Hitchcock (Sacha Gervasi, 2012): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at the Harmony Gold Theater, Los Angeles, CA, Sponsored by Turner Classics.

  On the heels of success of North by Northwest (1959), and after the slight disappointment in returns from Vertigo (1958), director Alfred Hitchcock’s next intended project was Psycho (1960), much to the dismay of his producers at Paramount.

Facing the dilemma that Paramount wants “another North by Northwest,” Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) pursues his own interest, in making a film about “a queer killing people, in his mother’s dress.”  Consequently he has to mortgage his home for financing, while his closest confidant and wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), is out and about pursuing her own interests in writing and romance.

Under great strain, obstacles occur with the MPAA regarding the close up of a flushing commode, and for nudity in a shower scene, where upon Hitch declares in his slow drawl, “she won’t be nude, she’ll be in a shower cap.”

Alma, his former boss and an expert writer, director, and editor in her own right, and upon whom Hitch relies heavily, finds herself feeling under-appreciated, unloved, and haunted by Hitch’s beautiful leading ladies.  In a collaborative effort with another writer, she becomes seduced into abandoning the self-centered Hitch in his greatest hour of need.  While battling an illness however, Hitch is confined to his bed, and with a strong sense of duty and loyalty, Alma aptly pulls everything together for him on the set.

Hitchcock is loosely based on the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, and is wonderfully entertaining.  While Hopkins’ distinctive clipped diction is highly recognizable, he attempts to slow it down considerably, and with that effort one can soon forget it is Hopkins that we are observing and not Hitchcock.  Likewise with the makeup, which is at once alarming, and could border on campy, if not for the highly-skilled instinct of Hopkins, who adroitly keeps our focus on the somewhat muddled theme – one of letting go.

Hitch is a bit of a control freak and is eventually forced to submit to Alma’s instincts, who in turn must acquiesce to Hitch’s raw talent.  Since Alma’s work was behind the scenes, there is not a lot we know about her, or have anything to compare Mirren’s performance to.  Hitchcock really is an ode to their enduring partnership – one where Alma may not have always received her due credit.  With this ghostly obstacle, Mirren delivers a completely reliable and solid performance.

To my estimation the film’s title is misleading, and a more effective title might have been Hitch, Alma, and Psycho.