# Best and worst Hitchcock movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113 "2013-08-13T06:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/21 "2013-08-13T16:25:23Z")
Another one that I think is enjoyable is _Sabotage_. Although released right before WWII, I feel like it’s just as applicable in today’s terrorist scare environment. I feel it’s a dark comedy. Hitchcock winks at a moral solution at the ending. And it’s got a Disney cartoon in it! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/22 "2013-08-13T17:00:02Z")
Best: Psycho Worst: Jamaica Inn - so bad I wanted to turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/23 "2013-08-13T17:01:05Z")
Best: **Notorious** , followed by **Rear Window** and **The 39 Steps** Worst: **Mrs. and Mrs. Smith**. Has anyone else ever seen this? It’s a screwball comedy, and while it’s not terrible, you can tell that Hitchcock is out of his element. Plus, I really don’t get Robert Montgomery’s appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/24 "2013-08-13T17:23:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Speaking of dumb Nazis, I’ve always thought _ **Saboteur** _ was another abomination. It never fails to amaze me how guys like Bob Cummings can evade a nationwide manhunt and travel from California to New York with absolutely no money and not even a change of clothes. What’s crazy, is that Bob comes upon a cabin deep in the woods, occupied by a blind man who feels the need to wear a tie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/25 "2013-08-13T17:33:41Z")
When I first saw _The Birds_, it scared the crap out of me - I thought it was great! Then recently I watched it again - what was I thinking? Well, I was a kid, so thinking wasn’t a strong suit… ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/26 "2013-08-13T17:39:08Z")
Another vote for _Notorious_. Certainly my favorite and at least strong enough to be considered as one of his best. Uniformly strong performances, excellent pacing, interesting story, lots of suspense, and plenty of chemistry to go around. My least favorite is probably _Marnie_, although I really don’t like any with Tippi Hedren or Kim Novak. Both of them could be replaced by department-store mannikins with no loss of acting skill and appeal (for me - obviously others think differently). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/27 "2013-08-13T17:46:44Z")
My problems with Strangers on a Train are: No one seems to care that a detective shot into a crowd at the amusement park and killed an innocent carny. And why would a merry go round have a transmission capable of spinning the damn thing like a centrifuge? Other than those concerns- good flick 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/28 "2013-08-13T17:48:38Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > My problems with Strangers on a Train are: No one seems to care that a detective shot into a crowd at the amusement park and killed an innocent carny. Were they supposed to execute him on the spot? As I recall, there was quite a bit of excitement and distraction at the time. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/29 "2013-08-13T18:33:10Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > **Frenzy** > > I really like this one. Classic “wrong guy accused” situation. You know from the get-go who the killer is and who it is not, so it’s not a murder mystery. The anxiety comes from wondering if the poor schmuck on hook for the murders (all evidence certainly points to him) can extricate himself from his circumstance. Uhm, not all of it (obviously, since he’s off the hook before the film even ends). It’s just that Scotland Yard was a bit slow in conducting the investigation they should have been doing all along. I find that more than a little hard to swallow. What’s always nagged at me was why Blamey wasn’t arrested for attempted murder after he whacked the corpse with the crowbar. So far as he knew, he was killing Rusk with malice aforethought. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/30 "2013-08-13T18:50:01Z")
I haven’t seen very many at all so take my votes with a big pile of salt. Favorite: Dial M For Murder. I thought it was brilliantly clever, and it really held my attention and curiosity even though the whole damn thing just took place in one fricken room. Not many movies could possibly do that, I don’t think. Least Favorite: Vertigo. I had high hopes, and I ended up hating it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/31 "2013-08-13T19:26:04Z")
I love Dial M for Murder (but then I tend to enjoy filmed plays; I like a lot of talk). And North by Northwest is a favorite–it might be the winner in the “Most Implausible Plot That Nevertheless Carries The Viewer Along Like A Runaway Freight Train” category. I love Vertigo, too–it’s so…odd. Kim Novak was never the Thespian’s Thespian by any means, but she’s effective here. I always look forward to Barbara Bel Geddes’s character, and the way Hitchcock paid tribute to his long-suffering wife with his treatment of her. Other favorites: the 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much; Shadow of a Doubt; Rope; Strangers on a Train; Rear Window; Psycho. My top favorite is probably Notorious, though. Perfection. Nominations for “worst”–I haven’t seen some of his “lesser” films, but like others here, I disliked Marnie, The Trouble With Harry, Torn Curtain, and Family Plot. All have good things in them, but overall they are not movies I’d recommend. