William Kostlevy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377842
- eISBN:
- 9780199777204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377842.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
In 1912, the MCA decided to stop production of the popular Gospel Art Calendar and establish a second community at Bullard, Texas. Never a financial success, the Bullard community would collapse in ...
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In 1912, the MCA decided to stop production of the popular Gospel Art Calendar and establish a second community at Bullard, Texas. Never a financial success, the Bullard community would collapse in 1919. World War I, the influenza epidemic and chronic debt hindered the movement. In 1918, Duke Farson and his sons left the MCA organizing the rival Immanuel Church in Chicago. Remarkable revivals continued especially in the winter of 1919–1920 in Boscobel, Wisconsin. A Shortly before Harvey’s death in 1926, W. S. Hitchcock became president. Under Hitchcock leadership debt reduction replaced evangelism as the moment’s central emphasis. As the MCA retreated in North America dynamic young leaders strengthened and established missions in India, South Africa and Europe.Less
In 1912, the MCA decided to stop production of the popular Gospel Art Calendar and establish a second community at Bullard, Texas. Never a financial success, the Bullard community would collapse in 1919. World War I, the influenza epidemic and chronic debt hindered the movement. In 1918, Duke Farson and his sons left the MCA organizing the rival Immanuel Church in Chicago. Remarkable revivals continued especially in the winter of 1919–1920 in Boscobel, Wisconsin. A Shortly before Harvey’s death in 1926, W. S. Hitchcock became president. Under Hitchcock leadership debt reduction replaced evangelism as the moment’s central emphasis. As the MCA retreated in North America dynamic young leaders strengthened and established missions in India, South Africa and Europe.
Tom Ryall
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719064524
- eISBN:
- 9781781703007
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719064524.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This is a comprehensive critical study of Anthony Asquith. The author sets the director's work in the context of British cinema from the silent period to the 1960s, and examines the artistic and ...
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This is a comprehensive critical study of Anthony Asquith. The author sets the director's work in the context of British cinema from the silent period to the 1960s, and examines the artistic and cultural influences within which his films can be understood. Asquith's silent films were compared favourably to those of his eminent contemporary Alfred Hitchcock, but his career faltered during the 1930s. However, the success of Pygmalion (1938) and French Without Tears (1939), based on plays by George Bernard Shaw and Terence Rattigan respectively, together with his significant contributions to wartime British cinema, re-established him as one of Britain's leading film makers. Asquith's post-war career includes several pictures in collaboration with Rattigan, and the definitive adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1951), but his versatility is demonstrated effectively in a number of modest genre films including The Woman in Question (1950), The Young Lovers (1954) and Orders to Kill (1958).Less
This is a comprehensive critical study of Anthony Asquith. The author sets the director's work in the context of British cinema from the silent period to the 1960s, and examines the artistic and cultural influences within which his films can be understood. Asquith's silent films were compared favourably to those of his eminent contemporary Alfred Hitchcock, but his career faltered during the 1930s. However, the success of Pygmalion (1938) and French Without Tears (1939), based on plays by George Bernard Shaw and Terence Rattigan respectively, together with his significant contributions to wartime British cinema, re-established him as one of Britain's leading film makers. Asquith's post-war career includes several pictures in collaboration with Rattigan, and the definitive adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (1951), but his versatility is demonstrated effectively in a number of modest genre films including The Woman in Question (1950), The Young Lovers (1954) and Orders to Kill (1958).
Gregory Currie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282609
- eISBN:
- 9780191712432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282609.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter provides an example of narration from an ironic point of view: Hitchcock's The Birds. It considers the roles of various devices in the expression of this point of view: the use of point ...
