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Academic

: The Faculty Lounge

Crime and Punishment: Christianity in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock

By Tim Zinnecker

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The 39 Steps. Rear Window. The Man Who Knew Too Much. North By Northwest. Suspicion. Dial M For Murder. Lifeboat. To Catch A Thief. These are just a few of the films directed by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.

In an article entitled ?Crime and Punishment,? which appears in a recent issue of BreakPoint WorldView Magazine, Gina Dalfonzo discusses the role of Christianity in Hitchcock?s films. An excerpt:

It is difficult to think of a Hitchcock film in which justice does not come at last. In the brutality of Frenzy, the random chaos of The Birds, the agony of Scottie?s loss in Vertigo?in all these stories of destruction and pain, there is still a sense of wrongs being righted by an invisible but powerful hand. In the midst of turmoil, whether it be the mayhem of a film like Psycho or simply the painful inner turmoil of a character like Alicia in Notorious, there is an invisible someone who represents righteousness and goodness. The God?s-eye view ... may seem too high and far away to care, but it is there, and it will not be discounted.

... Hitchcock was too honest to pretend that the existence of God automatically made the problem of evil go away, in fiction or in life. The fear, realism, and reason he referred to as being part of his Jesuit education were inextricably bound up with his view of faith, and dominated his mindset and his artistry.

The full article (4-5 pages) is available here.

Trivia: (1) Name the only film directed by Hitchcock to win the Oscar for Best Picture. (2) Name the only film directed by Hitchcock that was a true comedy. (Answers below the fold.)

Trivia answers: (1) Rebecca (1940) (beating several nominees, including The Philadelphia Story and The Grapes Of Wrath), and (2) Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery (worth adding to your Netflix queue!).

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).