ALFRED HITCHCOCK TRIBUTE

Happy Birthday to Alfred Hitchcock. The master of suspense was born on this day in 1899. In one of his celebrated talks on filmmaking (see below), the director illustrated the difference between horror and suspense. In this era of gritty shock value, contemporary storytellers could learn much from this two minutes of wisdom.

Hitchcock is still celebrated for a long career that spanned from the silent era to the 1970s. His stories often centered around individuals who were wrongly accused and who were thrown into adventures to clear their names. He was also adept at walking a fine line between suspense, epic action, and humor. Hitchcock's famous wit became a trademark in the late 1950s with his TV program, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1961), and with record albums like this 1958 release, Music to Be Murdered By (see clip below).

Take a look at Criterion Collection's "3 Reasons" to watch The 39 Steps (see below). You will notice they include "the original MacGuffin." This was a story element popularized by Hitchcock. The idea was to establish a vague, but vital, goal that all of the characters would be invested in. Once that element was planted in the viewers' minds, it would serve as an engine to fuel the entire saga. A McGuffin could be anything, from secret blueprints and information to missing persons and evil plots. The details of the McGuffin were never as important as the dramas that unfolded around them. By the way, The Criterion Collection has released three early Hitchcock spy thrillers on glorious Blu-ray: The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Lady Vanishes.

With 67 directorial credits, most of which are celebrated classics, it's difficult to choose a short-list of Hitchcock's movies. But if I had to pack a desert island care package for my fellow Spy Vibers, I would suggest the following titles. Being a fan of spy movies, the list is weighted heavily to Hitchcock's earlier works that show the influence of Fritz Lang's crime thrillers. Incidentally, I believe Cary Grant's performance in North By Northwest inspired a screen image of James Bond for author Ian Fleming. 

Here is your homework: Blackmail (1929), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Secret Agent (1936), Sabotage (1936), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959), and his later classics around horror conventions, Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Hitchcock below with Cary Grant.

Still need to enter Spy Vibe's summer contest to win vintage prizes? The deadline has been extended to August 16th. Details here. Get ready to meet MIKI ZERO, a Japanese fashion model and spy from 1965! I've written a novel inspired by Spy Vibe. More info at my website here.

WILD THINGS

I went to the Disney Family Museum yesterday to see a new Maurice Sendak show. Housed in their special exhibits building, the work on display celebrates the 50th anniversary of Sendak's classic (originally banned) book, Where the Wild Things Are (1963). If we celebrate the revolutionary milestones of the 1960s here on Spy Vibe, we can't overlook the significance of Sendak's message of rebellion against authority and the power of youth that resonated throughout that era. With independence came all of the anxieties of responsibility, just as Max had to learn the power he wielded as a "wild thing" and was forced to find the confidence within himself to tame the monsters. Looking at that time period, it's no surprise that similar themes cropped up in other areas of pop culture. A few novels and films that come to mind are Billy Liar (1963), Catch-22 (1961), West Side Story (1961), La Dolce Vita (1960), The Warped Ones (1960), Lolita (1962), Lord of the Flies (1963), Village of the Damned (1960), and The Leather Boys (1964). Even Spider-Man, who struggled with the responsibilities of his new-found power as a young man, first appeared in August of 1962. Every generation has its coming-of-age stories, but this was the era of "wild things."

Sendak was a great influence on me growing up and his illustration style inspired me to draw. I got to meet him a number of times over the years. We lived near each other in Connecticut and I tried to attend book signings when I could. The last time we met was at Amherst College. He gave a short presentation in an upstairs classroom and then signed autographs. The room was so hot, I remember I stayed up there and fanned him with my copy of In the Night Kitchen. 

