Better with every viewing

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2005)

When it first came out, the public was disappointed. It wasn't Psycho and seemed to pale in comparison to Norman's story, but I liked it better than Psycho then and still do today. Along with Shadow of a Doubt and 39 Steps, it is my favorite Hitchcock.
I watched it again last night, Halloween, on a VHS tape from several years ago. Today I came to this board; I notice there are 22 pages of comments, so I doubt I can add anything new, but here are some thoughts in general that may engender more discussion on boards:
1. The final scene will always stick with you; 2. How many times does Hitch let his heroines enter a room that they should not? This plot device goes back to Mary Roberts Rinehart, but it works every time. 3. Get the wide screen DVD; there is one scene in my 'fit to your screen' tape where Mitch is talking to Melanie walking back to the house, but he is not on the screen. 4. Tippi is gorgeous, but there are times you can hear daughter Melanie's helium voice bursting out. 5. I wonder about the necessity of the scene in the restaurant with the end of the world man, the old lady who studies birds, the mother and kids eating lunch and the fisherman. It is borrowed from many 50's SCI-FI pictures. The purpose, of course, is to give a pause until the next attack, but all the dialog sounds so trite. 6. Is Annie the only teacher in that school? 7. And what did Mitch's father do for a living when they resided in Bodega Bay? Today such a place would be overrun by tourists. 8. I cannot get over the confidence of Hitchcock, to set that first gull attack on Melanie without music. I keep trying to think what Jaws would be like without the pounding score. 9. Then again, sharks do not caw or coo. There were over 100 starlings and blackbirds on my lawn and in the trees this morning, making what sounded like a hideous racket. Yesterday the noise would not have bothered me, but today? 10. Can we make a pact to shoot the first producer or director who announces he or she wants to remake the film?