Hitchcock's final Frenzy

Frenzy (1972), dir. Alfred Hitchcock

I don't know if you know it, Babs, but you're my type of woman...

We track the killer and Babs, barmaid of The Globe pub on Bow Street, Covent Garden, as they walk through the fruit and veg market of the central square, following them the short distance to the killer's flat on Henrietta Street. Of course she doesn't know he's the killer, but we do. For the early part of Frenzy, we're led to believe that Bob Rusk is a fine upstanding citizen, well known and liked in the area. "Bob's Yer Uncle" to his old mate Richard Blaney, RAF veteran, Babs' sometime boyfriend, borderline alcoholic with a history of violence, and currently on the run accused of being the notorious Necktie Murderer. As we walk he offers a place to stay, offers to help her reclaim her possessions from her room at The Globe but most of all, help Blaney out of his predicament. She refuses to give Rusk any information on Blaney's whereabouts but accepts his offer of a place to stay, on account of the fact he will be away for the night. As the viewer we feel helpless. Implicit in the conversation but unable to speak, the shot's set up as if we're there with them, walking slightly ahead but as helpless as Babs will be shortly. As we arrive at Rusk's flat, we go ahead of them, but halfway up the stairs we allow them to pass. We know what is going to happen and we don't want to be a part of it. We have already seen in gratuitous detail what The Necktie Murderer is capable of and we don't need to see it again. As Rusk and Babs step through the doorway, we begin to back away. The hustle and bustle of Covent Garden grows as we step outside in the street but all we can hear are the last words Rusk says to Babs, the words we've heard before...

"You're my kind of woman"

"The Hitchcock touch came back" Patricia Hitchcock

Ill health had reduced much of Alfred Hitchcock's output in the sixties and it had been the best part of a decade since he'd had a major commercial and critical hit. Topaz (1969) represented an all time low for Hitch and the feeling, when shooting began in July 1971, was that his best days were behind him. Based on the 1966 novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern and adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer, Frenzy would be his first film since The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and only his third in total shot in England since he had moved to Hollywood in 1939. Whilst not his final film, it would be described by author Raymond Foery as "his last masterpiece". The film eschewed the big name stars of Hitchcock's greatest work like Grace Kelly, James Stewart and Cary Grant. Instead, perhaps due to it's relatively low budget of $2 million, it's cast was mainly made up of faces familiar to the British stage and TV screen. 

"You're Not Wearing Your Tie..."

As Ron Goodwin's majestic score to Frenzy fires up, we're treated to a long opening title sequence as Alfred Hitchcock gives us a tour of the River Thames. Obviously this is not the Thames of now with it's O2 Arena and London Eye, but a historical document in and of itself, black smoke billowing from dockyards before passing under Tower Bridge and arriving at County Hall on the South Bank (suitably, the home of the London Film Museum for many years). There, a politician is giving a speech to the gathering throng about cleaning up the river as, bloody typical, a naked body washes ashore. It transpires she is the latest victim of the so-called Necktie Murderer, a perverted individual later described as having "certain peculiarities".

Immediately, we cut to our chief suspect for the film, Richard Blaney (Jon Finch), getting dressed and you guessed it, putting on his tie. Here we have one of Hitchcock's favourite plot devices: the wrong man. Indeed for the first twenty minutes or so, we're not even sure ourselves. Here is an ex RAF serviceman with anger issues and seemingly a drink problem getting sacked for theft in almost his first scene. In contrast his friend and Mr Nice Guy, Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) is on first name terms with the local law enforcement. Soon, as the people closest to Blaney fall victim to the killer, the police begin to suspect him and he goes on the run. As the viewer though, we're very quickly in no doubt as to the identity of the killer as we're witnesses to one of the most harrowing scenes Hitchcock ever shot. It's his only X rated title and the only one to feature any nudity, but at no point is it titillating. We feel like we're voyeurs, there in the room with them, unable to put a stop to the horrific scenes before us. 

This is a Hitchcock film though, and where there's a Hitchcock there's some "comedy noir" to break up the tension. A scene in which the killer has to recover some evidence from the body of one of his victims on the back of a moving potato truck has you wondering whether you really should be laughing. However, the main light relief comes in the form of the Chief Inspector (Alec McCowen) in charge of the case, and his wife (Vivien Merchant) who is currently studying at the Continental School Of Gourmet Cooking. Their scenes together as he uses her as a sounding board for the case whilst she feeds him "soup du poisson" and pigs trotters provide a small amount of respite from the horrible crimes we have been witness to. The classic Hitchcock shot though is the aforementioned staircase scene. As brief as it is (aside for the feeling of dread in the build up), it's a masterful and elegant touch. Who else would have thought of that, when the obvious thing to do would be to go in and witness Babs' (Anna Massey) murder first hand? Especially when it contains a rather important plot point to have to refer back to later...

Frenzy might not top most people's lists of favourite Hitchcock films, but it is still better than most directors best efforts. The beauty of his films is that they get better with repeated viewings and despite competition from the likes of Dial M For Murder, Rear Window and The Man Who Knew Too Much, it has firmly implanted itself as one of my favourite of his films, if not of all time. 

8.5/10

Me outside Bob Rusk's flat at 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. December 2014.