1. Rear Window
2. North By Northwest
3. Vertigo
4. Psycho
5. Rope
1. Psycho
2. Strangers on a Train
3. North By Northwest
4. Rear Window
5. Vertigo
No idea why, but I’ve never been one for North by Northwest. (I going to re-watch the film again this weekend.)
1. NOTORIOUS
2. SHADOW OF A DOUBT
3. VERTIGO
4. THE 39 STEPS
5. REAR WINDOW
1. Vertigo
2. Psycho
3. Rope
4. Rear Window
5. Spellbound
I know my 3rd and 5th pick are flawed but I just love them so much.
1. Vertigo
2. Notorious
3. Psycho
4. Strangers on a Train
5. Frenzy (I’m probably gonna get persecuted on this one)
hmm … frenzy, rope, lifeboat, the birds, dial m for murder
1. Lady Vanishes – Never believe what you see (Redgrave/Dame Whitty – The master at work)
2. Rebecca – Never believe the maid of your husband’s first wife (The greatest version of du Maurier’s greatest suspense)
3. Spellbound – Never look down a skyhill (Peck, Bergman, and Dali – what more do you want?)
4. Read Window – Never watch the neighbours (Stewart/Kelly/Burr – magical)
5. Vertigo – Never fall for blondes (Stewart/Novak and the revolving images at the beginning)
Runners-up: Rope, Notorious, Psycho, The Birds
“north by northwest” is a perfect film. its flawless. one of the crown jewels of filmmaking.
Awe, I love me some Hitchcock~ a few of his films i can watch at anytime, any day, if they are on tv , I usually will stop what ever I’m doing and watch it.
THE BIRDS
VERTIGO
REAR WINDOW
THE LADY VANISHES
MARNIE
North By Northwest
Rear Window
The Birds
Strangers on a Train
Vertigo
Vertigo
Psycho
North by Northwest
Strangers on a Train
Notorious
Vertigo – fave scene: in the hotel room, Judy dressed up as Madeleine, the past collapsing onto the present in the colors of the background.
Rear Window – fave scene: Thelma Ritter crunching a slice of toast, suggesting ways in which Raymond Burr’s character killed his wife.
Psycho – fave scene: Norman and Marion talking about “the hole” under the gaze of the stuffed birds.
Strangers on a Train – fave scene: Bruno not watching the tennis match.
The Birds – fave scene: the very last shot; car driving away, the birds taking over the house.
Psycho
Vertigo
Notorious
Marnie
Rebecca
Marnie Edgar: “You don’t love me. I’m just something you’ve caught! You think I’m some sort of animal you’ve trapped!”
My list would probably change day-to-day, but as of THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT it’s:
Psycho
The Birds
Vertigo
Rear Window
Dial “M” For Murder
Marnie (his most under appreciated)
The Birds
North By Northwest
Rear Window
Strangers on a Train
Those come to mind first, but I pretty much love all his work.
Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) to niece Charlie (Teresa Wright) after the shadows of doubt have started creeping in: “You think you know something, don’t you? You think you’re the clever little girl who knows something. There’s so much you don’t know . . . so much. What do you know really? You’re just an ordinary little girl living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there’s nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day and at night you sleep your untroubled, ordinary little sleep filled with peaceful, stupid dreams . . . and I brought you nightmares.” Great stuff. Recommended.
The Birds
Psycho
Notorious
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
Vertigo
Rear Window
Rope
Psycho
North by Northwest
As interesting as they are, neither Strangers on a Train nor Rope will ever win any awards from the anti-gay defamation league.
Vertigo, Psycho and Rope the top three. Then it can comes Frenzy, Dial m for murder, Rear Window, Marnie…
I feel like the list couldn’t really be anything but…
North by Northwest
Notorious
Psycho
Rear Window
Vertigo
The three that come closest to matching that pack of flawless films…
Rebecca
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
North by Northwest
Vertigo
Marnie
Rear Window
The 39 Steps
(+Notorious)
Marnie is certainly underappreciated, makes an interesting comparison with Vertigo, there’s real anguish and emotion as well as phobia and obsession, Connery both protective and predatory, (rather like Stewart in Vertigo), interesting colour schemes, a female friend with element of jealousy, and lots of psychological and identity issues
1. Psycho
2. Notorious
3. Rear Window
4. Strangers on a Train
5. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1. Psycho
2. Rear Window
3. Rope
4. The Lady Vanishes
5. North by Northwest
Vertigo
Rear Window
Psycho
To Catch A Thief
The 39 Steps/The Lady Vanishes – tie
Vertigo
Psycho
Shadow of a Doubt
Rear Window
The Birds
1. North by Northwest
2. Rear Window
3. Rebecca
4. Vertigo
5. To Catch a Thief
To Catch a Thief might not be as big a masterpiece as, say, Psycho, but I just really enjoy it for some reason.
It is interesting how many people put North by Northwest as one of their favourites. I just saw this again, and have always thought it a poor Hitchcock because of so many obvious loopholes in the plot. How can anyone buy into the fact that Cary Grant is being mistaken for a fictional agent who doesn’t even exist? The whole scene with Grant being filmed lifting the knife out of the back of the man who has been killed – why would he lift the knife out in the first place??? – and then being on the run is ludicrous. Supposedly, someone just happened to be there to photograph this and it is on the front page of every newspaper (!), and all Grant’s character has to do is put on a pair of sunglasses and no one recognizes him – come on! I could go on and on.
I think you can only think of this movie as a complete farce, in which case it doesn’t work as a suspense drama. Only the racy (for the time) dialogue between Grant and Eva Marie Saint makes this any more than the most mediocre of Hitchcock films – among his very weakest efforts. The iconic scene with the crop duster dive-bombing Grant is absurd in context, because it is a crazy way to kill someone left on the side of the road – set up by supposed friendly agent Saint. The ending at Mt. Rushmore just heightens the absurdity. Unless you are voting for this one as a black comedy, then I can’t see how anyone could put this amongst Hitchcock’s 5 best.
Willam
Rope
Vertigo
Strangers on a Train
Rear Window
The 39 Steps