Friday's With Hitchcock: Frenzy
FRENZY (1972)
Screenplay by Anthony Schaffer based on the novel by Arthur La Bern.
Hitchcock’s 52nd film manages to combine many of his most popular elements into one story: We get the wrongly accused man on the run story - this time very similar to one of his other lost gems, YOUNG AND INNOCENT. We also get a STRANGERS ON A TRAIN story of guilt transferred. Plus we get a sexy, violent, shocking serial killer story like PSYCHO. Hey, add a twist ending and you've got quintessential Hitchcock. Oh, and it's funny and clever, too - screenplay by the brilliant Anthony Shaffer...writer of the original SLEUTH, the original WICKER MAN, and SOMMERSBY. This is the best Hitchcock film in the post-PSYCHO period.
One of the great things about this movie is that it also manages to use *food* as a leitmotif - not only is one of the characters in the produce industry, and much of the story takes place in London's Covent Garden food market (where Hitchcock’s father worked), the Detective's wife is taking a gourmet cooking class... which supplies a lot of comedy as he attempts to eat her concoctions. We get food and friendship. Oh, and this is probably Hitchcock's only R rated film.
Nutshell: Bitter bartender Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) seems to have lost everything in his divorce, including many of his friends. The one pal who took his side was Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) who runs a produce company at Covent Garden. Note the initials of both characters are the same - just reversed. These two are polar opposites. Where Blaney's life is a mess, Rusk is on top of the world.
London is plagued by the Necktie Killer - who strangles swinging single women with neckties. When Blaney’s ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) becomes the latest victim only a day after they had a very public fight, he finds himself on the run from the police. Unfortunately, everyone sided with the ex-wife in the divorce, and no one will believe he's innocent. And when another Necktie Killer victim can be traced back to Blaney? Even his old pal Rusk thinks he’s guilty... and turns him in to the police. Lots of twists and turns, and one of those great end twists where the real killer is revealed.
Experiment: After a string of failed experiments that flopped big time, Hitchcock plays it safe as far as story is concerned. There are some visual experiments, which we’ll look at in a moment.
Hitch Appearance: In a crowd listening to a political speech - right
at the beginning of the film... then someone spots a dead woman floating in the Thames River, naked except for a neck tie. “Is that my club tie?” someone asks.
Great Scenes: One of the interesting things about this film is that you get a great behind the scenes look at the wholesale produce business in London. There are some great shots of Covent Garden’s market, including a high overhead. You get a good feel for the place.
Blaney is an interesting protagonist - an angry, bitter, ex-war hero who manages to pick a fight with anyone who tries to help him or shows him pity. He has enough self-pity, no need for anyone else’s. But this leads to some great blow ups that get him fired, and eventually make him the prime suspect in his ex-wife’s murder.
Love and sex are the leitmotifs, here - with Rusk a real lady’s man, always talking about women. Blaney’s ex-wife runs a dating service, and people tend to be defined by their sex lives. The police detective investigating the murders (Alec McCowen) has been married for years, and his wife is trying to spice up their relationship... with cooking lessons. The way to a man’s heart...
After Blaney has a blow up with his wife in public, Rusk shows up at the dating service. He has “peculiar needs” when it comes to women, and Blaney’s ex-wife refuses him service... so he rapes and murders her with his neck tie. About a third of the way into the film we know who the Neck Tie killer is - and it’s Blaney’s best friend! And by the 33 minute point, Blaney is on the run from the police with nowhere to hide.
When Blaney finds some money his ex-wife put in his coat pocket, he calls his girlfriend from the bar Babs (Anna Massey) and they go to a no-tell hotel, where they are given the “Cupid Suite”. Babs knows Blaney could never ne the Neck Tie Killer - he only owns two ties. There have already been more murders than that. The hotel desk clerk recognizes Blaney from a wanted photo and calls the police. Blaney manages to escape without his clothes and his now on the run in his pajamas. Hard to be inconspicuous when that’s all you have to wear.
Rusk kills another woman connected to Blaney, and we get one of the greatest shots in film history - a long backwards tracking shot out a door, down some stairs, through an entry hall, out a door, across a bustling street, then craning up to see more of the building. This would have been a difficult shot with a Steady-cam, only that wouldn’t be invented for another four years.
