the-film-addict: Bogart, Stewart and Hitchcock together in the fourties All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).
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the-film-addict:

Bogart, Stewart and Hitchcock together in the fourties

All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).

Extract from draft screenplay of North by Northwest (1959), written by Ernest Lehman and directed by Alfred Hitchcock HITCHCOCK: Now, the choir on the left and singing, and they seat themselves just as he gets to the—say, there are four rows of choir singing—just as he gets level with the end row. Now we CUT to the DOWN SHOT on the congregation and they sit, you see. And they look up and there’s nobody in the pulpit. And yet, last time we saw him, although there was a man in surplice under the stairs, he was about to put his foot on the first step to go into the pulpit. But we CUT AWAY before he gets his foot on the step. LEHMAN: As a member of the audience here, I feel slightly cheated, Hitch, right there. HITCHCOCK: He hasn’t put his foot on the steps—this is my point. That you now go to the congregation and they look up—the front row looking up. Now you CUT to what they see and there’s the pulpit. Now you HOLD your camera on that empty pulpit. Now you CUT BACK to your people: “Well, what’s happened?”—now you come back behind the column and the pulpit… What a gem I just found, Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman plan Hitch’s final film: In this audio clip we hear director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman developing the storyline for what would be Hitchcock’s last film, Family Plot (1976). The screenplay for what turned out to be Alfred Hitchcock’s last film, Family Plot, was written by Ernest Lehman who had previously worked with the director on North by Northwest (1959). On both films, the writer and director collaborated closely, but on Family Plot Lehman recorded their story conferences, providing unprecedented insight into their working methods. An estimated 80 hours of their conversations are preserved at the Ransom Center. Now, in the process of writing the film, it seems that you began with a list of disparate ideas that Hitchcock mentioned as possible scenes for the movie. Could you discuss them? Yes. They were all wonderful, and I took them all down, and I never used most of them. For some reason, Hitch wanted to do the longest dolly shot in cinema history. The idea was that the shot would begin with an assembly line, and then you’d gradually see the parts of the car added and assembled, and, all the while, the camera’s dollying for miles along with the assembly line, and then eventually there’s a completed car, all built, and it’s driven off the assembly line, and there’s a dead body in the backseat. Did you try to work that one into the script? Not really. It was intriguing, but it had no place in the picture. Then Hitch told me another one: there’s a speech being made at the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the speaker suddenly stops. He’s irritated, and he says he’s not going to continue until the delegate from Brazil wakes up. So a UN page goes over to the man, taps him on the shoulder, and the delegate falls over dead. But he’d been doodling — and that’s the only clue to the murder — and his doodling is a sketch of the antlers of moose. So I said, “Well, that’s intriguing — now we’ve got the United Nations, and Detroit, and what might seem like a reference to northern Canada.” And Hitch said that he’d always wanted to do a scene at Lake Louise where a family is having a reunion — a get-together — and a twelve-year-old girl takes a gun out of a baby carriage and shoots someone. I realize that all these ideas sound very peculiar and unrelated, but I took them all down and thought about them. —Creative Screenwriting (2000), “North by Northwest”: An Interview with Ernest Lehman In this 1965 interview, Hitchcock discusses — partly in French — “La Mort aux Trousses” (French title for “North by Northwest”), and in particular the famous “that’s funny — he’s dusting crops where there ain’t no crops” scene. Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond: North By Northwest screenplay 1958 shooting draft for your reading pleasure (NOTE: For educational purposes only) Ernest Lehman’s notes North by Northwest, the Hitchcock classic, as you’ve never seen it before Via @lafamiliafilm, amazing audio of Alfred Hicthcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman brainstorming story bit.ly/11w1PFi #movies — Scott Myers (@GoIntoTheStory) April 22, 2013
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Extract from draft screenplay of North by Northwest (1959), written by Ernest Lehman and directed by Alfred Hitchcock

HITCHCOCK: Now, the choir on the left and singing, and they seat themselves just as he gets to the—say, there are four rows of choir singing—just as he gets level with the end row. Now we CUT to the DOWN SHOT on the congregation and they sit, you see. And they look up and there’s nobody in the pulpit. And yet, last time we saw him, although there was a man in surplice under the stairs, he was about to put his foot on the first step to go into the pulpit. But we CUT AWAY before he gets his foot on the step.
LEHMAN: As a member of the audience here, I feel slightly cheated, Hitch, right there.
HITCHCOCK: He hasn’t put his foot on the steps—this is my point. That you now go to the congregation and they look up—the front row looking up. Now you CUT to what they see and there’s the pulpit. Now you HOLD your camera on that empty pulpit. Now you CUT BACK to your people: “Well, what’s happened?”—now you come back behind the column and the pulpit…

What a gem I just found, Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman plan Hitch’s final film:

In this audio clip we hear director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman developing the storyline for what would be Hitchcock’s last film, Family Plot (1976). The screenplay for what turned out to be Alfred Hitchcock’s last film, Family Plot, was written by Ernest Lehman who had previously worked with the director on North by Northwest (1959). On both films, the writer and director collaborated closely, but on Family Plot Lehman recorded their story conferences, providing unprecedented insight into their working methods. An estimated 80 hours of their conversations are preserved at the Ransom Center.

