Hitchcock themes and motifs - knives, scissors and blades
Blackmail (1929)
"And as I was saying and always will say - knives is not right!" — Alice White's gossipy neighbour
The 39 Steps (1935)
"Clear out, Hannay, they'll get you next!" — Annabella Smith
Sabotage (1936)
"When Sylvia Sidney brings the vegetable platter to the table, the knife acts as a magnet; it's almost as if her hand, against her will, is compelled to grab it. The camera frames her hand, then her eyes, moving back and forth between the two until suddenly her look makes it clear that she's become aware of the potential meaning of that knife ... When the camera is on Verloc, it pans to the knife and then back again to his face. And we realize that he, too, has seen the knife and has suddenly become aware of what it may mean to him. Now the suspense between the two protagonists has been established, and the knife lies there, between them." — Alfred Hitchcock[1]
Spellbound (1945)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
North by Northwest (1959)
"Listen to me! I had nothing to do with this!" — Roger O. Thornhill
Psycho (1960)
"It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?" — Norman Bates
Torn Curtain (1966)
"In doing that long killing scene, my first thought again was to avoid the cliché. In every picture somebody gets killed and it goes very quickly. They are stabbed or shot, and the killer never even stops to look and see whether the victim is really dead or not. And I thought it was time to show that it was very difficult, very painful, and it takes a very long time to kill a man." — Alfred Hitchcock[2]
