Plane Movies— Hitchcock and Hyde Park on the Hudson

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:58 pm by Ben Witherington

Plane Movies— Hitchcock and Hyde Park on the Hudson 2015-03-13T22:58:12-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There is not a lot to do for eight hours on that sardine can known as an airplane, unless you choose to: 1) eat several bad meals; 2) bring your own entertainment; 3) bring a small child, in which case entertainment is the least of your worries, or 4) watch some of the small screen films on the small screen in the back of the head rest in front of you. I chose 4), and was actually pleasantly surprised, more so with Hitchcock, than with Hyde Park on the Hudson. In regard to the latter, Bill Murray is excellent as FDR, but it’s an FDR you don’t much want to like— FDR the philanderer and exploiter of women, with full knowledge of his wife, even including his cousin Daisy. Laura Linney is a fantastic actress (see e.g. her role as Abigail Adams in the John Adams mini-series), but she is not given enough chance to prove herself in this film, even though she is the narrator of the film’s action. The story is meant to be about the visit of the King and Queen of England (yes that King— the stutterer, the King’s Speech king) to Hyde Park to meet with Roosevelt. The austensible purpose of the trip is to grease the wheels of getting America’s help with the coming war with Germany. Bill Murray deserved an Oscar nomination for this film, but the film itself is disjointed, and the subject matter that is emphasized is sordid.

Of more substance, and with better acting and more good actors is Hitchcock. Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren are A list actors, and Scarlet Johansson is good as well, playing the role of Janet Leigh in Psycho. The story line is this— after numerous successes, on both TV and on the silver screen, and having just come off a big success with North by Northwest, Hitchcock wanted to do something dramatically different. He wanted to do a chilling horror film. In short he wanted to do the novel Psycho about Norman Bates and the Bates motel. Alas, the censors found it too shocking, and major studios were dubious it would appeal. Little did they understand the lurking voyeuristic nature of Americans, who do indeed like to be scared to death…. say by murder in a shower. And so it was that Hitchcock had to fund the filming himself, mortgaging his and his wife Alma’s house. Hopkins and Mirren are masterful in this film, and Hopkins certainly nails the quirky nature of Hitchcock’s personality, which comes through very clearly in his films. Hopkins even mastered the speech patterns of Hitch… not to mention his corpulant frame.

Both of these films are short and to the point, but the one I really loved was the Hitchcock. Sadly the man never won an Oscar either for his many fine films, or as an director. He was given a lifetime achievement award in 1979, but this is more of an apology for earlier oversights frankly. He was a creative genius and deserved better from his peers.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 13, 2013

The Rankin Files: Standing in Another Man's Grave

Next Post

July 15, 2013 Elementary my dear Watcher

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz