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WEEKEND SERIES
Hitchcock: The British Thrillers
November 20 - November 28
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The critic David Thomson wrote that “Hitchcock in England is a career unto itself, no matter that the American films take on a greater power and ease—like driving a Cadillac after a Morris Minor. The English films are playful… (and) they have dark moments and stirrings of sexual menace…But it was Hitch’s storytelling flair—visual storytelling—that got him to America.”
This series of eight thrillers directed by Hitchcock between 1930 and 1939, the year he went to Hollywood to make Rebecca for Selznick, opens and closes with films in which spies or foreign agents disrupt the illusion of day to day normalcy, a recurring theme that allowed the director to indulge his fascination with disguise and his predilection for urbane, socially prominent villains. Though both The Man Who Knew Too Much (the only film Hitchcock remade) and The Lady Vanishes are set in the world of espionage and abound in eccentric characters, the two films are very different in tone: the former is a race against time film—a father searches for his kidnapped child in a grim, shadowy London—that climaxes at a concert in Albert Hall, a classic Hitchcockian “set piece”; the latter is a sunny comedy thriller with serious undertones starring Redgrave and Lockwood as the romantic leads and the sole passengers on a snowbound train who know that dotty, vanished Miss Froy really does exist. Of special note are two films that rank among Hitchcock’s most accomplished work from any period: The 39 Steps, the template for North by Northwest, and an archetypal chase film in which the falsely accused hero demonstrates courage and ingenuity as he pursues the real criminal across Scotland; and Sabotage, shot in German expressionist style and as pitiless as Psycho, that allowed Hitchcock to transform a simple dinner scene between an anarchist and his wife into an exercise in nail-biting suspense by juxtaposing shots of a bread knife, slapstick cartoon violence, and close-ups of eyes brimming with fear and rage.
Program Notes
Friday and Saturday screenings begin at 7:30 pm unless otherwise noted. There is a ten-minute intermission between features on a double bill. All programs are subject to change. Films are in 35mm unless otherwise indicated. Foreign-language films are subtitled in English. Many films are unrated and may not be appropriate for younger viewers. If a film is listed as "sold out," a standby line will form one hour before the screening. Any cancellations or seats that become available will go to people waiting in this line. Please note that there is no guarantee that everyone in the standby line will be accommodated.
The Leo S. Bing Theater is equipped with a DTS digital sound system courtesy of Universal Pictures, an SDDS digital sound system courtesy of Sony Cinema Products, and Dolby digital sound.
The 2009–2010 film program is made possible by the generosity of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Time Warner Cable, in partnership with Ovation TV.
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Ticket Prices
$10 general admission.
$7 museum members, seniors (62+), students with valid ID.
$5 second film only of a double-feature; no advance purchase.
$2 Tuesday matinees.
$1 Tuesday matinees, seniors (62+).
Where to Buy
Buy tickets at the museum box office (tel. 323 857-6010) or online. Many programs sell out so try to purchase in advance.
Included
Your film ticket covers both films in a double bill, except where noted, and includes entrance to the museum galleries as well.
Film Department
Tel. 323 857-6177
Ian Birnie, Director
Bernardo Rondeau, Program Coordinator
Pauline Posner, Volunteer
If you would like to subscribe to the Film Department’s e-mail newsletter, please send a message to film@lacma.org.
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