The Playlist

Watch: Guillermo Del Toro Talks Alfred Hitchcock's Dark Humor In 1934's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

By Ken Guidry
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January 15, 2013 11:16 AM
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News

Today, Alfred Hitchcock’s "The Man Who Knew Too Much" will officially be available on Blu-ray via The Criterion Collection. To honor its release, Criterion has posted a video on YouTube of Guillermo del Toro ("Hellboy," "Pan’s Labyrinth") speaking very fondly of the film and of Hitchcock. Del Toro explains why he considers the 1934 film to be the earliest evidence of Hitchcock’s greatness.

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The Disc-Less: 5 British Films Not Available On DVD Including Movies By Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Leigh, Terence Davies & More

By Peter Labuza
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November 27, 2012 10:07 AM
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7 Comments

Features

With "Hitchcock" now in theaters giving us a (not very accurate) portrait of the Master of Suspense, one of history's greatest directors is once again in the conversation. Additionally, the National Film Preservation is currently streaming a partial copy of "The White Shadow," a 1924 silent by Graham Cutts, one of Hitchcock’s early mentors and collaborators. In honor of Cutts and Hitchcock, this week’s column highlights our neighbors across the Atlantic, with five great classics of British cinema that have yet to grace us with discs of their own here.

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6 New 'Hitchcock' Photos Plus Poster, New Clip & Featurette

By Edward Davis
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November 12, 2012 5:58 PM
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Fox Searchlight is in overdrive mode today with their biggest Oscar contender of the year, bar "The Sessions" with "Hitchock." They've released six new photos, a clip from the film, a new poster and a pretty enlightening featurette which gives you the intriguing meat of the movie. It's about more than just the making of "Psycho" or a Hitchcock biopic and instead about the critical relationship between Hitchcock and Alma Reville: his wife, his editor, his scriptwriter and his most trusted creative confidante.

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5 Things You May Not Know About Alfred Hitchcock's 'Spellbound'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 31, 2012 1:57 PM
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2 Comments

Features

We're of the general opinion that you can never get enough Hitchcock, and while we've just wrapped up our massive retrospective of the director's works, to celebrate the release of a new Blu-ray boxset of his work, today has another Hitch connection. These days, Halloween means "Paranormal Activity" sequels in theaters (and before that, "Saw" movies), but in the past, when the holiday wasn't such a corporate behemoth, more interesting fare made it to theaters for that time of year. And October 31st, 1945 saw the release of Hitchcock's "Spellbound."

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Retrospective: The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock Pt. 2 (1940-1976, The Hollywood Years)

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 31, 2012 12:59 PM
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Features

In the late 1930s, with films like "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes" having proven global hits, the New York Times wrote: "Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not. Magna Carta, the Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest director of screen melodramas in the world." And unsurprisingly, he came to the attention of Hollywood, with David O. Selznick signing the filmmaker to an exclusive contract, and bringing him over to direct "Rebecca."

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Retrospective: The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock Pt. 1 (1925-1939)

By The Playlist Staff
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October 30, 2012 12:29 PM
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Features

This year, a Leytonstone-born Londoner born 113 years ago has been all the rage. The subject of two biopics, "The Girl" (which aired on HBO a few weeks back) and "Hitchcock" (which premieres at AFI Fest on Thursday), the director of the newly named greatest film of all time "Vertigo," and a man who's been endlessly homaged, ripped off, and paid tribute to for decades -- of course, we're talknig about Alfred Hitchcock.

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Watch: Every Alfred Hitchcock Cameo Ever

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 13, 2012 10:45 AM
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If you're a fan of Alfred Hitchock (and really, who isn't?), you better buckle up because there is a whole lotta Hitch coming your way (and fyi, today is his birthday too!). Two movies about the legendary filmmaker are just around the corner with Toby Jones playing the director in the upcoming "The Girl" with Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren, and there's Anthony Hopkins leading "Hitchcock" alongside a helluva ensemble that includes Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, James D'Arcy, Jessica Biel, Toni Colette, Danny Huston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Wincott, Kurtwood Smith, Wallace Langham and Ralph Macchio. And that's not all. Next month Universal is dropping "Alfred Hitchock: The Masterpiece Collection" on BluRay, a boxset of 15 iconic films, 13 of which on the high def format for the first time. But for those looking for a quick journey through Hitchcock's films, the interwebs has you covered.

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Spot The Difference: Uncanny New Image Of Sienna Miller As Tippi Hedren In Hitchcock Biopic 'The Girl'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 18, 2012 2:22 PM
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1 Comment

News

Toby Jones must get a little frustrated when he starts making a biopic. The chamelonic character actor got the role of a lifetime when he played Truman Capote in "Infamous" (giving a terrific performance in the process), but despite a starry cast including Sandra Bullock and Daniel Craig, had his thunder stolen when the film's release was delayed for nearly a year, allowing "Capote," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, to sweep in with acclaim, and an Oscar victory.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 15, 2012 11:58 AM
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4 Comments

Features

What's the greatest Alfred Hitchcock film? Every film fan will have a different answer, with "The 39 Steps," "Rebecca," "Spellbound," "Notorious," "Rear Window," "Vertigo" and "North By Northwest" all making compelling cases for being the very best. But few of his films had such an impact on cinema as "Psycho," the 1960s thriller that saw him go into darker, more shocking territory than ever before, with some of the most famous sequences in the history of the medium.

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First Look At Scarlett Johansson As Janet Leigh In 'Hitchcock'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 16, 2012 11:39 AM
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6 Comments

News

Alfred Hitchcock seems to be firmly in the zeitgeist at the moment: the British Film Institute is showing an extensive retrospective of the director's work later in the year, and the next twelve months or so will see not one, but two biopics of the legendary master of suspense. The first, "The Girl," is made for British television and focuses on the relationship between Hitch and his "The Birds" star Tippi Hedren, with Toby Jones playing the director and Sienna Miller taking on the actress's role.

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