Showing posts with label Alfred Hitchock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alfred Hitchock. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, The Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane


Phantom Lady
Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison
The Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock
by Christina Lane
Chicago Review Press
Hardcover ISBN: 9781613733844
400 pages
February 2020

AmazonBarnes and NoblePowell's

"Alfred Hitchcock would not have become 'Hitchcock' without her." — Christina Lane

I first learned of Joan Harrison when I saw her name pop up in the title credits for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour television show. I was deep into my binge watch of that series when I noticed that Harrison was replaced by Norman Lloyd as executive producer. It was only when I read Christina Lane's excellent biography Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, The Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock that I learned why Harrison left the show. While Harrison had been fully involved in the original series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, she was less enthused with the new format coupled the pressure to find original stories that would work for the hour long presentation. According to Lane, Harrison "was a woman who liked to be in control." If she didn't feel the work was suited to the best of her abilities or that she could do better elsewhere she removed herself and moved on. This is a woman I needed to learn more about.

Christina Lane's biography offers readers a portrait of a headstrong woman with a passion for both storytelling and the business of movie making. Harrison refused to take the path set for her as a woman. She wanted more and she was determined to get it. Harrison got her start in the business when she answered Alfred Hitchcock's want ad for a personal assistant/secretary. She was a terrific writer, editor and visionary and she quickly rose in ranks to writer and eventually to producer. According to Lane, Harrison "championed women's stories and alternative narrative methods." She believed that films should have complex and dynamic female characters. Highly collaborative, she oversaw continuity of story and vision and had a hand in procuring stories as well as launching writer's careers. Harrison helped groom Jane Greer for her career at RKO (but quickly left when Harrison saw Hughes was bad news) and was instrumental in Robert Mongtomery's career at Universal. She was nominated for two Oscars in the same year, for best adapted screenplay for Rebecca (1940) and best original screenplay for Foreign Correspondent (1940). I admire the fact that Harrison felt strongly against the blacklist and when she transitioned to television work, producing shows like Janet Dean, Registered Nurse and the two Alfred Hitchcock anthology series, she used the opportunity to help blacklisted talent get back to work.




“She was realizing that the women’s angle -- the persistent search for filmic ways to penetrate the mind of a sympathetic female character -- was her greatest motivation.”— Christina Lane

Phantom Lady is an exquisitely written and thoroughly researched biography of an extraordinary woman. Author Christina Lane is an associate professor of film studies at the University of Miami and writer. Lane offers readers tons of interesting information, beautifully crafted sentences and thoughtful observations. There are extensive interviews with surviving members of Lane's circle of friends and colleagues including living legend Norman Lloyd. Films discussed include: Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1940) (lots of information about that darned ending!), Phantom Lady (1944), Nocturne (1946), Ride the Pink Horse (1947), Once More, My Darling (1949), etc. There are plenty of spoilers so if you're not familiar with the film plots you may want to skip ahead a paragraph or two when the synopsis is discussed in the text. There is quite a bit of information about Harrison's love life which may or may not be interesting to the reader. Lane offers juicy tidbits while being careful not to cross over into the territory of salaciousness.

I'm particularly interested in learning more about people behind the scenes of film making, beyond actors and directors. The role a producer is not fully understood or appreciated by many and there was much to learn from here through Harrison's involvement in various projects. Lane does an excellent job deciphering what Harrison's contributions as a screenwriter and producer would have been based on research but also educated guesses where information was lacking.

A truly enlightening and empowering read. Highly recommended!

Thank you to Chicago Review Press for a copy of Phantom Lady for review.



This is my first review for my Summer Reading Challenge.


Saturday, July 14, 2018

Under Capricorn (1949)



When everyone is a convict, who can you trust?