Here's the trick - the camera is on a jib arm for the stairs, then there is actually a cut when we leave the house which is covered by a man carrying a sack of potatoes walking in front of the camera. I call this a *Hitchcock Wipe*. Spielberg used it in JAWS for the that cool scene on the beach when the Kittner Boy gets chomped by the shark. Here's the shot:
One interesting element of the film is that we spend a great deal of time away from Blaney. Most Hitchcock films stayed with the protagonist for the majority of the scenes. This is true whether the film is NORTH BY NORTHWEST or REAR WINDOW. But here Blaney shares screen time with Rusk and the Detective. The three seem to have equal screen time.
There is a great scene where Rusk puts a victim’s body in a sack of potatoes that will be driven back to the farm where they came from - a clever bit of market conversation from earlier in the film that we never suspected was setting up this scene - but after cleaning up the murder mess realizes that his initialed tie pin is missing. The victim grabbed it while he was killing her! Rusk goes back to the potato truck, searches for the sack with the dead woman... and the truck starts up and drives away! This is a great suspense scene, with the *villain* in peril of being discovered.. And it works! Rusk retrieves the tie pin, but now must escape the speeding potato truck.
Blaney has no one else to turn to for help except his old pal Rusk... and Rusk turns him over to the police, where he is arrested and thrown in a cell. This is all done in a high overhead, turning Blaney into nothing more than a pawn. Here’s that shot:
The scenes where the Detective must suffer through his wife’s gourmet cooking are hilarious. How do you pretend to enjoy the eel head soup? These scenes do more than provide a laugh, they show the Detective slowly beginning to believe that Blaney may not be guilty. Hew is a “pivot character” who begins as an antagonist chasing Blaney, but slowly changes sides and tries to find the evidence that will exonerate him.
There’s a great scene where the Detective and his wife are discussing the dead woman in the potato truck, the killer had to pry open her rigored hand to get the tie pin, breaking each of her fingers... And his wife snaps a break stick in half. Ouch! This is done throughout the film - very clever stuff! Sound and image working together.
The film works its way to a great twist end and doesn’t waste a second of film time after the twist - it goes directly to closing credits.
A great summation of Hitchcock's films that also works as kind of a little tour of London and a behind the scenes of Covent Garden market. Lots of suspense, twists, and a fun look at what happens when you lose all of your friends in the divorce... except for the bad boys you used to hang out with as a bachelor. Great script by Shaffer, great cinematography by Gilbert Taylor. Marred by awful music by Ron Goodwin (replacing Bernard Herrmann after he had a falling out with Hitch). Hitchcock's best film in the post-PSYCHO era (after he began to believe all of those critics that called him a genius - and made mostly cruddy films). A modern film, that holds up really well.
- Bill.
Screenplay by Anthony Schaffer based on the novel by Arthur La Bern.
Hitchcock’s 52nd film manages to combine many of his most popular elements into one story: We get the wrongly accused man on the run story - this time very similar to one of his other lost gems, YOUNG AND INNOCENT. We also get a STRANGERS ON A TRAIN story of guilt transferred. Plus we get a sexy, violent, shocking serial killer story like PSYCHO. Hey, add a twist ending and you've got quintessential Hitchcock. Oh, and it's funny and clever, too - screenplay by the brilliant Anthony Shaffer...writer of the original SLEUTH, the original WICKER MAN, and SOMMERSBY. This is the best Hitchcock film in the post-PSYCHO period.
One of the great things about this movie is that it also manages to use *food* as a leitmotif - not only is one of the characters in the produce industry, and much of the story takes place in London's Covent Garden food market (where Hitchcock’s father worked), the Detective's wife is taking a gourmet cooking class... which supplies a lot of comedy as he attempts to eat her concoctions. We get food and friendship. Oh, and this is probably Hitchcock's only R rated film.
Nutshell: Bitter bartender Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) seems to have lost everything in his divorce, including many of his friends. The one pal who took his side was Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) who runs a produce company at Covent Garden. Note the initials of both characters are the same - just reversed. These two are polar opposites. Where Blaney's life is a mess, Rusk is on top of the world.
