High Anxiety
Encyclopedia
High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film
produced and directed by Mel Brooks
, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role (his first lead role was in Silent Movie
). Veteran Brooks ensemble
members Harvey Korman
, Cloris Leachman
and Madeline Kahn
are also featured.
The film is a parody
of suspense films, most obviously the films directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, Vertigo
in particular. The movie was dedicated to Hitchcock, who sent Brooks a bottle of wine to show his appreciation.
, "high anxiety
," in order to prove his innocence.
airport, where Thorndyke encounters several odd occurrences. He then leaves for the institute with his driver, Brophy. Upon his arrival, he is greeted by the staff, Dr. Montague, Dr. Wentworth and Nurse Diesel. When he goes to his room, a large rock is thrown through the window, with a message of welcome from the Violent Ward.
Thorndyke then hears strange noises coming from Nurse Diesel's room and when he and Brophy go to investigate, Diesel claims it was the TV. However, it was a passionate session of BDSM
with Dr. Montague. The next morning, he is alerted by a light shining through his window. It is coming from the violent ward.
Later, Nurse Diesel is talking with Dr. Wentworth. He wants to leave, but she won't let him. However, after some arguing, she says she'll let him go. When Wentworth is driving home that night, his radio blasts rock music
loudly and will not shut off. He is trapped in his car, and he dies from an ear hemorrhage.
After this, Thorndyke goes to the grand hotel
- the broad-atriumed
, vertigo-inducing Hyatt Regency San Francisco
, where much to his dismay he is relegated to a room on the top floor, due to a reservation mix-up. He pesters the bellboy with repeated requests about getting a newspaper
, wanting to look in the obituary
for information concerning Dr. Wentworth's demise. He then takes a shower, during which the bellboy comes and in a frenzy mimics stabbing Thorndyke with the paper while screaming "Here's your paper! Happy now?! Happy?" The paper's ink runs down the drain, a reference to Psycho.
After his shower, a woman bursts through the door; she is Victoria Brisbane, the daughter of Arthur Brisbane. She wants help regarding her father. He agrees to the terms, but then finds out Nurse Diesel's plot. The patient is not the real Arthur Brisbane.
To stop Thorndyke, Diesel and Montague hire a killer, "Braces", to impersonate Thorndyke and shoot a man in the lobby. Now with the police after him, he must prove his innocence. He contacts Brophy, and realizes Brophy took a picture of the shooting. The real Thorndyke was in the elevator at the time, so he should be in the picture.
He orders Brophy to enlarge the picture. When he goes to call, "Braces" tries to strangle him; however, Thorndyke is able to kill him. Brophy enlarges the photo, and Thorndyke is indeed visible in the picture. Nurse Diesel and Montague capture Brophy and take him to the North Wing. They also take the real Arthur Brisbane to a tower to kill him.
As Thorndyke runs up the tower to save him and Brisbane, Nurse Diesel leaps out from the shadows in a witches costume with a broom, and falls out the tower window. Thinking she really is a witch, she tries to act like she's flying, ending in her crashing into the rocks below, thus killing her.
Dr. Montague appears from the shadows and gives up before being hit in the head by the lighthouse trap door by Brophy. Victoria is reunited with her father and gets married to Thorndyke who go off on Honeymoon.
This film's plot device of a wrongly accused man was one that Hitchcock used throughout his career, in such films as The Thirty-Nine Steps, Saboteur
, To Catch a Thief
, North by Northwest, Frenzy, The Wrong Man, Dial M for Murder (wrongly accused woman) and Spellbound.
The character of Arthur Brisbane, not seen until the climax, is played by special effects matte artist Albert Whitlock, who painted the mattes for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and many other films.
Montague uses the alias of "Mr. McGuffin" to switch Thorndyke's room at the hotel from the 2nd to the 17th. A MacGuffin
is a plot device
that advances the story but has little other significance. The term was popularized by Hitchcock.
.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
produced and directed by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role (his first lead role was in Silent Movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
). Veteran Brooks ensemble
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
members Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
, Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
and Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.-Early life:...
are also featured.
The film is a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of suspense films, most obviously the films directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
in particular. The movie was dedicated to Hitchcock, who sent Brooks a bottle of wine to show his appreciation.
Synopsis
Brooks' character, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, arrives as new administrator of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous to discover some suspicious happenings. When he's framed for murder, Dr. Thorndyke must confront his own anxiety disorderAnxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety. Conditions now considered anxiety disorders only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the end of the 19th century. Gelder, Mayou & Geddes explains that anxiety disorders are...
, "high anxiety
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
," in order to prove his innocence.
Plot
The story begins at Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
airport, where Thorndyke encounters several odd occurrences. He then leaves for the institute with his driver, Brophy. Upon his arrival, he is greeted by the staff, Dr. Montague, Dr. Wentworth and Nurse Diesel. When he goes to his room, a large rock is thrown through the window, with a message of welcome from the Violent Ward.