The year is 1831. Convict ships transport prisoners from the British Empire to the penal colony of Australia. They also bring with them gentleman looking to make their fortune in a new land. When Charles Adare (Michael Wilding) arrives in Sydney seeking a business opportunity to make him rich, he meets wealthy landowner and ex-convict Sam Flusky (Joseph Cotten). As the to partner on a business deal, Adare discovers that Flusky's wife, Lady Henrietta (Ingrid Bergman), is his old schoolmate from Ireland. She's in a terrible state and he takes pity on her. The Flusky household is run completely by ex-convicts and the overbearing housekeeper Milly (Margaret Leighton), who has designs on replacing the lady of the house, is slipping alcohol into Henrietta making her dependent on alcohol. When Adare discovers this he tries to save Henrietta and Sam from their sad state of affairs, he gets more than he bargained for. Will the Flusky's dark secret destroy them or will Adare be able to save the day?


"Tomorrow will look after itself."

Under Capricorn (1949) is an unusual entry into Alfred Hitchcock's filmography. The master of suspense opted to work on a costume drama instead of the thrillers he was known for. The story was based on a novel by Helen Simpson which was also a play by John Colton and Margaret Linden. It was adapted for the screen by actor Hume Cronyn (who also adapted Rope) and screenwriter James Bridie. Why did Hitchcock pick this work to direct?  When asked about this in his conversation with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock replied,

 "I had no special admiration for the novel, and I don't think I would have made the picture if it hadn't been for Ingrid Bergman. At the time she was the biggest star in America."

In 1947, Hitchcock and his business partner Sidney Bernstein started Transatlantic Pictures. Their first film Rope (1948) was an experiment in filmmaking. It was Hitchcock's first shot in color and it has become legendary for its long ten minute takes and very little editing. With Under Capricorn, Hitchcock continued the experiment with color and more long shots but it didn't work out as well in this second venture. In conversation with Truffaut about the film, Hitchcock said,

"No doubt about it; films must be cut. As an experiment, Rope may be forgiven, but it was definitely a mistake when I insisted on applying the same techniques to Under Capricorn."

Because of the caliber Bergman brought to the production, Hitchcock felt the need to make Under Capricorn a big production and spent roughly $2.5 million, a lot for the late 1940s, on the movie. Unfortunately, like Rope, Under Capricorn was a box office failure. Both films suffered from scandal. Rope was banned in several markets because of the implied homosexuality and Under Capricorn's star Bergman had an extramarital affair with director Robert Rossellini that effectively put her Hollywood career on hold. After the release of Under Capricorn, the Bankers Trust Company, which had financed the film, repossessed it. The film was not shown again to the public until CBS acquired the rights in 1967. They've owned it ever since.

Under Capricorn is a lesser known Hitchcock film and there is a good reason why. There is no suspense, no thrill, just a lot of melodrama and dialogue. It's easy to make connections to previous Hitchcock films like Rebecca (housekeeper vs. wife), Notorious (poisoning) and Rope (dark secret, experimental filmmaking). But this is not as good as those films. It is worth watching to see how this fits in Hitchcock's filmography and for Bergman's performance. She has a long dramatic retelling of a murder which could have been shown as a flashback but Hitchcock opted instead to give Bergman a monologue so she could shine. After Under Capricorn, Hitchcock realized costume dramas were not for him and he never revisited this genre.




Under Capricorn (1949) is available on Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The BFI and Kino did a 4k restoration and color correction of the movie. This special edition includes the following extras: a commentary track by film historian Kat Ellinger, 12 minute audio clip of Francois Truffaut's interview with Alfred Hitchcock, a 26 minute doc called A Cinema of Signs: Claude Chabrol on Alfred Hitchcock and various trailers. In one part of the Chabrol doc he highlights several scenes in Under Capricorn analyzing composition and symbolism. The Blu-Ray disc also comes with an interchangeable jacket as seen above.


