Hitchcock's Most Cruel and Brilliant Trick: The Five Lost Hitchcocks

For much of his career -- particularly from 1955 on , when he had both a hit weekly TV series AND was putting out some of the biggest hits and greatest classics of his career -- Alfred Hitchcock was several things. A great commercial filmmaker of action, suspense and horror(Psycho) . A great ARTISTIC filmmaker in his style. A great showman ("ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S ...')

..and a great businessman, who made money off his movies, his TV show, and ancillary products like short story books, a "Mystery Magazine" and even record albums.

The businessman, the showman, and the filmmaker came together in a cruel and brilliant way, however, when Hitchcock made an announcement in the early 70s:

He was "taking away" five of his films, including two of his greatest classics. They would no longer be shown on network television(ABC, NBC, CBS), or on local TV stations on the Late Show. They would not be shown at "revival theaters" that were particularly popular in Los Angeles and New York. They would not be shown on college campuses, where revival classics were also popular.

This was before the advent of cable TV in a big way(though HBO launched in the 70's) and it was before VHS tape rentals came about. Still -- Hitchcock fans were used to seeing their favorite Hitchcock movies on TV and in revival houses, and Hitchcock simply took them away.

These became the "lost Hitchcock 5" (in chronological order and by studio)

Rope(1948) Transatlantic/Warners
Rear Window(1954) Paramount
The Trouble With Harry(1955) Paramount
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Paramount
Vertigo(1958) Paramount

So...

Four Paramount films (out of the six that Hitchcock made for that studio)
One "Transatlantic film"(with Warners as distributor)

And the reason that Hitchcock could take them away :

He OWNED The Trouble With Harry , The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo.
He OWNED Rope
He did NOT own Rear Window -- but it was caught up in a legal battle that removed it from circulation -- and Hitchcock elected to MILK that.

Hitchcock announced not only that he was personally removing the five films from circulation but that we would all have to wait for something in particular before Hitchcock would bring them back:

Hitchcock would have to DIE.

Imagine the cruelty of that. To see five lost Hitchcock movies -- including two considered among his absolute best(Rear Window and Vertigo) we had to wait for(ROOT for?) the old man to die.

It was a beautiful act of self-homage, yes? It allowed Hitchcock the Showman to live on past his own DEATH. He said "I intend to provide for my family by having these films released as an Alfred Hitchcock film festival after my death."

I doubt he REALLY needed to provide for his family. They would be rich enough from the TV series and Psycho's earnings.

No, I think Hitchcock was really making a power play: to be a respected and reknowned NEW director AFTER his death.

Having lived through this drought, I think I should mention that part of the problem was that we never really knew when we were going to get the Five Lost Hitchcocks back.

When Hitchcock died in April of 1980, the door was effectively opened...but we still didn't know when the films would come back.

It turned out to be three long years after Hitchcock's death -- Rear Window and Vertigo came back to art houses at the end of 1983(fall for Rear Window; Xmas for Vertigo.) The "lesser" ones -- The Trouble With Harry, Rope, and The Man Who Knew Too Much -- came back to art houses in the first half of 1984.

And as 1984 drifted into 1985, the Five Lost Hitchcocks suddenly got all sorts of circulation -- on VHS tape(to buy or to rent); on cable TV channels; and in revival houses( a few were still left.)

It all worked like a charm, just like Hitchcock predicted. He was HOT again...dead three years. One article said "The best movie of 1983 was made in 1954"(Rear Window.) Another article said "the best director of 1983 has been dead for three years." And these movies DID make money as nostalgia-crazed audiences turned out to see them in theaters and to rent or buy the VHS tapes.

Some "sidebar trivia" about the return of the Five Lost Hitchcocks:

ONE: Shirley MacLaine's first movie was " The Trouble With Harry" in 1955. She was a nobody, as was male lead John Forsythe, who went on to a TV series career(at Hitchcock's urging) afterward.

But came March of 1984 and the re-release of The Trouble With Harry, MacLaine had just won an Oscar for Terms of Endearment and Forsythe was riding high on Dynasty. So The Trouble with Harry could be promoted as having "two big stars of TV and screen."

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