By Jeffry Catalano —
One of the greatest twists in film history has been an open secret for well over sixty years. Most people who grew up in the wake of Psycho’s monumental success had the film’s iconic plot twist spoiled for them by some horror movie-loving friend or family member. This was the case for me many years after the film’s initial release, but this was not the case for Dr. Royer. She was fortunate enough to stumble upon Psycho for the first time one Saturday afternoon on TV. An avid fan of the horror genre growing up, Dr. Royer was familiar with Alfred Hitchcock’s name, but she’d never seen one of his films before. Psycho was her first, and she saw it when she was in the sixth or seventh grade, without knowing anything about it. She had no idea about the horrifying shower scene or how Janet Leigh, the supposed hero of the film, is killed before the film’s half hour mark. The film shocked Dr. Royer like it’s shocked everyone else who’s seen it, and it was the start of her avid Hitchcock fandom.
In her twenties, Dr. Royer became more invested in all things Hitchcock and started watching his show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. One of the filmmaker’s most masterful efforts, Rear Window, was always playing on TV while she was growing up, and Dr. Royer was always game to watch the film again. Dr. Royer isn’t sure when her lifelong fandom for Hitchcock was cemented, but she knows it happened when she was young. At the top of our conversation about Hitchcock, Dr. Royer happily answered two of my more general questions about the filmmaker and his oeuvre.
When asked who her favorite Hitchcock character was, she gleefully said, “Norman Bates.” We’re both big fans of Anthony Perkins, the actor who made Bates one of the most indelible characters in film history. We shared a few laughs about a great scene in Psycho that’s loaded with dark, mischievous humor.
When asked what her favorite Hitchcock film was, she said, Shadow of a Doubt. We were both in agreement that the lethal antagonist of the film, a serial killer named Uncle Charlie, was played to perfection by Joseph Cotten. He portrayed an icy, merciless serial killer long before that kind of character became commonplace in film and TV.
Before this fall semester began, Dr. Royer had the opportunity to create a class that studied a single film auteur. In film, an auteur is usually a director who exerts a strong level of ownership over his or her work. Some modern auteurs include Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantio, and Sofia Coppola. These types of filmmakers have recognizable styles and trademarks, and they often explore many of the same themes in their work. Hitchcock is often regarded as the most important auteur in all of film, so it was only natural when Dr. Royer decided to create a class focused on the director’s singular body of work.
Film Studies 330B, aka Film Auteurs: Alfred Hitchcock, covers the gamut of the director’s filmography. The class goes over Hitchcock’s early days in the Silent Age of cinema, to his Golden Age in the 1950s, to his last two most important efforts, Psycho and The Birds. The latter was released in 1963 and is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary. Hitchcock’s career spanned a stunning six decades, so there’s a lot of ground to cover when studying the filmmaker’s oeuvre. The starting point for my conversation with Dr. Royer began on a personal note, and then we gradually moved into a more general conversation about why Hitchcock is so revered and studied at Miami and universities all across the world. We discussed many of the topics Dr. Royer is currently covering in her class, including the beginning of Hitchcock’s career, his inimitable run of classic films in the 1950s, and the film everyone knows him for, Psycho.
Talking Hitchcock with a fellow fan and admirer is always a treat. Fans of the filmmaker are constantly in awe of his visual ingenuity, as seen in films like Rear Window. Hitchcock had many fascinating trademarks and obsessions, most of which can be seen on display in what many consider his masterpiece, Vertigo. I admitted to Dr. Royer that I’d only just seen the director’s 1958 film with Jimmy Stewart, and we both talked about how hypnotic and rewatchable the film is. Bleak as the film may be, there is something so alluring about it. In Vertigo, Hitchcock was at the peak of his directorial capabilities, and it’s a must-watch for any fan of the filmmaker’s.
One of the more common accusations leveled against Hitchcock by modern viewers and critics is that his films are tame by today’s standards. While there’s some truth to this, it’s also quite inaccurate. Hitchcock was highly progressive and transgressive for his time. The director was a true crime fanatic long before that was an ordinary thing to be. I mentioned to Dr. Royer how Hitchcock had a party trick where he would show people how to strangle someone properly by coolly demonstrating on their necks. The director’s macabre sense of humor was hardly limited to his films, to say the least. Thematically, Hitchcock wasn’t afraid to explore such sordid subjects as voyeurism and incest. In his time, the director was fearless, and chose to tell the kinds of stories few of his contemporaries had the nerve to broach.
Hitchcock never won an Oscar for Best Director, and yet he’s often called one of the greatest directors of all time. He is one of the most studied and revered filmmakers in history, and he will be for many decades to come. Dr. Royer’s decision to create a class centered on Hitchcock was a labor of love. When FST 330B ends this semester, it will mark the end of her course on Hitchcock. Perhaps, this class will inspire more film auteur classes at Miami in its wake. Film literacy is an important source of knowledge for any budding visual artist, particularly filmmakers. Studying Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense,” for a semester is not unlike going to film school. Virtually every technique a filmmaker can use to tell a story was used by Hitchcock at one point or another in his extensive career.
I asked Dr. Royer which film seemed to get the most positive reception in her class so far. She told me it was Rebecca, which was the first film Hitchcock made when he moved from England to the United States. In the weeks to come, Dr. Royer’s students will be watching some of Hitchcock’s most important works, like Rear Window and North by Northwest. Her class will end with The Birds, which is fitting, since many people pinpoint this as the last time Hitchcock had command over the craft of cinema.
Dr. Royer’s passion for Alfred Hitchcock and most any subject related to film is contagious. Talking with her made me want to binge watch the “Master of Suspense’s” films for the rest of the month. Dr. Royer’s class on Hitchcock is a testament to the director’s lasting influence on film and her enduring passion and respect for the man’s work.