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This chapter provides an example of narration from an ironic point of view: Hitchcock's The Birds. It considers the roles of various devices in the expression of this point of view: the use of point of view shots, sound which is only ambiguously diegetic, careful placement of dialogue and action, and studied absence of explanatory material. From there an attack is launched on some of the ways in which this film has been interpreted, especially those ways that require us to attribute some symbolic significance to the birds. The chapter articulates a version of the view that the behaviour of the birds is related in informative ways to the psychological states of the characters, but concludes that the proposal does not work. A reflection is offered on the place of The Birds in the tradition of British horror narratives, with a brief discussion of relations to the work of M. R. James. It is suggested that Hitchcock and James exemplify an anti‐theoretical tendency in this tradition. The chapter concludes with speculation on the distinct cognitive profiles of scientific and supernatural ideas.Less
This chapter provides an example of narration from an ironic point of view: Hitchcock's The Birds. It considers the roles of various devices in the expression of this point of view: the use of point of view shots, sound which is only ambiguously diegetic, careful placement of dialogue and action, and studied absence of explanatory material. From there an attack is launched on some of the ways in which this film has been interpreted, especially those ways that require us to attribute some symbolic significance to the birds. The chapter articulates a version of the view that the behaviour of the birds is related in informative ways to the psychological states of the characters, but concludes that the proposal does not work. A reflection is offered on the place of The Birds in the tradition of British horror narratives, with a brief discussion of relations to the work of M. R. James. It is suggested that Hitchcock and James exemplify an anti‐theoretical tendency in this tradition. The chapter concludes with speculation on the distinct cognitive profiles of scientific and supernatural ideas.
Peter Buse, Núria Triana Toribio, and Andy Willis
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719071362
- eISBN:
- 9781781700952
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719071362.003.0038
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter provides a synoptic view on the contributions of Álex de la Inglesia, a unique filmmaker. Jordi Sánchez Navarro, in Freaks en acción notes that de la Iglesia's films address an audience ...
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This chapter provides a synoptic view on the contributions of Álex de la Inglesia, a unique filmmaker. Jordi Sánchez Navarro, in Freaks en acción notes that de la Iglesia's films address an audience fluent in television, superhero comics, the costumbrista humour of Bruguera's comic strips, the sense of adventure of Tintin, the cinema of genres, Hitchcock and Star Wars. De la Iglesia's two projects immediately after Crimen Ferpecto – the television movie La habitación del niño and the feature-length Oxford Crimes – appear to illustrate the bifurcation in the director's work. Oxford Crimes is a literary adaptation based on the novel The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martínez, and is to be filmed in English with a British cast. It is a thriller, and is therefore firmly rooted in a popular genre.Less
This chapter provides a synoptic view on the contributions of Álex de la Inglesia, a unique filmmaker. Jordi Sánchez Navarro, in Freaks en acción notes that de la Iglesia's films address an audience fluent in television, superhero comics, the costumbrista humour of Bruguera's comic strips, the sense of adventure of Tintin, the cinema of genres, Hitchcock and Star Wars. De la Iglesia's two projects immediately after Crimen Ferpecto – the television movie La habitación del niño and the feature-length Oxford Crimes – appear to illustrate the bifurcation in the director's work. Oxford Crimes is a literary adaptation based on the novel The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martínez, and is to be filmed in English with a British cast. It is a thriller, and is therefore firmly rooted in a popular genre.
Ian Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325369
- eISBN:
- 9781800342286
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325369.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter looks at Alfred Hitchcock's last finished film, Family Plot (1976). Family Plot is an amusing light-hearted mystery which saw the Master return to sunnier climes (Northern California). ...
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This chapter looks at Alfred Hitchcock's last finished film, Family Plot (1976). Family Plot is an amusing light-hearted mystery which saw the Master return to sunnier climes (Northern California). But the notion that Hitchcock was mellowing is a false one. The last film he worked on, abandoned due to his failing health, was to be The Short Night. Based on the story of the escaped spy George Blake, starring Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, or Walter Matthau playing opposite Liv Ullmann or Catherine Deneuve and set in London and Finland, the script was to be written by Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter of North by Northwest (1959). However, Lehman left the project over Hitchcock's desire to include a graphic rape scene. This is history repeating itself, as a similar row about sexual violence had led The Birds (1963) screenwriter Evan Hunter to walk out on Marnie (1964).Less
This chapter looks at Alfred Hitchcock's last finished film, Family Plot (1976). Family Plot is an amusing light-hearted mystery which saw the Master return to sunnier climes (Northern California). But the notion that Hitchcock was mellowing is a false one. The last film he worked on, abandoned due to his failing health, was to be The Short Night. Based on the story of the escaped spy George Blake, starring Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, or Walter Matthau playing opposite Liv Ullmann or Catherine Deneuve and set in London and Finland, the script was to be written by Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter of North by Northwest (1959). However, Lehman left the project over Hitchcock's desire to include a graphic rape scene. This is history repeating itself, as a similar row about sexual violence had led The Birds (1963) screenwriter Evan Hunter to walk out on Marnie (1964).
Diane Negra
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781800859302
- eISBN:
- 9781800852402
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781800859302.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book redresses the deficit of sustained critical attention paid to Shadow of a Doubt even in the large corpus of Hitchcock scholarship. Analyzing the film’s narrative system, issues of genre, ...