Now, in the process of writing the film, it seems that you began with a list of disparate ideas that Hitchcock mentioned as possible scenes for the movie. Could you discuss them?
Yes. They were all wonderful, and I took them all down, and I never used most of them. For some reason, Hitch wanted to do the longest dolly shot in cinema history. The idea was that the shot would begin with an assembly line, and then you’d gradually see the parts of the car added and assembled, and, all the while, the camera’s dollying for miles along with the assembly line, and then eventually there’s a completed car, all built, and it’s driven off the assembly line, and there’s a dead body in the backseat.

Did you try to work that one into the script?
Not really. It was intriguing, but it had no place in the picture. Then Hitch told me another one: there’s a speech being made at the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the speaker suddenly stops. He’s irritated, and he says he’s not going to continue until the delegate from Brazil wakes up. So a UN page goes over to the man, taps him on the shoulder, and the delegate falls over dead. But he’d been doodling — and that’s the only clue to the murder — and his doodling is a sketch of the antlers of moose. So I said, “Well, that’s intriguing — now we’ve got the United Nations, and Detroit, and what might seem like a reference to northern Canada.” And Hitch said that he’d always wanted to do a scene at Lake Louise where a family is having a reunion — a get-together — and a twelve-year-old girl takes a gun out of a baby carriage and shoots someone. I realize that all these ideas sound very peculiar and unrelated, but I took them all down and thought about them. —Creative Screenwriting (2000), “North by Northwest”: An Interview with Ernest Lehman

In this 1965 interview, Hitchcock discusses — partly in French — “La Mort aux Trousses” (French title for “North by Northwest”), and in particular the famous “that’s funny — he’s dusting crops where there ain’t no crops” scene.

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Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

Arguably the most famous of all film directors, Hitchcock was very likely also the most interviewed; his career total is probably more than 1,000 interviews. That means that many of the 20 Gottlieb has collected will sound familiar to film buffs but also that Gottlieb had a wealth of material from which to choose. He has picked some gems, from throughout the five decades of Hitchcock’s career, covering his output from early talkies in England to the 1970s, when the colloquies assume a retrospective tone. Perhaps the most valuable and revealing of them is an unusually technical 1948 question-and-answer session with a gathering of professional cinema technicians. Other standouts: a confrontation with provocative Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci and an encounter with Andy Warhol that makes up in novelty what it lacks in informativeness. Even the more mundane entries offer the fun of watching Hitchcock play cat-and-mouse with the interviewer. Francois Truffaut’s exhaustive, book-length conversation may be the definitive Hitchcock interview, but this collection confirms that the celebrated director had much more to say. —Gordon Flagg, American Library Association

Letter from Alfred Hitchcock to François Truffaut, December 9, 1966

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The most delightful film book in print.

The audio tapes of the interviews have not been released commercially. However, portions of the tapes were used for a French radio broadcast. Nearly 12 hours of the interviews were broadcast on French radio as a 25 part series. Each episode runs for just over 25 minutes.

And don’t forget to watch all the essential documentaries on Hitchcock, this one is a gem:

Alfred Hitchcock takes us inside his creative process in this fascinating 1964 program from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “A Talk with Alfred Hitchcock” is part interview, part master class in the craft of telling stories on film. This 1964 interview of Alfred Hitchcock was part of the CBC television series Telescope with host-director Fletcher Markle. It was conducted during or immediately after the filming of Marnie and also contains interesting stories and comments from Alfred Hitchcock and his associates Norman Lloyd, Joan Harrison and Bernard Herrmann. There are clips from and during the making of several Hitchcock movies. While some of the recollections are part of Hitch’s standard interview material others are unique.

Alfred Hitchcock gives instructions to Veronica Cartwright, Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Jessica Tandy prior to shooting the final scene of The Birds. Cinematographer Robert Burks is second from right, seated. All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).
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Alfred Hitchcock gives instructions to Veronica Cartwright, Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Jessica Tandy prior to shooting the final scene of The Birds. Cinematographer Robert Burks is second from right, seated.

All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).

@lafamiliafilm 2 drafts 5 years apart of the screenplay of Hitchcock: bit.ly/10ck2nM — Mark C. (@MarkEverclear) March 27, 2013
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Hitchcock’s advert to cinemas that hadn’t programmed Rear Window. “To those unfortunate exhibitors who have not already booked Rear Window, I would like to demonstrate the correct method of cutting your throat… “ With thanks to @emmafgreen
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Hitchcock’s advert to cinemas that hadn’t programmed Rear Window.

“To those unfortunate exhibitors who have not already booked Rear Window, I would like to demonstrate the correct method of cutting your throat… “

With thanks to @emmafgreen

pickledelephant: Alfred Hitchcock on the set of The Birds (1963) All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).
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pickledelephant:

Alfred Hitchcock on the set of The Birds (1963)

All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).

Hitchcock hanging the “o” of Psycho. With thanks to Emma Green
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Hitchcock hanging the “o” of Psycho.

With thanks to Emma Green

Director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter in a jovial mood on the Bodega Bay location of The Birds. The Birds screenwriter Evan Hunter talks about the original ending of The Birds that was in the shooting script but was never shot. The Birds screenplay byEvan Hunter [pdf] Storyboards for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds All the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock
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Director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter in a jovial mood on the Bodega Bay location of The Birds.

