Hitchcock : suspense, humour, and tone / Susan Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Susan, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899-1980--Criticism and interpretation.

Hitchcock, Alfred.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 162 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

London : BFI Pub., 2000.

Summary:

"Susan Smith's treatment of the works of the most subtle of all film-makers analyses the key elements of suspense, humour and tone across the whole of the director's career. Arguing that all three are central to our viewing experience, the book demonstrates how Hitchcock's masterly integration of those elements is the key to his success as a film-maker. Examining in detail such films as Sabotage, Notorious, Rear Window, Psycho, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope and The Birds, amongst many others, the book discusses the idea of the director as saboteur and the importance of 'the avoidance of cliché' in Hitchcock's narrative."--Bloomsbury publishing.

Contents:

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. A cinema based on Sabotage The avoidance of 'cliché' Reaffirming contract Who Killed Cock Robin? 2. Suspense Murder!: practising the art of suspense Forms of adress Patterns of suspense Suppression and surprise Suspense and surprise Rereading the text 3. Humour Humour and suspense Counter voices in Rope Framed by irony A notorious form of humour? 4. Mise en scène Setting the scene The point-of-view shot Objects The cameo device: Hitchcock, hunger and the single set film Music 5. Tone and meaning in The Birds A very avian form of sabotage Seeing - feeling - knowing A bird's eye view Multiple perspectives, multiple readings Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index.

Notes:

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily.

Filmography: pages [156].

Includes bibliographical references (pages [157]-160) and index.

ISBN:

1-83871-010-8

1-83871-613-0

OCLC:

1120218929