LAMARCHE’S CHOICES
We asked Lamarche to pick five of these 15 films and, in order of their release, cite the appeal of each one:
The Saboteur (1942)
“One of the finale scenes of this thriller is set on top of the Statue of Liberty. The villain is hanging in mid-air and despite the fact he is a bad guy, we still don’t want him to fall. It is so well directed and groundbreaking — and kind of reminds us of what Hitchcock was to do 17 years later in North by Northwest.”
Rope (1948)
“This was Hitchcock’s first colour film and was way ahead of the curve. In the last two years, we’ve seen two films like it, Birdman and Victoria. Victoria was shot in a single take and a big segment of Birdman was, too. But Rope was among the very first with this idea. Of course, it couldn’t be shot all in one take, because the film magazines of that era only had enough footage for about 10 minutes each. So he did it in eight increments. And the finished film runs in actual time over 80 minutes. Very stunning, too and quite a bit different from his other films.”
I Confess (1953)
“Shot in all its glory in Quebec City, it also inspired Robert Lepage for his Le Confessional in 1995. The script is a departure from other Hitchcock pieces — about a priest who hears a murder confession. But he can’t go to the police, because it is a church confession. It offers a unique perspective on the law and murder.”
Marnie (1964)
“This one features Sean Connery, who was just starting to do James Bond films at the time. What’s interesting about this one is that it’s all about sexual tension. He has this fetish about wanting to make love to a thief (Tippi Hedren), even after she has stolen from him. This, too, represents something different for Hitchcock and to see him team with Connery is a blast.”
Frenzy (1972)
“This was his second to last film and considered to be one of his greatest. It also marked his comeback to the U.K. after doing so much work in the U.S. An intense suspense thriller, it deals with the theme of perversion. It’s about a sexual deviant who kills purely for pleasure, and yet he comes across as a likable character. Only a Hitchcock could pull something like that off.”