Thank you to Kino Lorber for sending me a copy of the Blu-Ray to review.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Hitchcock by Truffaut


Hitchcock
by François Truffaut
Simon & Schuster
Revised edition 1985
ISBN 9780671604295 - 368 pages
Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Powells

Alfred Hitchcock is considered to be one of the best directors of all time but that wasn't always the case. At the height of his career, many critics saw Hitchcock as a commercial director whose films thrilled audiences with their suspense but weren’t meant to be taken seriously. All that changed when French director François Truffaut drastically altered the narrative of how we discussed Hitchcock’s work and he did so with this book: Hitchcock by Truffaut.

“Hitchcock had been victimized in American intellectual circles because of his facetious response to interviewers and his deliberate practice of deriding their questions.” – Truffaut

Recorded over one week in August 1962, François Truffaut sat with Alfred Hitchcock and interviewed him about his body of work. Because Truffaut and Hitchcock had a language barrier, Helen G. Scott of the French Film office of New York was on hand to help translate. Every single Hitchcock film from his early work in British silent films up until The Birds was dissected, analyzed and debated. Truffaut had intimate knowledge of all of Hitchcock’s films and this shows in how they discuss each one in detail. The reader ultimately benefits from having Truffaut, a celebrated director himself, ask the questions because they come not only from a deep understanding of the film-making process. It took Truffaut four years to transcribe their conversation into 500+ questions and answers that make up this book. His dedication to champion Alfred Hitchcock significantly changed how we view his body of work today.

On Hitchcock... “the most complete film-maker of all. He is not merely an expert at some specific aspect of cinema, but an all-around specialist...” – Truffaut

I had heard about this book before but it wasn't until I watched the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015), which tells the story behind legendary interviews, that I sought out the book in earnest. It had been out-of-print for some time and the documentary's release prompted the publisher to reissue the revised 1985 edition, which includes more content on Hitchcock's films after The Birds.

Still from The Trouble with Harry and chapter opener - Hitchcock by Truffaut

Screen cap sequence from Saboteur with Norman Lloyd and Robert Cummings

The structure of this book makes it pleasantly readable. Each chapter begins with a list of topics discussed within and Truffaut and Hitchcock's conversations are broken up in a simple Q&A format. There are a generous amount of black-and-white photos used expertly to illustrate what's being discussed in the text. These photos include 1/4, 1/2, full page and two-page spreads of behind-the-scenes photos, film sequences, stills and I love that each chapter starts with a photo of the two directors in discussion. Their conversation flowed in a chronological order from Hitchcock's early days in cinema to the present day. Footnote description of movie plots are provided for those unfamiliar with the film. It helps if you know Hitchcock's films well because there are some spoilers. The backmatter includes a full filmography for reference. The revised edition extends the narrative with further conversations between Truffaut and Hitchcock about Hitchcock’s last films and Truffaut’s remembrances of the director in his final years.

“Under the invariably self-possessed and often cynical surface is a deeply vulnerable, sensitive and emotional man who feels with particular intensity the sensations he communicates.” - Truffaut

So what did Truffaut and Hitchcock talk about? Pretty much everything. But they kept it strictly to the movies, personal matters were avoided for the most part. Topics included: circumstances of the film, the preparation, the structure, any directorial problems, Hitchcock’s thoughts on commercial/artist success or failure of said film and more. Hitchcock’s work was his life. Truffaut offers many observations on how the director worked and the influence on film.

 “His assessment of the achievements and the failures was genuinely self-critical, and his account of his doubts, frustrations, and hopes was completely sincere.” – Truffaut

Hitchcock by Truffaut is film school in book form. Never have I read a book so full of enlightening information about the film-making process. I learned so much from both directors on how to build suspense, expert use of the camera as storyteller and how stories are adapted. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

 “Suspense is simply the dramatization of a film’s narrative, or if you will, the most intense presentation possible of dramatic situations.” Truffaut

“A good book does not necessarily make a good film.” – Hitchcock

“The main objective is to arouse the audience’s emotion, and that emotion arises from the way in which the story unfolds, from the way in which sequences are juxtaposed.’ – Hitchcock

