To be honest, I didn't liked the movie very much in the beginning. I'm a big Hitchcock fan but some of his movies are just merely average or even plain bad. This movie seemed to be one of those average ones, that wasn't really going anywhere with its story but things started to change suddenly for this movie, the moment it gets set at London. I can now actually honestly say that it's one of Hitchcock best and most memorable thrillers.
This is such a strong but also quite entertaining thriller, from the master of suspense. It has a simple story and we never fully get to find out what the true intentions of the villains all are but it's all being used in such an incredibly good and powerful way. The story, despite being nothing special, works out just great. Especially when you start to compare this movie to other genre movies from the same period, there is no denying it that this one is one of the very best ones.
It's a movie with some great thriller and mystery elements. Things start to get even more exciting once the movie heads toward its ending. It's when one of Hitchcock's most memorable sequences makes its grand entrance. Hitchcock movies often were filled with some classic memorable moments but never really with one that lasted over 12 minutes. It's a moment that captures about everything that often makes an Hitchcock movie so great to watch. It's an extremely well build up and executed tense moment. It's arguably also the moment that the movie should had ended. There is no way anything in this movie could had topped that and it also didn't happen.
But the movie is not just heavy, tense stuff. There is plenty of room for entertainment as well, which makes this movie an even bigger joy to watch. It's simply a must-see Hitchcock directed movie, for which he again worked together with actor James Stewart, as his main lead.
Hitchcock did not only handled the thriller elements extremely well, he also visually made the movie a beautiful one to watch. It had some great cinematography in it and it got shot at some nice locations, including the Royal Albert Hall. It's also fun to note that this is the movie the famous song 'Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera Sera)' got written for. It actually earned the movie its only Oscar as well.
Despite the weak beginning, it still remains an absolutely great movie and a must-see classic Hitchcock thriller.
9/10
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