Thorndyke then hears strange noises coming from Nurse Diesel's room and when he and Brophy go to investigate, Diesel claims it was the TV. However, it was a passionate session of BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
with Dr. Montague. The next morning, he is alerted by a light shining through his window. It is coming from the violent ward.
Later, Nurse Diesel is talking with Dr. Wentworth. He wants to leave, but she won't let him. However, after some arguing, she says she'll let him go. When Wentworth is driving home that night, his radio blasts rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
loudly and will not shut off. He is trapped in his car, and he dies from an ear hemorrhage.
After this, Thorndyke goes to the grand hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
- the broad-atriumed
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
, vertigo-inducing Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Hyatt Regency San Francisco is a hotel located at the foot of Market Street and The Embarcadero in the financial district of San Francisco, California...
, where much to his dismay he is relegated to a room on the top floor, due to a reservation mix-up. He pesters the bellboy with repeated requests about getting a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, wanting to look in the obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
for information concerning Dr. Wentworth's demise. He then takes a shower, during which the bellboy comes and in a frenzy mimics stabbing Thorndyke with the paper while screaming "Here's your paper! Happy now?! Happy?" The paper's ink runs down the drain, a reference to Psycho.
After his shower, a woman bursts through the door; she is Victoria Brisbane, the daughter of Arthur Brisbane. She wants help regarding her father. He agrees to the terms, but then finds out Nurse Diesel's plot. The patient is not the real Arthur Brisbane.
To stop Thorndyke, Diesel and Montague hire a killer, "Braces", to impersonate Thorndyke and shoot a man in the lobby. Now with the police after him, he must prove his innocence. He contacts Brophy, and realizes Brophy took a picture of the shooting. The real Thorndyke was in the elevator at the time, so he should be in the picture.
He orders Brophy to enlarge the picture. When he goes to call, "Braces" tries to strangle him; however, Thorndyke is able to kill him. Brophy enlarges the photo, and Thorndyke is indeed visible in the picture. Nurse Diesel and Montague capture Brophy and take him to the North Wing. They also take the real Arthur Brisbane to a tower to kill him.
As Thorndyke runs up the tower to save him and Brisbane, Nurse Diesel leaps out from the shadows in a witches costume with a broom, and falls out the tower window. Thinking she really is a witch, she tries to act like she's flying, ending in her crashing into the rocks below, thus killing her.
Dr. Montague appears from the shadows and gives up before being hit in the head by the lighthouse trap door by Brophy. Victoria is reunited with her father and gets married to Thorndyke who go off on Honeymoon.
Characters
- Dr. Richard H Thorndyke (Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
): The new head administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He suffers from high anxiety and is trying to find out more about the shady dealings going on inside the Institute. - Victoria Brisbane (Madeline KahnMadeline KahnMadeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.-Early life:...
): Victoria is the concerned daughter of Arthur Brisbane, an industrialist who was admitted to the Institute months ago for a nervous breakdown. She starts a relationship with Dr. Thorndyke at the end. She is often referred to as "The Cocker's Daughter". - Brophy (Ron CareyRon Carey (actor)Ron Carey was an American film and television actor. The 5-foot 4-inch actor was best known for playing cocky Officer Carl Levitt on TV's Barney Miller, in which he was almost always surrounded by male actors who stood at least 4" taller...
): Brophy is Dr. Thorndyke's sidekick. He works as his chauffeur and is a bit of shutterbug. He also has trouble lifting very large objects. - Nurse Diesel (Cloris LeachmanCloris LeachmanCloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
): Nurse Diesel is the controlling and domineering nurse of the Institute, but is quite a psychopath herself. She is in a BDSMBDSMBDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
relationship with Dr. Montague, and is the puppet master behind the scenes. - Dr. Montague (Harvey KormanHarvey KormanHarvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
): Charles Montague was set to take over the Institute before Dr. Thorndyke arrived, and has trouble hiding his jealousy. He is in a BDSMBDSMBDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
relationship with Nurse Diesel, who treats him like a dog. - Professor Lilloman (Howard MorrisHoward MorrisHoward Morris was an American comic actor and director who was best known for his role as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.- Life and career :...
): Often called Professor "Little Old Man", Lilloman was Dr. Thorndyke's teacher from school and currently works as a consultant at the Institute. He has the unfortunate tendency to appear dead while asleep, a quirk that "scares the hell out of everyone." He is helping Dr. Thorndyke with his high anxiety. - Arthur Brisbane (Albert WhitlockAlbert WhitlockAlbert J. Whitlock was a British-born motion picture matte artist best known for his work with Disney and Universal Studios.-Life and career:...