The Birds screenwriter Evan Hunter talks about the original ending of The Birds that was in the shooting script but was never shot.

Top 10 Charlie Rose Interviews of Film Directors. Lucky for us Charlie Rose is a huge movie buff and he conducts the best interviews with film directors. Charlie’s interviews go beyond the generic interviews that directors usually do to promote their movies, and he asks the great questions that film aficionados want to hear. A few interviews are conducted with people who knew the filmmaker closely for the great directors Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Enjoy these interviews with some of cinema’s great artists. 1. An Hour with Filmmaker George Lucas George Lucas sits down for an hour long conversation with Charlie Rose in this interview and chronologically goes through his moviemaking career from his days at USC film school up to creating the Star Wars prequels. He talks about his financial and technological struggles to get his visions on the big screen and how he has finally attained financial independence as an artist to create the movies he wants to make without having to answer to anyone. George also passes on his wisdom about storytelling, education, artistry, and parenting. 2. A Conversation about Alfred Hitchcock As the undisputed “Master of Suspense”, Alfred Hitchcock left behind a large body of work that continually explored the darker depths of the human heart. Here, Charlie Rose talks with the director’s daughter Patricia along with noted film director/historian Peter Bogdanovich on the centennial of his Hitchcock’s birth. Topics include Hitchcock’s dogged attention to detail, his writing methods, which films of his own he preferred best, and where he ranks with the great masters of cinema history. 3. An Hour with Filmmaker James Cameron Known as “Iron Jim” to friends and critics alike, James Cameron rose from humble beginnings as a truck driver to become the “King of the World” with his mega-blockbuster Titanic. Here Charlie Rose talks with the director at length about what went into making the most expensive film ever made, and how he managed to balance historical fact with romantic fiction. Cameron’s talent for managing complex productions that still strike a chord with a broad audience has made him one of the most successful filmmakers in the modern era; a feat no less incredible when you consider how much his ambition grows from picture to picture. 4. A Discussion with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter Capturing a key moment in history, this interview with Steve Jobs and John Lassetter catches both visionaries at the birth of what would become the most successful animation studio in recent history. After purchasing Pixar in 1986, shortly after his initial ouster from Apple, Jobs helped shepherd Lassetter and his team towards the first digitally animated movie, Toy Story, a box-office success that was followed by a string of hits that has not let up to date. Watch for an interesting moment near the end where Jobs tactfully dodges Charlie Rose’s question about a possible return to Apple; and even that actually did come to pass later that same year! 5. An Interview with Quentin Tarantino Coming off the wild success of his independent film breakout hit Pulp Fiction, super cool film director Quentin Tarantino sits down with Charlie Rose and talks about his craft and where his career is going to go from here. Tarantino talks about his childhood watching movies and his days as a video store clerk. He discusses his unorthodox way of storytelling, his method of writing, and his love of following the careers of film directors of which he mentions his favorites. Finally he talks about his first two films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Watch film geek Tarantino enthusiastically riff on his love of movies. 6. An Hour about the Life and Work of Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick With a photographer’s eye, a philosopher’s curiosity, and a searing intellect, Stanley Kubrick’s films have cut a distinctive path through cinematic history with a scope that is still hard to estimate. Here Charlie Rose talks with the late director’s widow Christiane, his lifelong friend Jan Harland, and adds modern master Martin Scorsese into the mix to round out the table. Christiane Kubrick provides heartwarming insight on their marriage, while Harland and Scorsese weigh in on why Kubrick’s films such as 2001, The Shining, and Dr. Strangelove continue to provoke, compel, and stimulate new generations of filmgoers. 7. A Conversation with Roman Polanski In this interview, filmmaker Roman Polanski speaks about filmmaking, personal tragedy, and the legal trouble that has kept him from returning to the United States. Charlie Rose does not shy away from confronting the director of such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown on why he hasn’t faced the legal ramifications of a rape charge that made him flee for Europe in 1977. Polanski also reflects on the loss of his mother at Auschwitz, his lonely childhood in war-torn Poland, losing his wife in the Manson family murders, and his current life as a French citizen. 8. An Interview with Oliver Stone Director Oliver Stone is known for his political and historical films and in this interview with Charlie Rose, Stone talks about his film Nixon. Stone gives us his interpretation of the man Nixon and covers some of the more controversial aspects of his film. He also gives us his philosophy on drama and its ability to convey the shadow side of history which is often not the version put into the history books. Get a history lesson from Oliver Stone with this hour long talk about Nixon. 9. A Talk with Director Tim Burton Director Tim Burton talks with Charlie Rose about his recent film and art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. In the first 10 minutes MOMA’s exhibit curators talk about putting on the exhibition. Then Burton discusses some of his sketches and talks about how he went from being a weird and quiet teenager to a filmmaker extraordinaire. Burton talks about his love of masks and how they bring out new aspects in his performers such as with Jack Nicholson made up as the Joker in his film Batman or Johnny Depp in the wide variety of outfits he has suited up for in many Burton films. Burton feels that all kids are artists and doodlers up to about age 12, but then for various reason these creative instincts are suppressed as people get older, and both Tim and Charlie find this unfortunate. 10. A Conversation with German Director Werner Herzog German film director Werner Herzog sits down with Charlie Rose in this 23 minute interview and discusses his prolific filmmaking career. Herzog gives some insight into the making of his film Fitzcarraldo about which he recently published his personal diaries in a book called Conquest of the Useless. He talks about his philosophy of filmmaking and his search for the “ecstatic truth” when it comes to the many documentaries that he has shot over the years. Herzog also addresses his talent for bringing out the best in actors such as his unique gift for harnessing the talent of German actor Klaus Kinski.
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Top 10 Charlie Rose Interviews of Film Directors.

