In 1962, while shootÂing The Birds, Alfred HitchÂcock gets a phone call. Or rather, he’s informed of a phone call, but when he makes his way off set he finds not a call but a real live caller, and a thorÂoughÂly unexÂpectÂed one at that: himÂself, eighÂteen years oldÂer. Beneath this encounter — in a room the LonÂdon-born, Los AngeÂles-resÂiÂdent HitchÂcock recÂogÂnizes as a hybrid of Chasen’s and ClarÂidge’s — runs a curÂrent of exisÂtenÂtial tenÂsion. This owes not just to the imagÂinÂable reaÂsons, but also to the fact that both HitchÂcocks have heard the same aphoÂrism: “If you meet your douÂble, you should kill him.”
So goes the plot of Johan GriÂmonÂprez’s DouÂble Take, or at least that of its ficÂtionÂal scenes. Though feaÂture-length, DouÂble Take would be more accuÂrateÂly conÂsidÂered an “essay film” in the traÂdiÂtion of Orson Welles’ truth-and-falÂsiÂty-mixÂing F for Fake. As Every Frame a PaintÂing’s Tony Zhou reveals, Welles’ picÂture offers a masÂter class in its own form, illusÂtratÂing the variÂety of ways cinÂeÂmatÂic cuts can conÂnect not just events but thoughts, even as it expertÂly shifts between its parÂalÂlel (and at first, seemÂingÂly unreÂlatÂed) narÂraÂtives. DouÂble Take, too, has more than one stoÂry to tell: while HitchÂcock and his dopÂpelÂgänger drink tea and cofÂfee, the Cold War reachÂes its zenith with the Cuban MisÂsile CriÂsis.
We call HitchÂcock “the masÂter of susÂpense,” but revisÂitÂing his filÂmogÂraÂphy exposÂes his comÂmand of a more basic emoÂtion: fear. It was fear, in DouÂble Take’s conÂcepÂtion of hisÂtoÂry, that became comÂmodiÂtized on an enorÂmous scale in Cold War AmerÂiÂca: fear of the ComÂmuÂnist threat, of course, but also less overtÂly ideÂoÂlogÂiÂcal variÂeties. HolÂlyÂwood capÂiÂtalÂized on all of them with the aid of talÂents like HitchÂcockÂ’s and techÂnolÂoÂgy like the teleÂviÂsion, whose rise coinÂcidÂed with the embitÂterÂing of U.S.-Soviet relaÂtions. Even for a man of cinÂeÂma forged in the silent era, the opporÂtuÂniÂty of a TV series could hardÂly be rejectÂed — espeÂcialÂly if it allowed him to poke fun at the comÂmerÂcial breaks forÂevÂer quashÂing his sigÂnaÂture susÂpense.
Alfred HitchÂcock Presents, its nameÂsake announced upon its preÂmiere, would comÂmence “bringÂing murÂder into the AmerÂiÂcan home, where it has always belonged.” But along with the murÂder, it smugÂgled in the work of writÂers like Ray BradÂbury, John CheevÂer, and RebecÂca West. DouÂble Take also comes inspired by litÂerÂaÂture: “The OthÂer” and “August 25th, 1983,” Jorge Luis Borges’ tales of meetÂing his own douÂble from anothÂer time. Its script was writÂten by Tom McCarthy, whose RemainÂder appears with Borges’ work on the flowÂchart of philoÂsophÂiÂcal novÂels preÂviÂousÂly feaÂtured here on Open CulÂture. HowÂevÂer many difÂferÂent HitchÂcocks it shows us, we know there will nevÂer truÂly be anothÂer — just as well as we know that we still, in our undiÂminÂished desire to be enterÂtained by our own fears, live in HitchÂcockÂ’s world.
DouÂble Take will be added to our colÂlecÂtion, 4,000+ Free Movies Online: Great ClasÂsics, Indies, Noir, WestÂerns, DocÂuÂmenÂtaries & More
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Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
ExtraÂorÂdiÂnary introÂducÂtion to films of XXth cenÂtuÂry.