Favourite Hitchcock star

"sawakatoome" <sawakatoome DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1139917580.306565.155590@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Who do you reckon is the best star in a Hitchcock film?

I try not to ever choose "best", becuase not only is it very subjective, but
there's always baggage. It's like saying what's the best cheese? Well, are
you going to grate it, or melt it?


>
> Choices are many .. Cary Grant, James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Ingrid
> Bergman being the four most obvious probably ..

Well, only maybe because they were in the most each (except there are some
British bit players that were in 3, 4, or more).

See, I'd say Grant in Notorious is better than Stewart in TMWKTM, but
Stewart in Rope and Vertigo, different story. Granger in Rope. Vey, vey
nice. Not bad in Strangers either.

And are we only talking about leads? John Williams rules as the detective in
Dial M!

Would Grant have been better in Marnie? Perkins in Psycho, especially at the
end, is just hard to beat. I love Hume Cronyn in Shadow of a Doubt. The
ramblings on about the perfect murder are great. And we can't forger The
Beaver in Trouble with Harry!!!!

But seriously though. In terms of acting style, I'd put Perkins up there in
Psycho. It's the most "modern" styled acting of the late films. I don't see
Frenzy, Family Plot, Topaz, and even Marnie or The Birds as having a stand
out actor that carries the film. Many of them have more of an ensemble cast,
or a pairing. Stewart carries Vertigo I think, but even Rope is carried by
the interactions between two characters of Granger and Dall (like Strangers,
Shadow, etc. where there are two strong leads playing off each other). I
think we see a clear distinction in the acting style of early British films
versus the "Hollywood" style of the 40s and 50. I think I see films like
Vertigo and Rope, despite their timelessness, definitely "50's" films (in
much the way as many films made during WWII have that "feel" about them,
even if not specifically about the war). Psycho to me seems to be the most
"modern" in that "dividing line between the golden hollywood era and the
modern era" - whenever that was. To me, Birds and Marnie seem a little
old-fashioned (a decade earlier) comparatively. Topaz and Torn Curtain are
"modern" for the time due to the subject matter, but like WWII films, they
kind of seem linked with a certain set of conditions (like Lifeboat, or the
Lady Vanishes, etc.) Family Plot and Frenzy are both "modern" and not so
stuck in a certain time. You could probably remake either of them (Psycho
anyone?) easily. But of all of those, Pshyco seems to have the best acting
by a single actor, or at least by one who really controls the film. Tippi
could have done it in the Birds, but I don't think her acting was
necessarily stellar.

So my votes go to, for a male lead, Perkins in Psycho, then Stewart in
Vertigo.

Females. Hmm. Julie Andrews is not bad in TC (i.e. underrated). Joan
Fontaine in Rebecca of course. Theresa Wright in Shadow (brilliance). Grace
in Dial M. Since Grace or Bergman on screen are just to die for, there's a
hard choice there. Even Grace in To Catch a Thief.

Ok. If I have to eliminate them by those that stand out, and virtually carry
the film, I'll go with Ingrid Berman in Notorious ("they're poisoning me"),
and Grace in Dial M.

My 1.5 cents!

Steve
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