London is plagued by the Necktie Killer - who strangles swinging single women with neckties. When Blaney’s ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) becomes the latest victim only a day after they had a very public fight, he finds himself on the run from the police. Unfortunately, everyone sided with the ex-wife in the divorce, and no one will believe he's innocent. And when another Necktie Killer victim can be traced back to Blaney? Even his old pal Rusk thinks he’s guilty... and turns him in to the police. Lots of twists and turns, and one of those great end twists where the real killer is revealed.
Experiment: After a string of failed experiments that flopped big time, Hitchcock plays it safe as far as story is concerned. There are some visual experiments, which we’ll look at in a moment.
Hitch Appearance: In a crowd listening to a political speech - right
at the beginning of the film... then someone spots a dead woman floating in the Thames River, naked except for a neck tie. “Is that my club tie?” someone asks.
Great Scenes: One of the interesting things about this film is that you get a great behind the scenes look at the wholesale produce business in London. There are some great shots of Covent Garden’s market, including a high overhead. You get a good feel for the place.
Blaney is an interesting protagonist - an angry, bitter, ex-war hero who manages to pick a fight with anyone who tries to help him or shows him pity. He has enough self-pity, no need for anyone else’s. But this leads to some great blow ups that get him fired, and eventually make him the prime suspect in his ex-wife’s murder.
Love and sex are the leitmotifs, here - with Rusk a real lady’s man, always talking about women. Blaney’s ex-wife runs a dating service, and people tend to be defined by their sex lives. The police detective investigating the murders (Alec McCowen) has been married for years, and his wife is trying to spice up their relationship... with cooking lessons. The way to a man’s heart...
After Blaney has a blow up with his wife in public, Rusk shows up at the dating service. He has “peculiar needs” when it comes to women, and Blaney’s ex-wife refuses him service... so he rapes and murders her with his neck tie. About a third of the way into the film we know who the Neck Tie killer is - and it’s Blaney’s best friend! And by the 33 minute point, Blaney is on the run from the police with nowhere to hide.
When Blaney finds some money his ex-wife put in his coat pocket, he calls his girlfriend from the bar Babs (Anna Massey) and they go to a no-tell hotel, where they are given the “Cupid Suite”. Babs knows Blaney could never ne the Neck Tie Killer - he only owns two ties. There have already been more murders than that. The hotel desk clerk recognizes Blaney from a wanted photo and calls the police. Blaney manages to escape without his clothes and his now on the run in his pajamas. Hard to be inconspicuous when that’s all you have to wear.
Rusk kills another woman connected to Blaney, and we get one of the greatest shots in film history - a long backwards tracking shot out a door, down some stairs, through an entry hall, out a door, across a bustling street, then craning up to see more of the building. This would have been a difficult shot with a Steady-cam, only that wouldn’t be invented for another four years.
Here's the trick - the camera is on a jib arm for the stairs, then there is actually a cut when we leave the house which is covered by a man carrying a sack of potatoes walking in front of the camera. I call this a *Hitchcock Wipe*. Spielberg used it in JAWS for the that cool scene on the beach when the Kittner Boy gets chomped by the shark. Here's the shot:
One interesting element of the film is that we spend a great deal of time away from Blaney. Most Hitchcock films stayed with the protagonist for the majority of the scenes. This is true whether the film is NORTH BY NORTHWEST or REAR WINDOW. But here Blaney shares screen time with Rusk and the Detective. The three seem to have equal screen time.
There is a great scene where Rusk puts a victim’s body in a sack of potatoes that will be driven back to the farm where they came from - a clever bit of market conversation from earlier in the film that we never suspected was setting up this scene - but after cleaning up the murder mess realizes that his initialed tie pin is missing. The victim grabbed it while he was killing her! Rusk goes back to the potato truck, searches for the sack with the dead woman... and the truck starts up and drives away! This is a great suspense scene, with the *villain* in peril of being discovered.. And it works! Rusk retrieves the tie pin, but now must escape the speeding potato truck.
