Hitchcock (film)

Hitchcock
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Sacha Gervasi
Produced by	Ivan Reitman Tom Pollock Joe Medjuck Tom Thayer Alan Barnette
Screenplay by	John J. McLaughlin
Based on	Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Helen Mirren Scarlett Johansson Toni Collette Danny Huston Jessica Biel James D'Arcy Michael Wincott
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Jeff Cronenweth
Edited by	Pamela Martin
Production company	The Montecito Picture Company Cold Spring Pictures
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	November 1, 2012 (2012-11-01) (AFI Fest) November 23, 2012 (2012-11-23) (United States)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$27.5 million

Hitchcock is a 2012 American biographical drama film directed by Sacha Gervasi and based on Stephen Rebello's non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The film was released in selected cities on November 23, 2012, with a worldwide release on December 14, 2012.

Hitchcock centers on the relationship between director Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) during the making of Psycho, a controversial horror film that became one of the most acclaimed and influential works in the filmmaker's career.

Plot summary

In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock opens his latest film, North by Northwest, to considerable success, but is troubled by a reporter's insinuation that it is time to retire. Seeking to reclaim the artistic daring of his youth, Hitchcock turns down film proposals like adapting Casino Royale in favor of a horror novel called Psycho by Robert Bloch, which is based on the crimes of murderer Ed Gein. Gein appears in sequences throughout the film in which he seems to prompt Hitchcock's imagination regarding the Psycho story, or act as some function of Hitchcock's subconscious mind (for instance, drawing Hitchcock's attention to sand on his bathroom floor, the quantity of which reveals how much time his wife Alma has been spending at the beachhouse with Whitfield Cook).

Hitchcock's wife and artistic collaborator, Alma, is no more enthusiastic about the idea than his colleagues, especially since she is being lobbied by their writer friend, Whitfield Cook, to look at his own screenplay. However, she warms to Hitchcock's proposal, suggesting the innovative plot turn of killing the female lead early in the film. The studio heads at Paramount prove more difficult to persuade, forcing Hitchcock to finance the film personally and use his Alfred Hitchcock Presents television crew (over at competitor Revue/Universal) to produce the film. (As this film completed his contract with Paramount, all subsequent films were made at Universal.)

However, the pressures of the production, such as dealing with Geoffrey Shurlock of the Motion Picture Production Code, and Hitchcock's lecherous habits, such as when they confer with the female lead, Janet Leigh, annoy Alma. She begins a personal writing collaboration with Whitfield Cook on his screenplay at his beach house without Hitchcock's knowledge. Hitchcock eventually discovers what she has been doing and suspects her of having an affair. This concern affects Hitchcock's work on Psycho. Hitchcock eventually confronts Alma and asks her if she is having an affair. Alma angrily denies it.

Alma temporarily takes over production of the film when Hitchcock is bedridden after collapsing from overwork, but this sequence, which included a complicated process shot showing Arbogast's demise, with Alma's specification of a 35mm lens, instead of the 50mm lens preferred by Hitchcock for this film, proved to be the least effective in the film.

Meanwhile, Hitchcock expresses his disappointment to Vera Miles at how she didn't follow through on his plan to make her the next biggest star after Grace Kelly; but Miles says she is happy with her family life.

Hitchcock's cut of Psycho is poorly received by the studio executives, while Alma discovers Whitfield having sex with a younger woman at his beach house. Hitchcock and Alma reconcile and set to work on improving the film. Their renewed collaboration yields results, culminating in Alma convincing Hitchcock to accept their composer's suggestion for adding Bernard Herrmann's harsh strings score to the shower scene.

After maneuvering Shurlock into leaving the film's content largely intact, Hitchcock learns the studio is only going to exhibit the film in two theaters. Hitchcock arranges for special theater instructions to pique the public's interest such as forbidding admittance after the film begins. At the film's premiere, Hitchcock first views the audience from the projection booth, looking out through its small window at the audience (a scene which recalls his spying on his leading actresses undressing earlier in the film–by looking through a hole cut in the dressing room wall–which itself is a voyeuristic motif included in the film of Psycho.) Hitchcock then waits in the lobby for the audience's reaction, conducting slashing motions to their reactions as they scream on cue. The film is rewarded with an enthusiastic reception.

With the film's screening being so well received, Hitchcock publicly thanks his wife afterward for helping make it possible and they affirm their love. At the conclusion at his home, Hitchcock addresses the audience noting Psycho proved a major high point of his career and he is currently pondering his next project. A raven lands on his shoulder as a reference to The Birds, before turning to meet with his wife.

The final title cards say that Hitchcock directed six more films after Psycho, none of which would eclipse its commercial success, and although he never won an Oscar, the American Film Institute awarded him its Life Achievement Award in 1979 - an award he claimed he shared, as he had his life, with his wife, Alma.

Cast

• Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock
• Helen Mirren as Alma Reville
• Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh
• Danny Huston as Whitfield Cook
• Toni Collette as Peggy Robertson
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Lew Wasserman
• Michael Wincott as Ed Gein
• Jessica Biel as Vera Miles
• James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins
• Richard Portnow as Barney Balaban
• Kurtwood Smith as Geoffrey Shurlock
• Ralph Macchio as Joseph Stefano
• Wallace Langham as Saul Bass
• Paul Schackman as Bernard Herrmann
• Currie Graham as PR Flack
• Richard Chassler as Martin Balsam
• Spencer Leigh as Nunzio
• Josh Yeo as John Gavin

Production

Development

In 2005, it was reported that A&E would produce a television film or miniseries based on Stephen Rebello's book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Subsequently, the book was optioned as a major motion picture. In 2007, The Montecito Picture Company, owned by Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock, set up a first look deal with Paramount Pictures, the original distributor of Psycho. However, after four years of development at Paramount, production moved to Fox Searchlight Pictures.

