Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

I got to the midway point of Paradine Case (for the Hitchcock discussion) and it made me happy; we stopped seeing Gregory Peck fall in love with Mrs Paradine and can now go onto the trial. I had just thought, "Gee I wonder when the story will advance?" and then it advanced. How lucky is that? Overall the first part (it's not really half since it's about eleven minutes longer than the second part) is good. I wouldn't say "great". I would just say "good". I like it just fine. After dinner I'll watch the rest.

Addendum; I finished Paradine Case. I really dug the trial section. It is really great. You can see Keane letting his infatuation blind his ambition for the verdict he wanted, and then it blew up in his face. Nicely done. I really liked a lot of those long shots Hitchcock did as well. One of my favorites was when Latour came into the courtroom and Mrs Paradine was kept in the middle of the shot as he slowly walked to the witness box.

Overall I liked it, the second part more than the first part.

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I thought Peck felt really enthralled with Valli. It certainly lead to his downfall. I definitely liked the courtroom sequence a fair amount. Overall I think Paradine Case is elevated by Hitchcock's touch although it is far from his best.

Is it too late to watch Vertigo for this thread? I have a lazy Saturday ahead and thought of having a first-time watch and a rewatch, and figure Vertigo would work since it's been quite a time and it'd fit this thread.

Actually it may wait until Monday. Is that still good?

Absolutely! The more watches the merrier!

I'll be watching Marnie on Tuesday I'm thinking.

You've not seen Vertigo? I think you'll be in for a treat.

Sorry; I worded it poorly. I've seen Vertigo a few times, although it's been like 12 years. I mean it'd be the rewatch and then something else would be a first-time watch. Except I'm also in the middle of Lawrence of Arabia so Vertigo may wait until Monday (we have a busy day tomorrow).

Of course. In fact going back through I noticed I didn’t answer a question CR had about Vertigo. We can get the convo going again.

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“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

I need to find my copy. I know roughly where it should be, although that doesn't mean it's there. I remember being impressed with Vertigo's visuals and that it's smooth as butter. I just can't recall many specifics.

Paradine Case had Hitchcock's flair for bringing characters to life and making sure the audience had to know what happened next. The film just didn't quite elevate itself into the level of his usual fare.

Yeah, we had varying degrees of enjoyment, but I think we all agreed that it fell short of his high standards. Seems like character development was kind of the consensus for what was a bit weak.

Yeah it's a bit lackluster. The idea is fine. I just think Paradine Case fell short of the mark. It almost feels like they had to dodge the censors a mite too much and that limited what they could put in the film, and it threw things off a bit. I'm curious how the book reads in comparison. I like the film okay. It just isn't great. I'm glad I watched it though.

I’m exactly the same. Actually sitting towards the middle for me. He has much worse in my opinion. I love courtroom stuff, and Peck is my jam.

I don't know where I'd rank it amongst a Hitchcock list. I never really thought about putting one together. It'd probably be in the lower third/bottom half, mostly because he has such bangers that this one would get shoved down.

I need to look for Vertigo still. Before watching Vertigo, I should finish Lawrence of Arabia (because I started it a few days ago).

First time watching Lawrence?

It's my fifth or sixth time watching it. It was long overdue for a rewatch. I've just been groggy and hurting since Tuesday which have made focusing hard. The movie is perfectly fine. I just forgot how fatigued I get when I have surgery.

I tried looking for Vertigo and it hurt so I sat down, got focused on something else, and forgot to look again. I had surgery on my sinuses, so leaning forward can be painful.

Addendum; my copy of Vertigo isn't here. It may be with ex-wife's things at her place. She told my mom there's a bag and a box with my stuff although for some reason it hasn't made it to me. Hopefully that's where my missing Hitchcock films, among others, are.

I re-watched the scene, and while my theory is fine for when she first arrives, it's harder to explain her not being up in the room and her car being gone shortly afterward. Does the hotel have a back entrance? Did she climb out the window and then shimmy down the water spout?

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