Cinema Arts Centre will host a retrospective of the films of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock in August.
Some of the British director’s best works, including Psycho, Rear Window and Notorious, are on the schedule for the series, which will run from Aug. 11-Aug. 16.
Each of the six film screenings will feature an introduction by local film historians.
Hitchcock directed more than 50 feature films throughout a career that spanned from the silent era in the 1920s into the late 1970s.
The films included in the retrospective are Psycho, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Notorious, Vertigo, and Shadow of a Doubt.
Schedule
Film descriptions provided by Cinema Arts.
Psycho
Friday, August 11th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
Alfred Hitchcock’s landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, a man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother, whose old house and motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. Nobody knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the notorious shower-scene. First an investigator, then Marion’s sister (Vera Miles) search for her, the suspense mounting to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. (USA, 1960, 109 mins, English
Strangers on a Train
Saturday, August 12th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
“Your wife. My father. Criss cross.” In Alfred Hitchcock’s standout thriller, adapted from the 1950 novel by Patricia Highsmith, the cheerful yet malevolent Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), recognizes his fellow train passenger, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger). After an introduction and a round of drinks, they continue their conversation over lunch. Revealing his knowledge of Guy’s marital problems, Bruno offers an interesting proposition: quid pro quo murders. Appalled, Guy declines, but the chance encounter will set in motion a bizarre and deadly chain of events. (USA, 1951, 101 mins, English
Rear Window
Sunday, August 13th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
In this intriguing, macabre visual study of obsessive human curiosity and voyeurism, renowned New York magazine photographer L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries (James Stewart) enters his last week of home confinement, bored and anxious, and stuck inside with a broken leg. Jeff has been spending his days sitting in a wheelchair, watching his neighbors through the rear window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend (Grace Kelly), Jeffries becomes convinced he has witnessed a murder and is set on solving the mystery. (USA, 1954, 112 mins, English
Notorious
Monday, August 14th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
A thriller of rare perfection, Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious represents a pinnacle of both its director’s legendary career and classic Hollywood cinema. In this anguished romance shot through with deception and moral ambiguity, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, a woman with a checkered past recruited by Devlin (Cary Grant), a suave intelligence agent. Only after she has fallen for Devlin does she learn that her mission is to seduce a Nazi industrialist (Claude Rains) hiding out in South America. (USA, 1946, 102 mins, English
Vertigo
Tuesday, August 15th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Philip Harwood
Alfred Hitchcock’s intensely personal, self-revealing picture, is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. Starring James Stewart as a former detective with a crippling fear of heights, Vertigo, is the story of a man who is possessed by the image of a lost love who becomes increasingly consumed with trying to recreate that image. Co-starring Kim Novak in dual roles, this timeless thriller about obsession is among Hitchcock’s most influential works. (USA, 1958, 128 mins, English
Shadow of a Doubt
Wednesday, August 16th at 7:00 PM
Introduction by Film Historian Glenn Andreiev
What starts out as a charming portrait of idyllic small-town life gradually darkens into one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most devastating thrillers. Teenage Charlie’s (Teresa Wright) illusions about her beloved Uncle (Joseph Cotten) are shattered by the suspicion that he may be the diabolical Merry Widow serial killer. As secrets are revealed, she will need to make hard choices that could end up destroying her family. Thought to be Hitchcock’s personal favorite, Shadow of a Doubt is perhaps his ultimate evocation of evil nesting among the ordinary. (USA, 1943, 108 mins, English
Fees per screening:
Public $15 | Cinema Arts Centre Members $10