Journey To The Center Of The Earth

Do you remember Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea?Paul Smith’s score was just released on CD after being only available as an Itunes exclusive.In 1959, 20thCentury Fox remembered the success of the film and decided to release their version of a Jules Verne classic.They chose Journey To The Center of the Earth.Kirk Douglas’s song “A Whale Of A Tale” had been quite a success in the previous film, so it was decided that crooner Pat Boone would star...

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Pop songs in Hitchcock films

Que Sera, sera,Whatever will be will beThe future's not ours to see,Que Sera, seraSome of you may know that this famous song was first heard in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much.When Doris Day first heard the tune, she reportedly disliked the song and had to be convinced to sing it. It became her signature song. How many of you can name another pop tune used in a Hitchcock film? Who said there are no others?The director used pop themes...

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Gaslight

Gaslight or When cinema tries to destroy itself.Patrick Hamilton is a brilliant British play-write who penned among other things Rope's End, which was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. In 1938, he wrote Gas Light, a play about a woman driven crazy by the very man she loves so he can get his hands on some hidden jewels.The play was filmed for TV with Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonelyheart in Rear Window) and Henry Daniell (Vincent Price appears in this...

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Torn Curtain

Torn Curtain was Alfred Hitchcock's attempt at a "serious Bond film": i.e. Bond, without the parody element. His ideas were to have a gray color scheme, get rid of the humor, the girls, and especially show how difficult it is to actually kill a person.With this in mind, yes, the film is as dark and unappealing as you may think. At the time, though, it seemed like the thing to do since the Bond series had basically copied many elements that Hitchcock...

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