Sendak gave some very candid and emotional interviews on Fresh Air toward the end of his life. He also was the subject of a quirky video portrait by director Spike Jonze called Tell Them Anything You Want. I picked up the DVD at the museum shop and watched it this morning. Like his books, Sendak comes through as a man honestly grappling with the complications of life. But for all of his kvetching, the movie captured the artist enjoying the true happiness and satisfaction he got from his work and from his friendships- the most prominent one in the film being with his German Shepherd. After looking at his lifetime of drawings of dogs and monsters in the exhibit, I was really moved to see so much footage that illustrated the love and communication he shared with his beautiful canine pal. So in honor of all of the four-legged "wild things" we love, here is a collection of some Spy Vibe heroes with furry friends: Maurice Sendak (above), Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers), Roger Moore, Buster Keaton, Alfred Hitchcock, Alain Delon, Cary Grant, Diana Rigg, Ian Fleming, Federico Fellini, Leonard Nimoy, Peter Lorre, Paul McCartney, Sean Connery, Charlie Chaplin, John Lennon, and assorted Patrick Macnee (on the set of The Avengers). Search the internet for more "wild things" with Alfred Hitchcock, Edward Gorey, George Harrison, Tilda Swinton, Anthony Perkins, Leonard Nimoy, and others. I've had fun looking through the menagerie.

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our fiendish villains archive, book designdopplegangers, Christopher Lee, Bettie Page, Dashiell Hammett, Miles Davis, WWII spy Krystyna Skarbek, recycled James Bond covers, interview with Fu Manchu author William Maynard,  Man From UNCLE manga. new James Bond omnibus, Orson Welles the Shadow, rare Piero Umiliani Kriminal soundtrack, new Beatles Yellow Submarine game, James Bond audio book re-issues, Mid-Century Modern in Peanuts, Ralph Byrd Dick Tracy, my review of SKYFALL and more. Spy Vibe is now on Pinterest! Check out our image archives and follow us here.

Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Fleming birthday tribute, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here.

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HITCHCOCK SALE

[Ended] Deal alert: The Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection Blu-ray set is Amazon's deal of the day. For $119.99 (down from $299.99), the set includes the following feature films with bonus materials: Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble With Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, and Family Plot. More details at Amazon here. 

HITCHCOCK & 007 SCREENINGS

Screening alert: There are some exciting events happening at the beautiful Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. They are currently running a Hitchcock festival that includes many of the master's tales of espionage and suspense. And on June 17th, George Lazenby will be there to present a special screening of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (a double feature with Diamonds Are Forever!). Egyptian info and schedule here. The Aero Theater will follow with another double-007-feature of Dr. No and From Russia With Love on June 19th. Schedule and info here. Don't miss these if you are in town. Image of Lazenby and co-star Diana Rigg (The Avengers) from Life Magazine.

TOP 10 SPY MOVIES

The NY Daily News has listed their Top-10 Spy Movies Ever Made. As you would expect, they've chosen a mix of mainstream titles. I was happy to see From Russia With Love, The Ipcress File, and a number of classic Hitchcock films make the cut. They include, however, a few 70s/80s films that I didn't expect. Falcon and the Snowman one of the best ever? Check out the list and let us know what you think. Which classic espionage films would Spy Vibers choose?

CRITERION BLU-RAY

The Criterion Collection announced their next wave of Blu-ray editions today! There are a number of distribution companies that I have followed and dealt with as a film programmer over the years. Ever since the laser disc days, Criterion has consistently succeeded in their mission to be "dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements." Although Criterion recently lost their rights to a number of classic films, they still hold most of the key cards in the deck with films by Truffaut, Kurosawa, Bergman, Ozu, Suzuki, Powell, and Fellini. The September release schedule includes some fantastic titles that I think Spy Vibers will want to see:


Spy Vibe's TOP pick in this batch, Stanley Donen's Charade (1963). People often describe this as one of the best Hitchcock films Hitch never made. An amazing cast includes Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and James Coburn. The film has wonderful wit, fashion, and even a great Spy Vibe scene 1 with a luger "assassination" atop a ski resort. Spy Vibe looked briefly at writer Peter Stone and Donen's Charade, Arabesque (1966), and Stone's Mirage (1965) here. Criterion: In this deliciously dark comedic thriller, a trio of crooks relentlessly pursue a young American, played by Audrey Hepburn, outfitted in gorgeous Givenchy, through Paris in an attempt to recover the fortune her dead husband stole from them. The only person she can trust is a suave, mysterious stranger, played by Cary Grant. Director Stanley Donen goes splendidly Hitchcockian for Charade, a glittering emblem of sixties style and macabre wit.


