A Mini Hitchcock Location Tour
Welcome back to “As I See It”.
A dozen or so years ago, in an attempt to broaden my classic cinematic experience, I decided to start watching Alfred Hitchcock movies. To date I have watched about two dozen. Most of them multiple times.
On a total side note, I would say that “Rope” is my favorite.. or maybe “Lifeboat”…or maybe “Rear Window”..or maybe “North By Northwest”..or maybe….Yea, I love his movies.
But back to where I was… At the time that I started watching these movies, I was living in Sonoma County, mere miles from the locations of two of his movies, “The Birds” and “Shadow Of A Doubt”.
After moving to Vermont, I watched “ The Trouble With Harry”, That movie was filmed in Vermont, and though not as close to where I was living in Vermont, an amazingly beautiful drive to get to.
Of these three movies, the first one to be filmed was “Shadow Of A Doubt”, released in January 1943.
It starred Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and MacDonald Carey.
It is said that this film was Hitchcock’s favorite of his films.
It is the story of a teenage girl, who is overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family, in their Northern California town of Santa Rosa. Slowly she begins to suspect that he is the “Merry Widow” killer, being sought by the authorities.
The movie was filmed in many different locations throughout Santa Rosa. The images that I captured were of the exterior of the family home, and the Santa Rosa train station.
Next we have “The Trouble With Harry”.
It was released in September 1955. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe and Shirley Maclaine, in her film debut. It was shot primarily in Craftsbury, Vermont.
Side note, again.. Craftsbury Vermont is on the 44th parallel, so those images can be seen in my photo series, “44 Degrees Latitude North”.
And back on track, again.. One of Hitchcock’s few comedies, the trouble with Harry is that he is dead, and while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry’s body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed, but what to do with the body.
The images that I have are of the Craftsbury Common Green, and the exterior of the house used in the film.
Finally, we have the most well known film of the three, “The Birds”.
Released in March 1963, “The Birds” stars Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor.
It is the story of a San Francisco socialite who pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town. Things slowly take a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
The images that I have captured are of the Potter School House, in the town of Bodega, and various restaurant scenes, boat dock scenes, and portions of the gas station fire were filmed at The Tides, in the coastal town of Bodega Bay.
I look forward to shooting more images from the location shoots of Alfred Hitchcock movies.
Till next time,
Be Well.