The Birds is both a continuation and a departure for Alfred Hitchcock. A continuation because danger and suspense abound. A departure because this time there is no villain to either discover or await their discovery. The lack of motivation for the arising threat multiplies the sense of foreboding and hopelessness. Probably not best viewed during …
Grace Kelly plays Lisa Carol Fremont (perhaps the archetypical Hitchcock blond) in Rear Window. There is an unaffected world-weariness in her dialogue as she and Jimmy Stewart’s L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jeffries observe firstly the lonely woman they have nicknamed ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’, and then a young aspiring dancer they have nick-named ‘Miss Torso’ entertain some gentlemen callers. …
