Bates Motel: a universal symbol of terror
We review some of the films in which Hitchcock forced his protagonists to check-in and then play with them.
1) PSYCHOSIS **(1960) **
The Englishman managed to turn a shower in a roadside hotel into a nightmare. Holding on to a shower curtain has never been the same after watching Psycho. Fortunately (or unfortunately for fetishists) the bates motel never existed . The film was shot at Universal's Revue Studios in Hollywood and what remains of the set can be seen on the studio tour. And as in any hotel, even in the most disturbing, the views matter. From the motel where Anthony Perkins was up to his old tricks, you could see the family home. Yes, that building inspired by Hopper's painting The House by the Railroad, which is, since then, is one of the universal symbols of terror and madness.
Bates Motel: no showers
**2) VERTIGO (1958) **
Hitchcock's great love story (and obsession) has inspired his own hotel. It's called Hotel Vertigo and it's on Nob Hill. , the same neighborhood where the story in which James Stewart and Kim Novack (and her bows) gave us goosebumps was filmed. This hotel literally plays with the idea of balance and lack of . Its rooms cause, just, vertigo. The Vertigo is a modern hotel, aimed at people who are willing to live between crooked walls. Due to its location, it is a good operations center to do a Hichcockian route through San Francisco.
There is no trace of the hotel where Kim/Madeleine checked in. In the film it was called the McKittrick Hotel and it was a Victorian mansion that was vacant during filming and was chosen by Sir Alfred. It was also demolished. Another fact for hotelocinephiles (invented term): Hitchcock was staying at the Fairmont during filming. He never had bad taste the good sir.
Hotel Vertigo and lack of balance
**3) WITH DEATH AT YOUR HEELS (1959) **.
Has anyone really walked into the Plaza in New York to remember the opening sequence of this movie? I do. The action fires up at the hotel bar, the Oak Room, a classic for Manhattan's elite. And what action. East snazzy place was a good fit for Cary Grant , who even lived in a hotel apartment during filming. More comfortable impossible. Very Cary Grant, on the other hand.
Cary Grant and the Plaza: both very elegant
**THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)**
Hitchcock made two versions of this film. The second placed it in Marrakech. An American doctor (James Stewart) was traveling there with his wife Doris Day: ("Que Sera, Sera-Whatever Will Be, Will Be") and his son. The family stayed at La Mamounia, which already had that palatial and mysterious air that it retains today, although the reform by decorator Jacques García has made it an even more magical place, if possible. legend says that Hitchcock came up with the idea for The Birds while staying there , because he opened the windows and the pigeons came. We like legends.
The filming took Hitchcock to hotels around the world, from the Alex Johnson (Dakota), which he took out in With Death on His Heels, through the Pera Palace (Istanbul) or the Moskva (Belgrade). All unpredictable.
In addition to all of them, there is, as an absolute rarity, a hotel called Sir Alfred Hitchcock in London . We do not know the reasons because there is no link between him, the author or the films. It is not central nor does it look like the most attractive hotel in the city. Yes indeed: has a certain air of suspense . I wouldn't want to sleep there on a winter night. And less take a shower.
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