Spoofs, Parodies and Homages of Hitchcock Films

Although Hitchcock's influence is typically seen in terms of "Hitchcockian" films, his work has often been spoofed, parodied and homaged, most notably in Mel Brooks' 1977 film High Anxiety.

Spoofs, Parodies and Homages

The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

• A decade after starring in Vertigo, Kim Novak again plays a dual role involving murder.

Blazing Saddles (1974)

• Madeline Kahn's infamous number "I'm Tired" is a direct parody — in subject, spirit, and staging — of Marlene Dietrich's performance of "The Laziest Gal In Town" in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright.

Supervixens (1975)

• The bathroom murder scene parodies the shower sequence in Psycho.

High Anxiety (1977)

• The central theme of Dr. Thorndyke's "high anxiety" is based off the ailment that James Stewart suffered from in Vertigo.
• When Victoria Brisbane first enters Dr. Thorndyke's hotel room she tells him about people who are following and watching her and asks him to close all the curtains, exactly as Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) did when she entered Richard Hannay's (Robert Donat) apartment in The 39 Steps.
• The shower scene from Psycho is spoofed when Mel Brooks' character is attacked by a paperboy in the shower -- he hits Brooks with a newspaper and the ink runs down the drain like blood.
• When Dr. Thorndyke is being chased and pooped on by pigeons, this is a parody of several scenes in The Birds in which birds attack various citizens.

The Simpsons (TV, 1989)

• see Hitchcock references in The Simpsons

Family Guy (TV, 1999)

• see Hitchcock references in Family Guy

Stuart Little 2 (2002)

• Stuart's plane flies towards the boys in a similiar manner as the plane in North by Northwest.

Big Train (TV, 2002)

• The comedy show includes a sketch called "The Working Class" that spoofs various scenes from The Birds and uses flocks of working class men instead of birds.
• The same episode of the show also includes a parody of Rebecca, in which Max's first wife was named Pedro and she dressed like a "Mexican bandito".

Rush Hour 3 (2007)

• A man in a wheelchair looking out his window (like James Stewart in Rear Window) tries to warn Jackie Chan when the assassin is behind him.