-citizen takes action to thwart murder conspiracy. 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “None of Hitchcock’s films has ever given a clearer view of his genius for suspense than Rear Window. When professional photographer LB ‘Jeff’ Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbours play out across the courtyard.” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) "Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence." 2) "Nobody ever invented a polite word for a killin' yet." 3) "When two people love each other, they come together - WHAM - like two taxis on Broadway." 4) Guys, if you and your lady are having issues, there's nothing like a little paranoid suspicion that's directed at a nearby neighbour to bring you two lovebirds back together again. 

 

You Might Like This Movie If: Just like Jeff, you don't trust your nutjob neighbour.

 

Really?: So wait, Jeff is all set to dump Lisa, a hot chick (Grace Kelly) who brings him food while he's injured, all because, um...she's rich, has excellent taste, and likes to attend A-list parties? Gee, that makes a lot of sense.

 

Rating: Rear Window is easily one of Hitchcock's best films; it's well-written, suspenseful, and Stewart and Kelly share some great on-screen chemistry. Oh, and watch for Raymond Burr (pre-Perry Mason) as the mysterious neighbour. Highly recommended. 10/10 stars.

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047396/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Rope (1948)

James Stewart Movie #2

Alfred Hitchcock Movie #1

Synopsis: Brilliant-yet-amoral university students prove their intellectual superiority by murdering a buddy and, um... hosting a truly awful dinner party. 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “James Stewart stars with Farley Granger and John Dall in a highly-charged thriller inspired by the real-life Leopold-Loeb murder case. Granger and Dall give riveting performances as two friends who strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills, then proceed to throw a party for the victim’s family and friends – with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table.” 

What Did I Learn?: Telling somebody they’re a great chicken-strangler is NOT a compliment. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You'll watch anything that involves hiding a corpse during a social get-together.

 

Really?: 1) Was anyone else a little disappointed in the monologue Rupert (Stewart) delivers when he discovers the truth? I mean, here’s a guy who has made a career as an iconoclastic philosopher, and he really has nothing to say except that his former students are a couple of depraved monsters. 2) Wouldn’t the neighbours notice a gunshot during the scuffle between Rupert and Philip?   

Rating: While Stewart didn’t like actually like this movie (believe it or not, it takes nearly half an hour before he appears on-screen), and it is surprisingly disturbing for the late 1940s, Rope is also a suspenseful and compelling psycho-drama. Moreover, Dall delivers a magnificent, if slightly over-the-top performance as the ringleader of the two killers. 7.5/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040746/?ref_=rvi_tt

Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

James Stewart Movie #1 (This also would have been perfect for my salute to Westerns that feature Wyatt Earp) 

Synopsis: A tragic retelling of oppressed Native Americans fleeing starvation, disease and neglect... punctuated with half an hour of slapstick shenanigans in Dodge City. Wait, WTF?!?

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Cheyenne Autumn, the last Western directed by six-time Academy Award winner John Ford, ranks as one of his best.” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) "Nothing that affects an officer’s conduct is private." 2) "It takes a blue coat to make a white man a soldier... but a Cheyenne is a soldier from the first slap on his butt." 3) "A mademoiselle is a madam who ain't quite made it yet - only younger and friskier."

You Might Like This Movie If: You really want to see a tough-as-nails, proud Cheyenne moving slowly across the American heartland.

 

Really?: 1) See: “Synopsis”; seriously, that lighthearted, half-hour Dodge City intermission featuring Stewart and Arthur Kennedy really doesn’t fit with the rest of the film. 2) Funny how the Cheyenne never seem to leave Monument Valley, isn’t it? 3) So, wait – the film’s main villain is a German-American Army officer who wants to send the Cheyenne home on a death march because he’s only following “orders?” Is that really what happened, or is this best understood as a reaction to the Eichmann trial? 4) Would it have been possible for Capt. Archer (Richard Widmark) to leave the fort, travel all the way to Washington DC to somehow meet with the Secretary of the Interior (Edward G. Robinson) and then get back in time for the two of them to settle the dispute? 

Rating: Cheyenne Autumn was John Ford’s last Western, and it is well worth a viewing if you’re a fan of his work. The movie features a star-studded cast and some beautiful cinematography, and it tells a true story that needs to be remembered.That said, Cheyenne Autumn has a few problems (see: “Synopsis” and “Really?”), including a protagonist who is largely disconnected from the big picture, and is more of an observer than anything else. 7/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057940/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_24