HITCHCOCK'S STIFLED SNEEZE

Alfred Hitchcock conducted a Master Class with AFI Conservatory Fellows on February 3, 1970. He had recently completed TOPAZ (1969) and had not yet started FRENZY (1972). Known as a master of suspense, the director's films include THE 39 STEPS (1935), LIFEBOAT (1944), SPELLBOUND (1945), REAR WINDOW (1954), VERTIGO (1958), PSYCHO (1960) and THE BIRDS (1963). Here are two instructive and amusing highlights from his talk.

ON EXPOSITION...

"There are moments where you have to use a certain amount of footage to introduce the character. In that particular case (THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH) you don't just introduce them by small talk. You have a little boy wondering and accidentally pulling the veil off. You need some piece of action that would be interesting to look at rather than just 'This is John Smith, this is his wife and this is his son.' In other words, it's like all exposition – it's a pill that has to be sugarcoated. You are telling the audience something, giving them some piece of information, but it must appear to be something else."

ON STORYTELLING...

"In NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant is trapped in an auction room. He can't get out except one way, and that is bidding, crazy bidding, and he gets himself thrown out. But the essential point is that he is in an auction room and you must use the auction room. Now, in that same film there was a final sequence on the faces of Mount Rushmore. Due to the objections of the government, we weren't allowed to have any of the figures over the faces. We were told very definitely that you could only have the figures slide down between the heads. They said this is the shrine of democracy. What I wanted to do, and was prevented from doing, was to have Cary Grant slide down Lincoln's nose and hide in the nostril. Then I wanted Cary Grant to have a sneezing fit. That is a typical example of utilizing your material to the fullest. This is a personal thing with me. As often as I can I incorporate, down to the last detail, the elements of the scene into the film."