nicholas latkovic

On March 27, I had the honor of attending a screening of The Birds (1963) at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre, part of Turner Classic Movies’ annual “Road to Hollywood” film festival. Original Hitchcock blonde Tippi Hedren was present to introduce the film with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz.

Hedren sat down for a very candid interview beforehand, openly discussing how Hitchcock made her a household name shortly before taking it all away after she refused to oblige the director’s requests for personal affection. Appreciative of what little time they shared professionally before things turned, she reflected, “He may have ended my career, but he didn’t end my life.”

Related:

Tippi Hedren On Alfred Hitchcock Biopic ‘The Girl’: ‘I Worry They Will Not Portray Me As Strong As I Was’. Moviefone. 13 Mar. 2012.

“Trapped in a Phone Booth” at MovieClips.com

Split-screen dissection of the infamous school scene in The Birds

The Birds of Anger: Rovio’s best-selling mobile game, told in the style of Hitchcock’s 1963 classic

“I can’t bear quarreling. I can’t bear feelings between people. I think hatred is wasted energy. And it’s all non-productive. So, I’m very sensitive. A sharp word said by, say, a person who has a temper — if they’re close to me — hurts me for days.”

- Alfred Hitchcock, director

“A Talk with Hitchcock”. Hosted by Fletcher Markle. Telescope. CBC. 1964.

Lawrence Schiller
American, born 1936
“Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock”
Los Angeles, 1962
silver halide chromogenic print
16 x 20 in.
©Orange County Museum of Art; Gift of Heather and James Carona

Top: Henry Bumstead’s production sketch for Madeleine’s bedroom at the McKittrick Hotel.
Bottom: The final scene as it appears in Vertigo (1958).

Interval: 1 year

Vertigo. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Wri. Alec Coppel, Samuel A. Taylor. Perf. James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes. Paramount Pictures, 1958.

“From inside Judy’s room, the whole room is suffused with that green light, filtered through fine-mesh curtains. As Judy emerges from the bathroom, competing her visual transformation into Madeleine, she is bathed in green and shot through a hazy filter that recalls the soft, dreamy lighting of the garden sequence.

Once again, Scottie has withdrawn from reality and into a romantic fantasy. As he kisses Judy/Madeleine, the camera circles dizzyingly — vertiginously, you might say — around them and the whole world bursts into green — green, the color of rebirth, of growth. Everything seems to be complete for Scottie once again — except for a disturbing blue flashback to the Mission. But Scottie shrugs it off and obsessively embraces his Madeleine — even though she’s really Judy. Green floods the frame once again.

At this point, Scottie is more responsible for snuffing out Judy than he is for Madeleine’s death. Indeed, he’s smothered Judy to death with Madeleine.”

- Jim Emerson
Founding Editor-in-Chief, RogerEbert.com

“Hitchcock’s film [Vertigo] is about obsession, which means that it’s about circling back to the same moment, again and again… And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfillment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for — he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession.”

- Martin Scorsese, 2004

Read Jim’s complete analysis here.

View a synopsis of Vertigo’s color symbolism through still frames here.

Sweet-natured Philippe quietly moves through life without experiencing love until he meets Senta, an alluring bridesmaid at his sister’s wedding. After a passionate night, Senta proposes each take the life of a stranger to prove their love. Philippe quickly dismisses this macabre idea, until he comes across an unsolved murder of a homeless man. In jest, he adopts the murder as his and tells Senta he has fulfilled his part of the deal. When Senta unexpectedly presents in detail her own crime, Philippe fears the worst… Directed by Claude Chabrol.