First, my apologies -- the press of all sorts of work and travel
preparations have given me just about zero free time, and I've had to
virtually stop reading messages here for the time being. If someone
calls someone else a dufus retard, please email Peter and myself.

About "Under Capricorn," I agree with Dave K. rather than David E. My
other favorite Hitchcocks: "Vertigo," "I Confess," "Marnie," "Psycho"
and "Shadow of a Doubt." That's my half dozen

I think the ending of "Under Capricorn" is flawed, externalizing the
causes of the protagonist's (the Bergman character) troubles -- it never
happens quite that crudely in "Vertigo" or even "Psycho." Otherwise it's
a tremendously great film. The long-take mise en scene and pastel colors
beautifully convey the instability of the protagonist's identity, as is
"materialized" in the film's key moment, when she is asked to view her
reflection in a window: the reality she is supposed to be given here is
instead fleeting. This is one of those great moments in Hollywood cinema
in which a single image serves as a metaphor for the whole style. The
special effects "vertigo" shots in "Vertigo" are similar, except I've
never especially loved those shots. The pov shots of the rooms in the
"Psycho" house near the end is/are a better example. Analogs in the work
of other filmmakers include the famous television reflection image in
"All That Heaven Allows," or the last shot of "A Time to Love and a Time
to Die," or the death mask in "The Tarnished Angles" -- Sirk is
especially great at such images. But there are others: the very first
shot of Fuller's "Fixed Bayonets," the frozen moments in "How Green Was
My Valley" (the family stops for a moment on the word "America" when two
sons say they're planning to leave), the in and out of focus long take
near the end of "Detour."

A piece of trivia: a line I've never been able to understand in "Under
Capricorn" is the maid's explanation for why she is called "Crumpets"
(or is it "Crumpet"). If anyone knows what it is (please don't spend
time on any "research") please post.

- Fred C.