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This book redresses the deficit of sustained critical attention paid to Shadow of a Doubt even in the large corpus of Hitchcock scholarship. Analyzing the film’s narrative system, issues of genre, authorship and social history, knowledge and epistemology, homesickness and “family values,” it shows how impeccable narrative structure is wedded to radical ideological content. In a related way it illustrates how the film’s terrors have to do with the punishing effects of looking beyond conventional family and gender roles. Finally it understands Shadow as an unconventionally female-centered Hitchcock text and a milestone film not only because it marks the director’s emergent engagement with the pathologies of violence in American life but because it opens a window into the placement of femininity in World War II consensus culture and more broadly into the politics of mid-century gender and family life.Less
This book redresses the deficit of sustained critical attention paid to Shadow of a Doubt even in the large corpus of Hitchcock scholarship. Analyzing the film’s narrative system, issues of genre, authorship and social history, knowledge and epistemology, homesickness and “family values,” it shows how impeccable narrative structure is wedded to radical ideological content. In a related way it illustrates how the film’s terrors have to do with the punishing effects of looking beyond conventional family and gender roles. Finally it understands Shadow as an unconventionally female-centered Hitchcock text and a milestone film not only because it marks the director’s emergent engagement with the pathologies of violence in American life but because it opens a window into the placement of femininity in World War II consensus culture and more broadly into the politics of mid-century gender and family life.
Barbara Straumann
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748636464
- eISBN:
- 9780748651894
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748636464.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This comparative study of Alfred Hitchcock and Vladimir Nabokov makes an important contribution to cultural analysis by opening up the work of two canonical authors to issues of exile and migration. ...
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This comparative study of Alfred Hitchcock and Vladimir Nabokov makes an important contribution to cultural analysis by opening up the work of two canonical authors to issues of exile and migration. Questions about the contingencies of history and the rupture of the real are hardly ever brought to bear on their highly self-reflexive texts. This book counters this critical gap by reading real-life exile as the ‘absent cause’ of Alfred Hitchcock’s and Vladimir Nabokov’s brilliant virtuosity. Its ‘cross-mapping’ of the two seemingly disparate authors takes as its point of departure the conditions of exile in which they found themselves, and goes on to show how the relentless playfulness of their language and irony points to the creation of a new home in the world of signs. The book’s close reading of selected films and literary texts focuses on Speak, Memory, Lolita, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Suspicion, North by Northwest and Shadow of a Doubt, exploring the connections between language, imagination and exile.Less
This comparative study of Alfred Hitchcock and Vladimir Nabokov makes an important contribution to cultural analysis by opening up the work of two canonical authors to issues of exile and migration. Questions about the contingencies of history and the rupture of the real are hardly ever brought to bear on their highly self-reflexive texts. This book counters this critical gap by reading real-life exile as the ‘absent cause’ of Alfred Hitchcock’s and Vladimir Nabokov’s brilliant virtuosity. Its ‘cross-mapping’ of the two seemingly disparate authors takes as its point of departure the conditions of exile in which they found themselves, and goes on to show how the relentless playfulness of their language and irony points to the creation of a new home in the world of signs. The book’s close reading of selected films and literary texts focuses on Speak, Memory, Lolita, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Suspicion, North by Northwest and Shadow of a Doubt, exploring the connections between language, imagination and exile.
Ian Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325369
- eISBN:
- 9781800342286
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325369.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines the making of Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). Hitchcock called the writer Anthony Shaffer on New Year's Eve of 1970 to ask him to write the screenplay for Frenzy. Shaffer ...
