Alfred Hitchcock and the One Note Man

Alfred Hitchcock describes how the idea of Albert Hall sequence in the original version of The Man Who Knew Too Much was derived from a Punch magazine cartoon by H.M. Bateman called "The One Note Man."

Alfred Hitchcock's Perfect Trifecta of Music as Plot Device

Discussion of Alfred Hitchcock's use of music as a plot device, particularly in the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, where each of the musical selections serves as commentary in addition to serving the plot. For more in depth analysis of the lyrics to the Storm Cloud Cantata, the Portents Hymn, and Whatever Will Be, see the forthcoming new edition of WRITING WITH HITCHCOCK.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In celebration of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd leave you with a radio play co-scripted by screenwriter John Michael Hayes (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much). It's an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade called The Terrified Turkey Caper

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

The Four Leaf Clover in Hitchcock's Rope

Much has been said about Alfred Hitchcock’s selection of Francis Poulenc’s “Perpetual Movement No. 1,” which is played on the piano by Phillip in Rope. Looking at the other music in Rope which plays over the radio, there is a performance by The Three Suns of “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover,” the 1927 song written by Mort Dixon with music by Harry M. Woods. Assuming it was not just by happenstance, the character descriptions in the screenplay may actually reveal why Hitchcock selected the tune. 

Excluding Rupert (and David, of course), let’s consider the other party guests—Mrs. Atwater, Mr. Kentley, Janet, and Kenneth—and how their character traits fit the symbolic representation of the leaves of a four leaf clover…Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck.

Faith—Mrs. Atwater, we are told by her description, puts her faith in many things, and this year it happens to be astrology. She reads palms and works out horoscopes, and although she has no idea what she is talking about, her predictions may turn out to be spot on.

Hope—Mr. Kentley has great pride in his son and is said to have a “general trust in people” to the point that it has marred his perceptivity. Nonetheless, his hope for the essential good in humanity lends more credibility to his moral compass than to any of the morally questionable theories put forth by Brandon or Rupert.

Love—Janet is described as coming from a family that once had money, and so now she “belongs neither to the class she is actually in nor the class she wants to be in.” Although Brandon more than once insinuates that Janet has traded up to David for his money, we do get the impression this is not the case, she’s in love.

Luck—Kenneth is described as attractive with a background that has included tutors, prep school and Princeton, but that he is “not overly bright.” One might say he’s gotten by on his looks, charm, and a bit of luck. At one point, Brandon tells Kenneth his fortunes regarding Janet may have changed. “I have the oddest feeling, anyway, that your chances with the lady are much better than you think.”

Thanks to Joel Gunz for pointing out the detail I overlooked when I first published this post. The "I" in the song would have to be Rupert, who looks over Brandon and Phillip, catching the details that he's overlooked before.

Revisiting Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man

In mid-1955 while in production on the re-make of The Man Who Knew Too Much for Paramount Pictures, Alfred Hitchcock began planning a film that would be a dramatic departure from the up-beat Technicolor productions he made since leaving Warner Brothers two years earlier. Although Hitchcock had fulfilled his obligation under the terms of his original four-picture contract with Warner Bros., in February 1952 he agreed to produce and direct an additional film for the studio at no additional salary. (It is often stated that Hitchcock was to receive no salary for the additional film, but it should be noted that he was to share in the film’s profits.) 

Hitchcock left Warners after completing Dial M for Murder, yet it wasn’t long before the studio reminded Hitchcock of his informal promise of an additional, or fifth picture. The studio managed to do this just a few months before the original contract would expire. Knowing that Hitchcock was about to embark on a large scale production for Paramount, Warner Bros. requested an extension of the original agreement so that they could still get their “free” Hitchcock picture, and so on April 13, 1955, Hitchcock entered into an agreement to produce and direct The Wrong Man for Warner Bros.

Briefly, the story was based on the actual events surrounding the wrongful arrest of Christopher Emmanuel (Manny) Balestrero, a musician in New York’s Stork Club. Subsequent to his arrest for armed robbery and during the course of preparing his defense for trial, Manny’s wife, Rose, suffers a mental breakdown and is placed in a sanitarium. Later, Manny is cleared when his “double” is apprehended, but the damage to Rose’s psyche has already been done. 

This was a departure from the recent upbeat enertainments that Hitchcock had turned out in his collaboration with screenwriter John Michael Hayes. Hayes told Hitchcock as much, which added to the growing friction between writer and director. Another reason Hayes expressed reluctance to write the project was that the story had recently been done on television as "The Idendified Man" for Robert Montgomery Presents. 