Lucky for us Charlie Rose is a huge movie buff and he conducts the best interviews with film directors. Charlie’s interviews go beyond the generic interviews that directors usually do to promote their movies, and he asks the great questions that film aficionados want to hear. A few interviews are conducted with people who knew the filmmaker closely for the great directors Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Enjoy these interviews with some of cinema’s great artists.

1. An Hour with Filmmaker George Lucas

George Lucas sits down for an hour long conversation with Charlie Rose in this interview and chronologically goes through his moviemaking career from his days at USC film school up to creating the Star Wars prequels. He talks about his financial and technological struggles to get his visions on the big screen and how he has finally attained financial independence as an artist to create the movies he wants to make without having to answer to anyone. George also passes on his wisdom about storytelling, education, artistry, and parenting.

2. A Conversation about Alfred Hitchcock

As the undisputed “Master of Suspense”, Alfred Hitchcock left behind a large body of work that continually explored the darker depths of the human heart. Here, Charlie Rose talks with the director’s daughter Patricia along with noted film director/historian Peter Bogdanovich on the centennial of his Hitchcock’s birth. Topics include Hitchcock’s dogged attention to detail, his writing methods, which films of his own he preferred best, and where he ranks with the great masters of cinema history.

3. An Hour with Filmmaker James Cameron

Known as “Iron Jim” to friends and critics alike, James Cameron rose from humble beginnings as a truck driver to become the “King of the World” with his mega-blockbuster Titanic. Here Charlie Rose talks with the director at length about what went into making the most expensive film ever made, and how he managed to balance historical fact with romantic fiction. Cameron’s talent for managing complex productions that still strike a chord with a broad audience has made him one of the most successful filmmakers in the modern era; a feat no less incredible when you consider how much his ambition grows from picture to picture.

4. A Discussion with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter

Capturing a key moment in history, this interview with Steve Jobs and John Lassetter catches both visionaries at the birth of what would become the most successful animation studio in recent history. After purchasing Pixar in 1986, shortly after his initial ouster from Apple, Jobs helped shepherd Lassetter and his team towards the first digitally animated movie, Toy Story, a box-office success that was followed by a string of hits that has not let up to date. Watch for an interesting moment near the end where Jobs tactfully dodges Charlie Rose’s question about a possible return to Apple; and even that actually did come to pass later that same year!

5. An Interview with Quentin Tarantino

Coming off the wild success of his independent film breakout hit Pulp Fiction, super cool film director Quentin Tarantino sits down with Charlie Rose and talks about his craft and where his career is going to go from here. Tarantino talks about his childhood watching movies and his days as a video store clerk. He discusses his unorthodox way of storytelling, his method of writing, and his love of following the careers of film directors of which he mentions his favorites. Finally he talks about his first two films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Watch film geek Tarantino enthusiastically riff on his love of movies.

6. An Hour about the Life and Work of Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick

With a photographer’s eye, a philosopher’s curiosity, and a searing intellect, Stanley Kubrick’s films have cut a distinctive path through cinematic history with a scope that is still hard to estimate. Here Charlie Rose talks with the late director’s widow Christiane, his lifelong friend Jan Harland, and adds modern master Martin Scorsese into the mix to round out the table. Christiane Kubrick provides heartwarming insight on their marriage, while Harland and Scorsese weigh in on why Kubrick’s films such as 2001, The Shining, and Dr. Strangelove continue to provoke, compel, and stimulate new generations of filmgoers.

7. A Conversation with Roman Polanski

In this interview, filmmaker Roman Polanski speaks about filmmaking, personal tragedy, and the legal trouble that has kept him from returning to the United States. Charlie Rose does not shy away from confronting the director of such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown on why he hasn’t faced the legal ramifications of a rape charge that made him flee for Europe in 1977. Polanski also reflects on the loss of his mother at Auschwitz, his lonely childhood in war-torn Poland, losing his wife in the Manson family murders, and his current life as a French citizen.

8. An Interview with Oliver Stone

Director Oliver Stone is known for his political and historical films and in this interview with Charlie Rose, Stone talks about his film Nixon. Stone gives us his interpretation of the man Nixon and covers some of the more controversial aspects of his film. He also gives us his philosophy on drama and its ability to convey the shadow side of history which is often not the version put into the history books. Get a history lesson from Oliver Stone with this hour long talk about Nixon.

9. A Talk with Director Tim Burton

Director Tim Burton talks with Charlie Rose about his recent film and art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. In the first 10 minutes MOMA’s exhibit curators talk about putting on the exhibition. Then Burton discusses some of his sketches and talks about how he went from being a weird and quiet teenager to a filmmaker extraordinaire. Burton talks about his love of masks and how they bring out new aspects in his performers such as with Jack Nicholson made up as the Joker in his film Batman or Johnny Depp in the wide variety of outfits he has suited up for in many Burton films. Burton feels that all kids are artists and doodlers up to about age 12, but then for various reason these creative instincts are suppressed as people get older, and both Tim and Charlie find this unfortunate.