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This chapter examines the making of Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). Hitchcock called the writer Anthony Shaffer on New Year's Eve of 1970 to ask him to write the screenplay for Frenzy. Shaffer seems to have got on well with Hitchcock; so well in fact that they planned future collaborations, although the director's failing health would prevent this. The director's first choice for the role of Bob Rusk was Michael Caine, who had a strong resemblance to Neville Heath. However, Caine found the script ‘disgusting’, so Hitchcock settled on Barry Foster. The other actors cast in the film include Jon Finch, Vivian Merchant, and Billie Whitelaw. Meanwhile, the plot recycles a number of Hitchcock themes and motifs, but the events follow Arthur La Bern's novel closely. Some of the digressions in the novel are either left out or cut-down and the bitter misanthropy has been replaced by a slightly less bitter kind of black comedy.Less
This chapter examines the making of Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). Hitchcock called the writer Anthony Shaffer on New Year's Eve of 1970 to ask him to write the screenplay for Frenzy. Shaffer seems to have got on well with Hitchcock; so well in fact that they planned future collaborations, although the director's failing health would prevent this. The director's first choice for the role of Bob Rusk was Michael Caine, who had a strong resemblance to Neville Heath. However, Caine found the script ‘disgusting’, so Hitchcock settled on Barry Foster. The other actors cast in the film include Jon Finch, Vivian Merchant, and Billie Whitelaw. Meanwhile, the plot recycles a number of Hitchcock themes and motifs, but the events follow Arthur La Bern's novel closely. Some of the digressions in the novel are either left out or cut-down and the bitter misanthropy has been replaced by a slightly less bitter kind of black comedy.
Ian Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325369
- eISBN:
- 9781800342286
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325369.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Frenzy (1972) was Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, and arguably one of his most misunderstood and neglected. Whereas even Psycho (1960) did eventually become respectable — indeed, it is a good ...
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Frenzy (1972) was Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, and arguably one of his most misunderstood and neglected. Whereas even Psycho (1960) did eventually become respectable — indeed, it is a good contender for the most admired of the Master's films — Frenzy still remains problematic for many. While Raymond De Foery makes his feelings clear in the title of his book, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece, Hitchcock's controversial biographer Donald Spoto calls the film ‘repulsive’ and ‘a closed and coldly negative vision of human possibility’. Frenzy is perhaps Hitchcock's most nakedly autobiographical film, representing both a comeback and farewell to the city of his birth. But it started out as a very different kind of project. This book discusses the evolution of the film, its production, reception, and place in Hitchcock's oeuvre, as well as its status as a key film of ‘sleazy Seventies’ British cinema.Less
Frenzy (1972) was Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, and arguably one of his most misunderstood and neglected. Whereas even Psycho (1960) did eventually become respectable — indeed, it is a good contender for the most admired of the Master's films — Frenzy still remains problematic for many. While Raymond De Foery makes his feelings clear in the title of his book, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece, Hitchcock's controversial biographer Donald Spoto calls the film ‘repulsive’ and ‘a closed and coldly negative vision of human possibility’. Frenzy is perhaps Hitchcock's most nakedly autobiographical film, representing both a comeback and farewell to the city of his birth. But it started out as a very different kind of project. This book discusses the evolution of the film, its production, reception, and place in Hitchcock's oeuvre, as well as its status as a key film of ‘sleazy Seventies’ British cinema.
Kiri Bloom Walden
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781800348370
- eISBN:
- 9781800850965
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781800348370.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Reviled on it’s release, Peeping Tom all-but ended the career of celebrated director Michael Powell. The story of a murderous cameraman and his compulsion to record his killings, Powell’s film ...
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Reviled on it’s release, Peeping Tom all-but ended the career of celebrated director Michael Powell. The story of a murderous cameraman and his compulsion to record his killings, Powell’s film stunned the same critics who had acclaimed him for work he had made with Emeric Pressburger (as ‘The Archers’) in the years before. Luckily Peeping Tom was rediscovered and saved, largely due to the efforts of Martin Scorsese, and it is now considered a masterpiece of the Horror genre. In this Devil’s Advocate, published in the wake of the film’s 60th Anniversary, Kiri Bloom Walden charts the origins, production, and devastating critical reception of Peeping Tom, comparing it to another key film released in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The author has interviewed people close to Powell to gain new insight into how he approached making the films and reacted to the way it was initially rejected.Less
Reviled on it’s release, Peeping Tom all-but ended the career of celebrated director Michael Powell. The story of a murderous cameraman and his compulsion to record his killings, Powell’s film stunned the same critics who had acclaimed him for work he had made with Emeric Pressburger (as ‘The Archers’) in the years before. Luckily Peeping Tom was rediscovered and saved, largely due to the efforts of Martin Scorsese, and it is now considered a masterpiece of the Horror genre. In this Devil’s Advocate, published in the wake of the film’s 60th Anniversary, Kiri Bloom Walden charts the origins, production, and devastating critical reception of Peeping Tom, comparing it to another key film released in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The author has interviewed people close to Powell to gain new insight into how he approached making the films and reacted to the way it was initially rejected.
