Alfred Hitchcock films are famous for specific scenes (the shower scene in “Psycho” or the crop duster scene in “North By Northwest” for example). However, I personally think that there are other very intense scenes in his films that are also highly effective but not as touted as the famous scenes from his films. For example, in “Psycho” I thought the scenes of Janet Leigh driving along with all the thoughts racing through her head was pretty intense, especially when the cop was following her. I also thought the scene at the auction in “North By Northwest” was very well done and suspenseful. In “Strangers On A Train” the tennis match toward the end and Bruno dropping the cigarette lighter through the sewer grating was incredibly intense but overshadowed by the carousel sequence. SO what scenes from which Hitchcock films do you like that did not get the attention that the more famous sequences got?
The scene in Marnie where she spills the red ink on her blouse. Probably one of the more famous scenes of the film, but not one of Hitchcock’s most famous scenes.
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Many stand out in Vertigo, but one special one is when Kim Novak (as Judy) comes out of the bathroom in the “Madeleine” suit in the greenish fog.
Underrated? I’d go so far as to call that one of the most famous scenes the history of cinema.
My nominee for underrated scenes is the scene between Joan Fontaine’s character and her dowager employer in the few moments they are alone together after the announced engagement to Mr. deWinter. I love that scene.
“Tennis lessons, my foot!”
Incidentally, I was surprised as I began typing that I had to look up Joan Fontaine’s character’s name. This is the first time I ever realized that the character was unnamed!!!
The stairway scenes.
Hitchcock liked to shoot important scenes on stairways (his comment was “stairways are very photogenic”), yet few critics have noted the fact. Some includes (some of these are famous, but the connection is overlooked):
Number 17 – half the movie seems to take place on a stairway
The 39 Steps – Pam discovers that Richard is telling the truth by overhearing the bad guys while she stands on the top of the stairway.
Suspicion – the poisoned milk scene
Shadow of a Doubt – Charlie is nearly killed when her uncle saws through a step. Later, she shows her intention of turning in her uncle as she comes down a stairway wearing the incriminating ring.
Notorious – The final scene
Strangers on a Train – Guy has to get by the doberman
The Wrong Man – Hitchcock appears at the top of an outdoor stairway
The Man Who Knew Too Much – The boy’s rescue in the end.
Vertigo – The stairway of the bell tower is what’s shown in the famous “vertigo” shots.
Psycho – Arbogast’s murder
Marnie – Marnie breaks down at the end at the bottom of stairs.
Frenzy – Babs’s murder (my choice for the best underrated scene).
Family Plot – The final scene.
I was going to mention that, but I don’t think it’s underrated. It was featured in the documentary on Hitchcock narrated by Cliff Robertson.
I quit using the pickup line “You know, you’re my kind of woman!” after I saw Frenzy. 
@Reality Chuck: You mentioned the murder of Arbogast at the top of the stairs in “Psycho.” I remember another scene that i think is probably the most intense of all: the climax when Vera Miles goes into the house to search for Mrs. Bates. When Tony Perkins is at the motel being confronted by John Gavin, Perkins says: “There was a woman with you earlier. Where is she?” From that moment on, the tensions is incredible, much more so than in the infamous shower scene.
And also Rear Window, where James Stewart sees Thorwald walking up the stairs to go back to his apartment while Grace Kelly is inside, and can’t call to her to warn her.
I only saw Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain once, many years ago, and have forgotten virtually all of it.
However, one scene was so awesome that it has stayed with me all this time. I never see it discussed, really. We’re not spoilering, are we?
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews have to kill a German security officer, and it takes a good while to do it. He survives first stabbing, then being beaten with a shovel, but finally succumbs to being held bodily in a oven, head-first, and being slowly gassed. It’s a horrific scene.
I remember seeing an on-screen interview with Hitch, who said he wanted to show that it’s really hard to kill a person. Most movies, he said, show people being quickly murdered with a gun or dropping dead as soon as they were poked with a knife.
