Hitchcock's British and American Audiences

[Doppelganger]

For a paper I have decided to study the differences in The 39 Steps and North By Northwest as they relate to British and American audiences. I remember seeing them before, and having just watched them back to back, their similarity to me is striking. I think that using these two to analyze the two audiences will give me solid arguments to use.

My questions are:

-What are your opinions on the differences between the two audiences, and how Hitchcock was able to target to each specifically?

I've read N by NW is Hitch's "American 39 Steps" so I think I'm on the right trail.

Being a research paper, I have to use published works and documents to obtain my information. If anyone has read or heard of any books or articles on the subject it would help me out.

DVXuser has been a wealth of information for me and I would like to hear some of your comments in order to broaden my knowledge and bring some new ideas to the table. :bath:

 

[mjmcneese]

I don't wanna do your homework for you, but these are two of my most fav movies, so I gotta chime in...

IMHO (and it's been a year or so since I've seen either of these movies), the Brits can put up with a slightly slower storyline, which in the 39S allowed Hitch to have deeper character development. NxNW is a movie you watch to see what happens to the characters next. 39S is more of a movie where you are watching to see what the characters are going to do next.

Your challenge is going to be to try to ignore that NxNW is on the verge of feeling like a modern movie...more modern techniques were used in producing it. And then, does that have anything to do with the differences?

 

[Batutta]

The last time I watched North by Northwest i realized it is the original James Bond film. Most of the elements that made Bond a success -- the suave, elegant hero...the beautiful, duplicitous heroine...witty repartee...huge set piece action -- it's all there in this movie. Keep that in mind next time you watch it.