Godard's feature debut, Breathless (1960), is a stylistic and seminal film from the French New Wave that features a jazzy score and cool, jump-cut editing. Criterion: There was before Breathless, and there was after Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard burst onto the film scene in 1960 with this jazzy, free-form, and sexy homage to the American film genres that inspired him as a writer for Cahiers du cinéma. With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude, anything-goes crime narrative, and effervescent young stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, Breathless helped launch the French New Wave and ensured that cinema would never be the same.


There are just some movies that I have been waiting for for years. Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), was one of my faves during the 1980s (along with Diva). Ryuichi (YMO) Sakamoto's score is one of the best soundtracks of all time. When I lived in Japan I bought a rare, solo piano version he released and it remains one of my favorite recordings ever (and you know I'm a music guy). Heads up to Bowie fans: Criterion's editions of The Man Who Fell To Earth are about to go out of print! Also on the OOP list is John Schlesinger's classic Billy Liar (1963). Criterion: In this captivating, exhilaratingly skewed World War II drama from Nagisa Oshima, David Bowie regally embodies the character Celliers, a high-ranking British officer interned by the Japanese as a POW. Music star Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also composed this film’s hypnotic score) plays the camp commander, who becomes obsessed with the mysterious blond major, while Tom Conti is British lieutenant colonel Mr. Lawrence, who tries to bridge the emotional and language divides between his captors and fellow prisoners. Also featuring actor-director Takeshi Kitano in his first dramatic role, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is a multi layered, brutal, at times erotic tale of culture clash that was one of Oshima’s greatest successes.


It's also worth mentioning that another beautiful film with an outstanding soundtrack, Camu's Black Orpheus (1959), will be released this august on Blu-ray. The score by Jobim and Bonfa helped to launch the bossa nova scene that still echoes today. Bossa nova is the sound of Tokyo in the summer! Criterion: Winner of both the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus (Orfeu negro) brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the twentieth-century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Your Criterion Picks?
As Spy Vibers, what films do you think deserve the Criterion treatment? Thanks to David at Permission to Kill, I think I'd have to put one of the Shaw Brothers movies on that list. Stylish and hilarious! Which films would you like to see given special treatment with a Hi-def transfer and historical supplements?

REFLECTING ON ARABESQUE & PETER STONE

BACKSTORY: CHARADE
Charade (1963) A woman’s husband is killed, drawing her into a web of mysterious characters and intrigue. Director/Stanley Donen, Writer/Peter Stone, Cinematographer/Charles Lang, Music/Henry Mancini, Titles/Maurice Binder, Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy.


Often called one of the best Hitchcock films that Hitchcock never made, Charade is a masterful mix of murder, spies, and romance. Bruce Eder describes the film as a unique thriller with a female lead amidst the male fantasy-dominated surge of spy thrillers in the early-to-mid 1960s.

The stars literally aligned to bring Peter Stone’s first screenplay, Charade, to the screen. The script was written with Cary Grant in mind, and Stone hoped to land Donen because he knew the director would give the story its essential Parisian flavor. After a brief snag in turn-around, the project came together to become the classic it is today. As Peter Stone and Stanley Donen mention in their commentary on the Criterion DVD, the cast and crew were able to blend mystery and suspense with humor -a mixture that many imitators failed at because they often let their films stray too far into exaggeration. Charade is a greatly satisfying film that succeeds, I believe because, beyond the style, plot twists, and witty dialog, are characters that evoke empathy by their sincerity to the emotional arc of the story. The dangers and the romantic chemistry feel real. Hepburn and Grant carry the range of the script perfectly. Writer Peter Stone remarks that old movie performances often seem like dated products of their time, but that the cast of Charade brought vulnerability that is timeless- a quality that adds to the film’s longevity.


ARABESQUE
Arabesque (1966) A university professor is asked to translate a cipher, drawing him into a web of international intrigue. Director/Stanley Donen, Writer/Peter Stone, Cinematographer/Christopher Challis, Music/Henry Mancini, Titles/Maurice Binder, Cast: Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel.


