Alfred Hitchcock may be long gone. But he’s been popping up everywhere the last two years or so, with a renewed focus on his complex, controversial connections with his leading ladies.
Last year, HBO’s “The Girl” examined the making of “The Birds,” with Toby Miller (“Capote”) as a lecherous Hitch and Sienna Miller as a tortured, preyed-upon Sienna Miller. Sacha Gervasi‘s “Hitchcock” took on “Psycho” and the director’s relationship with his wife Alma, as brought to life with great intelligence and flair by Helen Mirren; the latter film had Anthony Hopkins in the title role and Scarlett Johansson as a vivacious Janet Leigh.
“Vertigo” recently topped the list of the best 50 films of all time, trumping longtime champ “Citizen Kane,” in the most recent decennial poll of film critics published by prestigious British Film Institute-sponsored film magazine Sight & Sound.
And the small screen has brought us the creepy, gory A&E series “Bates Motel,” a sort-of, kind-of prequel to the events portrayed in “Psycho,” with Freddie Highmore as a young, pre-damaged Norman Bates, and Vera Farmiga as his ill-fated mother.
Now this: “Vertigo,” released in 1958 and starring Jimmy Stewart as an emotionally damaged former San Francisco police detective, has been recently restored and will be screened in the Cannes Classics section at this summer’s Cannes Film Festival.
Kim Novak, the film’s star, now 80, will be on hand for the showing of the timeless psychological thriller.
Novak lately ” spends much of her time painting and enjoying nature (and her llama herd) in her Oregon ranch,” according to a report by the Alt Film Guide. “Her last appearance in front of the camera was in Mike Figgis’ Liebestraum (1991), which, according to her, wasn’t exactly a great experience: ‘Ah, same old Hollywood. I don’t need this.’ ”
Novak reportedly will also help present a prize during the festival’s closing ceremonies on May 26.