MovieChat Forums > Hail, Caesar! (2016) Discussion > Hitchcock references

Hitchcock references

posted 9 years ago by dominicangadi-203-143751
19 replies | jump to latest

How many can you spot?
I got Carlotta Valdez (from Vertigo)
The dances and Merry Widow waltz at the start of Merrily We Dance (from Shadow of a Doubt).
The writer's beach house from North By Northwest (Roger Deakins mentions this)
The boat and sub scene from Lifeboat.
Didn't Michael Gambon's narration sound like Hitchcock
Security at the studio gate was called Scotty (Vertigo)
Keep them coming.

[–] sussman8454473 9 years ago

The dances and Merry Widow waltz at the start of Merrily We Dance (from Shadow of a Doubt).

Rebecca (1940)
Edythe Van Hopper asks Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier): "Are you playing the tables much here at Monte?", and also says: "Most girls would give their eyes for a chance to see Monte." (Monte = Monte Carlo, (mis)pronouncing it "Monté") In Laurence Laurentz' "Merrily We Dance", Monty (another (mis)pronunciation of "Monte") pouts about Allegra's absence (and Biff's valise in the foyer). Dierdre consoles him: "But I'll partner you in bridge."
The paradox of the sentence "most girls would give their eyes for a chance to see Monte" is reflected in the paradox of the (for Hobie) complicated (to pronounce) sentence "would that it were so simple" containing the word "simple", and the simple sentence "it's complicated" containing the word "complicated".
Edythe Van Hopper is probably one of those "merry widows" Uncle Charlie talks about in his dinner table speech in "Shadow of a Doubt", "silly wives", "useless women" losing their dead husbands' money at bridge, or in this case "playing the tables at Monte".
Speaking of "Hopper". Hedda Hopper was one of the real life inspirations for the reporter sisters Thora & Thessaly Thacker who sneak up on Eddie Mannix as creepily as the housekeeper Mrs. Denvers does on the second Mrs. de Winter in "Rebecca".

If you want to push it to the limit, just for the fun of it:

I Confess (1953)
Eddie Mannix' confessions

To Catch a Thief (1955)
The speech at the feet of the penitent thief

The Birds (1963)
On Wings as Eagles (screech screech screech)

Also the Coens originally intended to give the part of Doctor Marcuse to Norman Lloyd, the saboteur from "Saboteur" (1942).

[–] chasm301 9 years ago

The "On Wings Of Eagles" sound effect reminded me of Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein

[–] MichaelMartinDeSapio 8 years ago

The bits with Mannix praying the rosary reminded me of Henry Fonda's character praying the rosary in Hitchcock's THE WRONG MAN, a movie with strong Catholic imagery, like this one.

[–] G_Runciter 8 years ago

huge stretch

[–] dominicangadi-203-143751 8 years ago

referring to which link?

[–] G_Runciter 8 years ago

mostly the one I was replying to, the one about the rosary

[–] nephihaha 8 years ago

The Californian coastal road is similar to several Hitch films.

--
It's not "Sci-Fi", it's "SF"!

"Calvinism is a very liberal religious ethos." - Truekiwijoker

[–] Don_Cheech 8 years ago

The IMDb trivia page says the Coen brothers originally wanted to cast 100 year old actor Norman Lloyd in a small role- however, they had
to cancel because the role required him to sit on a rocking boat.

Who is Norman Lloyd? You may ask...

Not only does he look like Alfred Hitchcock... But he was actually close friends with him in real life. The two developed a close relationship while Lloyd was working on Hitchcocks's "Presents" in 1955.

Now, THAT would have been a nice nod to Hitchcock.

[–] sussman8454473 8 years ago

According to a Hitchcock quote a film isn't finished until it's reassembled in the viewer's head. The Communists' picture puzzle may be seen as a metaphor for this.

Rear Window (1954)
Glimpses at different aspects of love (e.g. the newly wed couple, the lonely lady, the man who wants to get rid of his sick, nagging wife in "Rear Window", Eddie & Mrs. Mannix, DeeAnna Moran & Joe Silverman, Monty, Dierdre & Allegra in "Hail, Caesar!").

[–] phelpsg1 8 years ago

Opening scene of Merrily We Dance showing only characters' shoes (Strangers on a Train).

[–] itayk 8 years ago

Very true, immediately jumped to my mind

[–] sussman8454473 8 years ago

"Laurence Laurentz presents" -> "Alfred Hitchcock presents". The narrator reminding of Hitchcock has already been mentioned.
"Hail, Caesar!" catches glimpses of the characters' love/relationship lives, like Jimmy Stewart in "Rear Window" watching the inhabitants through the backyard windows.

[–] beresfordjd 8 years ago

No matter the number of clever references it still stank on ice!