Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: one of Hitchcock’s classics.
At the start of the 1960s, Alfred Hitchcock was one of the best-known directors in the United States, having won over moviegoers and the general public thanks to the success of his latest films: Death by Northwest, Psychosis and The Birds. At the top of his game, the filmmaker is looking for a subject for a new film. During a weekend spent in Santa Cruz, he discovers “Marnie”, the latest book by writer Winston Graham, whose story, drawn from real events, is that of a kleptomaniac and frigid woman who undertakes psychoanalysis. .
Hitchcock entrusts the adaptation to screenwriter Jay Presson Allen, betting more on the psychological thriller than on the detective story. He offers the main role to Tippi Hedren, whom he has just directed in The Birds, and hires Sean Connery to give him the role of an aristocrat whom nothing and no one can resist, like the character of James Bond for which the actor was mainly known. Once again, the master of suspense signs a controlled staging giving the impression of a waking nightmare.
However, when it was released in 1964, No Spring for Marnie received a mixed reception. While The Birds had brought in 11 million dollars in box office receipts, the latter brought in “only” 7 million (for a budget of 3 million). The film effectively marks the end of an era. Several of Hitchcock’s loyal collaborators – composer Bernard Herrmann, cinematographer Robert Burks, editor George Tomasini, and actress Tippi Hedren – are working with him for the last time. It is therefore necessary to wait a few years for Pas de Printemps pour Manie to be recognized as yet another Hitchcock masterpiece. On AlloCiné, he has an average viewer rating of 3.9 out of 5.
No Spring for Marnie by Alfred Hitchcock with Tippi Hedren, Martin Gabel, Sean Connery…
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.