On November 20, 2011, Sacha Gervasi was announced as being in negotiations to direct the dramatic motion picture. Early the next month, Gervasi signed on as director with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren attached to star as Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville, respectively. Black Swan co-writer John J. McLaughlin wrote the first screenplay drafts; subsequently, Stephen Rebello wrote additional uncredited drafts that shifted the story's focus away from Ed Gein and instead toward the complex personal and professional relationship of Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, during the filming of Psycho.

Casting

Much of the film's casting was announced in March 2012. On March 1, 2012, Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy were announced to play the stars of Psycho, Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. Later that month Jessica Biel was cast as Vera Miles. Following, additional cast members were announced that included Toni Collette as the director's trusted assistant, Danny Huston as screenwriter-playwright Whitfield Cook, Michael Stuhlbarg as powerful agent and studio boss Lew Wasserman, Michael Wincott as serial killer Ed Gein, Ralph Macchio as screenwriter Joseph Stefano, Richard Portnow as Paramount Pictures boss Barney Balaban, and Wallace Langham as graphic designer Saul Bass.

Filming

Principal photography for the film began on April 13 in Los Angeles, with the film retitled as Hitchcock. Filming was wrapped up on May 31 after the completion of a scene set during Psycho's New York City premiere on June 16, 1960.

Music

On September 12, 2012, it was announced that Danny Elfman would compose the film's score. Previously, Elfman re-recorded Bernard Herrmann's original score to Psycho in 1998 for Gus Van Sant's 1998 shot-for-shot remake.

The soundtrack album to the film was released by Sony Classical on December 14, 2012.

Release

Fox Searchlight Pictures announced on September 20, 2012, via their Twitter page, that Hitchcock would open in limited release on November 23, 2012, in order for the film to contend during Oscar season. The film had its world premiere as the opening film of AFI Fest 2012 on November 1 with a gala at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The first trailer for the film was released on October 10, 2012.

Hitchcock was released onto DVD and Blu-ray on March 12, 2013 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The home media releases contain several making-of featurettes as well as commentary between director Sacha Gervasi and author Stephen Rebello, a deleted scene, and the film's theatrical trailer.

Reaction

Box office

Hitchcock has earned an estimated $23,570,541 worldwide. During its opening on Thanksgiving weekend, the film debuted in 17 theaters and grossed an average of $16,924 per theater.

Critical response

Hitchcock received mixed reviews from the critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives a rating of 61%, based on 197 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it suffers from tonal inconsistency and a lack of truly insightful retrospection, Hitchcock is elevated by inspired performances from its two distinguished leads." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Soon after the film's world premiere at the AFI Fest 2012, the first reviews of Hitchcock were published. Tom O'Neil of The Huffington Post wrote, "When the film unspooled at AFI Fest on Thursday night, the audience burst into wild huzzahs at the end. This Hitchcock is so well made, so much fun and so suspenseful that it would make the original Hitchcock proud ... It's a serious contender for Best Picture, lead actor, lead actress, adapted screenplay, makeup, music score, and maybe art direction." John Patterson of The Guardian called the film "clever and witty"; "the making of Psycho is depicted in detail without our seeing one frame of the completed movie" and concluding "it lives and breathes through Hopkins and Mirren."

Upon its theatrical release, Mary Pols of Time called the film "a feel-good frolic, which is fine for anyone who prefers their Hitchcock history tidied up, absent the megalomania, the condescending cruelty and tendency to sexual harassment that caused his post-Psycho blonde discovery Tippi Hedren to declare him 'a mean, mean man.'" Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review and felt that the film depended most on Helen Mirren's portrayal of Alma Reville, which he found to be "warm and effective."

The Atlantic's Govindini Murty called the film "smart and entertaining" and also provided a cultural guide to the themes, personalities, and cinematic references in the film, from German Expressionism to the paintings of Edward Hopper.

Many critics compared the film to the HBO biopic The Girl, which was released a month earlier and detailed Hitchcock making The Birds and Marnie. Justin Chang of Variety wrote that "the comparatively frothy Hitchcock offers a more sympathetic, even comedic assessment of the man behind the portly silhouette." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter also made note that the film "brings a measure of authenticity entirely missing from The Girl." When writing about the film as a whole, McCarthy said, "Hitchcock might be a work of fantasy and speculation as much as it is history and biography, but as an interpretation of a major talent's inner life and imagination, it's undeniably lively and provocative."

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
Academy Awards (85th)	Best Makeup and Hairstyling	Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Julie Hewitt	Nominated
Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Actress Defying Age and Ageism	Helen Mirren	Nominated
British Academy Film Awards	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated
	Best Makeup and Hair		Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture Actress – Drama	Helen Mirren	Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society	Best Score		Nominated
London Film Critics Circle	British Actress of the Year	Helen Mirren	Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Actor	Anthony Hopkins	Nominated
	Best Original Score	Danny Elfman	Nominated
Saturn Awards	Best Independent Film		Nominated
	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated
	Best Make-Up	Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Julie Hewitt	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated
	Best Scene	Anthony Hopkins in lobby conducting to music/audience’s reaction during “Psycho” shower scene	Won
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Helen Mirren	Nominated

See also

• The Girl, a 2012 BBC biographical film starring Toby Jones as Hitchcock about the making of The Birds and Marnie.

External links

• Official website
• Hitchcock at IMDb
• Hitchcock at AllMovie
• Hitchcock at Metacritic
• Hitchcock at Box Office Mojo
• Hitchcock at Rotten Tomatoes