): A very rich industrialist and Victoria's father. He was admitted to the Institute nearly a year ago, yet Nurse Diesel and Dr. Montague have been keeping him there because of how much money Victoria is paying them. Currently, they replaced him with a man who thinks that he's a dog. Because he was replaced by a man who thought he was a dog, other characters have called his daughter Victoria "The Cocker's Daughter". - Braces (Rudy De LucaRudy De LucaRudy De Luca is an American screenwriter and actor best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks.-As Writer:*The Carol Burnett Show *The Tim Conway Show *The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine...
): The man with the braces was hired to frame Thorndyke and later to kill him. He killed Dr. Ashley and Dr. Wentworth. He has a great love of killing and lets people know it. - Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van PattenDick Van PattenRichard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...
): Wentworth knew about what was happening at the Institute, and this weighed down on his conscience so much he left, but Nursel Diesel worried that he might talk to police, so she had Braces kill him. Braces rigged his car radio to play a very loud and annoying song that wouldn't shut off, and the strain it caused on Dr. Wentworth's body trying to make it stop caused a cerebral hemorrhage. - Dennis (Barry LevinsonBarry LevinsonBarry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
): A rather aggressive bellhop who was constantly reminded to get Dr. Thorndyke his newspaper to the point of him attacking the doctor in the shower with the aforementioned paper. - Dr. Ashley : Dr. Thorndyke's predecessor at the Institute was killed before he had a chance to make some "big changes". He is referenced throughout the film but is never actually seen, having died of a heart failure - caused somehow by Braces - before the beginning of the film.
- Three of the film's writers appear in comical supporting roles: Ron ClarkRon Clark (writer)Ron Clark is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for several plays that he co-wrote with Sam Bobrick and for co-writing the screenplays for the films Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Life Stinks with Mel Brooks.-Career:...
as the (non)deranged patient Zachary Cartwright, Rudy De LucaRudy De LucaRudy De Luca is an American screenwriter and actor best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks.-As Writer:*The Carol Burnett Show *The Tim Conway Show *The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine...
as the killer "Braces," and Rain ManRain ManRain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
-director Barry LevinsonBarry LevinsonBarry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
as the tightly-wound bellhop, "Dennis."
Hitchcock films
- SpellboundSpellbound (1945 film)Spellbound is a psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1945. It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll. It is an adaptation by Angus...
— Hitchcock's film about an insane asylum, the basic source of the plot. The joke in which the main characters find Professor Lilloman apparently dead in a chair, only to have him awake, is a take on a similar situation in Spellbound. The soundtrack's use of Theremin is also a "Spellbound" reference. - VertigoVertigo (film)Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
— same San Francisco BaySan Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
setting at the base of the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
, same bell tower location, similar movie poster graphics, and gives the main character his condition, Victoria Brisbane wears a gray suit similar to the one Madeleine Elster, Kim Novak's character in the film, wears. Note that this film was withdrawn from public release between 1973 and 1983 so when High Anxiety was released, many in the audience were unfamiliar with Vertigo. - Psycho — shot-by-shot parody of the famous shower scene; the closing shot - a zoom out from a hotel room - is a reverse of Psychos opening shot; also the suspenseful soundtrack is similar. The bellhop's screams of "Here! Here! Here!" mimic the screeching violins of Hitchcock's shower-murder scene. The scene shows the newspaper ink running down the drain with Thorndyke looking dead but suddenly saying "That kid gets no tip."
- The BirdsThe Birds (film)The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
— also partially set in San Francisco, the jungle-gym scene is parodied. Spinach dip was flung at Mel Brooks, as the pigeons could not be made to defecate on command. - North by NorthwestNorth by NorthwestNorth by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
— main character's name is a satire of Roger O. Thornhill, but unlike Thorndyke (whose middle name is Harpo), Thornhill states he has no middle name; at one point Thorndyke tells Victoria to meet him in the North by Northwest corner of a park. The murder in the hotel lobby, where the killer places the murder weapon in Thorndyke's hand, is similar to the murder at the UN where Thornhill is framed. The nighttime scene in which Wentworth is driving away from the institute is also a parody of Thornhill's drunk-drive in North by Northwest. - The Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Man Who Knew Too Much may refer to:* The Man Who Knew Too Much , a film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Leslie Banks and Edna Best* The Man Who Knew Too Much , a film by Alfred Hitchcock starring James Stewart and Doris Day...
. - Torn CurtainTorn CurtainTorn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...
— The Professor Lilloman is similar to Professor Gustav Lindt, the German scientist. - Shadow of a DoubtShadow of a DoubtShadow of a Doubt is a 1943 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell...
— Dancing near end of film recalls the Merry Widow Waltz. - The RingThe Ring (1927 film)The Ring is a British silent, black-and-white film directed and written by Alfred Hitchcock.-Production background:The story focused on a love triangle between two men and a woman, and is the only film in his career for which Hitchcock took or was given a full writing credit...