Writer Peter Stone and director Stanley Donen teamed once again to create Arabesque. Hoping to capture lightning in a bottle twice, Arabesque brought together a similar alchemy of intrigue, style, humor, European locations, and stars. The film reunited some key artists that gave Charade its intoxicating allure. Donen and Stone were joined by composer Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther) and title designer Maurice Binder (James Bond series). Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck replaced Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in the feature roles.


The film is highly visual. Like The Ipcress File, there is a clear effort to push the photography in interesting ways. To echo the plot/character twists and the overall theme of duplicity, many scenes are filmed as reflections- in water, windows, TV screens, on metal, in fish tanks, through chandeliers, and most often- in mirrors. When characters were not photographed in reflection, they were often shot in frames within frames. Though some viewers may feel the approach is too heavy-handed, the photographer in me loved it. Christopher Challis (A Dandy in Aspic, Kaleidoscope, A Shot in the Dark) won the BAFTA award for Best Cinematography.


Another element to the film’s highly stylized look is the costume design by Christian Dior. Sophia Loren is absolutely ravishing, and one can understand why Peter Sellers (and generations of men around the world) had a crush on her! She plays a wonderful, albeit cartoony, woman of mystery, who generates much of the plot twists as her allegiances flip again and again, much as Cary Grant’s character did in Charade.


The baddie Beshraavi, played by Alan Badel, is equally cartoony (and almost a Peter Sellers homage with his thick-framed glasses and accent). Peter Stone loved to give his characters quirks. One of the very fun elements of Arabesque is Beshraavi’s erotic relationship with Loren as a foot fetishist- played out wonderfully in a scene where he presents her with a new collection of shoes to try on. Donen wisely ran these scenes fairly straight, giving the film playful nods to sexuality and style without falling into parody or slapstick.


Where the film fails to live up to Charade is, surprisingly, with its stars and with its script. Except for one memorable scene inside the zoo and aquarium, there is little sense of true danger or suspense in the story. Loren and Peck run through a number of well-choreographed and stylish escapes- including one on horseback from machine gun-toting baddies in a red helicopter! But there is ultimately not enough peril, or romantic chemistry, to sustain empathy from the viewer.


Stone had worked with Gregory Peck in Mirage, but it is clear that Cary Grant’s rhythm was stuck in the writer’s ear during Arabesque. Indeed, it appears that the role was meant for Grant. I’ve read that Gregory Peck would smile when he found the humor awkward and would say to the director, “Remember, I’m no Cary Grant.” Unfortunately, Peck could not deliver his scenes with the kind of sincerity, wit, or vulnerability that I think would have elevated the film greatly. Peck’s performance seems forced at times. Although the film never strays as far as exaggeration, Arabesque does lean toward style over substance. That said, however, I really enjoyed the film for its photography, costumes, the playful sexuality between Loren and Badel- for its Spy Vibe!

MIRAGE
Mirage (1965) A man with amnesia struggles to learn his identity and to escape a web of murder and intrigue. Director/Edward Dmytryk, Writer/Peter Stone, Cinematographer/Joseph MacDonald, Music/Quincy Jones, Cast: Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy.


Peter Stone’s Mirage, released one year before Arabesque, played often on NYC area stations when I was growing up in the 70s. It's a much less stylish film, but it has a memorable tone of mystery. In the film Peck has amnesia and suffers from a reoccurring flashback of a man falling from a window in a high-rise office building. Like Charade and Arabesque, the dialog is still fairly snappy, but Peck handles the more serious tone of the film well. In one scene, Peck hires Walter Matthau as a private detective. It’s Mattau’s first case (he looks to be a bargain basement choice as a gumshoe), and the two share a fun moment of dialog that celebrates his inadequacies and the spy craze of the times:

Peck: Wouldn’t it be hilarious if you did know what you’re doing?
Matthau: Yeah. Then how come I don’t know what to do next?
Peck: Well, pretend you’re James Bond. He always knows.
Matthau: Hey, maybe we ought to get something to eat. I’m dying for a peanut butter sandwich.
Peck: Forget James Bond.


Peter Stone and Gregory Peck's thrillers, Arabesque and Mirage -both long overdue for DVD release- were included in the Gregory Peck boxset (released fall/2008). See the Spy Vibe website to hear Nicola Conte's "Arabesque."