The Man Who Knew Too Much,Vertigo,Psycho

In 1934 Alfred Hitchcock released “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, however over twenty year later in 1956 a re-creation of the film came out to the same title.  Staring Jimmy Steward as Dr. Ben McKenna, and Doris Day as his wife Josephine McKenna.  Following the same plot as the original having a family traveling, and having their son get kidnapped.  As suspicion from being watch rises in the beginning of the movie finally Hitchcock releases the dinner scene.  The waiter brings the couple, and the other creepy couple food.  This food is some sort of bird.  Chicken is the first thing that I thought of.  Once this happens as the viewer you just know that something in the plot is going to happen, which is does as the rest of the movie goes on.

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Next in the 1958 film “Vertigo” Hitchcock displays a darker side of his personality, and of course shows it off before it happens with birds.  The first time birds are seen in the film is the scene under the Golden Gate Bridge when Madeleine pushes herself into the bay.  When Scotty jumps in after her and rescues her, a bird flies over the top of the screen.  When I first saw this I was expected something to happen right after that.  I was disappointed that nothing happened after that until later in the movie.  I think what Hitchcock’s intention was that this was the first time Scotty and Madeleine was together, and it was foreshadowing the chaos that would occur with the two of them together.

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Later in the film, Madeleine is wearing a humming bird pin in the scene where her death is faked.  This entire scene changed the entire films plot.  All of this was set-up because she was wearing a humming bird pin.

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Finally in 1960, Hitchcock released possibly one of his most popular film in “Psycho”.  By no means did Hitchcock plan on hiding the fact that birds would lead to chaos in the film.  First off, the film starts off in the city of Phoenix Arizona.  A phoenix is a mythological bird.  Another example is the one of the main characters is Marion Crane.  Crane is the name of a bird normally found around a lake or other wetlands.  Once at the motel, and we meet Norman Bates, we find that he find the hobby of taxidermy fascinating and makes the time pass by quickly.  Bates takes Marion into his back room and the room is absolutely covered with the birds that he has stuffed from the past. Owl from psycho

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While the two of them are in the Bates back room having a little dinner, Bates makes the comment that “You eat like a bird”.

Finally, right outside of the bathroom in which Marion was murdered, there is a painting of a bird. Psycho bird painting.jpgThese are only some of the more popular examples that are displayed in this Hitchcockian masterpiece.  After seeing this film, it not only is in my Hitchcock top five films, but it is one of my favorite movies of all time.

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