Robert Ellenstein, who would later play Licht in North by Northwest, played the role of Manny in the TV production "The Identified Man" aka "A Case of Identity" in 1954.

The real Manny Balestrero reenacts the walk to his front door for Life.

Hitchcock's depiction of Manny's walk to his front door with Henry Fonda as Balestrero.

Of course, Hitchcock did not merely want to redo what had already been done on television, and despite his promoting the film as a factual case, his intention was not to make a docu-drama. Hitchcock's focus would be on the mental breakdown of Rose Balestrero. With the exception of North by Northwest (which was actually initiated with Hayes), Hitchcock's post-Hayes films—The Wrong Man, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, and Marnie—would each focus on the psychological trauma a character endures. In the case of The Wrong Man, although Manny is ultimately cleared of the crimes for whch he is accused, the real nightmare of Rose's remained.

Manny (Robert Ellenstein) tells Rose (Florence Anglin) that he has been cleared of the robberies.

In Hitchcock's depiction of the same sequence, the focus is on Rose (Vera Miles).

Not wanting to end the film on the bleak note of Manny leaving Rose in the institution, the final shot of The Wrong Man shows the Balestreros and their two boys strolling beneath the palm trees of sunny Florida, with the an epilogue stating, “Two years later, Rose walked out of the sanitarium — completely cured. Today she lives happily in Florida with Manny and the two boys ..and what happened seems like a nightmare to them — but it did happen...”

It has long been contended that Warner Bros. insisted on tacking on the final shot of the Balestrero family along with a "happy" epilogue over Hitchcock's "loud objections." Fortunately, the interesting circumstances under which the script of The Wrong Man was written resulted in a trail of correspondence between the director and his writers, playwright Maxwell Anderson and Hitchcock’s longtime friend and occasional collaborator Angus MacPhail, which reveals that the director had both the final shot, and the reassuring epilogue in mind even before the screenplay was completed. 

MacPhail and Hitchcock worked in New York, researching factual details, interviewing persons like Judge Groat, (Rose's doctor) Dr. Banay, (Manny's attorney) O'Connor and (Prosecuting Attorney) Mr. Crisoda, and laying out the story and the visuals more or less in treatment form. As they completed each section of the story, they sent pages to Maxwell Anderson, at his home in Connecticut. Anderson then set about adding the dialogue, which MacPhail would edit and incorporate into the final script as approved by the director.

Correspondence between Hitchcock, MacPhail and Anderson reveals that Hitchcock fully intended both the final shot of the Balestrero family in Florida, as well as the epilogue. As early as March 20, 1956, while the script was in preparation, Hitchcock indicated in a letter to Anderson, "if you would have a 'go' at the words that are to be printed on the screen at the end, I would be very grateful. Not only does this give us a note of relief, but more than that, they [the audience] have been seeing a factual case and I think this is very important." 

Although Hitchcock had asked Anderson, it was MacPhail who had the first "go" at the epilogue, which he turned in on April 4, 1956. MacPhail’s epilogue went as follows: "Two years after these events Rose Balestrero walked out of the sanitarium completely cured. Today she lives happily in Florida with the two boys. Now they can hardly believe that this nightmare experience was reality. But it did happen to Manny Balestrero, and but for the grace of God, it might happen to you." 

MacPhail sent his "temporary" epilogue to Anderson, who replied in a letter dated April 5, "I think it's essentially good, but I don't personally think the deity intrudes in these matters, so I just left him out." Anderson simply cut MacPhail's "and but for the grace of God". In a letter to Anderson dated April 10, MacPhail indicated, "[Hitchcock] would like the Epilogue to end up on a note of warm reassurance and not on a chilling reminder," adding, "I accept your reproof about the deity." 

Anderson replied on April 11, "As for the Epilogue, it seems to me Hitch's objection should simply be remedied by excising the two final sentences. We don't need them ... The warm reassurance is there in the Florida sky and in the family group." And regarding the reference to God, Anderson wrote, "I didn't mean to reprove anybody about the deity, but my father was a Baptist minister and I'm allergic." 

As far as Hitchcock was concerned though, the reference to the Almighty might well have been left in, for as he expressed to a reporter from the Los Angeles Examiner, "The [film's] suspense is due to the thought that will strike everyone, 'There, but for the grace of God, go I.'"