“... total plausibility and authenticity merely add up to a documentary.” - Hitchcock  

The art of creating suspense is also the art of involving the audience, so that the viewer is actually a participant in the film.” – Truffaut

“There’s no relation whatever between real time and filmic time.” – Alfred Hitchcock

On the MacGuffin - "The only thing that really matters is that in the picture the plans, documents or secrets must seem to be of vital importance to the characters. To me, the narrator, they’re of no importance whatsoever.” – Alfred Hitchcock

The camera should never anticipate what’s about to follow.” – Truffaut

“I’m very concerned about the authenticity of settings and furnishings. When we can’t shoot in the actual settings, I’m for taking research photographs of everything.” – Hitchcock

This book is chock-full of these kinds of insights. And for Hitchcock fans, myself included, there are lots of behind-the-scenes trivia bits that will delight and inform. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Hitchcock avoided whodunits because all the excitement is at the end. Murder! (1930) is a rare example.
  • Selznick invited Hitchcock to US to make a film about the Titanic but they ended up working on Rebecca (1940)  instead.
  • Best Picture Oscar for Rebecca (1940) went to Selznick not Hitchcock.
  •  Foreign Correspondent (1940) was made as a B picture because thrillers and adventures stories were not taken seriously by Hollywood.
  • In Dial M for Murder (1954), Grace Kelly’s clothing go from very bright colors to more somber ones to match the mood of the film. 
  • The house in Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was a real home chosen for authenticity. The gentleman who owned it was so excited to have his home featured in the film he had it freshly painted. They had to paint it dirty then paint it back.
  • Some plots points in Hitchcock films were inspired by real life criminal cases.
  • Hitchcock hated royal blue skies. This drove him crazy on the set of To Catch a Thief (1955).
  • The United Nations lobby was recreated for North by Northwest (1959) down to the last detail. They were not allowed to shoot in the actual building.
  • Hitchcock filmed Psycho (1960) in black and white because he didn’t want to show red blood on Janet Leigh.

After 1968, people took Hitchcock more seriously and we have director François Truffaut. Hitchcock by Truffaut is an essential book for any film lover's collection and a manual for any future film maker.


This is my fourth review for the 2016 Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge.


Sunday, October 19, 2014

New & Upcoming Classic Film Books (1)

 "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." - Groucho Marx

I've been on a reading frenzy lately and with so many good biographies and film books coming out I don't think I'll ever stop. It's so important for classic film enthusiasts to read and learn. It enriches the experience, develops the palate and informs the mind.

I've put together a list of new and upcoming classic film books. The publication dates range from September 2014 to March 2015 (specific on sale dates are subject to change). All title links lead you to the book's page on Goodreads. I've chosen a variety of books from big publishing houses to scholarly presses to small, indie and vanity publishers. This list contains biographies, reference guides, textbooks and more. Take a look through and maybe you'll find your next read.


edited by Randy Schmidt
Chicago Review Press
480 pages - September 2014


by Lesley L. Coffin
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 
246 pages - September 2014 



by Gene D Phillips
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
204 pages - September 2014


John Wayne's Way: Life Lessons from the Duke
by Douglas Brode
Globe Pequot Press
128 pages - October 2014


A Companion to Fritz Lang
edited by Joseph McElhaney
Wiley-Blackwell
500 pages - October 2014


Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William J. Mann
Harper
384 pages - October 2014


The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians
by James Roots
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
464 pages - October 2014


by Michael Slowick
Columbia University Press
400 pages - October 21st, 2014




by Peter Ackroyd
Nan A. Talese (Penguin Random House)
304 pages - On Sale October 28th, 2014




by John Kisch and Tony Nourmand
Reel Art Press
288 pages - On Sale October 30th, 2014




by William H. Mooney
Rutgers University Press
224 pages - On Sale November 3rd, 2014


by Marc Eliot
Dey Street Books
416 pages - On Sale November 4th, 2014


Hope: Entertainer of the Century
by Richard Zoglin
Simon and Schuster 
576 pages - On Sale November 4th, 2014


by Arthur Laurents
Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
192 pages - On Sale November 4th, 2014



by Ruth Barton
University Press of Kentucky
362 pages - On Sale November 5th, 2014


