Jessica Reed

Wilson
English 102-D13
WA 4
December 8, 2008
The Master of Suspense

Alfred Hitchcock was born to middle-class parents in London, England, fittingly on

Friday the thirteenth of August 1899. When he was twenty-one, he took a job at Paramount

Studios in London as a writer and illustrator of silent-movie title cards, which led to work as an

art director and finally to a position as a director. He acquired the honorary title “Master of

Suspense” while working on a radio adaptation of his film The Lodger for RKO in 1940.

Hitchcock married his assistant, film editor Alma Reville, with whom he collaborated on all his

work. The couple, along with their daughter Patricia, moved to the United States in 1939, where

they lived for the rest of their lives. Rebecca, Hitchcock's first American-made film, won the

1940 Academy Award for Best Picture. Hitchcock then worked a brief stint at Warner Brothers,

followed by a run at Paramount, which produced Vertigo. His last film for Paramount was

Psycho, in 1960. He then moved to Universal, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Hitchcock also made a venture into American television with his series Alfred Hitchcock

Presents, which ran from 1955 to 1962 before being reformatted as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,

which ran for another three years. Hitchcock died at home in California on April 29, 1980, while

working on his fifty-fourth film (Spark Notes).

Rear Window is a film about a photographer who broke his leg on assignment. He is

confined to a wheelchair in his apartment, where he lives alone. To pass the time, Jeff spies on

his neighbors across the garden. He claims it as simply a hobby, while his nurse, Stella, and his

girlfriend, Lisa, insist that he stops. That is until Jeff suspects one of the neighbors has

committed a murder. The women are suddenly interested in Jeff’s “hobby” and even grab a pair

of binoculars. Everyone becomes a detective while they try to figure out if this man is guilty of

killing his own wife.

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In Vertigo, John Ferguson’s condition of acrophobia requires him to retire from his job as

a detective. That is until an old college friend gets in contact with him and asks for a favor. The

college friend suspects that his wife has been possessed by her great grandmother who went mad

and committed suicide. The friend asks John to follow his wife to ensure that she doesn’t meet

the same demise as her great grandmother. Despite his best efforts, Madeleine takes her own life.

Then in a strange twist of events, John runs into a woman whom he finds to be very familiar.

When asked in an interview on a show called “Monitor” if he was ever tempted to make a

horror film, which would be different from any Hitchcock film entirely, Hitchcock replied

bluntly: “No, that’s too easy. I believe in putting horror in the mind of the audience, not on the

screen” (Monitor). Through intriguing music, discrete symbolism, ambiguous clues,

groundbreaking innovations, and mind-blowing twists, Hitchcock creates eerie and mysterious

movies that keep the audience guessing until the very end.

“I don’t think Mozart’s going to help at all,” said Midge, in Vertigo. In Vertigo, Madeleine

practically had her own score, as did Judy. The two are eerily similar, as well. The core that plays

when Madeleine “falls” into the San Francisco Bay, is ghostly similar to the core that plays when

Judy “falls” out of the tower at the end. In scenes where Jeff is longing for Madeleine after her

“death,” the music is lonely and hollow. In “Hitchcock’s Music” by Jack Sullivan, it is pointed

out that: “The love theme appears first in an introductory motif as Scottie (John) sees Madeleine

in Ernie’s, the full melody has not emerged, yet this prelude has a melancholy eroticism that tells

us Scottie (John) is already smitten” (Sullivan). The music here suggests a crush even before the

two speak. In some cases, the music takes over for the script, replaces it in some ways. In the

scene where Judy is being made up to look like Madeleine, Sullivan calls the score “One of the

most sustained and passionate interactions between music and imagery in any movie” (Sullivan).

Once the music is introduced in this scene, dialogue vanishes, being replaced with harps and

violins. The music conveys what dialogue cannot. The music shows us how anxious John is

while waiting in Judy’s hotel room for the transformation to be complete. The music shows us
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how anxious Judy is about possibly reveling to Jeff how she is the Madeleine he had known all

along. Sullivan describes the climax of the scene as “ten minutes of trembling lyricism rising in a

crescendo of longing, an erotic spasm unlike anything in cinema” (Sullivan). The music is the

main source of the build up, and the release of emotions that Hitchcock wishes to invoke in the

audience instead of telling us how the characters feel, he shows us with music. He lets our minds

subconsciously make the conclusion of how the characters are feeling in those exact moments. In

Rear Window, music is used in a very different way. The songwriter plays a very important role;

he unknowingly plays the soundtrack for the whole neighborhood. It seems his songs always fit

with what is going on. Lisa notes that it’s like her was playing that love song for their romantic

dinner. He has impeccable timing for someone who doesn’t know what is going on outside his

four walls. The songwriter provides a sound track for Ms. Torso’s dance, and for Ms. Lonely

Heart’s depression. The songwriter inadvertently saves Ms. Lonely Heart’s life. The music he

plays seems to have healing powers, and Ms. Lonely Heart explains that to him at the end: “Your

music has helped me more than you know.”

