Advertise on podcast: Foreign Correspondents: Deeper into Hitchcock

Hitchcock in Quebec! "I Confess" stars Method actor Montgomery Clift in one of his most restrained performances as a handsome, innocent priest accused of murder. The most overtly "Catholic" of Hitch's movies, "I Confess" is also one of the lesser appreciated gems in the director's stellar 1950s output. Join us as we explore the movie and its Holocaust undertones with our special guest James Bogdanski who teaches film at Long Beach City College and El Camino College in southern California.

Patricia Highsmith, Raymond Chandler, Robert Walker and Robert Burks: these are only several of the extremely talented people who contributed to Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train," a film which officially opens the master's most glorious and successful decade. At once taut and dreamlike, cruel and perversely sensual, the movie begins with a chance encounter that leads to nightmarish consequences. Join us as we explore one of the most famous and cherished of Hitchcock's films: a genuine cult classic, and a queer one at that.

Both breezy and unexpectedly weird, "Stage Fright" features the famous "false flashback" sequence and takes us on a ride through post-war London. Jane Wyman stars as a naive young actress who spies on a diva (Marlene Dietrich at her juiciest) to clear her friend's name. We explore this underappreciated gem directed by Alfred Hitchcock with our special guest, Darragh O'Donoghue – an archivist at Tate and a contributing writer for "Cineaste".

"Under Capricorn" is a true oddity: an old-fashioned Gothic melodrama which experiments with long takes; a movie set in Australia but visibly shot in a studio; a financial failure that is claimed by some to be one of the master's greatest works. Join us as we explore the film with our special guest Andrei Gorzo - one of Romania's most brilliant film critics and scholars, and a professor at the University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest. His newest book, co-authored with Veronica Lazăr and titled "Beyond the New Romanian Cinema: Romanian Culture, History, and the Films of Radu Jude", will be released this year.

Hitchcock's singular achievement – his first film in color, his first independently produced Hollywood picture and a narrative composed exclusively of long takes – is also his boldest adventure with homosexual themes (which appear, as is obvious for 1948, in a coded form). “Rope” continues to be a fascinating, taut thriller with many secrets, unforgettable lines and an atmosphere of postwar nihilism. It also features James Stewart in what was his debut in a Hitchcock film. Join us as we explore “Rope” and ask ourselves if we would rather live in Brandon & Philip’s apartment or in the studio from “Rear Window”?

Alfred Hitchcock's last collaboration with David O. Selznick was not fondly remembered by the most important parties involved (Gregory Peck reportedly hated the film), but it is still a fascinating example of the power dynamics in classical Hollywood, embodying the tensions between the director and the producer. "The Paradine Case" was an absurdly expensive venture with a budget which rivaled that of Selznick's epic "Gone with the Wind". Will we defend this troubled production? Tune in to find out!

One of Hitchcock's finest and most beloved works, "Notorious" has a timeless appeal and is undoubtedly one of the best – and most disturbing – classical Hollywood movies ever made. Cary Grant, Claude Rains and an utterly brilliant Ingrid Bergman star in this mature Gothic noir about Americans spying on Nazis in Brazil. Professor Patrick Keating, author of "The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood", is joining us for the discussion of the film.

You may be surprised but our podcast is not always simply Alfred Hitchcock Appreciation Society. We shower "Spellbound" with a fair share of criticism but we also tell stories of our first encounter with the movie and its famous dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí. Hitch's bold venture into the secret world of Freudian psychoanalysis stars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. It also features a delirious score by Miklós Rózsa and is imbued with a mid-1940s zeitgeist: shades of noir, cryptic war traumas and empowered women all appear in this lavish David O. Selznick production. Join us as we explore this classic – and just a bit crazy! – Hitchcock thriller.

Rarely seen and underappreciated, the two French-language short films that Hitchcock made during World War II, "Bon Voyage" and "Aventure Malgache", are among his most interesting and exciting works of the 1940s. We are delighted to be able to discuss them with Professor Charles Barr, author of "English Hitchcock" and a monograph of "Vertigo" published by the British Film Institute. Join us as we explore Hitchcock's propaganda shorts with our eminent guest. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Alain Kerzoncuf, the co-author (with Charles Barr) of "Hitchcock Lost and Found: The Forgotten Films".

Hitchcock's most important cinematic contribution to the war effort and a considerable technical achievement, "Lifeboat" stars the inimitable Tallulah Bankhead who, along with a bunch of other characters, is left stranded in the middle of the ocean after the Nazi's attack on their ship. Based on a story by John Steinbeck, the film mixes propaganda with thrills, violence and surprising sexual subtexts. Join us as we explore this ambitious and politically charged Hitchcock classic.

Small-town America turns sinister in this unforgettable gem co-scripted by the esteemed playwright Thornton Wilder. The film stars Joseph Cotten as Uncle Charlie, one of the most complex Hitchcock villains, and Teresa Wright as his initially unsuspecting niece. Listen to the episode in which we take a closer look at "Shadow of a Doubt" and later on discuss the film with the fantastic Hitchcock scholar Philip J. Skerry, author of "Psycho in the Shower: The History of Cinema's Most Famous Scene" and "Dark Energy: Hitchcock's Absolute Camera and the Physics of Cinematic Spacetime".

Considered to be the first Hitchcock film which makes significant use of American landscapes and places, "Saboteur" is an exemplary wartime thriller: a slick piece of propaganda turned into a curious and not necessarily reassuring vision of American society. Join us as we explore this entertaining gem starring Norman Lloyd as the villain and featuring the famous finale at the Statue of Liberty.