I thought this movie was way before its time. I've seen alot of Hitchcock and I gotta put this up in his top 5. Don't know why it took me so long to see this one.
shareDefinitely not!
1.Vertigo
2.The Lady Vanishes
3.Dial M for Murder
4.Spellbound
5.North by Northwest
To the OP,
Without a doubt! This not only makes it into my top 5 Hitch films--it's # 2 just behind Psycho--it is one of my all time favorite films.
I think it belongs firmly among the 5 worst films Hitchcock ever made.
In short, what he did was create a character as fascinating, unique and compelling as Uncle Charlie, have this character played by a great actor and then... throw him into a complete f-cking cartoon. Throughout the entire film he is surrounded by an army of one-dimensional, preposterously chipper caricatures of zero nuance or interest. Everyone is so ridiculously upbeat that the mere news of Uncle Charlie´s arrival is greeted with shockwaves of collective euphoria by the entire family. And then they babble - boy do they babble. The entire film is filled with endless yacking, dished out in bouts of stiff overacting; only very occasionally is some suspense or more appropriately sinister atmosphere allowed to creep in.
And then we have this silly device of having that horrible little man Hume Cronyn rain in from time to time to cheerfully hobnob about how to kill people - presumably to highten tension (a clumsy move he also repeated in Strangers On The Train). What it does however is cheapen the thing by taking it down onto a dimestore pulp novel level. And so it goes... just about everything is constantly undercut by inappropriate overacting. Very rarely is there an actual air of danger - when Cotten´s presence is allowed to occupy the center stage. Don´t happen too often though - I´m afraid the only way to save this movie would have been for Uncle Charlie to strangle the entire family (minus the Charlie chick, of course) as well as Cronyn right upon arrival.
In addition to all that the film has to offer 2 of the most risible "assassination attempts" in all of Hitch - first, a wooden staircase is broken (apparently the broad should have died of a twisted ankle or a broken leg) and then setting up a gas chamber expecting the victim simply to walk into it. And, of course, there´s the ending which looks every bit as silly as its reputation suggests. 4/10.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I completely agree. The family was a (bad) joke, his sister was just irritating, and even more irritating
was the way Charley Junior couldn't walk anywhere without flouncing - whether happily when
she met him at the station, or frantically on her way to the library, and in fact most times when she walked. I found this body over-acting distracting. Daft plot. NOT one of his best. Ginger
But that was the point! They're all upbeat and good natured with a healthy outlook on life, and he's...not. The contrast between Uncle Charlie and his family is supposed to be pronounced. He grew up in the same environment as his sister, and she's fine, which implies that it's not their upbringing that causes him to be this way. It's just him, which makes him scarier because he's completely unpredictable. Not only that, the sort of dizzy behavior of the family ensures that everyone is just completely oblivious to this guy who has serious problems, and the only person who notices is Little Charlie. Hence the tension!
shareUpbeat is one thing, but here everyone but Cotten is reduced to a majorly annoying walking caricature. The balance is completely off and instead of highlighting or stressing the tension, all darkness simply dissolves in the allaround goofiness. What a film like Blue Velvet gets about right, ASOD misses by a mile.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Yes! Here's my list (out of the Hitchcock movies I have seen...many more to go!):
1. Rear Window
2. Rebecca
3. Shadow of a Doubt
4. Rope
5. North by Northwest
...my super-dainty Kate...
For what it's worth (and some of the comments here make me wonder if responding is worthwhile) my Hitchcock Top Ten shows the film making it into the Top Five.
Vertigo
Psycho
Rear Window
Notorious
Shadow of a Doubt
North by Northwest
The Birds
Strangers on a Train
Frenzy
The Lady Vanishes
"I am embarrassed. I never made love in Technicolor before."
I definitely agree, Franz. Sloppily done, with everyone doing goofy things contrary to common sense and logic. One of Hitch's 5 worst. The 8.1 rating here is a real head-scratcher.
shareI'm afraid I have to agree with franzkabuki. Overacting, musical score (although great music) that was waaaaay too dramatic in so many scenes, unrealistic set decoration and costuming, and to be honest...Hitch fell far short of Spielberg in bringing out realistic performances in the children.
Mind you...I love Hitchcock! This movie just didn't meet my expectations of his excellence. It just didn't work for me. I gave it a 7/10 because it wasn't bad...just wasn't up to my personal Hitchcockian expectations.
Please do not attack me for my opinions...we're all entitled to them.
And seriously...young Charlie's friend who was the cocktail waitress towards the end...wow! One of the stiffest, most "who did she sleep with to get that part" performances EVER!!! Just saying.
Please do not attack me for my opinions...we're all entitled to them.
Not quite, but it is an absolutely brilliant film all the same. The climax especially I found nail-biting.
"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)
Nah, I'd put it at #9. Which doesn't mean that I didn't like it, I just liked 8 other movies even more. My top 5 are Rear Window, Notorious, Psycho, To Catch a Thief, and The Birds.
Movies I've seen in 2010: http://www.flixster.com/movie-list/2010-movies-6
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Absolutely. This is one of my favourite movies and I consider it to be one of Hitch's best.
Absolutely in Hitch's top five. In fact, it's one of my favorites of his, along with Psycho, Rear Window and Rebecca.
Dunno what film I'd choose to round out the top five. Probably The Lady Vanishes.
"Don't tell me what the people want, I know what the people want! Get Bryan Adams on the phone!"
It's one of my favorite films, overall. Hitchcock is my favorite director. His strength as a director was visual, but I love this one for the characters and dialogue.