Early Poverty Row Studios
Images of America Series
by  E. J. Stephens and Marc Wanamaker
Arcadia Publishing
128 pages - On Sale November 10th, 2014


Anxiety Muted: American Film Music in a Suburban Age
by Stanley C. Pelkey and Anthony Bushard
Oxford University Press
320 pages - On Sale November 12th, 2014


 Grace: A Biography
by Thilo Wydra
Skyhorse Publishing
340 pages - On Sale November 18th, 2014


Saul Bass: Anatomy of Film Design
by Jan Christopher Horak
University of Kentuck Press
492 pages - On Sale November 18th, 2014 


edited by Anthony Slide
Columbia University Press
448 pages - On Sale November 25th, 2014


by Tim Snelson 
Rutgers University Press
224 pages - On Sale November 26th, 2014


Columbia Noir: A Complete Filmography, 1940-1962
by Gene Blottner
McFarland & Co
277 pages - On Sale November 30th, 2014



by James L Neibaur
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
228 pages - On Sale December 1st 2014



by Brent Phillips
University Press of Kentucky
368 pages - On Sale December 2nd, 2014



Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic
by Cecilia DeMille Presley and Mark A. Vieira
Foreword by Brett Ratner
Introduction by Martin Scorsese
416 pages - On Sale December 9th, 2014


Color and Empathy: Essays on Two Aspects of Film
by Christine Brinckmann
Amsterdam University Press
282 pages - On Sale December 15th, 2014



edited by Tom Hertweck
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
250 pages - On Sale December 16th, 2014



by Lea Jacobs
University of California Press

280 page - On Sale December 19th, 2014


Buster Keaton's Crew: The Team Behind His Silent Films
by Lisle Foote
McFarland & Co 
300 pages - On Sale December 31st, 2014


The Five Sedgwicks: Pioneer Entertainers of Vaudeville, Film and Television
by Michael Zmuda
McFarland & Co 
277 pages - On Sale December 31st, 2014



by Kristen Hatch
Rutgers University Press
208 pages - On Sale January 2015


Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical
by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo
University Press of Kentucky
640 pages - On Sale January 13th, 2015

 Art Direction and Production Design
edited by Lucy Fischer
Rutgers University Press
272 pages - On Sale January 19th, 2015


Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression and Race in the Classic Hollywood Era
by Ellen C. Scott
Rutgers University Press
288 pages - On Sale January 28th, 2015


A Filmgoer's Guid to In-Jokes, Obscure References and Sly Details
by Matthew Coniam
McFarland & Co
On Sale January 31st, 2015


by Michaelangelo Capua
McFarland & Co
On Sale January 31st, 2015




By Peggy Caravantes
Chicago Review Press 
208 pages (juvenile) - On Sale February 1st, 2015


Follies of God: Tennessee Williams and the Women of the Fog
by  James Grissom
Knopf (Penguin Random House)
416 pages - On Sale March 3rd, 2015


Hitchcock Lost and Found: The Forgotten Films 
by Alain Kerzoncuf and Charles Barr
University Press of Kentucky
248  pages - On Sale March 6th, 2015



by William Wellman Jr.
Pantheon
608 pages - On Sale March 10th, 2015


Lois Weber in Early Hollywood
by Shelley Stamp
University of California Press
401 pages - On Sale March 13th, 2015


Hitchcock a la Carte
by Jan Olsson
Duke University Press
288 pages - On Sale March 20th, 2015


Alfred Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much
by Michael Wood
New Harvest
144 pages - On Sale March 24th, 2015

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