10. A Conversation with German Director Werner Herzog

German film director Werner Herzog sits down with Charlie Rose in this 23 minute interview and discusses his prolific filmmaking career. Herzog gives some insight into the making of his film Fitzcarraldo about which he recently published his personal diaries in a book called Conquest of the Useless. He talks about his philosophy of filmmaking and his search for the “ecstatic truth” when it comes to the many documentaries that he has shot over the years. Herzog also addresses his talent for bringing out the best in actors such as his unique gift for harnessing the talent of German actor Klaus Kinski.

Source: learnoutloud.com

From the early days of silent movies to the end of the ‘Studio System’, this collection of radio interviews from the BBC Archive uncovers the story of Hollywood movie-making’s formative years. Legendary actors and directors reveal in their own words how it felt to be a part of a ‘golden age’ of film production. Combining BBC radio broadcasts and unedited interviews (many available in full for the first time), BBC Archive go behind the scenes of Tinseltown and relive some of the greatest adventures of the silver screen.

  • Frank Capra recalls his remarkable career. He talks candidly about his time at the studios on Gower Street, his relationship with Columbia boss Harry Cohn and the inner workings of the ‘studio system’.
  • Alfred Hitchcock speaks to Anthony Friese-Greene about the use of music in his movies. The director discusses the ‘screaming violins’ that made ‘Psycho’ so memorable, the electronic sound-scapes he commissioned for ‘The Birds’ and Herbert Bath’s score for Hitchcock’s first sound picture, ‘Blackmail’.
  • Charlie Chaplin answers questions about his career. Joining him for this discussion are film producer Michael Balcon, actor John Mills and critics Dilys Powell and Paul Holt. Chaplin refutes the claim that he is a ‘genius’, although the panellists insist that he probably is. He stresses the importance of music in film-making and laments the loss of magic in modern cinema.
  • Boris Karloff pays tribute to the role that changed his life, the monster in James Whale’s 1931 version of ‘Frankenstein’.
  • Orson Welles is quizzed about his forthcoming film, which is based on one of William Shakespeare’s plays. The interviewer, Nancy Wise, can be heard over the telephone.
  • Howard Hawks, the director of ‘Scarface’ (1932) and ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ (1953), talks about Marilyn Monroe, the role of producers and writers, and his working relationship with Samuel Goldwyn. He also shares his thoughts on the ‘studio system’, current cinema productions and the early days of Hollywood.
  • Henry Fonda shares memories of his friend and one-time agent, Leland Hayward. He reveals the importance of the agent in negotiations and explains Hayward’s connections to many of the major players in the American movie industry, such as James Stewart, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
  • Billy Wilder conversation covers many topics, including the rise of Hitler, the rate of film production during Hollywood’s peak, the ‘star system’, the advent of corporate-driven television and the state of the US economy. He goes into detail about the ‘tightly run fortresses’ of studio heads Louis B Mayer, Harry Cohn and Samuel Goldwyn and speculates on how the movie moguls would have coped with the lack of censorship visible in modern pictures.
  • Joseph Mankiewicz speaks dismissively about modern movies. He goes on to talk about censorship in the early days of Hollywood, the difficulties he found in working with Darryl F Zanuck on ‘Cleopatra’ (1963) and who really has the last word on a picture’s final cut.
  • William Wyler was the director of classics such as ‘Wuthering Heights’ (1939), ‘Mrs Miniver’ (1942) and ‘Ben-Hur’ (1959). In this unedited recording, he talks about a life in the movie business that started with an invitation from a distant cousin to visit the USA from his home in Alsace and would eventually see him nominated for a record 12 Academy Awards for Best Director. Wyler recalls working as an office boy at Universal’s New York headquarters, the two-reel silent Westerns on which he learnt his craft and his rise through the studios of Universal, Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B Mayer. He also discusses his relationships with both stars and producers over a unique, 45-year period of US movie history.
  • John Huston talks about fighting with Errol Flynn, his preference for ‘stories to do with men’ and what the medium of film means to him. He also touches on his relationships with his father (the actor Walter Huston) and his own children, and recalls his time as a down-and-out living on the streets of London.
  • Charlton Heston looks back on his career, with a specific focus on the 1950s and the end of the ‘studio system’. He mentions some of the directors he worked with during that time, including Cecil B DeMille, who cast him in ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ (1952), George Stevens, William Wyler and Orson Welles, who worked both in front of and behind the camera in ‘Touch of Evil’ (1958).
  • Miklos Rozsa’s music has been used in countless films and TV programmes, from the spiralling strings of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Spellbound’ (1945) to the melodramatic ‘Dum de dum dum’ sting of ‘Dragnet’ (1954). In this interview, he talks about some of the battles he faced in convincing directors of the importance of music, and shares his secrets for creating the perfect score.
  • Joan Fontaine talks about parties, famous Hollywood producers and working with a reluctant Laurence Olivier on ‘Rebecca’ (1940).
  • Jack Lemmon talks about catching the acting bug as a child, the films and directors he admires the most and how Walter Matthau is his favourite leading lady.
  • Kirk Douglas discusses the strong influence of his father and his upbringing on his life and career. He also shares his views on women’s liberation, relates anecdotes about his son Michael and friend Marlene Dietrich, and highlights the significance of ‘Spartacus’ (1960) and ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975).
  • Tony Curtis talks about his relationship with Marilyn Monroe, his string of affairs and marriages, and the pressures exerted by the ‘studio system’ on the stars. He also discusses his devastating slide into cocaine and alcohol addiction during the 1970s and the success of ‘The Persuaders!’, the TV crime drama series he made with Roger Moore in the UK in 1971.

