The “Forbidden Five” Movies Hitchcock Didn’t Want You To See 396y6a

The Big Picture 6o4c27

• Hitchcock withheld five famous films for over two decades:
  Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope,
  and
  The Trouble With Harry.
• Hitchcock’s selective approach to film distribution helped elevate some of his more underrated works, such as
  The Trouble With Harry
  , which wasn’t a commercial success upon initial release.
• The « Forbidden Five » Hitchcock films later gained critical acclaim and inspired modern cinematography techniques.

The great Alfred Hitchcock was not only one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of all-time, but one of the most famous. While Golden Age of Hollywood directors like John Ford and John Huston certainly became recognizable to an audience beyond cinephiles, Hitchcock’s name was itself a tool in a film’s marketing and distribution. The term “Hitchcockian” has emerged as a means of describing intense thrillers that prioritize anxiety, suspense, and dark humor. While he had the ability to conjure an audience based solely on his involvement, Hitchcock was also highly selective in how audiences received and viewed his films. Perhaps to preserve the legacy of some of his finest films, Hitchcock forbade audiences from seeing five of his most famous films for over two decades.

Alfred Hitchcock Took Five Films Out of Circulation a43j

Hitchcock’s popularity was reaching its peak in the early 1960s, as Psycho had revitalized his career and essentially kickstarted the “slasher movie” subgenre of horror. While much of the film’s success can be attributed to its shocking plot twist, Hitchcock was instrumental in making Psycho’s release an “event” by giving theater owners and audiences strict guidelines about the film’s screenings. Theaters were not allowed to let in theatergoers if they arrived after the film had already begun, and audiences were discouraged from discussing the film’s ending upon leaving the theater. Hitchcock had wielded his power to ensure that Psycho was an experience exclusive to the big screen — audiences wouldn’t be able to learn the film’s secrets based on gossip or second-hand reports.

While he had sold the rights to Psycho to Universal Pictures, who later turned it into a franchise, Hitchcock was more protective over some of his other films. Due to a five-picture deal that Hitchcock had signed with Paramount Pictures in 1953, all rights to the films he had not already sold would revert directly to him eight years after the initial theatrical distribution. Paramount did not see any potential lost profits from the deal, as home video releases and international sales would become less viable after a film spent so much time out of theaters. By complying with the deal, Paramount yielded ownership of Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope, and The Trouble With Harry exclusively to Hitchcock.

While studios would occasionally re-release films decades later based on their popular reputation, Hitchcock chose to entirely remove Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope, and The Trouble With Harry from circulation starting in 1961. Audiences interested in seeing these older films, many of which had been relatively profitable upon their initial release, were forced to gain exclusive rights from Hitchcock himself. However, permission was certainly not easy to attain; Hitchcock often refused offers from film festivals, college campuses, television networks, and arthouse theaters. Rights to the films did not open up until Hitchcock’s death in 1980, shortly after he canceled plans for his “comeback film” The Short Night.

‘Rear Window’ and ‘Vertigo’ Became All-Time Classics 475l25

Removing films from circulation seemed like an odd decision, as Hitchcock was denying himself potential profits that additional theatrical releases could give. In the years before home video viewing was popularized, films often earned significant earnings years after their initial release; The Sound of Music became one of the most profitable films of all-time for this reason. However, by turning the “Forbidden Five” into highly sought after films, Hitchcock ensured that they would be ed long after his death. Younger viewers who didn’t get the chance to see Rear Window and Vertigo on the big screen were forced to make them “appointment viewing” once they were finally made commercially available.

While it hadn’t been widely seen since its initial release, Rear Window would be cited as one of the most influential thrillers ever made. The concept of a lonely, voyeuristic protagonist collecting evidence from an isolated location would be endlessly homaged, parodied, and even blatantly stolen by other films. Many films directly inspired by Rear Window, including Brian De Palma’s erotic thriller Body Double and the classic vampire movie Fright Night, would go on to become classics in their own right.

Withdrawing Vertigo from release proved to be very beneficial, as Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller became the subject of critical reappraisal upon its more widely available release. While the shocking plot twists and surrealist elements of the film struck many viewers as odd upon an initial viewing, Vertigo would become hailed as one of the most definite masterpieces of Hitchcock’s entire career. In a recent poll by the Sight & Sound cinema magazine, Vertigo was named as the second-greatest film of all-time behind Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.

Hitchcock Attracted Attention Towards His Lesser-Known Films 6d5v3j

Making his films “exclusive” helped Hitchcock raise the profile of some films that hadn’t been as well-received upon their initial debut. While The Trouble With Harry was one of the few commercial disasters of his career, it has been cited as one of Hitchcock’s most underrated films by modern pundits. The Man Who Knew Too Much was another curious example; while the film was actually a remake of another film Hitchcock made in 1934, the gap in release ensured that the 1956 version starring James Stewart could be considered on its own merit.

Perhaps the most dramatic reconsideration within the “Forbidden Five” films was of Hitchcock’s 1948 thriller Rope, which pioneered the “one-shot” camera trick. While it was initially viewed as a gimmick and an example of Hitchcock playing with experimental technology, the techniques used in Rope would become widely adopted in the 21st century. Both Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and 1917 won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for using similar “one shot” camera tricks. It’s a credit to Hitchcock’s foresight that he seemed to know how influential the film would end up being.

Rope is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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