Alfred Hitchcock was a master of filmmaking techniques and showed expertise at getting exactly what was desired out of audiences. Born in 1899 in Essex, England, the director went on to be famous for his psychological thrillers with their original twists and suspenseful atmospheres. What Hitchcock’s movies focused on primarily was the story, almost to the exclusion of all else. The director used some of the most cutting edge and innovative technology in his filmmaking to great effect, but what if the director were alive today and making movies?
How would modern technology affect Hitchcock’s films? And more importantly, how would it affect the director’s ability to tell some of the greatest stories of suspense in modern cinema? No doubt he’d incorporate it seamlessly, to add further twists. Just for fun — and considering Hitchcock’s penchant for murder — Techcitement considers how modern technology could utterly destroy the filmmaking giant’s movies.
1951: Strangers On A Train
We can’t expect people to have seen every classic film ever made. So, if you’ve seen Throw Momma From The Train, you have some basic idea what Strangers On a Train is about. Then again, maybe a 26-year-old film isn’t the best reference to explain the plot of a 62-year-old film. Okay, here’s a simpler explanation then: There’s a train, there’s a deal, and there’s murder.
Modern technology could likely derail this movie’s main plot points though. Ever seen people on the train these days? Between noise-cancelling headphones, an iPhone, and a killer game of Angry Birds, you aren’t lifting your head for the second coming. Forget some clown wanting to talk about your business. Also, Twitter might change how this scenario plays out.
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There’s a scene in “A Perfect Murder,” the Dial-M remake, where Gwyneth Paltrow is in the tub, but is drawn to the kitchen by a ringing phone. The phonecall is part of the plan to get her in place to be attacked and killed.
And it plays out rather absurdly onscreen, because not only does it require the viewer to accept that the penthouse-dwelling Paltrow has ONLY ONE TELEPHONE, and it’s in the kitchen, but that she also has no answering machine, thus allowing it to ring a few dozen times while she gets out of the bath and walks to the kitchen to answer the still-ringing phone.
And since this is the very scene of the supposed ‘Perfect Murder’ as promised by the title, it’s not exactly a minor plot hole.