Continuing this week’s Leopold and Loeb theme, here’s a clip of Alfred Hitchcock on The Dick Cavett Show’ discussing, among other things, the long-take method of the movie that I described in yesterday’s post. Far from the forbidding figure we sometimes think of him as, Hitch is amusing, droll and comes across as an enjoyable dinner companion–assuming the subject under discussion is himself. Somehow it’s hard to imagine him asking you questions about your life, work, hobbies etc. though one’s thoughts on wine–a favorite subject of his–might in fact have been welcomed.  His responses to Cavett’s questions are canned–Hitch told anecdotes pretty much the same way time and time again–but his delivery and the twinkle in his eye when a joke lands is what charms the audience he’s playing too. I was surprised to learn that the New York skyline as seen through the large, curved window in the ‘Rope’ apartment set was a miniature backdrop, not a backlit painted screen. And though the electrician story is amusing it may also be a bit of Hitch blarney…he was clearly more interested in telling a good tale than telling a truthful one, which is of course the modus operandi of his work.