For more visit: BBC Archive

Source: BBC

In Voices from the Set, Tony Macklin shares with his readers the interviews he conducted during the 1970s with many of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Because it was an era where the Old Hollywood was still extant, and the new cinema was burgeoning, he was able to meet the old with the new-actors, directors, producers, writers-and make some of his own memories along the way. Interviews with old masters Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks are juxtaposed with the new breed Martin Scorsese and Alan Rudolph and the mavericks Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah. Icons such as John Wayne and Edith Head are included, as well as relative newcomers Stockard Channing and Richard Baskin. Voices from the Set is a unique vignette of Hollywood history, a snapshot in time, ideal for the film buff, film historian, for anyone with an interest in the intriguing personalities that made it what it is today. This book is an opportunity not to be missed. Listen to the audio interviews with: David Seidler: (MP3 format, approximately 12 minutes) Robert Altman (part 1: MP3 format, approximately 50 minutes) Sam Peckinpah (MP3 format, approximately 48 minutes) Sidney Poitier (MP3 format, approximately 58 minutes) Vilmos Zsigmond (MP3 format, approximately 105 minutes) Leigh Brackett (MP3 format, approximately 70 minutes) Lee Marvin (MP3 format, approximately 9 minutes) Martin Scorsese (MP3 format, approximately 90 minutes) Howard Hawks (MP3 format, approximately 107 minutes) Richard Sylbert (MP3 format, approximately 67 minutes) Charlton Heston (MP3 format, approximately 89 minutes) Robert Altman (MP3 format, approximately 8.5 minutes) Edith Head (MP3 format, approximately 38 minutes) Warren Beatty (MP3 format, approximately 25 minutes) Stockard Channing (MP3 format, approximately 38 minutes) John Wayne (MP3 format, approximately 80 minutes) Alfred Hitchcock (MP3 format, approximately 43 minutes) The Best Jewish Cowboy: An Interview with James Caan “Plant Your Feet and Tell the Truth”: An Interview with Clint Eastwood The Ballad of Stella Stevens: An Interview Check out Voices from the Set at Amazon. Picture above: Clint Eastwood checks the camera angle for a scene in The Bridges of Madison County. Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm //
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In Voices from the Set, Tony Macklin shares with his readers the interviews he conducted during the 1970s with many of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Because it was an era where the Old Hollywood was still extant, and the new cinema was burgeoning, he was able to meet the old with the new-actors, directors, producers, writers-and make some of his own memories along the way. Interviews with old masters Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks are juxtaposed with the new breed Martin Scorsese and Alan Rudolph and the mavericks Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah. Icons such as John Wayne and Edith Head are included, as well as relative newcomers Stockard Channing and Richard Baskin. Voices from the Set is a unique vignette of Hollywood history, a snapshot in time, ideal for the film buff, film historian, for anyone with an interest in the intriguing personalities that made it what it is today. This book is an opportunity not to be missed.

Listen to the audio interviews with:

Check out Voices from the Set at Amazon.

Picture above: Clint Eastwood checks the camera angle for a scene in The Bridges of Madison County.

Source: tonymacklin.net

One of the great delights of Hitchcock is that he himself could have been a film character; incredibly dry, deadpan, dark and larger than life - both physically and in personality. These 11 quotations illustrate why Hitch was such a delight:

1. On how he paces his films:

“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

2. On the act of watching television:

“Seeing a murder on television… can help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.”

3. On the bagpipes:

“I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equaled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig.”

4. On directing actors:

“When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, ‘It’s in the script.’ If he says, ‘But what’s my motivation?, ’ I say, ‘Your salary.’”

5. On the role of television:

“One of television’s great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs.”

6. When asked by an actress whether her left or right profile was better:

“My dear, you’re sitting on your best profile.”

7. Hitchcock was famously terrified of police officers. But he also held onto another phobia:

“And then I’m frightened of eggs, worse than frightened; they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes, and when you break it, inside there’s that yellow thing, round, without any holes… Brr! Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I’ve never tasted it.”

8. On his penchant for casting blondes:

“Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.”

9. His response to a woman who complained to him that the shower scene in Psycho had caused her daughter to stop showering:

“Then, Madam, I suggest you have her dry cleaned.”

10. On his disappointment in a murder scene from the film Dial M For Murder:

“But there wasn’t enough gleam on the scissors, and a murder without gleaming scissors is like asparagus without the hollandaise sauce – tasteless.”

11. Describing a scene that any film fan would want to watch:

“If I were to make another picture in Australia today, I’d have a policeman hop into the pocket of a kangaroo and yell ‘Follow that car!’”

