Alfred Hitchcock & Stephen King

While Stephen King is a much more prolific writer than Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock collaborated with John Michael Hayes to write the scripts for some of his most successful films including Rear Window, To Catch A Thief and The Man Who Knew Too Much. In HitchcockÆs stories and scripts we are generally immersed in the life of an everyman, someone of daily life with whom we can relate. His stories and scripts also are filled with the stuff of everyday life. The screenplay for Rear Window and its characterizations readily illustrate this. In Rear Window we are privy to the voyeuristic, wheelchair-confined life of L. B. Jeffries (Jeff). In his review of the characterization, film critic Roger Ebert (2000) noted, ôThe hero is trapped in a wheelchair, and weÆre trapped too-trapped inside his point of view, inside his lack of freedom and his limited options.ö Such empathy with characterization builds tension in this story of a trapped

. . .
he evil aspects of human nature and lifeÆs experiences that enable Hitchcock and King to hold our attention, keep our suspense, and often frighten us powerfully. If HitchcockÆs works rely on suspense and building tension, KingÆs often hit us over the head like a sledgehammer with graphic depictions of violence and carnage. In Christine, KingÆs description of Buddy Repperton suffices as an example, ôBuddy Repperton was alive. He had been cut in several pieces by flying glassùone ear had been clipped off with surgical neatness, leaving a red hole on the left side of his headùand his leg had been broken, but he was alive.ö HitchcockÆs works are never as graphic, like the famous shower scene in Psycho; Hitchcock builds tension and frightens us on a deeper level by letting our imagination conjure up our own worst nightmares. Hitchcock uses richness of detail to reveal the psyche and persona of characters at the same time he uses it to make us relate to the environment being described. In Rear Window, Hitchcock reveals a great deal about Jeffries in just a few short paragraphs. As DeRosa (2001) reveals, ôIn a few brief passages, through details like the writing on JeffÆs cast, a shattered camera, a series of news photograph desc
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hitchcock King, Dolores Claiborne, Carrie Shining, Window Hitchcock, Claiborne Dolores, Roger Ebert, Frances Stevens, Rear Window, Shadows KingÆs, Buddy Repperton, rear window, hitchcock king, york ny, dolores claiborne, catch thief, alfred hitchcock, ny signet king, ny signet, screenplay usa, human nature, details everyday, york ny signet, rear window hitchcock, john michael hayes, details everyday life,
Approximate Word count = 2127
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Alfred Hitchcock & Stephen King