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Themes and plot devices in Hitchcock films

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277:. On the contrary, Hitchcock had many strong female characters within his movies, career women, who often triumphed over men and subverted sexual stereotypes. One view suggests that Hitchcock’s films enacted “rituals of defilement” of women that evoked his fear of women and unconsciously defended against that fear by punishing and even killing them. However murder of both women and men is typical of the genre of horror or psychological thrillers, with Hitchcock bearing the brunt of scrutiny from being a trailblazer in this novel trend in cinema. 1430: 271:. The director said that blondes were "a symbol of the heroine." He also thought they photographed better in black and white, the predominant film for most dramas for many years. Although there is a commonly held view that Hitchcock treated women poorly, there is little evidence of this beyond the examples given by Tippi Hedren in 137:(Simon and Schuster, 1967). Hitchcock used this plot device extensively. Many of his suspense films use this device: a detail that, by inciting curiosity and desire, drives the plot and motivates the characters' actions within the story. However, the specific identity of the item is unimportant to the plot. 41:
Hitchcock preferred the use of suspense over the use of surprise in his films. Surprisingly, the director assaults the viewer with frightening things. In suspense, the director tells or shows the audience things that the characters in the film do not know and then artfully builds tension around what
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variety: perfect, aloof ice goddesses with a hidden red-hot inner fire. Hitchcock said he used blonde actresses in his films, not because of an attraction to them but because of a tradition that began with silent star
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Further blurring the moral distinction between the innocent and the guilty, occasionally making this indictment inescapably clear to viewers one and all, Hitchcock also makes voyeurs of his "respectable" audience. In
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Hitchcock found several ways to convey sexuality without depicting graphic behaviors, such as the substitution of explicit sexual passion with the passionate consumption of food. In a particularly amusing scene in
69:) confronts Jeffries by saying, "What do you want of me?" Burr might as well have been addressing the audience. Shortly before asking this, Thorwald turns to face the camera directly for the first time. 42:
will happen when the characters finally learn the truth. Hitchcock often used public places as scenes to heighten terror and suspense. Hitchcock was fond of illustrating this point with a short
1264: 676: 202:) while one of his hands strokes a dead animal and the other hand lingers on his crotch. Sexual feelings are often strongly associated with violent behavior. In 262:
Hitchcock had a dramatic preference for blonde women, stating that the audience would be more suspicious of a brunette. Many of these blondes were of the
536: 671: 484: 248:. Biographers have noted how Hitchcock continued to challenge film censorship throughout his career until he was allowed to show nudity in 1459: 1244: 1353: 1258: 636: 425: 1360: 1315: 661: 46:– "There's two people having breakfast and there's a bomb under the table. If it explodes, that's a surprise. But if it doesn't..." 1322: 295: 1085: 864: 723: 203: 142: 180:
behaviors. Sometimes, the modest conventions of his era caused him to convey sexuality in an emblematic fashion, such as in
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One of Hitchcock's favorite devices for driving the plots of his stories and creating suspense was what he called the "