Hitchcock’s mentality of “putting the horror in the audience’s mind” has lead to many

subconscious clues as to what is actually happening in his movies. In an interview, Hitchcock

says, “(Americans) want everything spelled out exactly. They worry about content. I don’t care

about content at all. The film can be about anything you want, as long as I make the audience

react in a certain way” (Monitor). Hitchcock’s films may not be for the casual viewer, but for

people who prefer to try and solve a puzzle as it’s pieces are laid out before them. Most

Americans wish to zone out during a movie, and just let the story be told. Hitchcock’s films

require a little more brainpower than that. It’s almost as if the viewer is right along with the

detectives and the spies, trying to figure out the mystery with them. The viewer feels like they

are helping solve the crime, rather than having it simply explained to them. In Rear Window, it’s

left up to the viewer as to whether or not the man was guilty. The viewer is forced to choose

sides. It’s intuition versus logic, and for once intuition proved itself. In Vertigo the mystery is is
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much more difficult to solve. It would practically be impossible to catch the very subtle clues

throughout the beginning of the movie. The twist is so magnificent that it can hardly be

predicted. You think you know, but you have no idea.

Every Hitchcock movie has a twist. Some are plot altering, while others just throw you

for a complete loop. Hitchcock says: “Ones challenged by the audience. They are saying to me,

‘Show us,’ and ‘I know what is coming next,’ and I say, ‘Do you’” (Monitor)? Any fan of

Hitchcock knows that he could convince you to question your own mother. A good piece of

advice about any of Hitchcock’s films would be to question everyone and everything to the bitter

end. He has this way of getting ones mind on one track, only to hit one like a train coming from

another. The twist in Rear Window comes when you think everyone has given up. Detective

Doyle has thrown down his trump card, and washed his hands of the situation. He seems to have

proven every theory wrong, and stomped on any more that might come along. Then they hear a

single shriek and hope is restored in an instant. Almost everyone in the neighborhood pokes their

heads out of their constantly open windows to discover that a couple’s nosey dog has been killed.

This is direct evidence that someone in the neighborhood is capable of killing an innocent

creature, therefore more than capable of killing a nagging wife. In Vertigo, the twist comes as

more of a shock, because it is very likely that even the master puzzle solvers could not have

matched these pieces up. Only the second or third time watching could reveal the few clues

hidden in the first two thirds of the movie. Hitchcock had many tricks up his sleeves in order to

create such mind-blowing twists.

Hitchcock made groundbreaking advances for cinema on the whole. An article by

Stephen Saito of Premiere.com says, “Hitchcock innovated the way sec could be used in cinema,

even if there was very little of it going on in his films. The sexual tension of his films inspired

other filmmakers to explore the subject of non-explicitly during an era when conformity often

reigned supreme” (Saito). Hitchcock had a suave way of incorporating sex into his movies when

the subject was still slightly taboo. In the opening scene of Vertigo, Midge is drawing an
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“innovative brazier” and John asks about it nonchalant. Also in Vertigo, the sexual tension is sky

high between Madeleine and John, even though she is a married woman. Although it is hardly

mentioned, Midge and John were in a past relationship, and it’s obvious Midge still has feelings

for him. In Rear Window, Lisa brings over a night case, and invites herself to spend the night.

Jeff says that he only has one bed, and there are sexual references throughout the rest of the

scene. The honeymooners are rarely seen and their blinds are drawn throughout the entire movie.

We only briefly see the new husband in the window to light a cigarette, and he is promptly called

back to bed by the misses. The honeymooners provide a dual purpose in this movie: to provide a

comic relief not only to the audience, but to Jeff as well; and they serve s a constant reminder to

Jeff of how much Lisa wants to marry him. The movie begins with Jeff arguing with his nurse,

Stella, about how he doesn’t want to marry Lisa because she’s not his “scene.” Stella says that

he’s being crazy, and that she is prefect for him. Every time Jeff looks over at the honeymooners,

he looks over at the bachelor pad of the songwriter, making comparisons. In the end, the

songwriter ends up with Ms. Lonely Heart, and one can only infer that the same fate was made

for Lisa and Jeff.