Here’s my favorite Alfred Hitchcock quote:

“In many of the films now being made, there is very little cinema: they are mostly what I call ‘photographs of people talking.’ When we tell a story in cinema, we should resort to dialog only when it’s impossible to do otherwise. I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between.

“It seems unfortunate, that with the arrival of sound, the motion picture, overnight, assumed a theatrical form. The mobility of the camera doesn’t alter this fact. Even though the camera may move along the sidewalk, it’s still theatre.

“One result of this is the loss of cinematic style, and another is the loss of fantasy. In writing a screenplay, it is essential to separate clearly the dialog from the visual elements and, whenever possible, to rely more on the visual than on the dialog. Whichever way you choose to stage the action, your main concern is to hold the audience’s fullest attention.

“Summing it up, one might say that the screen rectangle must be charged with emotion.” —Alfred Hitchcock, from Hitchcock by François Truffaut

In memory of the late Mystery Man on Film. I miss him. Badly. Let’s keep his legacy alive by sharing some of his great articles.

The study of Hitchcock is one of the true joys of being a screenwriter or even just a cinephiliac. Of course, reading Truffaut’s Hitchcock is a must. I personally enjoyed Steven DeRosa’s Writing with Hitchcock, David Freeman’s book, The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock, and Dan Auiler’s Hitchcock’s Notebooks was quite addictive. Online, there is the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki for enthusiasts.

Perhaps one should begin with his philosophy on Cinema’s Purity:

In many of the films now being made, there is very little cinema: they are mostly what I call ‘photographs of people talking.’ When we tell a story in cinema, we should resort to dialog only when it’s impossible to do otherwise. I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between.

It seems unfortunate, that with the arrival of sound, the motion picture, overnight, assumed a theatrical form. The mobility of the camera doesn’t alter this fact. Even though the camera may move along the sidewalk, it’s still theatre.

One result of this is the loss of cinematic style, and another is the loss of fantasy. In writing a screenplay, it is essential to separate clearly the dialog from the visual elements and, whenever possible, to rely more on the visual than on the dialog. Whichever way you choose to stage the action, your main concern is to hold the audience’s fullest attention.

Summing it up, one might say that the screen rectangle must be charged with emotion.

- from Hitchcock by François Truffaut

Here’s a taste of a 1939 Alfred Hitchcock Lecture:

Sometimes you cannot get the characters you want to take you into these places, so you say, “All right, I will have the society woman.” The next thing is, of course, what to do with her. You might say, “I would like to have her in a ship’s stokehole.” Your job becomes very hard, indeed! You have to be really inventive to get a society woman into a ship’s stokehole, to get a situation that will lead that way, and a character who, by reason of the situation, would find herself in a ship’s stokehole.

Of course, I’d bet a lot of you would say, “It is too much trouble. Let’s put her in a yacht’s stokehole. A society woman is bound to go there.” That, of course, is radical and you must not do it, because the moment you do, you are weakening and not being inventive.

If you can summon up enough courage to select your background and your incidents, you will find you really have something to work out. In The Man Who Knew Too Much, I said, “I would like to do a film that starts in the winter sporting season. I would like to come to the East End of London. I would like to go to a chapel and to a symphony concert at the Albert Hall in London.”

That is a very interesting thing, you know. You create this terrific problem, and then say, “How the devil am I going to get all those things into it?” So you start off, and eventually you may have to abandon one or two events, as it might be impossible to get some of the characters into a symphony concert, or whatever it is. You say, “Well, can’t Stokowski have his hair cut?” or something like that, and you try and blend the characters in the best way you can — appear to be quite natural that all the events have taken place in those settings because it was necessary for them to do so.

I loved writing this article – The Exposition of Rear Window:

“First, the studio had a 13-page treatment written by playwright and director Joshua Logan. To brutally simply things, Logan provided a backbone to the film, although the details were kind of weak. Jeff was a sportswriter who enjoyed playing amateur sleuth when he had the time. He broke his leg by, uhh, slipping down stairs. He had a girlfriend by the name of Trink who was struggling as an actress. He didn’t think she’d ever make it, which was the source of their conflict, and he couldn’t commit to a relationship. In that pivotal scene where she’s caught inside Thorwald’s apartment, she ‘acts’ her way out convincing Jeff she’s a great actress and thus, they get married.

“When Hitch and his new writer, John Michael Hayes, got onboard, they made a number of significant, yet fascinating changes. They wanted to make Jeff’s occupation more EXCITING and the reason for his broken leg more DRAMATIC. Thus, they made him a photographer who was wounded in the line of duty. They also wanted a more plausible way for these two characters to meet. So he wasn’t just a photographer, but a foreign correspondent who had to do a fashion shoot and that’s how they met. I’ve said that characters come first. But when you have a great concept like Rear Window, I see nothing wrong with designing characters that fit perfectly into that concept…”

I was also fascinated by Hitch’s Unproduced Projects. This first quote comes from the Derosa Links and a lost project called R.R.R.R.:

“It was about a hotel like the Plaza,” explained Hitchcock. “The manager was Italian, his mother lived in the penthouse, and his relatives held different jobs in the hotel. They were all crooks, but he himself didn’t go in for this crookery so he was blackmailed by the rest of the family. When a woman like Sophia Loren arrives with a collection of coins she wanted to sell and took a room, of course all the family have itchy fingers. So he had to fight against his own family about stealing the coins.” The title was to be R.R.R.R., as Hitchcock explained, “Numismatists mark coins by the letter R. R, RR, RRR, RRRR.” No doubt, the title was to have a double-meaning, grading not only the coins to be stolen, but the leading lady as well.

