Bernard Herrmann

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

December 2, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 1 Comment

“I have gone through such a time, and more, and survived. I traveled in a world that once was—Hollywood of the war and immediate postwar years. And I existed in a world that never is—the prison of the mind. If what I have learned from these experiences can be summed up in one sentence, it would be this: life is not a movie. But I do not make that point in a sad or regretful way. I can only wonder, if my life had been a movie, would a director have cast Gene Tierney to play the part? The bitter with the sweet makes for a better part.” —Gene Tierney — “I have gone through such a time, and more, and survived. I traveled in a world that once was—Hollywood of the war and immediate postwar years. And I existed in a world that never is—the prison of the mind. If what I have learned from these experiences can be summed up in one sentence, it would be this: life is not a movie. But I do not make that point in a sad or regretful way. I can only wonder, if my life had been a movie, would a director have cast Gene Tierney to play the part? The bitter with the sweet makes for a better part.”
—Gene Tierney

Friday Photos: There Ought To Be a Law

June 12, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 7 Comments

“There ought to be a law against any man who doesn't want to marry Myrna Loy.” —Jimmy Stewart — “There ought to be a law against any man who doesn’t want to marry Myrna Loy.”
—Jimmy Stewart

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1960s: Psycho

June 27, 2013 by Robert J. Avrech 15 Comments

Norman Bates peeping at Marion Crane, Psycho, 1960. — Manipulating audience point of view. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) spying on Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), *Psycho*, 1960.

We begin our survey our survey of the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1960s.

For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s, click here.

For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1940s, click here.

For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1930s click here.

For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1920s click here.

1. Psycho, 1960

At first glance Psycho looks like a cheap exploitation film. Hitchcock shot it with a television crew, not his standard, and very costly, feature crew. He filmed in black and white, and the $800,000, budget was low even by the standards of 1960. The Bates Motel and gothic style mansion were built on the back lot at Universal.

Hitch had just finished the hugely entertaining and successful North by Northwest, a glittering, all-star production. Psycho, on the other hand, looks like a sleazy production with B-list actors. Even the ad campaign—“Do not give away the ending”—feels like something cooked up by William Castle or some other schlockmeister.

But of course, Psycho has become the essential Hitchcock movie. It’s the film whose impact has been felt in almost every subsequent mainstream Hollywood movie.

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s: The Man Who Knew Too Much

March 28, 2013 by Robert J. Avrech 14 Comments

Alfred Hitchcock and Doris Day on location for The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956.

We continue our survey of the twenty greatest movies of the 1950s.

For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1940s, click here.

For a listing of the greatest movies of the 20s and 30s click here.

16. The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956

In François Truffaut’s 1967 ground-breaking interview with Alfred Hitchcock, on Hitch’s remake of his own 1934 production of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hitchcock stated: “Let’s say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional.”

The original version races along at 75 minutes, a breathless pace. The film is completely dominated by Peter Lorre’s performance as the charming but creepy antagonist. In spite of the deadly serious plot, the 1934 version is leavened with lighter, almost comical moments, which, for some viewers, seem at odds with the general tone of the film. The British film stars Leslie Banks and Edna Best, and though they are competent performers, they fail to register onscreen as protagonists with whom an audience can easily identify.