Blaney has no one else to turn to for help except his old pal Rusk... and Rusk turns him over to the police, where he is arrested and thrown in a cell. This is all done in a high overhead, turning Blaney into nothing more than a pawn. Here’s that shot:
The scenes where the Detective must suffer through his wife’s gourmet cooking are hilarious. How do you pretend to enjoy the eel head soup? These scenes do more than provide a laugh, they show the Detective slowly beginning to believe that Blaney may not be guilty. Hew is a “pivot character” who begins as an antagonist chasing Blaney, but slowly changes sides and tries to find the evidence that will exonerate him.
There’s a great scene where the Detective and his wife are discussing the dead woman in the potato truck, the killer had to pry open her rigored hand to get the tie pin, breaking each of her fingers... And his wife snaps a break stick in half. Ouch! This is done throughout the film - very clever stuff! Sound and image working together.
The film works its way to a great twist end and doesn’t waste a second of film time after the twist - it goes directly to closing credits.
A great summation of Hitchcock's films that also works as kind of a little tour of London and a behind the scenes of Covent Garden market. Lots of suspense, twists, and a fun look at what happens when you lose all of your friends in the divorce... except for the bad boys you used to hang out with as a bachelor. Great script by Shaffer, great cinematography by Gilbert Taylor. Marred by awful music by Ron Goodwin (replacing Bernard Herrmann after he had a falling out with Hitch). Hitchcock's best film in the post-PSYCHO era (after he began to believe all of those critics that called him a genius - and made mostly cruddy films). A modern film, that holds up really well.
- Bill.
Labels: hitchcock, hitchcock wipes
posted by wcmartell at 8:43 AM
7 Comments:
Amen! And the best role in the whole movie goes to the poor inspector charged with chasing down the killer. Played by Alex McCowen, Chief Inspector Oxford faces down some of the most hair-raising situation seen in any of Hitchcock's films. I leave it at that for those who haven't seen the movie.
As Turner Classic says, "one of the essentials."
Like those overlapping voice-overs in the trailer. Today's SS, the longest I've seen, was helpful on the suhject of pacing--a comedy needs a laugh every ten pages, a thriller a thrill, a hard-boiled crime film a gritty moment, etc. And your definition of suspense as "time stretched to the breaking point" is on the mark and, said so succinctly, will stick in one's mind (hopefully). Your post about the director with eyes bigger than his budget was a good read, enjoyable in its exhaustive detail, and your set-up of the house that slid down the mountain as a metonym for the disaster the benighted director's cuts would have made of your script was choice; I saw it coming and this increased my enjoyment when you spelled it out, having mentioned it in passing a few paragraphs earlier, where it stood out as a mere scenic detail. I didn't catch on at the first mention, but when you described the house in detail the second time, I made the connection.
As to that backward tracking shot--fascinating to learn about that invisible "Hitchcock Wipe" when the man in the street passes by the doorway, but I still don't understand how the shot going down the stairs backwards had no wobble at all. Was it just an incredibly steady-handed handheld shot?
Bill, just got the Thriller Scripting CDs I've ordered and they are fantastic. I'm sure I'll try your other CDs as well. I'm really amazed the authority and energy with which you go through over half a dozen thrillers (all of them my favorite classics) in detail, summarizing their salient points, what they share, and what makes this genre such a gas. This is really great service for us all yet-unproduced script writers. I hope you'll make available your out-of-print book too. But I feel lucky that you have the time to write your screen tips and blog posts since they are so substantive and you don't hold anything back. I can tell you've made enough money not to be scared of pissing anyone off in Tinseltown and you can type 120 wpm. God bless your fingers. Cheers and best regards! Gary
Reminds me of "Notting Hill," the long tracking shot where Hugh Grant walks down the road with the street vendors and the seasons change as he walks.
I think there were two "Hitchcock Wipes" in that scene.
Frenzy is most unsavoury and one of my favourite Hitchcock movies - an incredible snapshot of London at that time.
I'm not a big Hitchcock fan but FRENZY is one of my faves. Underrated.
Features the "broodingly handsome" Shakesperean actor Jon Finch. He also made Polanski's MACBETH right around this time.
Man, was he a hottie back then!
You can see him more recently in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
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