My Favorite Hitchcock Movie So Far

 

January I was on a movie spree, mostly watching the classics, my preferred decades 30s-mid 60s and I've just been having such an enjoyable time watching movies from incredibly talented directors, one of them I seem to admire as of now is Alfred Hitchcock. So far I have watched 5 of his films. I'm planning to just stick to his most likeable and iconic films in particular.

My favorite so far is North By Northwest (1959). This is probably Grant at his absolute coolest. I absolutely loved the acting, and the cinematography is just phenomenal. What I didn't expect from these specific movies is an actual music score. I'm starting to love Bernard Herrmann's music. I love good ol' intensity in the orchestra and it does a stellar job at it.

All images taken from FILMGRAB.

While I was watching the movie I was waiting for the most beautiful scenes of the film. Not to say I dislike ANYTHING from the movie, I didn't, but I just absolutely love these landscapes. They're natural and almost surreal in a way I expect to live in the 50s with it's correct color schemes, cities, and vehicles.

I like the look of these buildings, it's full of personality, I also have to mention the pacing of this film. It's perfect. It doesn't have actions that go on way too quick, no quick cuts, I'm starting to just like 2 hour films for that reason. 

I'm including one character-oriented scene, this is what got me into the film in the first place. Cary Grant in sunglasses! Sometimes I like pictures of movie stars. I mostly like their more standout portraits like shots from actual film recording. 

I like all the characters in this film. Eve Kendell in particular is one of the best female leads ever. 

This view of the train is so GOOD! It appears quite a few times and to me it's breathtaking. Now you guys can have this scene long as possible!

I always liked the uniqueness of Mount Rushmore, it's hard for me to not like it because I'm not personally a fan of carved idolatry work, but I feel like they created it in honor of the most appreciated presidents of The United States. Once they shown it on screen, I was ready for what was going to happen next.

This clip below is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I think it's one of the most massive, cinematic scenes I seen in quite some time. 

Some mild spoilers if you haven't seen it and want to watch the full movie yourself, but this isn't particuarly the final scene of the movie so don't hesitate.

North By Northwest is just fantastic. I enjoy when I watch a movie that makes me impressed and it inspires a little tint of my creativity, and this movie is no exception. As someone who's more animation oriented, these classic movies use inventive concepts that remind me of what I like about cartoons, in fact it's the best approach in creating something impressive. That's why when I watch movies directed by Hitchcock, Donen, Welles, and Capra they keep me invested with it's compelling characters, creative cinematography, memorable acting, sensible dialogue, and absolutely almost no filler at all.

Expect for me to look for another gem from the cinema archive. I watched 23 films last month. 

A Hare Grows In Manhattan - Cool Bugs

 

Here's a very underappreciated Bugs Bunny cartoon, A Hare Grows In Manhattan (1947) more specifically Bugs's fresh interview look. This is the hottest I ever seen Bugs. I really like the poses he does in the final scene of the cartoon. Animated by Virgil Ross.

Here's a nice smear while at it.

I absolutely adore these frames. They remind me of what I like to do myself. I like those hands, the movement and exaggeration is really great.

Awesome facial expressions!

I bet alot of Line of Action was used in these drawings. It's one of the most important principles of animation. 

There's actually a pencil test of this exact scene and it's just beautiful. I personally enjoy pencil animation, it made me realize how great 2D traditional animation really was.

Here's another astounding smear.

I like how I see Bugs's eyes since they weren't shown because of his glasses in these pencil sketches.

Cue Marks Galore!

 

I've been wanting to talk about this certain topic for a couple years now. It's a rare piece of old filmmaking that's already been dated since the use of technology and software.

What you seen above is what we normally call "cue marks" or also known as either a cue dot, or changeover cue.

The first time I ever actually saw a cue mark was when I was starting to watch animated shorts that were supposedly public domain on YouTube. The first one I spotted was in a Color Rhapsody cartoon, The Mad Hatter (1940). It's a good cartoon but the ending rather changed how I would experience old films in general.

I think I remembered stating myself that they were a part of every cartoon remastered or not, and it felt like I was going to avoid it for a while until I realized that cue marks especially the ones that looked spiky and itchy were just from original theatrical prints or slightly remastered prints. It was a relief when I researched into it because I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda disturbed by these things.

It felt like getting rid of the cue marks for newer generations was a great idea since they were originally used to project each reel which was about 4-5 per average film feature. But now that we have television and not a single projector to manage any of the old films from the 40s-50s, why even have the distracting cues anyway? It can be difficult to get rid of them entirely, so as the grain overlay. Enough complaints. This was a method already done 20 years ago till now.

They appear every 14-20 minutes in a single reel, sometimes in animated shorts or considerably a short film, cue marks would appear whenever the film would end. No matter if it's 6-10 minutes long.

(Another example from my favorite Donald Duck cartoon Duck Pimples which is 7:44)

When it comes to the uniqueness of cue marks here's a list.

Yes fortunately I named them myself. I hope you like it. It's for entertainment purposes. They actually don't have names. 

