Hitchcock (2012)

A love story between influential filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho in 1959.

Director:

Sacha Gervasi

Writers:

John J. McLaughlin (screenplay), Stephen Rebello (book)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Alfred Hitchcock
Helen Mirren	...	Alma Reville
Scarlett Johansson	...	Janet Leigh
Danny Huston	...	Whitfield Cook
Toni Collette	...	Peggy Robertson
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Lew Wasserman
Michael Wincott	...	Ed Gein
Jessica Biel	...	Vera Miles
James D'Arcy	...	Anthony Perkins
Richard Portnow	...	Barney Balaban
Kurtwood Smith	...	Geoffrey Shurlock
Ralph Macchio	...	Joseph Stefano
Kai Lennox	...	Hilton Green
Tara Summers	...	Rita Riggs
Wallace Langham	...	Saul Bass

Storyline

In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma, are at the top of their creative game as filmmakers amid disquieting insinuations about it being time to retire. To recapture his youth's artistic daring, Alfred decides his next film will adapt the lurid horror novel, Psycho, over everyone's misgivings. Unfortunately, as Alfred self-finances and labors on this film, Alma finally loses patience with his roving eye and controlling habits with his actresses. When an ambitious friend lures her to collaborate on a work of their own, the resulting marital tension colors Alfred's work even as the novel's inspiration haunts his dreams.

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Plot Keywords:

filmmaker | psycho | adultery | automobile | dog | 

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Taglines:

Good evening.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content and thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho'

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$287,715 (USA) (21 November 2012)

Gross:

$6,002,708 (USA) (8 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Cold Spring Pictures, Montecito Picture Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andrew Garfield's rehearsal schedule and Broadway run in "Death of a Salesman" made him unavailable for the role of Anthony Perkins.

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Goofs

In his scene with composer Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock addresses him as "Bernie." Virtually no one called him that; those who were close to him called him "Benny."

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Quotes

Alfred Hitchcock: You may call me Hitch. Hold the Cock.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, there is a brief shot of Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock standing in profile in front of an empty screening room.

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Connections

References Elmer's Candid Camera (1940)

User Reviews

Murder He Wrote

If you're going to do a biopic, do it out of love for the subject, not yourself. If this was meant to pay homage to the Master of Suspense, a documentary would have been better than a selfish, rather dubious portrayal. It isn't a portrayal; it's a parody.

Anthony Hopkins, usually a great actor, focuses so much on perfecting Hitchcock's distinctive voice and mannerisms that it kills the artifice. Hopkins looks like he gained weight for the role, but I never once thought I was watching Hitch. I was always conscious of Hopkins playing Hitch – playing him rather badly.

Hitch's wit is compromised because Hopkins delivers his lines very theatrically. Hitch never uttered his witty quotes quite as emphatically; he did so matter-of-factly and it was up to you to detect the wit.

The film has the same central pitfall as Spielberg's Lincoln: the plot is too thin. Here the entire film is about Hitch's battle to get his most famous and most successful film, Psycho, made (resistance from Paramount forced him to finance it himself).

Toni Collette adds nothing in her unrewarding role as Hitch's secretary. Then again, neither does Michael Wincott as Ed Gein's phantom, meant to represent Hitch's inner voice.

The biggest insult to Hitch's memory is that the film doesn't even agree that he was a genius. It implies all the way through that his tolerant and assertive wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), was the true genius. It says she did the directing – both of Hitch's films and of Hitch - while Hitch succumbed to alcoholism and comfort eating. The film becomes a story of the great man in front of the even greater woman.

As much as I enjoy watching Mirren, I am noticing a decline in her standards. Maybe she knows she has nothing left to prove. I get the impression when watching her on TV interviews with much younger guests that she's in denial about her age. In a scene she shares with Scarlett Johannson, who is delightful as Janet Leigh, Mirren is supposed to act jealously as Hitch fawns over her. Her envy is so credible that you realise she might not be acting in that moment.

This is a tawdry and cynical reminiscence of Hitch's insecurity about becoming a fading star, despite dazzling audiences with a string of classics, including North by Northwest, Vertigo and Rear Window. Hitch felt enormous resentment for not ever winning a competitive Oscar and being recognised for his genius; why wasn't this story shown? Why is he being denied his due credit even in death?