Ian Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325369
- eISBN:
- 9781800342286
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325369.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter provides a background of Alfred Hitchcock, whose remarkable achievements as a film-maker may be unmatched. As well as the numerous accolades, a number of Hitchcock films have proved ...
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This chapter provides a background of Alfred Hitchcock, whose remarkable achievements as a film-maker may be unmatched. As well as the numerous accolades, a number of Hitchcock films have proved unusually influential. Consider the chase thrillers such as The 39 Steps (1935) and North by Northwest (1959), the claustrophobic chamber pieces Rope (1948) and Rear Window (1954), the hallucinogenic romance of Vertigo (1958), the American Gothic of Psycho (1960), and the apocalyptic science fiction of The Birds (1963). While Hitchcock's status as one of the great film artists is unassailable and his reputation increases, there have always been dissenters. Traditionally, the case against Hitchcock is that he is little more than a popular entertainer, an observation he did little to counter, what with his use of genre and big stars as well as his eager adoption of the role of clownish showman. This book focuses on Hitchcock's penultimate film Frenzy (1972).Less
This chapter provides a background of Alfred Hitchcock, whose remarkable achievements as a film-maker may be unmatched. As well as the numerous accolades, a number of Hitchcock films have proved unusually influential. Consider the chase thrillers such as The 39 Steps (1935) and North by Northwest (1959), the claustrophobic chamber pieces Rope (1948) and Rear Window (1954), the hallucinogenic romance of Vertigo (1958), the American Gothic of Psycho (1960), and the apocalyptic science fiction of The Birds (1963). While Hitchcock's status as one of the great film artists is unassailable and his reputation increases, there have always been dissenters. Traditionally, the case against Hitchcock is that he is little more than a popular entertainer, an observation he did little to counter, what with his use of genre and big stars as well as his eager adoption of the role of clownish showman. This book focuses on Hitchcock's penultimate film Frenzy (1972).
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard ...
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The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard four-letter words as well as a few five-letter words like tramp and six-letter words like cripes. They also scrubbed ‘excessively lustful’ kissing from the screen, and ensured that no criminal went unpunished. Censors demanded an average of twenty changes, ranging from trivial to mind-boggling, on each of Alfred Hitchcock’s films during his most productive years. No production escaped these changes, which rarely improved the finished film. Code reviewers dictated the ending of’ Rebecca, shortened the shower scene in’ Psycho, absolved Cary Grant of guilt in’ Suspicion, edited Cole Porter’s lyrics in’ Stage Fright, and decided which shades should be drawn in’ Rear Window. Nevertheless, Hitchcock still managed to push the boundaries of sex and violence permitted in films by charming (and occasionally tricking) the censors and by swapping off bits of dialogue, plot points, and individual shots (some of which had been deliberately inserted as trading chips) to protect cherished scenes and images. The director’s priorities in dealing with the censors highlight both his theories of suspense and the single-mindedness of Code officials. Hitchcock and the Censors’ traces the forces that led to the Production Code and describes Hitchcock’s interactions with Code officials on a film-by-film basis as he fought to protect his creations, bargaining with Code reviewers and sidestepping censorship to produce a lifetime of memorable films.Less
The Motion Picture Production Code controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the US from 1934 to 1968. Code officials protected sensitive ears from the standard four-letter words as well as a few five-letter words like tramp and six-letter words like cripes. They also scrubbed ‘excessively lustful’ kissing from the screen, and ensured that no criminal went unpunished. Censors demanded an average of twenty changes, ranging from trivial to mind-boggling, on each of Alfred Hitchcock’s films during his most productive years. No production escaped these changes, which rarely improved the finished film. Code reviewers dictated the ending of’ Rebecca, shortened the shower scene in’ Psycho, absolved Cary Grant of guilt in’ Suspicion, edited Cole Porter’s lyrics in’ Stage Fright, and decided which shades should be drawn in’ Rear Window. Nevertheless, Hitchcock still managed to push the boundaries of sex and violence permitted in films by charming (and occasionally tricking) the censors and by swapping off bits of dialogue, plot points, and individual shots (some of which had been deliberately inserted as trading chips) to protect cherished scenes and images. The director’s priorities in dealing with the censors highlight both his theories of suspense and the single-mindedness of Code officials. Hitchcock and the Censors’ traces the forces that led to the Production Code and describes Hitchcock’s interactions with Code officials on a film-by-film basis as he fought to protect his creations, bargaining with Code reviewers and sidestepping censorship to produce a lifetime of memorable films.