— In fighting for his high anxiety under hypnosis Thorndyke and Lilloman engage in a boxing fight. - The Thirty-Nine StepsThe Thirty-nine StepsThe Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
— When Victoria comes in the hotel room, she asks to move from the door and window, and close the drapes; She then kisses him when someone comes in, similar to the train situation. - SuspicionSuspicion (film)Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
— Prior to Wentworth's death the lattice work of the window throws a shadow like a spider's web behind him. - Notorious.
- Under CapricornUnder CapricornUnder Capricorn is an Alfred Hitchcock historical feature film.-Production:The film is based on the novel Under Capricorn by Helen Simpson, with screenplay by James Bridie, and adaptation by Hume Cronyn. The movie was co-produced by Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein for their short-lived production...
. - Dial M for MurderDial M for MurderDial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
— the struggle in the phone booth is similar to the struggle Grace KellyGrace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
has in "Dial M": She is nearly strangled and all the opposite end can hear are the fighting noises. Also, the character causing the struggle gets stabbed in both cases through the back (or in the back). The pictures on the wall of Professor Lilloman's office are another allusion. - The Wrong ManThe Wrong ManThe Wrong Man is a 1956 film by Alfred Hitchcock which stars Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. The film is based on a true story of an innocent man charged for a crime he did not commit...
- the part where Braces makes a negative of Thorndyke that kills a guy. - FrenzyFrenzyFrenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
— Thorndyke hides in the park and calls from the payphone. - Family PlotFamily PlotFamily Plot is a 1976 American dark comedy/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his fifty-third and final film. It stars Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane, and Karen Black....
— Car sabotage by radio being played too loud. - Rebecca — Stern countenanced Nurse Diesel in long black dress is reminiscent of Rebeccas Mrs. Danvers.
- The Lodger: A Story of the London FogThe Lodger: A Story of the London FogThe Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a silent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1926 and released on 14 February 1927 in London and on 10 June 1928 in New York City. The film, based on a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes and a play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes, concerns the hunt for a...
— A scene with Nurse Diesel and Montague where the camera is below a glass table, and they keep putting tea items down on the table in the camera's way parodies the glass floor/ceiling technique Hitchcock used to show Novello's "Lodger" pacing back and forth.
This film's plot device of a wrongly accused man was one that Hitchcock used throughout his career, in such films as The Thirty-Nine Steps, Saboteur
Saboteur (film)
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
, To Catch a Thief
To Catch a Thief (film)
To Catch a Thief is a 1955 romantic thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams. The movie is set on the French Riviera, and was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by David Dodge...
, North by Northwest, Frenzy, The Wrong Man, Dial M for Murder (wrongly accused woman) and Spellbound.
The character of Arthur Brisbane, not seen until the climax, is played by special effects matte artist Albert Whitlock, who painted the mattes for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and many other films.
Montague uses the alias of "Mr. McGuffin" to switch Thorndyke's room at the hotel from the 2nd to the 17th. A MacGuffin
MacGuffin
A MacGuffin is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction". The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is...
is a plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
that advances the story but has little other significance. The term was popularized by Hitchcock.
Other films
- BlowupBlowupBlowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
— Brophy's multiple enlargements of the crime scene photograph spoof the repeated enlargements produced by David HemmingsDavid HemmingsDavid Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
' character in Antonioni'sMichelangelo AntonioniMichelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
film. - The CobwebThe Cobweb (film)The Cobweb is a MGM film. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and based on a novel by William Gibson. It was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection on January 18, 2011....
— setting, references to changing the drapes. - Duel — Shortly before his death, Wentworth is overtaken by a large freighter truck in a manner similar to David Mann's first encounter with the tanker in Spielberg'sSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
film. - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
— Nurse Diesel's name and bosom are in reference to Nurse Ratched. - The Pink PantherThe Pink Panther (1963 film)The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine, and Claudia Cardinale...
— The character of Norton resembles both Peter SellersPeter SellersRichard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
(his non-moustacheMoustacheA moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...
side) and the Sellers-played character Inspector Jacques Clouseau (his moustache side). - The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
— when Nurse Diesel falls to her death she is holding a broom and cackles like the Wicked Witch of the WestWicked Witch of the WestThe Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. - The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me (film)The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
— the character of Braces - who is a parody of the character Jaws from this film. - High Society — the title of the last film appearance by Grace KellyGrace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, one of Hitchcock's favorite actresses. - Citizen KaneCitizen KaneCitizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
— camera tracks through window - breaking it so that the actors turn around to see what's caused the commotion, rather than silently entering the room.
Reception
High Anxiety was well received by the majority of critics and currently holds a 74% "Fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.