I can’t remember any of the characters names but I remember a HUGE grin spreading across my face as one of the men in Dial M for Murder begins to spin a hypothetical that is exactly what happened.
Notorious is my favorite Hitchcock movie, and while most people either remember either the extended kiss between Cary Grant and Ingmar Bergman or the final scene where Grant helps her get out of the house, my favorite was always right before the ending, where Grant finally confesses his true feelings to Bergman as she’s lying sick in bed after being poisoned. I love how he’s holding her and how the camera slowly pans around their embrace. Minority Report was justly celebrated for this shot, but it did always remind me of that scene from Notorious.
I worked at a video store that ran a trailer with the song “For Sentimental Reasons” running in the background, showing different films, including Notorious. It’s what got me to watch it in the first place- that part where Ingrid Bergman says, “Oh, you love me!”
So many other scenes are fantastic - I have to say, I only like Notorious and, to a slightly lesser extent, Marnie of Hitchcock’s films.
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Every scene Claude Rains is in but especially the “Do you care to convince me?” scene and the part where he and his cigar-smoking mother plan what they are going to do with Alicia.
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The scene at the horse races.
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The scene where Devlin defends Alicia when his fellow agents are joking about what kind of woman she is.
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The staircase scene with Sebastian trying to talk his way out of it.
I love that movie…
Now if we were talking about underrated Hitchcock movies, I’d pick Young and Innocent or The Skin Game (which Hitchcock hated, but sticks to the Edmund Gwenn rule*)
*Edmund Gwenn never made a bad movie.
There were eight shots in Rope that I thought were very impressive technically…
I liked the scenes in Psycho when the curious cop is following Janet Leigh around. Especially when she comes out of the used car dealer and he’s parked across the street standing against his car with his sunglasses on.
All he did was have to stand there and you could feel her panicking inside.
I kind of like that scene in Psycho where the rich client Tom Cassidy comes into Marion’s boss’ office bragging about his wealth and how he “buys off unhappiness” for himself and his loved ones and about how his eighteen-year-old daughter, who’s “never had an unhappy day” in her life, is going to “get married away from [him]” tomorrow.
I’ve looked at this scene in a new light since a fellow poster on Psycho’s IMDB message board theorized that Cassidy (who is played by the same actor to play Sam Wainwright in It’s A Wonderful Life, hee-haw!) was the villain of his OWN psychological horror movie.
That seems to be a good guess. It’s the WAY he words it. If he’d said something along the lines of “my daughter is marrying a fine young man and I’m glad to give them a good solid start in life together,” that would be one thing. But all that talk about “buying off unhappiness” and making sure his daughter has “never had an unhappy day” (it SOUNDS nice, but what kind of preparation does this pampered bride-to-be have for the real world?) and worst of all, that talk of “marrying away from me”…seems Norman’s mom isn’t the ONLY possessive-to-the-point-of-emotional-incest parent in THIS movie.
Plus, Cassidy’s attitude and words may have been a major contribution to Marion’s decision to steal the money. You can almost hear her thinking, “Why should this spoiled teenager get an easy start in life with her new husband when money problems keep me from marrying my fiance? Don’t I deserve something too? What has she done to earn it?”
Besides that scene, there’s Marion’s conversation with Norman in the office, when they discuss Norman’s life with his mother and “private traps.” That’s a fascinating scene because there are two ways to watch it…to try to wipe all prior knowledge from your mind and pretend you’re seeing it for the first time ever, or to watch it WITH all prior knowledge in your mind and study Norman’s actions and expressions.
Some of my favourite scenes from Frenzy are those with the detective’s wife and her cooking. Maybe they weren’t that technically impressive, but they were funny and they rang true to me!
Oh, which two didn’t impress you?
In The Man Who Knew Too Much when James Stewart is walking to what turns out to be a wild goose chase at a taxidermist.