This is my second post in the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon. Watch my video essay on Hitchcock’s influence on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low here.
In
2011, the New Zealand Film Archive discovered part of The White Shadow, a film directed by Graham Cutts, and
written, edited, and assistant directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock. The
first three reels of this lost work have been arduously restored, but the film
has only had a single public screening. For this year’s For
the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon, we are asking for
donations to the National Film Preservation Foundation. If we can raise
$15,000, the Foundation will provide free streaming of The White Shadow for four months, and record a new score by
Michael Motilla. To donate, simply click here.
And for more information on the blogathon, please visit Ferdy on Films, the Self-Styled Siren, and This Island Rod. Every donation
counts, and we thank you for your continued support of film.
Hitchcock’s
Psycho has been studied mercilessly
to death, but there’s one moment in particular that I haven’t seen many people
comment on. It’s a scene that few remember, or at least discuss in detail,
where which Sam and Lila visit the Sheriff and his wife and the Sheriff reveals
the history of Norman and what not. This scene itself isn’t particularly
fascinating—it’s the exposition to get us back to the motel—but there’s
something odd in Hitchcock’s filming. The film is shot-reverse shot, as the
Sheriff discusses the details. But what’s most perplexing is the placement of
the Sheriff’s wife in these shots:
The
sheriff’s wife continually seems to jump around in the frame, appearing in both shots on opposite sides. Her
appearance is oddly striking, and her necessity to the scene is nonexistent,
but Hitchcock not only keeps her in the scene, but also makes what most would
consider a continuity error. But we can’t consider it as such—Hitchcock was
meticulous in every frame. He wouldn’t just leave such a mistake in the final
product. Would he?
