ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #1. Last nights movie was To Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly♥️. “Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by its efficiency”...one of dozens of great CG’s quotes from TCAT...So this was my first Hitch flick and it was so awesome it kinda left me in shock. The dialogue, the photography, the locations, the characters, it was all so incredible. And can we talk about the costume design in this movie? It was done by Edith Head and its remarkable. I think CG wears the coolest clothes I’ve ever seen. And when Grace Kelly enters the screen I almost passed out. What a fox! And Brigitte Auber♥️? I almost passed out again. This movie was lighter and more whimsical than I expected but there was a simmering suspense all throughout. The car chase scene on the curvy mountain road is truly thrilling. And the music by Lyn Murray plays a massive part in making this one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. 5 knives for To Catch a Thief🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 . We’re off to a great start with Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster! Tonight’s movie will be Rear Window. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #2. Last nights movie was Rear Window starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly♥️. After seeing this I found that To Catch a Thief felt like a Mozart sonata. Melodic, colorful, and easy listening. Comparatively, Rear Window felt like a late era Beethoven sonata. Darker and dronier (I looked it up, that is a word). More attention to form with minor foreshadowing that doesn’t pay off until much later. This movie was about Stewart being confined to his New York apartment for many weeks due to his broken leg. He passes the time observing his neighbor’s lives through his window. He has a firecracker nurse named Stella who cares for him and abrasively counsels him on life and women. “Wives don’t nag anymore, they discuss”. He also has a super rich and smoking hot girlfriend (Kelly) whom he is resistant to. (What’s the deal with these guys turning down Grace Kelly?!). Anyway, when Stewart is watching his neighbors across the way he witnesses what looks like a murder and (with the enlistment of Stella and GK) tries to solve it. Many elements in this movie are truly incredible. My favorite being much of the soundtrack provided by the piano player in one of the apartments. The dialogue is truly great and the storytelling is awesome. I am resisting the urge to go on and on about this...5 knives for Rear Window🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #3. Last nights movie was The Man Who Knew Too Much starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The opening credits set over the live orchestra with music of Bernard Herrmann was so cool it got me pumped for this flick. And the culmination in the final act with the orchestra playing the music of Arthur Benjamin was truly beautiful. And I loved the silent movie treatment in that scene. However the rest of the movie was not what I had hoped. 1st of all, Stewart and Day’s son Hank played by Christopher Olsen was annoying and the combination with the flowery Doris Day made this movie feel too Disney like. The fact that he gets kidnapped and the parental anguish that follows was too upsetting. I hate when bad things happen to kids (even if the kid is annoying). Compared to Rear Window (HFWBD#2) the dialogue doesn’t even come close to making the characters as interesting. I found myself wishing I was watching the original 1934 version (also by Hitchcock)...is it better? I’ve never seen it. Que sera sera. 3 Knives for The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be Vertigo. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #4. Last nights movie was Vertigo starring James Stewart and Kim Novak. 1st off I would like to congratulate Kim Novak on becoming my new Celebrity Girlfriend! I see a tragic, yet passionate future for us. So this movie was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The shock scene when we learn about Stewart’s fear of heights...”I look up, I look down”...scared the living daylights out of me. And the moment when they suddenly fill the screen with the Golden Gate Bridge...stunning!! And then there’s the part where we meet Novak . It’s a long (20 minutes?) scene with no dialogue where we follow Novak going around town in her incredible green 1957 Jaguar is enhanced by the truly amazing music of Bernard Herrmann. The sets and locations in this are beautiful and photographed so well that I’ll be shopping for prints. James Stewart brings his “A” game with such intensity that he must’ve been exhausted for months after shooting this. And the dark tragic love story made me cry to the point where Mrs. Disaster had to find me balled up in the corner of the room. There are so many amazing details in this movie that I considered doing a 2 part review. Perhaps at a later date. By the way, Another shout out to the costume design of Edith Head. 5 Knives for Vertigo🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be Spellbound. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #5. Last nights movie was Spellbound starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. I got really REALLY high before watching this movie. And therefore all I could think about during the 1st half was #1...Ingrid Bergman is a total bad ass. She’s elegant and forceful at the same time. #2...If I looked like Gregory Peck, Mrs. Disaster would be all over me day and night.That dude was handsome!..BUT THEN...The trippy Salvador Dali scene kicks in and I ended up watching the rest of it standing up 8 inches away from the TV. Wow. Things got intense in the 2nd half. The music by Miklós Rózsa is the 3rd starring role in this flick. The dark dissonance brings it over the top. Amazing. I did have a small issue with Bergman and Peck’s chemistry. It wasn’t any fault of Bergman’s as she gave it her all. However Peck seemed confined to having to be somewhat flat perhaps due to his character’s mental issues. Maybe he was high. Unlike me...(I was just kidding. I didn’t get high before this movie. I don’t do that anymore). 4 Knives for Spellbound🔪🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be North by Northwest. