The Guardian (30/Jul/2004) - The ones that got away: Alfred Hitchcock's Kaleidoscope
(c) The Guardian (30/Jul/2004)
- http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1271608,00.html
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Kaleidoscope, Marnie (1964), Psycho (1960), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Torn Curtain (1966)
The ones that got away
Alfred Hitchcock's Kaleidoscope
In the mid-1960s, with his career at a low ebb following the critical failure of "Marnie" and an ambivalent response to "Torn Curtain", Alfred Hitchcock worked on a groundbreaking experimental film that would have represented a radical change in his style-possibly heralding a new late phase of cinematic creativity.
"Kaleidoscope" was the story of a serial rapist and killer. It was initially envisaged as a kind of prelude to Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt". There would be several murders, including an attempt on the life of a decoy policewoman - an idea that particularly excited Hitchcock - and a "Psycho"-style stabbing. And the director intended to use story details from infamous UK criminal cases (including an acid bath murderer and a necrophile).
This could have been Hitchcock's darkest film. Indeed, Hitchcock himself worried that some scenes might be too frightening for the audience. In a bold move, he wanted to tell the entire story from the perspective of the killer, envisaged as an attractive, vulnerable young man (Hitchcock later decided that the character would be gay). More radically, he planned to experiment with innovative filming techniques such as hand-held filming and natural light.
Unfortunately, MCA studios turned the film down as they apparently thought that the protagonist was too "ugly", a decision that rankled with Hitchcock for the rest of his life. All that remains now of his experiment is an hour-long tape of silent footage - and the tantalising prospect of a new wave of Hitchcock films in a new vérité style, influenced by the European avant garde, to whom he had become a deity.