Steven Rawle and K. J. Donnelly (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719095863
- eISBN:
- 9781526121066
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719095863.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
For a decade from 1955, Alfred Hitchcock worked almost exclusively with one composer: Bernard Herrmann. From The Trouble with Harry to the bitter spat surrounding Torn Curtain, the partnership gave ...
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For a decade from 1955, Alfred Hitchcock worked almost exclusively with one composer: Bernard Herrmann. From The Trouble with Harry to the bitter spat surrounding Torn Curtain, the partnership gave us some of cinema’s most memorable musical moments, taught us to stay out of the shower, away from heights and never to spend time in corn fields. Consequently, fascination with their work and relationship endures fifty years later. This volume of new, spellbinding essays explores their tense working relationship as well as their legacy, from crashing cymbals to the sound of The Birds.
The volume brings together new work and new perspectives on the relationship between Hitchcock and Herrmann. Featuring new essays by leading scholars of Hitchcock’s work, including Richard Allen, Charles Barr, Murray Pomerance, Sidney Gottlieb, and Jack Sullivan, the volume examines the working relationship between the pair and the contribution that Herrmann’s work brings to Hitchcock’s idiom. Examining key works, including The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho, Marnie and Vertigo, the collection explores approaches to sound, music, collaborative authorship and the distinctive contribution that Herrmann’s work with Hitchcock brought to this body of films.
Partners in Suspense examines the significance, meanings, histories and enduring legacies of one of film history’s most important partnerships. By engaging with the collaborative work of Hitchcock and Herrmann, the essays in the collection examine the ways in which film directors and composers collaborate, how this collaboration is experienced in the film text, and the ways such a partnership inspires later work.Less
For a decade from 1955, Alfred Hitchcock worked almost exclusively with one composer: Bernard Herrmann. From The Trouble with Harry to the bitter spat surrounding Torn Curtain, the partnership gave us some of cinema’s most memorable musical moments, taught us to stay out of the shower, away from heights and never to spend time in corn fields. Consequently, fascination with their work and relationship endures fifty years later. This volume of new, spellbinding essays explores their tense working relationship as well as their legacy, from crashing cymbals to the sound of The Birds.
The volume brings together new work and new perspectives on the relationship between Hitchcock and Herrmann. Featuring new essays by leading scholars of Hitchcock’s work, including Richard Allen, Charles Barr, Murray Pomerance, Sidney Gottlieb, and Jack Sullivan, the volume examines the working relationship between the pair and the contribution that Herrmann’s work brings to Hitchcock’s idiom. Examining key works, including The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho, Marnie and Vertigo, the collection explores approaches to sound, music, collaborative authorship and the distinctive contribution that Herrmann’s work with Hitchcock brought to this body of films.
Partners in Suspense examines the significance, meanings, histories and enduring legacies of one of film history’s most important partnerships. By engaging with the collaborative work of Hitchcock and Herrmann, the essays in the collection examine the ways in which film directors and composers collaborate, how this collaboration is experienced in the film text, and the ways such a partnership inspires later work.
Bernard Berofsky
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640010
- eISBN:
- 9780191738197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640010.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind
The critiques of the regularity theory by Fred Dretske, Michael Tooley, and D. M. Armstrong are shown to fail. A categorization of “accidental generalizations” is offered. The failures of the best ...
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The critiques of the regularity theory by Fred Dretske, Michael Tooley, and D. M. Armstrong are shown to fail. A categorization of “accidental generalizations” is offered. The failures of the best system analysis version of the regularity theory, for example, the failure to define simplicity and the failure to produce a measure to weigh the gain in simplicity against the loss of information strength, are cited. Various principles for distinguishing laws from accidental generalizations without invoking necessity are offered. Use is made of James Woodward and Christopher Hitchcock’s approach to explanation in terms of invariant generalizations. A charge of circularity resulting from the use of counterfactuals is rebutted by introducing the theory of counterfactuals of Eric Hiddleston. Results are summarized in the form of a systematicity analysis of three principles designed to distinguish laws from accidental generalizations.Less
The critiques of the regularity theory by Fred Dretske, Michael Tooley, and D. M. Armstrong are shown to fail. A categorization of “accidental generalizations” is offered. The failures of the best system analysis version of the regularity theory, for example, the failure to define simplicity and the failure to produce a measure to weigh the gain in simplicity against the loss of information strength, are cited. Various principles for distinguishing laws from accidental generalizations without invoking necessity are offered. Use is made of James Woodward and Christopher Hitchcock’s approach to explanation in terms of invariant generalizations. A charge of circularity resulting from the use of counterfactuals is rebutted by introducing the theory of counterfactuals of Eric Hiddleston. Results are summarized in the form of a systematicity analysis of three principles designed to distinguish laws from accidental generalizations.