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #6. Last nights movie was North by Northwest starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. Like many times in these Hitchcock flicks, the star in NxNW is the photography. Stand outs in this are the opening credit shot of the windows of the skyscraper, the overview shot from the top of the UN building. (Actually a model but stunning nonetheless) as well as the interior of the building. The list goes on. Is this the most visually stunning of Hitchcock’s movies? It is for me 6 movies in. The other things I loved about this one were the action sequences (the drunk driving, the crop duster, Mt Rushmore). I also really loved the villains, particularly the evil charm of James Mason. And then there is Eva Marie Saint. She is intensely beautiful and dangerously flirty. However her performance doesn’t come close to Ingrid Bergman or Grace Kelly in the other Hitch flicks I’ve seen so far in this series. But the great story and the ever burning suspense made this a really fun watch. Grading on a curve, North by Northwest gets 4 Knives🔪🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be Rope. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #7. Last nights movie was Rope starring James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger. The opening scene where Brandon (Dall) and Philip (Granger) murder their friend David in their apartment and hide him in a chest was like a Beatles song that starts with the chorus. (Hard Days Night). And the scene never ends. This movie plays as if it’s one act with one ongoing camera shot. (I read that it’s actually 10 shots cleverly edited together). Why did they murder David? For the experience of doing so as Brandon feels that some people are inferior. (Because David was a Harvard undergrad). Philip however is filled with guilt and remorse. Even so, to accentuate the experience, they throw a party with the body still in the chest! One of the guests (Stewart) is overly inquisitive by nature and becomes suspicious as Davis was supposed to be a guest and doesn’t show up. This was my favorite performance that I’ve seen of James Stewart. The stage play treatment in this movie gives Stewart to” the opportunity to shine. The fact that a movie made in 1948 featured a gay couple must’ve been somewhat controversial. I loved this movie. The suspense was ever present, The deviousness of Brandon, the odd piano piece, and the amazing James Stewart gives Rope 5 Knives🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 . Tonight’s movie will be Psycho. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #8. Last nights movie was Psycho starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. This movie scared the shit outta me. From the opening credits featuring the incredible music of Bernard Herrmann until the very last minute, I think I held my breath the whole time. The tension really began when Leigh decided to steal the $40,000 and never let up. In fact, it grew to unbelievable heights. The next level of suspense was the genius scene of her drive to the Bates Motel. The darkness and the rain. The conversations in her head. Her facial expressions. The NEXT level was her conversation with Norman in the parlor. The glimpse of madness was legitimately disturbing. The shower scene had me hiding my eyes. The real star of that scene is the music. Everyone knows the screeching strings during the murder but it’s the slow dirgy music that leads up to it is such great acting on its own. The fact that Hitch took such care in the cleanup scene really showed that this movie means business. I understand that Psycho was inspired by the horrible true story of Ed Gein (subject matter of Slayer’s “Dead Skin Mask”). The serial killer that was also disturbingly obsessed with his mother. That it’s not even as disturbing as the true story is even creepier. Every aspect of this movie was amazing and effective. 5 Knives for Psycho🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪. Tonight’s movie will be Strangers on a Train. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #9. Last nights movie was Strangers on a Train starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker. This flick features another diabolical murderer that can pass as a normal person in society. Is there anything more frightening? Bruno is not as deep as Norman but he’s still complex. He’s also deviously charming. The party scene where he converses with the wives about how they would kill someone (hypothetically) puts this evil charm on display and Robert Walker plays it beautifully. The vulnerable Granger is well cast as the innocent victim being framed by Bruno. My other favorite character was Senator Morton who gives a great lesson of how to be a patriarchal gentleman. The climactic carousel scene is one of the best action sequences I’ve ever seen eclipsed only by the car chase scene in QT’s Death proof. I read that the old man actually did crawl under the out of control carousel. Amazing. This movie did lack the depth and clever dialogue of most of the other Hitch movies I’ve seen, but it was still awesome. 4 Knives for Stranglers on a Train🔪🔪🔪🔪. Tonight’s movie will be Dial M for Murder. ♥️You

Hitchcock Flicks With Billy Disaster #10. Last nights movie was Dial M for Murder starring The awesome Ray Milland, The Smoking Hot Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, and John Williams. I would make Grace Kelly my Celebrity Girlfriend (especially in that red dress with the lace), but she’s way out of my league. I don’t even care about her performance in this (which is fine), she just dominates the screen in her scenes. But the real standout is Ray Milland. His performance of his character is so great. He reminds me of Ricky Gervais with his cunning smile while being dead serious. He plays an amazing sensible maniac. You really have to pay close attention to the story to properly follow along the thread of the key. Thank god for John Williams for walking us through the complications. A couple of scenes to mention...Milland’s conversation with the car salesman (Anthony Dawson) is reminiscent of the parlor scene in Psycho. And then, when Milland takes him through the plan to murder GK, Hitch switches to a view from above like he’s showing us the plan on a map. Brilliant. And the murder scene is so tense I needed to remind myself to breathe. I did have an issue with the music. While it was appropriate for the suspenseful moments, it was too cheerful at times and seemed out of place. Nevertheless this was still a great story and a great movie. 4 Knives for Dial M for Murder. Tonight’s movie (The Birds) Will be the final installment of Hitchcock Flicks with Billy Disaster. And will only be available on my new website! billydisaster.com. This has been a really great series and I appreciate all of you. I’ve learned so much! You all get 5 Knives🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 . I hope you’ll join me next week for 80s Flicks with Billy Disaster!