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State secrets of various kinds serve as MacGuffins in several of the spy films, especially his earlier British films
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begins with the camera moving toward a hotel-room window, through which the audience is introduced to Marion Crane (
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For their time, Hitchcock's films were regarded as rather sexualized, often dealing with
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Metacinema: the form and content of filmic reference and reflexivity
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Hitchcock himself defined the term in a 1962 interview conducted by
90:, and Marion is supposed to be on her lunch hour. Later, along with 614: 599:, New York, Methuen, 1988, Third Edition, New York, Routledge, 2016 173: 43: 36: 808: 122:, however, credits Hitchcock's friend, the Scottish screenwriter 1157: 250: 597:
The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Criticism
177: 563:"Hitchcock's 'Frenzy' Only Grows More Disturbing with Time" 98:), the audience watches Marion undress through a peephole. 485:"Murder and Queer Commentary Brew in Strangers on a Train" 19:'s films show an interesting tendency towards recurring 354:"Hitchcock, Truffaut, and the Irresponsible Audience" 86:. They are partially undressed, having seemingly had 238:
and Hitchcock himself analogized specific scenes in
454:(1987). "The Way We Weren't: The Invisible Years". 537:"'Actors are cattle': when Hitchcock met Truffaut" 82:) and her divorced boyfriend Sam Loomis played by 456:The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies 164:, which was referred to as "Government secrets". 1446: 198:) carries on a conversation with Marion Crane ( 630: 1354:Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies 637: 623: 126:, as being the true inventor of the term. 1361:Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho 1316:German Concentration Camps Factual Survey 534: 397: 61:(1954), after L. B. Jeffries (played by 508: 482: 423: 319: 1447: 560: 351: 724:The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog 618: 450: 293: 49: 1374:Remakes of films by Alfred Hitchcock 644: 424:Crislip, Anthony (25 January 2022). 1323:Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 27:throughout his life as a director. 13: 1460:Cinematic styles of film directors 332:10.1093/oso/9780190095345.003.0002 14: 1471: 509:Krinsky, Randy (9 January 2022). 1429: 1428: 535:Jeffries, Stuart (12 May 2015). 589: 580: 561:Taylor, Andrew (18 June 2022). 554: 257: 528: 502: 476: 444: 417: 391: 345: 313: 287: 1: 483:Gittell, Noah (5 July 2023). 280: 1330:Alfred Hitchcock's Anthology 611:, Amsterdam University Press 167: 101: 7: 398:Truffaut, François (1985). 352:Braudy, Leo (1 July 1968). 30: 10: 1476: 586:Patrick McGilligan, pg. 82 105: 34: 1424: 1403: 1274: 1260:Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1240:Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1231: 1180: 1086:The Man Who Knew Too Much 923: 865:The Man Who Knew Too Much 782: 697: 690: 652: 143:The Man Who Knew Too Much 119:Oxford English Dictionary 1416:Pat Hitchcock (daughter) 1221:The Fighting Generation 667:Themes and plot devices 320:LaRocca, David (2021). 228:, while some have read 1341:Transatlantic Pictures 1078:The Trouble with Harry 607:Michael Walker, 2005, 402:. Simon and Schuster. 1189:Always Tell Your Wife 942:Foreign Correspondent 489:Washington City Paper 236:fetishistic voyeurism 1309:Lord Camber's Ladies 1252:Incident at a Corner 1038:Strangers on a Train 950:Mr. & Mrs. Smith 801:Juno and the Paycock 458:(Revised ed.). 225:Strangers on a Train 1411:Alma Reville (wife) 1336:Three Investigators 857:Waltzes from Vienna 708:The Pleasure Garden 662:Unproduced projects 1387:Hitchcock/Truffaut 1110:North by Northwest 897:Young and Innocent 716:The Mountain Eagle 609:Hitchcock's Motifs 400:Hitchcock/Truffaut 294:Hellerman, Jason. 