dir. Alfred Hitchcock at Universal Pictures
with Paul Newman (Michael Armstrong) and Julie Andrews (Sarah Sherman)

First, Bernard Herrmann’s music is missing, replaced this time with background by John Addison.  It’s not that Addison’s music is bad -– it just doesn’t contribute as well to the atmosphere of the picture as Herrmann’s music did to such films as VERTIGO (1958) and PSYCHO (1960).  And a silent murder scene? Well, that point could be argued either way, so I’ll leave it.

Next, technically this movie falls short in some places.  There’s a lot of back projection and a few rough special effects which give the movie a very set-y look in places.  Also, much of the picture is shot from close range -- face shots or waist-up. There are a few long shots and diverging camera angles from time to time, but visually things get a little static and we begin to wonder what Hitch is hiding by not showing us the rest of the scene.

The other major reason this film doesn’t live up to its predecessors is the story line. The initial setting of the stage is a little murky, and then after the audience does finally figure out what’s happening, we’re ahead of Sarah who is still in the dark about what Michael is up to.  Actually, Newman’s acting can be faulted for part of this trouble.  He seems to be trying so hard to reveal to the audience his character’s true intentions, that he fails to act in a manner which will convince us that Julie Andrews can’t really understand what he’s doing.  We get it; why doesn’t she?

Overall, for Newman fans this film isn’t one of his best.  Hitchcock’s manner of storytelling and Newman’s "Method" of acting don’t seem to combine very well here. And Julie Andrews fans beware: she’s not as wholesome as Mary Poppins in this film, but neither is she very worldly wise, and the overall combination doesn’t make for much of a character.  (I’m not a fan of the frosted hairdo either.)  But for Hitchcock fans, this film, though not one of his bests, is still worth a look -– and his extensive use of foreign language in this picture is especially worthy of artistic note.

Reviewed: December 24, 1999

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