Top 5 Hitchcock Characters
I've wanted to do a Hitchcock related picspam for a while now so I thought here would be a good opportunity. It's weird but I kind of grew up on Hitchcock movies. My dad is a huge fan and had almost every Hitchcock film ever made in his collection, and I used to watch them whenever I had sleepovers with my friends. Hitchcock is probably my favorite director of all time along with Billy Wilder, John Ford and Elia Kazan. I don't know why but I could watch his films over and over again without getting bored of them. I'm sure I've seen the films below several times each. So here are my favorite characters!
Number Five.
I absolutely love Teresa Wright. She was such a great actress and so beautiful too. And I love this character. Charlie is a bored teenage girl who adores her uncle (and honestly, kinda shares some inappropriate sexual chemistry with him) until she finds out he might be a murderer. I think she might be my favorite of the Hitchcock heroines just cause she has so much versatility and more personality than the typical Hitchcock woman who tends to just be there to look pretty and be the love interest to the male lead. She's spirited and funny in one moment, naive and terrified in another. It's in my opinion one of the greatest teenage roles ever.
Number Four.
This is such a departure from what we normally think of as a Jimmy Stewart role. He's not the boy next door anymore. He's kind of a creepy old man with a lot of weird psychological issues. It was a brilliant transition away from his nice guy roles. He obsesses over this woman who died and does some really crazy shit to a woman who he thinks reminds him of her. Vertigo is just such a beautiful and awesomely creepy movie. I also love the San Francisco setting. The Legion of Honor really is that gorgeous.
Number Three.
Bruno Anthony is such a charming psychopath that even when he suggests a nutty idea like murdering someone for a perfect stranger, it kind of sounds appealing. Robert Walker is just magnetic and incredibly charismatic, especially in the famous opening scene on the train. Sadly, Walker died at the young age of 32 (brought on by his emotional turmoil over his wife Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick) and his highly acclaimed performance in Strangers on a Train was one of his last. As with other Hitchcock films, there is a little bit of homosexual subtext between the two main characters though apparently it had to be tamped down from the book.
Number Two.
Rebecca was the very first Hitchcock movie I ever saw. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time and Jesus Christ, this lady scared the crap out of me. Mrs. Danvers is the housekeeper at the de Winters' mansion and is hopelessly devoted to the dead woman she worked for. There's also a bit of mystery to her sexuality-- is she a lesbian? Look at the way she touches Rebecca's clothes and nightgown. The scene in which she shows Joan Fontaine's character Rebecca's bedroom is just like chill-inducing. Judith Anderson had this amazingly smooth and soothing voice that just makes this character even more creepy.
Number One.
Who else could be at number one? It has to be Anthony Perkins as the iconic psychopath and mama's boy, Norman Bates in Psycho. This performance is, in my opinion, one of the greatest of all time and it's a complete travesty that he did not get nominated for an Oscar. He's awkward but has a surprising amount of charisma. It's a little weird but I kind of find Perkins really attractive in this movie. Hitchcock apparently changed the character from the original book version who was supposed to be middle-aged, overweight and bald to a handsome young boy-next door type so the audience could actually sympathize with him.
Comments are love!
Past Picspams:
My Favorite Films of 2009 HERE
Guilty Pleasures HERE
Best of the Franchises HERE
Top 15 Films of the Decade HERE
Memorable Dresses in Film HERE
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg HERE
Cruel Intentions vs. Dangerous Liaisons Comparison HERE
Romance in Period Films HERE
Musicals of the 50s and 60s HERE
5 Prettiest Actress of the 1930s HERE
5 Films that pushed the Hays Code HERE
Top 10 Romantic Film Couples of 2009 HERE
5 Modern Adaptations of Literary Classics HERE
Top 5 Best Actress Oscar Snubs HERE
Top 5 Red Carpet Film Premieres HERE
My Favorite Shots of 2009 HERE
Oscar Simulation Winners HERE