Hitchcock's box failures - Topaz and Under Capricorn

Hi Everyone,
Topaz is an interesting film with lots of great ideas. Its true its not as good as Hitchcock's early thrillers. If Hitchcock had enough time, then he would have made the film into a brilliant. But I think this film will get better by time. When I watched the film for the first time, I thought the film was dull. When I watched it again, I liked it better.

Hitchcock enjoyed working with Samuel Taylor. Vertigo and Topaz were both box office failures. But Vertigo is now considered as Hitchcock masterpiece. They are some connections between Frederick Stafford's character Andre and James Stewart's character Scottie. They both feel like they don't have the identity without the women they loved.

As for Under Capricorn, Hitchcock told Francois Truffaut that James Bridie was a semi-intellectual playwright. But Hitchcock admits that James Bridie had "very good" first acts and second acts. Hitchcock later thought that James Bridie never succeeded in ending his last acts.

But Critics are noticing the brilliance of Under Capricorn. James Bridie was a playwright who was famous for his Biblical Plays. And there are lots of Christian symbolisms in the film. Those symbolisms show as a background to the psychology of the characters. French Critics considers Lady Henrietta's character very complicated. For instance, She never feels guilty for killing her own brother Dermot. But she feels guilty for what happened to Samson Flusky.

In Topaz, I find Andre's character to be mysterious. His daughter and son in law are very close to him. As you all know, Hitchcock's original ending was a duel ending. Hitchcock heard about a duel that happened in France around 1960s. This may have been another reason why he wrote the ending. Although it isn't a strong ending, still I think it shows the mystery to the character.

In the last act of Under Capricorn, the film shows mysterious sides to the characters Charles Adare and Milly. It reveals the psychological connections between Lady Henrietta and Milly. Like Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Adare becomes Honorable Hero in the end.