Here’s another concept from the Complete List of Unproduced Projects:

The Blind Man (1960)
After the success of Psycho, Hitchcock re-teamed with Ernest Lehman for this original screenplay idea: A blind pianist, Jimmy Shearing (a role for James Stewart), regains his sight after receiving the eyes of a dead man. Watching a Wild West show at Disneyland with his family, Shearing would have visions of being shot and would come to realize that the dead man was in fact murdered and the image of the murderer is still imprinted on the retina of his new eyes. The story would end with a chase around the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary. Walt Disney purportedly barred Hitchcock from shooting at Disneyland after seeing Psycho. Stewart left the project, Lehman argued with Hitchcock, and the script was never shot.

I also shared a murder scene actually written by Hitchcock which would have been for his Kaleidoscope project. And over here are two other fabulous, unused ideas by Hitchcock.

I wrote reviews for two unproduced scripts of his. This first quote comes from what would have been Hitch’s final film, The Short Night:

“The film was to be an adaptation of a book called The Short Night by Ronald Kirkbride. It’s a very simple setup for a film. A British double agent (working for the communists) by the name of Gavin Brand escapes from prison. An American civilian, Joe Bailey, is persuaded (unofficially, of course) by the CIA to assassinate bad boy Gavin because Gavin had murdered his brother years ago. Joe naturally agrees. They know that Gavin will be meeting up with his wife and two sons to take them back to Russia. Find the wife and sons, and you’ll eventually find Gavin. And Joe does, indeed, find his wife, by the name of Carla Brand, on an island in Savonlinna, Finland. And while they wait for Gavin to arrive, they fall in love…”

And this comes from an article on Mary Rose based on the J.M. Barrie play, which I also love dearly:

“This was the film Hitch purportedly wanted to make more than any other but the studios always refused. Biographer Donald Spoto said that Hitch’s failure to make this film was “perhaps the single greatest disappointment of his creative life.” Hitch would say repeatedly in interviews that his contract with Universal allowed him to make any film so long as it cost under $3 million and so long as it wasn’t Mary Rose. Of course, this was never verified and probably not true. In truth, the reasons why this didn’t happen are complicated, involving the Tippi Hedren fallout, the failure of Marnie, Hitch’s career crisis, and concerns about audience expectations of Hitch at the time.”

And finally, below, are the essential documentaries on Alfred Hitchcock, including Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999), The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973), Reputations: Alfred Hitchcock (1999), In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy (2008), Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock (2009), American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood (1999), Alfred Hitchcock Directs ‘Frenzy’ in 1972, Hitchcock: Alfred the Great (1994), Alfred Hitchcock - Masters of Cinema (Complete Interview in 1972), and A Talk with Hitchcock (1964).

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Definition of enjoy

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Source: brazierillustration.co.uk

I was doing a little research about Alfred Hitchcock when I found this website, the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki. They have 1.000 frames of each Hitchcock’s movie, cool!. So why don’t use all these frames to generate a big… better HUGE Hitchcock portrait. I took the frames from his ten best movies (of course, my personal best ten list), cleaned and cropped them so don’t have any black or white borders. Then, in order to sort them by bright, I did a little application that calculates the average intensity of each one and give me the list from the brighter to the darker. The movie list: The 39 Steps (1935), Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and finally The Birds (1963). Then I spread these 10.000 frames over a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock. But In my first tryouts I noticed that frames become too much little. It was a pity, so I decided to make a really BIG illustration. It was really hard because I broke all the limits of my software, the only way to generate such a big file was by splitting the render in different parts. But you know, Hitchcock deserves it!. And here you have my final illustration. A 270 megapixels image (14310x19805pixels). Please be careful, this image could kill your browser if you try to look at it directly. You better right click and “save as” to your hard disk and look trough a good image viewer. Download JO-D-110405-Hitchcock.jpg (31MB)
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I was doing a little research about Alfred Hitchcock when I found this website, the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki. They have 1.000 frames of each Hitchcock’s movie, cool!. So why don’t use all these frames to generate a big… better HUGE Hitchcock portrait.

I took the frames from his ten best movies (of course, my personal best ten list), cleaned and cropped them so don’t have any black or white borders. Then, in order to sort them by bright, I did a little application that calculates the average intensity of each one and give me the list from the brighter to the darker.

The movie list: The 39 Steps (1935), Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and finally The Birds (1963).

Then I spread these 10.000 frames over a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock. But In my first tryouts I noticed that frames become too much little. It was a pity, so I decided to make a really BIG illustration.

It was really hard because I broke all the limits of my software, the only way to generate such a big file was by splitting the render in different parts. But you know, Hitchcock deserves it!.

And here you have my final illustration. A 270 megapixels image (14310x19805pixels). Please be careful, this image could kill your browser if you try to look at it directly. You better right click and “save as” to your hard disk and look trough a good image viewer.

Download JO-D-110405-Hitchcock.jpg (31MB)

Source: juanosborne.com