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mawahlquist
Reviews
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Fun to spot the nods to other actors, movies, and scenes
I thought Angela Lansbury was doing a Margaret Rutherford impression in her portrayal of Miss Marple. What clinched it for me was the smoking scene. Several times as she seemed to be speaking out of the corner of her mouth it definitely recalled Margaret Rutherford in "Murder She Said," "Murder at the Gallop," or "Murder Most Foul." It was only a distant evocation of the character in the book, but I don't think that was the intention.
I loved the close-ups of Elizabeth Taylor's face, and her famous violet eyes. What gorgeous eyes. No other movie star ever came close. She did a decent job in this movie, employing quite a range in her scenes. The scene where she sits at her dressing table and sing-songs to her reflection, "Bags, bags, go away; come right back on Doris Day" was an obvious nod to all the Rock Hudson-Doris Day movies.
Kim Novak was hilarious, with her shallow, very trampy American actress pastiche--that scene where she vamps Edward Fox and then yells "Screw Scotland Yard!" was pure gold. I thought it was reminiscent of some other movie, but I can't think what.
If the final scene of Liz laid out on the couch was reminiscent of a scene from "Cleopatra," did anyone notice the obvious nod to Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion" when Rock Hudson started up the stairs with the drink of hot milk for his wife? I would swear they even put a light in the milk for that first brief shot.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Hitchcock Is Hysterical
I loved this film, although it is not my favorite Hitchcock. Still, he did a lot of great things in it. Doris Day was a different choice for the blonde romantic interest of the hero than Hitchcock usually cast, but she certainly showed she can handle drama as well as comedy. She projects a warmth and good humor before her son is taken, and after, she shows controlled anguish, just verging on panic enough for us to worry about her throughout. James Stewart is wonderful, as he always is in his Hitchcock roles.
The film is notable for its scenes that are typical of Hitchcock's dark and dry humor. One is when Ben and Jo McKenna (James Stewart and Doris Day) are seated in a Moroccan restaurant, and Ben doesn't know what to do with his very long legs at that very low table.
Another is when the McKennas get to London and Ben runs after a red herring, in this case, a father-and-son taxidermist duo both named Ambrose Chappel. The junior Chappel was played by Richard Wordsworth, who told me in the 1980s that he adored his silly scene, with him and Ben and two others scuffling in the shop and the senior Chappel dashing madly back and forth with the swordfish (quite a red herring, huh!), and the other taxidermist with the leopard, trying to avoid injury to the dead animals. Only Hitchcock could have come up with something so dry and witty.
Of course Hitch used taxidermy as black humor again when he made Psycho.
A final funny motif for this film was the use of the abandoned party guests in the McKennas' hotel suite. They aren't just superfluous either; they advance the plot by being helpfully bemused as husband and wife dash about London looking for their kidnapped son and missing each other in their journeys, but needing to be informed so that they can follow one another to each location. And there are the guests at the end, ready to be tied up as all plot strings should be, with the silly comment, "We had to go over and pick up our boy, Hank!"