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/32 "2013-08-13T22:54:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I agree. I had somehow missed seeing _North by Northwest_ until recently. I was disappointed when I found the setup to such an iconic scene was so far-fetched. > > Of course it presages all the unnecessarily complicated and unlikely plots Bond villains have hatched to try to kill 007. > > I’ll tell you, it didn’t work for me, just because the whole thing was so insanely stupid. It was lazy plotting. If Hitchcock had set it up as the villains taking advantage of an unplanned opportunity, it would have worked much better for me. As a contrived plot, it was so implausible as to take me out of it. That’s not nitpicking, it’s a large flaw in the writing. Perhaps allowing for the date at which it was filmed, would that make a difference? I saw it in the theater at the time, and thought it a thriller. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/33 "2013-08-13T23:11:09Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > But surely killing someone on foot with a plane is ridiculous? You obviously have never seen _ **Catch-22** _. :rolleyes: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LwELqrqsf_o/maxresdefault.jpg "Catch-22 (8/10) Movie CLIP - Poor Hungry Joe (1970) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwELqrqsf_o) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/34 "2013-08-14T00:04:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You obviously have never seen _ **Catch-22** _. :rolleyes: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwELqrqsf\_o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwELqrqsf_o) Not to mention **Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade** Or **Lawrence of Arabia** ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/35 "2013-08-14T01:39:25Z")
Well, I’m clearly in the minority (here, at least), but I think the only way **Vertigo** is overrated is that it may not be the Greatest Film Ever Made (as the recent Sight & Sound survey tallied), but it’s still a towering achievement and in a league separate than his other work (my blog write-up on the film HERE) All the rest of his films are great fun, but none I consider a particular emotional experience (I’ll make an exception for the sublime _Shadow of a Doubt_ & _Notorious_), but I never get failed to be moved and haunted by _Vertigo_ and is in my all-time Top 10. Other favorites beyond the ones I’ve mentioned: _North by Northwest_ (for its playfulness, logic be damned), _Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, The 39 Steps, The Birds_. Least favorites? We’ve discussed _Marnie_ before, an interesting failure. The early stuff shows promise and generally plays fine (if pale by comparison), but it’s the later films that are shadows of his former brilliance that are the saddest–the inert _Torn Curtain_ or suspenseless _Family Plot_. Of the canon, the one I’ve always like least is the remake of _The Man Who Knew Too Much_, with Day too shrill and Stewart too obtuse for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/36 "2013-08-14T02:50:29Z")
I’m baffled by the high ratings for _ **Vertigo** _. An obviously mentally disturbed dude follows a beautiful woman home and into her apartment with hat in hand and says “I just want to talk to you!” and she doesn’t completely freak out? It may have been the 1950s and all, but I just don’t believe people were ever that trusting (or stupid). This transcends incredulity! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/37 "2013-08-14T19:15:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’m baffled by the high ratings for _ **Vertigo** _. An obviously mentally disturbed dude follows a beautiful woman home and into her apartment with hat in hand and says “I just want to talk to you!” and she doesn’t completely freak out? It may have been the 1950s and all, but I just don’t believe people were ever that trusting (or stupid). > > This transcends incredulity! Short answer: Because she already knows him and loves him. And he isn’t mentally disturbed, though he is emotionally traumatized. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/38 "2013-08-15T18:10:53Z")
Favorites: Rear Window, The Birds, The Man who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest Dislike: Marnie and The Trouble with Harry ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/39 "2013-08-16T16:47:37Z")
Hitchcock is famous for (among other things, obviously) for his comment about treating actors like cattle, but often his films achieved greatness because of those actors. And when they failed it was (at least partially) because of those actors. Who besides Stewart could pull off Rear Window in the wheelchair? (OK, maybe Henry Fonda) And as for North by Northwest, yes, as mentioned, it was full of flaws, but most don’t notice them because of Grant. And Farley Granger’s smarminess works in Strangers. And Milland, Kelly and Cummings really blend well for Dial M. On the flip side, Doris Day (for me at least) stops The Man Who Knew Too Much dead in its tracks. And because of the lack of chemistry between Newman and Andrews Torn Curtain just dies. The same goes for Marnie (not with Newman and Andrews of course) and Frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113/40 "2013-08-16T17:35:59Z")
Of the ones I’ve seen, Notorious holds up the best. Claude Raines was a great villain, but the gal who played his mother was even creepier. Vertigo is really fun, but not the amazing movie it is made out to be. Rear Window is great. North By Northwest is the goofy precursor to James Bond with A list actors and director. I didn’t care for There’s Something About Harry, or the 39 Steps, either version. I didn’t like the Jimmy Stewart version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, and haven’t seen the other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-hitchcock-movies/666113.md?page=3)