Walter Raubicheck and Walter Srebnick
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036484
- eISBN:
- 9780252093517
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036484.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book explores the collaborative process between Alfred Hitchcock and the screenwriters he hired to write the scripts for three of his greatest films: Psycho, The Birds, and Marnie. Drawing from ...
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This book explores the collaborative process between Alfred Hitchcock and the screenwriters he hired to write the scripts for three of his greatest films: Psycho, The Birds, and Marnie. Drawing from extensive interviews with the screenwriters and other film technicians who worked for Hitchcock, this book illustrates how much of the filmmaking process took place not on the set or in front of the camera, but in the adaptation of the sources, the mutual creation of plot and characters by the director and the writers, and the various revisions of the written texts of the films. Hitchcock allowed his writers a great deal of creative freedom, which resulted in dynamic screenplays that expanded traditional narrative and defied earlier conventions. Critically examining the question of authorship in film, the book argues that Hitchcock did establish visual and narrative priorities for his writers, but his role in the writing process was that of an editor. While the writers and their contributions have generally been underappreciated, this book reveals that all the dialogue and much of the narrative structure of the films were the work of screenwriters Jay Presson Allen, Joseph Stefano, and Evan Hunter. The writers also shaped American cultural themes into material specifically for actors such as Janet Leigh, Tippi Hedren, and Tony Perkins. This book gives due credit to those writers who gave narrative form to Hitchcock's filmic vision.Less
This book explores the collaborative process between Alfred Hitchcock and the screenwriters he hired to write the scripts for three of his greatest films: Psycho, The Birds, and Marnie. Drawing from extensive interviews with the screenwriters and other film technicians who worked for Hitchcock, this book illustrates how much of the filmmaking process took place not on the set or in front of the camera, but in the adaptation of the sources, the mutual creation of plot and characters by the director and the writers, and the various revisions of the written texts of the films. Hitchcock allowed his writers a great deal of creative freedom, which resulted in dynamic screenplays that expanded traditional narrative and defied earlier conventions. Critically examining the question of authorship in film, the book argues that Hitchcock did establish visual and narrative priorities for his writers, but his role in the writing process was that of an editor. While the writers and their contributions have generally been underappreciated, this book reveals that all the dialogue and much of the narrative structure of the films were the work of screenwriters Jay Presson Allen, Joseph Stefano, and Evan Hunter. The writers also shaped American cultural themes into material specifically for actors such as Janet Leigh, Tippi Hedren, and Tony Perkins. This book gives due credit to those writers who gave narrative form to Hitchcock's filmic vision.
Barry Forshaw
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906733650
- eISBN:
- 9781800342071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906733650.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with ...
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This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with his keepsakes of bones and human skin. He transmuted elements of the Gein case into the phenomenally successful Psycho (published 1959), reconfiguring the real-life Gein as the chubby, unprepossessing mother's boy Norman Bates, who dispatches a variety of victims in gruesome fashion. Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel (1960) laid down the parameters for a variety of genres: the serial killer movie, the slasher film, and the modern big-budget horror film which utilises above-the-title stars rather than the journeyman actors who had populated such fare previously. But above all else, Hitchcock and his talented screenwriter Joseph Stefano created a template for the intelligent, richly developed, and charismatic fictional serial killer in their version of Norman Bates. Hitchcock's film was to influence a generation of film-makers and writers; among them Thomas Harris.Less
This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with his keepsakes of bones and human skin. He transmuted elements of the Gein case into the phenomenally successful Psycho (published 1959), reconfiguring the real-life Gein as the chubby, unprepossessing mother's boy Norman Bates, who dispatches a variety of victims in gruesome fashion. Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel (1960) laid down the parameters for a variety of genres: the serial killer movie, the slasher film, and the modern big-budget horror film which utilises above-the-title stars rather than the journeyman actors who had populated such fare previously. But above all else, Hitchcock and his talented screenwriter Joseph Stefano created a template for the intelligent, richly developed, and charismatic fictional serial killer in their version of Norman Bates. Hitchcock's film was to influence a generation of film-makers and writers; among them Thomas Harris.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter describes the interactions between Hitchcock and David O. Selznick when the director came to America to work for Selznick International. The two men were a mismatched pair, Selznick ...
