WEEK 24: Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Hello! And welcome back, if you are indeed back, to Weekly Hitch. This is a film studies type project in which I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s films, in chronological order, and then I write about them and sometimes friend and family read what I write because they’re kind.

This week I’m watching Hitch’s second American film, but personally – I think it would be more accurate to call it ‘The First American Hitchcock’, because while it was made after Rebecca, this week’s film is far more like the British master we’ve come to know. So buckle up for war! Excitement! Thrills! Romance! It’s 1940’s Foreign Correspondent!

WEEK 23: Rebecca (1940)

Hello! And welcome back once again, to Weekly Hitch. This is a film-studies sort of blog in which I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies in chronological order and then write about them and try to learn things. It’s like a hobby, only I try make other people join in against their will.

For week 23 here at Weekly Hitch, we – and Hitchcock – enter the 1940’s and move to America for Hitch’s biggest, and possibly best film yet. It’s a classic tale of romance and suspense, and teamed Hitch up with one of the great producers of the age, David O Selznick. So, read on if you like, as I learn about 1940’s Rebecca.

WEEK 22: Jamaica Inn (1939)

Hello, greetings, howdy, and welcome back – yet again – to Weekly Hitch! This is a personal study-type blog in which I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, in order, and then try to work out if they’re great and how they were made and what we can learn from them. It’s like going to school, only I won’t send anyone to the principal’s office for passing notes.

This week, our last week of the 1930’s and the last of Hitchcock’s British period, brings us to the troubled, odd, and curious tale of Hitch’s 1939 period melodrama Jamaica Inn – starring the very famous Charles Laughton. Are you ready for adventure?

WEEK 21: The Lady Vanishes (1938)

After a couple months spent writing for a television show with nary a moment to watch amazing old movies, I am returned to the trail – and ready to carry on with the twenty-first week of Weekly Hitch, a project type thing in which I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s films in order and try to think about them – and what might be my favourite of all Hitch’s movies.

This week brings us to Hitchcock’s penultimate British film – and one of his most enjoyable, clever, funny, exciting, and satisfying films – 1938’s The Lady Vanishes. It’s a great film made even more poignant by the times in which it was made. So all aboard for adventure!

WEEK 19: Sabotage (1936)

It’s that time again, time to dive into the past and look back at the films of Alfred Hitchcock – at the reasonable rate of one a week – which is what this blog does, and what I do along with it because I write it and also I don’t want the blog to get lonely.

This week we’re in the solid middle of six British suspense films that Hitchcock made in the 1930’s and a very solid entry into what I would call his “domestic thrillers” with a look at darkness and light in Sabotage.

WEEK 18: Secret Agent (1936)

And we’re back, once again, and welcome to week 18 of Weekly Hitch, a film-studies blog wherein I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies – in chronological order – and then I write about them, also in chronological order because that’s just how things happen in the world due to the relativistic nature of time and whatever.

This week, Hitch and us are riding high off the success of The 39 Steps and straight into a nearly forgotten and constantly overlooked espionage drama, 1936’s Secret Agent. So get ready for intrigue and drama, in a world where nothing is what it seems!

WEEK 17: The 39 Steps (1935)

Hello there, and welcome back to the seventeenth week of Weekly Hitch! This is a film-studies blog-type project wherein I watch every single one of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, in chronological order, and then write about them in a way that probably only makes sense to me and maybe other slightly deranged people.

This week we follow up Hitchcock’s breakthrough thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much, with the smashiest smash hit The 39 Steps. It’s the film that really put Hitch on the international map, and you do not want to not read why I think you shouldn’t not see it. If you get what I mean.

WEEK 16: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

It’s week 16 at Weekly Hitch, a film-type blog where I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies in chronological order, no matter what they are, and then I talk about them and tell people what I think. You’re people.

This week Hitchcock turns a corner and we turn it with him as I watch 1934’s classic, exciting, and only slightly flawed thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much. So read on, and see how much he knew!

WEEK 10: Juno And The Paycock (1930)

Hello again, whoever you are, and welcome to week ten of Weekly Hitch – a film studies blog in which I watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, in chronological order, and then talk about them into a computer. It’s like having a friend show you slides of a trip to Italy, but instead of slides it’s opinions and instead of Italy it’s old movies.

This week, we enter the 1930’s with Hitchcock’s adaptation of one of Ireland’s most famous plays – there’s religious symbolism aplenty and lots more experimenting and adapting to sound. So let’s begin, with 1930’s Juno And The Paycock.

WEEK 8: The Manxman (1929)

Hello again, and welcome back to Weekly Hitch – the blog wherein I watch all of Hitchcock’s movies in chronological order and you read, like, half a blog-post and then skim a bit because seriously who has time for this?

This week I watched Hitchcock’s last official silent film, and his first real adaptation of a novel, 1929’s religious-allegory/morality-tale/melodrama The Manxman. So buckle up, because things are about to get Hitchy.