November 5, 2024

Spot Cameos in CTEK Hitchcock Masterworks Series

As most fans know, Alfred Hitchcock appears in a cameo in many of his films. Above I have embedded a fan-edited video pointing all of them out (excuse the editor’s spelling of suspense!). And below I have pasted a footnote from Francois Truffaut’s book-length interview, Hitchcock/Truffaut.

The UW Cinematheque “Hitchcock Masterworks” series begins at the Chazen Museum on Sun Jan 26 at 2pm with The 39 Steps (1936)

 

Ever since The Lodger in which he assumed a bit part to “fill the screen,” Alfred Hitchcock has appeared in each of his pictures. In The Lodger he is seen twice, the first time at a desk in a newsroom and later among the crowd of people watching an arrest. In Blackmail he is reading a newspaper in the subway while a little boy is pestering him. In Murder and The 39 Steps he is seen passing by in the street. In Young and Innocent he is a clumsy photographer outside the courtroom. In The Lady Vanishes there is a glimpse of him at a London railroad station, and in Rebecca he walks by a telephone booth. In Shadow of a Doubt he is a bridge player on the train; in Spellbound he was a man coming out of a crowded elevator; in Notorious he is one of the party guests drinking champagne. In The Paradine Case he carries a cello case, and in Rope he crosses the street after the main title. In Under Capricorn he listens to a speech, and in Stage Fright he turns back in the street to look at Jane Wyman, who is talking to herself. In Strangers on a Train he boards a train carrying a double bass, and in I Confess he is seen crossing the screen at the top of a staircase. In Dial M for Murder his image looks out from a college photo album. In Rear Window he is winding the clock, and in To Catch a Thief he is seated in a bus, next to Cary Grant. In The Man Who Knew Too Much he is seen from the back watching some Arab acrobats. In Vertigo and North by Northwest he crosses the street, and in Psycho he stands on the sidewalk wearing a wide Texas hat. In The Birds he is walking two small dogs, and in Marnie he is strolling through the hotel corridor.

Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock/Truffaut Revised Edition (New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc, 1984), p. 158.