Birds
There are countless images of birds in nearly all of Hitchcock's films. Some of the most prominent are listed below.
Psycho - The film begins in Phoenix, Arizona and a Phoenix is also a mythological bird. Marion's last name is "Crane." Norman practices taxidermy as a hobby and his favorites are birds. Norman describes Marion's eating behavior as "eats like a bird".
Vertigo - Gavin's last name is Elster, which is German for Magpie.
The Birds - The film's plot revolves around birds attacking Bodega Bay.
To Catch a Thief - Hitchcock's cameo is that of a man on a bus holding a bird cage with a bird inside it.
Sabotage - the front for the bomb maker is that of a bird seller and the instructions for the bomb are in the base of a bird cage.
Read more about this topic: Themes And Plot Devices In The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock
Famous quotes containing the word birds:
“Birds which are the same color as the foliage in which they nest are less likely to be disturbed by other birds who want to drop in and chat, and therefore last longer.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“...here he is, fully alive, and it is hard to picture him fully dead. Death is thirty-three hours away and here we are talking about the brain size of birds and bloodhounds and hunting in the woods. You can only attend to death for so long before the life force sucks you right in again.”
—Helen Prejean (b. 1940)
“These days of disinheritance, we feast
On human heads. True, birds rebuild
Old nests and there is blue in the woods.
The church bells clap one night in the week.
But that’s all done. It is what used to be....”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)