What's so peculiar about each of the cue marks is whether a certain film, prior to what decade, motion picture process it's applied. The original black dot I see all the time in B&W movies.

If you have noticed cue marks whether you seen them on TV, VHS tapes, etc. well now you know where they came from. It was a much more useful task for when a film reel was about to come to a close.

Anyways I hoped this gave you an insight on what I consider one of my most important topics when it comes to old cinema because it isn't talked about very much since we now have DVD and Blu-Ray and most people have seen the more iconic old movies beautifully remastered. I go out in my comfort zone to watch old movies as well but sometimes it's even more obscure films. I am quite cautious. Right now I seem to have a taste in films with no filler. Murder mysteries, wholesome stories, great actors etc.

Alternative Ending for Disney's Robin Hood (1973)

 

Disney's Robin Hood is a classic, but one character that I specifically think could've had more potential was King Richard since he only appears in the ending of the movie. I really like how more distinctive the designs were in the original storyboards. I wanted to make this post after seeing the alternative ending on my 40th anniversary DVD. This was truly remarkable and I actually preferred it over the finished version.

Introduction Scene In Citizen Kane

 

Been off this blog for a few days, my head feels exhausted. Have been exploring through old movies because it's my recent obsession lately. 

You can explore my letterboxd for feature length films I have watched last year in 2025 and currently this year. So far I watched 14 movies this year. And one of them is considered the "best" of Old Hollywood's cinematic achievements. Yes, this is Citizen Kane, most specifically it's opening scene.

I have talked about one of Orson Welles's lesser-known films a few weeks ago called Mr. Arkadin (1955) and it's incredible camera angles. What's so astounding about Citizen Kane in particular is that this is Welles's first film he ever made. Just about 25 years old, he mastered cinematography, acting and character development. Now I wouldn't say this a masterpiece or anything but it's still a really solid movie nonetheless.

I absolutely love the atmosphere in this opening scene where we get the whole view of the mansion. It reminds me of alot of the asylum in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It's got great attention to environment and anticipation.

We get introduced to Charles Foster Kane who holds onto a snow globe, it's cute. A close-up shot done perfectly well.

What eventually happens to Kane utters his final words, "Rosebud" and dies. We get the most extremely close-up frames I ever seen in a movie. Usually filmmakers would be appropriate showing a close-up of someone's face, but the MOUTH? It's bizarre at first but it's iconic. 

Then unexpectedly Kane dies, and we get this impressive frame of the snowglobe drops on the floor.

Citizen Kane is one of those films that whether you like it or don't, there's something about it that appeals the right value of how movies should work. It's just interesting, creative and understandable. It's actually hard to pull off a "good film" entirely because people might not relate to all of the dialogue-heavy characters or interactions. I think it just depends on just the actors and the premise.

Rich Natural Colors In Pulp Art & Films

 

Sometimes my style of art changes. As of now I seem to enjoy muted yet pleasing color schemes and pulp art!

I like these neutral colors. This was painted by Andrew Loomis. 

Smart color styling altogether. I used 4 colors that fit the image very well. Reds, blacks, beige.

Here's another incredible one by Perry Peterson. 

Again, I love the beige, it's not too lame like today's fashion standards apparently.

There's great color from a movie I watched recently called Rear Window (1954). I absolutely loved it. I seen a few images on FILMGRAB that were my favorite scenery in the entire film. Those clouds are gorgeous. 

Obviously this film is directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and he's known for having the best cinematography and visual effects I ever seen. He was amazing and it reminds me of his other movies with the city vibe like Rope (1948).

Also in addition, here's this cool movie poster with a limited color palette of course.

As for another Hitchcock film, The Birds (1963) also has some astounding background shots. I also watched the movie, but it was on a much different ratio. I still really like this screencap, this by far has the best colors I seen in just one movie image. So pleasing!

I have some more vintage "pulp art" I downloaded.

Another great painting by Andrew Loomis. I have talked about him before on my blog if you want to click the link. 

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/my-type-of-art-paintings-galorevintage.html?m=1

This one I know the name of and is painted by Austin Briggs "Flight Into Darkness". Those yellows are nostalgic to me. It's weird to say but it reminds me of lava lamps.

Now how about more fictional characters and settings? I love me some Juanjo Guarnido artwork. His art is what I want to create myself. Just anthropomorphic animals acting out as live-action humans in serious territory. This is one of my favorites from him. It gives off movie model vibes. I adore this.

Most animated cartoons I talked about on this blog already have some great color styling. But I haven't talked about What's Brewin Bruin? (1948) yet. It's one of my favorite of the Three Bears cartoons. They're funny and I always loved them ever since I first experienced them. 

This alongside The Bee Deviled Bruin has some great backgrounds of the rocks. Peter Alvarado is credited for the background art. 

And finally for now is J.C Leyendecker, I don't think I praised him enough for his early artwork. This one's from 1906! Almost a century and 2 decades ago! Great stuff.