216:is evoked in both 183:North by Northwest 161:North By Northwest 135:Hitchcock/Truffaut 50:Audience as voyeur 1442: 1441: 1205:Aventure Malgache 1197:An Elastic Affair 1176: 1175: 1054:Dial M for Murder 1006:The Paradine Case 974:Shadow of a Doubt 905:The Lady Vanishes 748:The Farmer's Wife 677:Awards and honors 155:The Lady Vanishes 131:François Truffaut 1467: 1455:Alfred Hitchcock 1432: 1431: 1070:To Catch a Thief 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Retrieved 566: 556: 544:. Retrieved 541:The Guardian 540: 530: 518:. Retrieved 514: 504: 492:. Retrieved 488: 478: 455: 446: 434:. Retrieved 432:. Slash Film 429: 419: 399: 393: 381:. Retrieved 364:(4): 21–27. 361: 357: 347: 335:. Retrieved 322: 315: 303:. Retrieved 299: 289: 272: 261: 258:Blonde women 249: 240: 229: 223: 217: 209: 204: 191: 188: 181: 171: 159: 153: 149:The 39 Steps 147: 141: 139: 134: 128: 117: 111: 92:Norman Bates 73: 71: 67:Raymond Burr 56: 53: 40: 25:plot devices 15: 1181:Short films 1166:Family Plot 1062:Rear Window 913:Jamaica Inn 785:sound films 772:The Manxman 756:Easy Virtue 657:Filmography 452:Russo, Vito 264:Grace Kelly 246:necrophilia 231:Rear Window 200:Janet Leigh 80:Janet Leigh 72:Similarly, 58:Rear Window 1449:Categories 1232:Television 1213:Bon Voyage 990:Spellbound 572:28 January 546:28 January 520:28 January 494:28 January 436:28 January 383:29 January 337:29 January 305:29 January 281:References 205:The Lodger 84:John Gavin 1368:Hitchcock 1288:Number 13 1126:The Birds 1046:I Confess 998:Notorious 958:Suspicion 926:and later 924:Hollywood 793:Blackmail 764:Champagne 414:, pg. 139 274:The Birds 168:Sexuality 114:MacGuffin 108:MacGuffin 102:MacGuffin 1434:Category 1380:The Girl 1265:episodes 1245:episodes 982:Lifeboat 966:Saboteur 889:Sabotage 740:Downhill 732:The Ring 567:Collider 174:perverse 44:aphorism 37:Suspense 31:Suspense 1275:Related 1263:(1985, 1243:(1955, 1102:Vertigo 934:Rebecca 809:Murder! 783:British 378:1210598 241:Vertigo 116:". The 1404:Family 1255:(1960) 1224:(1944) 1216:(1944) 1208:(1944) 1200:(1930) 1192:(1923) 1169:(1976) 1161:(1972) 1158:Frenzy 1153:(1969) 1145:(1966) 1137:(1964) 1134:Marnie 1129:(1963) 1121:(1960) 1118:Psycho 1113:(1959) 1105:(1958) 1097:(1956) 1089:(1956) 1081:(1955) 1073:(1955) 1065:(1954) 1057:(1954) 1049:(1953) 1041:(1951) 1033:(1950) 1025:(1949) 1017:(1948) 1009:(1947) 1001:(1946) 993:(1945) 985:(1944) 977:(1943) 969:(1942) 961:(1941) 953:(1941) 945:(1940) 937:(1940) 916:(1939) 908:(1938) 900:(1937) 892:(1936) 884:(1936) 876:(1935) 868:(1934) 860:(1934) 852:(1932) 844:(1931) 836:(1931) 828:(1931) 820:(1930) 812:(1930) 804:(1930) 796:(1929) 775:(1929) 767:(1928) 759:(1928) 751:(1928) 743:(1927) 735:(1927) 727:(1927) 719:(1926) 711:(1925) 698:Silent 672:Cameos 466:  406:  376:  251:Frenzy 210:Psycho 192:Psycho 152:, and 75:Psycho 21:themes 1150:Topaz 700:films 430:/Film 374:JSTOR 178:taboo 1393:film 1014:Rope 833:Mary 574:2024 548:2024 522:2024 496:2024 464:ISBN 438:2024 404:ISBN 385:2024 339:2024 307:2024 222:and 219:Rope 208:and 176:and 23:and 366:doi 328:doi 244:to 1451:: 565:. 539:. 513:. 487:. 428:. 372:. 362:21 360:. 356:. 326:. 298:. 254:. 146:, 1267:) 1247:) 638:e 631:t 624:v 576:. 550:. 524:. 498:. 472:. 440:. 412:. 387:. 368:: 341:. 330:: 309:.

Index

Alfred Hitchcock
themes
plot devices
Suspense
aphorism
Rear Window
James Stewart
Raymond Burr
Psycho
Janet Leigh
John Gavin
premarital sex
Norman Bates
Anthony Perkins
MacGuffin
MacGuffin
Oxford English Dictionary
Angus MacPhail
François Truffaut
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
North By Northwest
perverse
taboo
North by Northwest
Anthony Perkins
Janet Leigh
The Lodger
homosexuality

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