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This chapter describes the interactions between Hitchcock and David O. Selznick when the director came to America to work for Selznick International. The two men were a mismatched pair, Selznick flamboyant and Hitchcock withdrawn, but they were united in their love of movies. Hitchcock resented Selznick’s memo-writing interference and welcomed his loan-outs to other studios, but Selznick gave the director his ticket to America and the financial support and star access he needed to make first-rate films. Subsequent chapters examine the impacts of censorship on each of the ten films Hitchcock made while under contract to Selznick.Less
This chapter describes the interactions between Hitchcock and David O. Selznick when the director came to America to work for Selznick International. The two men were a mismatched pair, Selznick flamboyant and Hitchcock withdrawn, but they were united in their love of movies. Hitchcock resented Selznick’s memo-writing interference and welcomed his loan-outs to other studios, but Selznick gave the director his ticket to America and the financial support and star access he needed to make first-rate films. Subsequent chapters examine the impacts of censorship on each of the ten films Hitchcock made while under contract to Selznick.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0012
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines the impact of external forces on the film Hitchcock often claimed to be his personal favorite. The Production Code office found little fault with the tale of a serial killer ...
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This chapter examines the impact of external forces on the film Hitchcock often claimed to be his personal favorite. The Production Code office found little fault with the tale of a serial killer returning to his small-town roots. The War Production Board, by putting a limit of $5,000 on construction costs using new materials in Hollywood pictures, forced Hitchcock and screenwriter Thornton Wilder to shoot much of the film on location in Santa Rosa, California, adding greatly to the small-town feel of the film.Less
This chapter examines the impact of external forces on the film Hitchcock often claimed to be his personal favorite. The Production Code office found little fault with the tale of a serial killer returning to his small-town roots. The War Production Board, by putting a limit of $5,000 on construction costs using new materials in Hollywood pictures, forced Hitchcock and screenwriter Thornton Wilder to shoot much of the film on location in Santa Rosa, California, adding greatly to the small-town feel of the film.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0017
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter traces the origins of Hitchcock’s own production company, Transatlantic Pictures, which he formed with his friend Sidney Bernstein. The director made two films for Transatlantic, Rope ...
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This chapter traces the origins of Hitchcock’s own production company, Transatlantic Pictures, which he formed with his friend Sidney Bernstein. The director made two films for Transatlantic, Rope and Under Capricorn. The failure of the latter film led to the downfall of the company itself.Less
This chapter traces the origins of Hitchcock’s own production company, Transatlantic Pictures, which he formed with his friend Sidney Bernstein. The director made two films for Transatlantic, Rope and Under Capricorn. The failure of the latter film led to the downfall of the company itself.
John Billheimer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813177427
- eISBN:
- 9780813177441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177427.003.0020
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter describes the relationship between Hitchcock and Jack L. Warner. Warner Bros. had agreed to serve as a distributor for pictures made by Transatlantic films with the proviso that ...
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This chapter describes the relationship between Hitchcock and Jack L. Warner. Warner Bros. had agreed to serve as a distributor for pictures made by Transatlantic films with the proviso that Hitchcock direct one Warner’s film for each Transatlantic film. When Transatlantic floundered, Jack L. Warner restructured the deal so that Hitchcock would direct four films for Warner Bros., receiving $3,000 a week as his own producer and points on those films that turned a profit. The deal worked out well for Hitchcock, earning him roughly $250,000 per film, a considerable increase over the $50,000 Selznick had paid him for Rebecca and making him one of the best-paid directors in Hollywood. Subsequent chapters discuss the impacts of censorship on each of the four films Hitchcock made for Warner Bros.Less
This chapter describes the relationship between Hitchcock and Jack L. Warner. Warner Bros. had agreed to serve as a distributor for pictures made by Transatlantic films with the proviso that Hitchcock direct one Warner’s film for each Transatlantic film. When Transatlantic floundered, Jack L. Warner restructured the deal so that Hitchcock would direct four films for Warner Bros., receiving $3,000 a week as his own producer and points on those films that turned a profit. The deal worked out well for Hitchcock, earning him roughly $250,000 per film, a considerable increase over the $50,000 Selznick had paid him for Rebecca and making him one of the best-paid directors in Hollywood. Subsequent chapters discuss the impacts of censorship on each of the four films Hitchcock made for Warner Bros.