Hitchcock also made advances in cinematic effects. Hitchcock invented the now famous

simultaneous use of forward zoom and reverse tracing shot used in Vertigo. The shot gives the

viewer the feeling John got when he would have had his dizzy spells. The effect put the audience

inside of the characters mind, and the shot is often recreated in other cinematic productions to

create similar effects. In the opening credits of Vertigo, Hitchcock uses close ups of shifty eyes,

color alterations, and eerie music to set the tone. He also uses psychedelic graphics and vivid

colors to get the audience focused in on details. Rear Window also used various camera effects to

help tell the story, and to help put the audience in the mindset of the film. The whole movie is

shot from Jeff’s apartment, and most of the action takes place on the other side of the courtyard.

Jeff uses binoculars as well as his telephoto lens to keep an eye on all that was going on in that

infamous neighborhood.
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Along with cinematic elements to make his films suspenseful and thematic, color plays a

big role. Color helps create the atmosphere, the setting, and the tone of the film. Colors also

become identified with characters. “Judy first appears dressed in green, and when (after much

persuasion) she dresses herself as Madeleine, she is illuminated by a green neon sign” (Fraser

and Banks 96). Hitchcock uses color to subconsciously make these connections. Without saying

anything, he has conveyed a major part of the story. This comes from his early works on silent

films. Hitchcock’s opinion on talkies, “The only thing wrong with the silent picture was that

mouths opened and no sound came out. Unfortunately, when talk came in, the vulgarians -- the

moneychangers of the industry – immediately commenced to cash in by photographing stage

plays. So, that took the whole thing away from cinema completely. It bears no relation to the art

of the cinema, and the point is that the power of the cinema, in its purest form, is so vast because

it can go over the whole world” (Monitor). Hitchcock feels that cinemas, whether played in

Tokyo or New York, should give the same effect. No other medium can accomplish that. Books

have to be translated, and plays have different actors. The movie should be capable of being

translated all around the world with the same effect. No matter what language you speak, colors

are translated the same. The idea of movies being seen all over the word with the same effect

played a big part in Hitchcock’s works. Not only color, but also music and visual effects invoke

the same responses to whoever is watching, wherever they are watching, whenever they are

watching.

Hitchcock’s films are entertaining on many levels: the suspense, the mystery, the horror,

and the comedy. Hitchcock mixes horror and comedy in a way only a true genius could. He

knows the things that people would generally find funny, and avoids them. Hitchcock is anything

but predictable. In a television interview Hitchcock explains, “There is a fine line between

tragedy and comedy. Slipping on a banana skin is very painful” (The Dick Cavett Show).

Hitchcock is basically making fun of slapstick comedy, and saying that it’s not funny at all.

Hitchcock uses “smart comedy” rather than cheap laughs. If he were to try and use something
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similar to slapstick, it would ruin the mood and completely take the horror out of the mind of the

viewer. There is a certain way to make the audience laugh without taking them out of the scene,

and that would be through the use of puns. Puns are slight enough that you still remember what

is going on, but if you’re quick enough, you’ll get a good chuckle. Hitchcock even believes,

“Puns are the highest form of literature” (The Dick Cavett Show). He uses puns because they are

subtle yet effective. They are just silly enough to be funny, yet without the obviousness of

slapstick.

Alfred Hitchcock made some of the most influential movies of all time. His style inspired

filmmakers and movie audiences alike. Hitchcock’s innovative way of thinking made him the

most unique director of all time. In a lot of movies made today, you can see influences of

Hitchcock. He is essentially a legacy; he will never die. The spirit of Hitchcock lives on.

Whether today’s directors pay close attention to their music choice, use thought inspiring

cinematic effects or colors, or just take the extra time to really think about the joke, they are

keeping him alive. Vertigo and Rear Window are two classic examples of everything a Hitchcock

film should be. There isn’t a single element of these films that don’t scream Hitchcock. The

discrete symbolism, ambiguous clues and mind-blowing twists could only point to one man. The

legend. The inspiration. The innovator. The Master of Suspense.

Works Cited

"Alfred Hitchcock." Spark Notes. 3 Dec. 2008

<http://www.sparknotes.com/film/vertigo/context.html>.
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Fraser, Tom, and Adam Banks. Designer's Color Manual. New York: Chronicle Books LLC,

2004.

Rear Window. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart. DVD. 1954.

Saito, Stephen. "10 Directors Who Changed Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock." Premiere. 3 Dec. 2008

<http://www.premiere.com/directors/3628/10-directors-who-changed-cinema-alfred-

hitchcock.html>.

Sullivan, Jack. "'Hitchcock's Music' Scores Big on Suspense." Npr. 10 Feb. 2007. 3 Dec. 2008

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=7268315>.

Vertigo. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart. DVD. 1958.

Wheldon, Huw. "Monitor." Monitor. BBC. 5 June 1964. YouTube. 11 Aug. 2007. Google. 3 Dec.

2008 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvu64l758c>.