Hitchcock (2012)

The relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho (1960) in 1959 is explored.

Director:

Sacha Gervasi

Writers:

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

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 28 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
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 Reville, 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 (1960), 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:

year 1959 | los angeles california | studio executive | censorship board | talking to the camera | 

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Taglines:

Behind every Psycho is a great woman.

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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 [Japan]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hitchcock

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$287,715, 23 November 2012, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,008,677

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,570,541

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Datasat Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Alma visits Whitfield Cook's beach house, they start to work on a book called "Taxi to Dubrovnik". This book is real, and it was published by Cook in 1981. It is about three vacationing Americans who travel by hired car from Athens, Greece to Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia.

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Goofs

When Hitch is being shaved, sometime after the North by Northwest premiere (8 July 1959), Peggy tells him that 20th Century Fox is offering him to direct The Diary of Anne Frank. "Diary" was already finished and premiered in March 1959, so such an offer would not have been made in that same year.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Henry Gein: It's lucky it didn't reach the house.
Ed Gein: Yeah.
Henry Gein: You know, there's gonna be a lot more jobs at that factory in Milwaukee come June. I could put in a word.
Ed Gein: You can't leave us, Henry. She needs us both.
Henry Gein: Can you stop being a mama's boy for one second? I'm not trying to hurt you, but Jesus, you gotta live your own life sometime. That woman can take care of her own god...
[Ed hits Henry with a shovel]
Alfred Hitchcock: Good evening. Well, brother has been killing brother since Cain and Abel, yet even I didn't ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits, there is a brief shot of Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock standing in silhouette in a large empty movie theatre before walking out of the shot. This emulates Hitchcock's trademark cameo appearance in most of his films.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Movie Review: Hitchcock (2013)

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Soundtracks

Preludes, Op. 28: No. 1 in C Major, Agitato
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Bianca Sitzius, Piano
Courtesy of Countdown Media

User Reviews

A narrowed down film, myopic and predictable.

A narrowed down film, myopic and predictable.

It is a film that deals with how Alfred Hitchcock made the thriller called 'Psycho'. It is good nonetheless but never becomes great.

Are there any moments of greatness at least? Absolutely not. It comes across as a fictionalized documentary more than a fascinating drama. Having said that, the performance by Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock is worth appreciating. Other performances are good enough too.

What failed me was the script that kept many things obvious. There was no guile, secrecy or a metaphor in any of the scenes. The screenplay followed a well-documented path. Yes, for few instances it gets into the psyche of Hitchcock and tries to interpret some actions but they come very much late in the film.

Overall, I must say the viewing of this film was daunting more than being insightful for me. The actual interviews of Hitchcock himself are more interesting than this film.

It's a 2/5 for showing few days of an illustrious career and personality.