A new second series on The Art of Film on Sky Arts starts with a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock. I thought what are Sky doing, a repeat of Episode 1 of Series 1 of "The Directors" as reviewed on this blog on 2nd January 2020. Also a Sky Documentary called "I am Alfred Hitchcock" reviewed here on the 15th May 2021. But this is the same gang that I follow no matter what. Led by Ian Nathan, it starts with a scene from The 39 Steps that is mostly in silhouette. Ian says Hitch is "always a British director", so the whole programme looks at films before he left for America. Now that is interesting. Neil Norman said he was "able to define himself as a British director" and Stephen Armstrong added he was already "one of the all time greats".
We see a clip from 1938's The Lady Vanishes before tracking back to The Pleasure Garden 1925, The Lodger 1927 and Blackmail from 1929. All silent movies. These I did not know. Being born in London, the city defined these early black and white films. It was in Leytonstone that Alfred was born in 1899. (In those days it was more Essex than London.) His early career was in advertising from where he graduated to writing captions and doing illustrations for silent films at Paramount Studios. It was here he met Alma Reville, the woman who became the single most significant collaborator of his career.
We were told that Hitch was a "bit of a techie" and adapted quickly to new ways of doing things. This led him to making the first British sound movie. Working for Michael Balcombe and Victor Saville, he volunteered first as a screenwriter and then art director. He was learning all the facets of film production. It was Neil Norman who tells us how he was sent to Germany to work on those three early films that included The Pleasure Garden, his first directing role in silent movies. Back in the UK, his next film was The Lodger. We were told this was one of the key films of this period. It was so personal to the director's life, set in his home city of London with all the fog in those exterior scenes. Ian Nathan says that "he storyboarded every shot". Kim Newman is talking to Ian Nathan when he talks about the directors' "expressionist techniques". Stephen Armstrong adds "it is a serial killer film". (Well it is Hitchcock!) Neil Norman tells us that "it is the most mature British film of the decade". (The twenties). Of the clips we see the most amazing is the glass floor where some of the cast see those footsteps above. Typical Hitch.
With the arrival of sound in 1929, Hitchcock made the first film with sound in the UK. Blackmail was a big hit both with the critics and the public. Then Ian goes on to say that in 1933 the director "signed a multi film deal with Gaumont Pictures run by his old friend Michael Balcombe. These all contained shots of the British landscape and British characters. Stephen says that he now understood suspense for the thrillers and action movies that came next. The Man Who Knew Too Much, Sabotage and The Secret Agent. But it is two other movies that we see. The 39 Steps with Robert Donat is described by Christina as "one of the greatest British films ever made". It was a "black comedy" that influenced crime films for decades to come. And it had the Hitchcock blonde, this time handcuffed to the hero. But I loved the clip where he has escaped but still has the handcuff on one wrist. His face when he decides to stick his hand in his pocket is absolutely classic.
In his last film for Michael Balcombe, The Lady Vanishes, Christina says he is poking fun at the British character. The two older men and the test match. Maybe that is because he is off to America . And another Hitchcock blonde. Stephen Armstrong tells us there is so much in these films that is seen in future movies. It's David O Selznick who signed Hitchcock to a four picture deal and took him off to Hollywood. Neil Norman summed up by saying that Hitch was the first director to create his own brand. And finally Kim notes that he did keep coming back to make the odd film here.
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