Hitchcock

Rear Window: Unlike Jimmy Stewart, I wasn’t really spying on anything or anyone fun, just a brick exterior wall.




Check out Vanity Fair’s online photography portfolio recreating classic Hitchcock scenes with current movie stars, by photographer Art Streiber.









When you click on the photo in the portfolio, the original Hitchcock scene opens in a new window.

• Charlize Theron as Margot (Grace Kelly’s role) in “Dial M for Murder.”

• Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem spying on their neighbors in “Rear Window.”
  
  


• Naomi Watts as the psychologically challenged “Marnie.” I just re-watched this. Sean Connery is great. Apparently Hitchcock was smitten with Tippi Hedren and wooed her, without success. After failing with her, he wouldn’t mention her name.
  
  


• Keira Knightley and Jennifer Jason Leigh as “Rebecca” and Mrs. Danvers. My favorite Hitchcock.




• Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy as “Strangers on a Train.” Eeww, this is a creepy, but good, movie. Robert Walker is forever a creep for me in movies after it, I can’t watch him in any other role and like him.
  
  


• Renée Zellweger in Kim Novak’s role in “Vertigo.” This one doesn’t quite do it for me, the movie or the Zellweger shot. She looks old! Not that old is bad. She just looks old for the role. But I like how she really got into this, which you can see on the video making this portfolio.
  
  
• Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. in “To Catch a Thief.” I can kind of see Gwyneth as Grace, but the cliched choice for Cary would have been George Clooney I suppose.
  
  
• Jodie Foster in Tippi Hedren’s role in “The Birds.” Hmm, I don’t know about this one either. Did you know Daphne Du Maurier, author of Rebecca the book, also wrote the story for “The Birds”? Talk about two geniusly creepy minds, Du Maurier and Hitchcock.
  
  
• Seth Rogan in Cary Grant’s role in “North by Northwest.” Who is Seth Rogan? Although I love this movie, I always wondered why Cary Grant wore reddish brown shoes with a grey suit. Must be a ‘50s color scheme.
  
  
• Marion Cotillard (recent Oscar winner for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose”) in the shower scene in “Psycho.” I love this one, I think she looks pretty good screaming. But how do you replace Janet Leigh’s panicked face?
  
  Here’s a video of the making of this cool project and here’s the background on making it, but I hope no one will ever remake these movies.
  
  Um, I guess they already have:


• “Dial M for Murder” became “A Perfect Murder” with Paltrow and Michael Douglas in 1998. It was pretty good actually.
  
  
• “Rear Window” remade with Christopher Reeve and Daryl Hannah in 1998. Um, not so much.
  
  
• “Rebecca” remade for TV. Didn’t see it, don’t know.
  
  
• “Strangers on a Train” – Hey, a remake is in production this year!



• “Psycho” – I didn’t see Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche as the screamer.

Do you have a favorite Hitchcock movie? As you probably already know, he never won an Oscar for Best Director, although “Rebecca” won best picture in 1940.

“You thought I LOVED her!?”

By the way, I'm not quite getting why the illustrator shoved the movie poster over Joan Fontaine's head: