Hitchcock's secret cameo in North By Northwest

The reason that Hitch got his cameos over in early scenes further into his film career was this: He made his first cameo in an early movie as he needed an extra body in a scene. Viewers thought he was doing it purposely, as a little "bonus." As he made more movies, filmgoers would be anxious to see his cameo, and Hitch felt that it distracted from the film, so he got it over with earlier in later films. He also got more clever, such as inserting himself in Lifeboat in a newspaper ad, as he couldn't put himself in the boat.

 

We.... err.... had an incident a few years ago and apparently it's impossible to disguise one's hands.

Look at that woman's hands. It's looks like a man's hand to me.

 

Here's a list of his cameos:

Family Plot
In silhouette through the door of the Registrar of
Births and Deaths, 41 minutes into the movie.

Frenzy
In the center of a crowd, wearing a bowler hat, three
minutes into the film; he is the only one not applauding the speaker.

Topaz
Being pushed in a wheelchair in an airport, half an hour in.
Hitchcock gets up from the chair, shakes hands with a man, and walks off to the right.

Torn Curtain
Early in the film, sitting in the Hotel d'Angleterre
lobby with a blond baby.

Marnie
Entering from the left of the hotel corridor after Tippi
Hedren passes by, five minutes in.

The Birds
Leaving the pet shop with two white terriers as Tippi
Hedren enters.

Psycho
Four minutes in, through Janet Leigh's window as she returns
to her office. He is wearing a cowboy hat.

North By Northwest
Missing a bus during the opening credits.

Vertigo
In a gray suit walking in the street, eleven minutes in.

The Wrong Man
Narrating the film's prologue.

The Man Who Knew Too Much
Watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace (his back to the
camera) just before the murder.

The Trouble With Harry
Walking past the parked limousine of an old man who is looking
at paintings, twenty minutes into the film.

To Catch A Thief
Ten minutes in, sitting to the left of Cary Grant
on a bus.

Rear Window
Winding the clock in the songwriter's apartment, a half
hour into the movie.

Dial M for Murder
On the left side of the class-reunion photo,
thirteen minutes into the film.

I Confess
Crossing the top of a staircase after the opening credits.

Strangers on A Train
Boarding a train with a double bass fiddle as
Farley Granger gets off in his hometown, early in the film.

Stage Fright
Turning to look at Jane Wyman in her disguise as
Marlene Dietrich's maid.

Under Capricorn
In the town square during a parade, wearing a blue
coat and brown hat, in the first five minutes. Ten minutes later, he is one of three men on the steps of Government House.

Rope
His trademark can be seen briefly on a neon sign in the view from the apartment window, approximately 55 minutes into the movie.

The Paradine Case
Leaving the train and Cumberland Station,
carrying a cello.

Notorious
At a big party in Claude Rains's mansion, drinking
champagne and then quickly departing, an hour after the film begins.

Spellbound
Coming out of an elevator at the Empire Hotel,
carrying a violin case and smoking a cigarette, 40 minutes in.

Lifeboat
In the "before" and "after" pictures in the newspaper ad for Reduco Obesity Slayer.

Shadow of A Doubt
On the train to Santa Rosa, playing cards.

Saboteur
Standing in front of Cut Rate Drugs in New York as the
saboteur's car stops, an hour in.

Suspicion
Mailing a letter at the village postbox about 45 minutes in.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Midway through, passing Robert Montgomery in front of his building.

Foreign Correspondent
Early in the movie, after Joel McCrea leaves his hotel, wearing a coat and hat and reading a newspaper.

Rebecca
Walking near the phone booth in the final part of the film
just after George Sanders makes a call.

The Lady Vanishes
Very near the end of the movie, in Victoria
Station, wearing a black coat and smoking a cigarette.

Young and Innocent
Outside the courthouse, holding a camera.

The 39 Steps
Tossing some litter while Robert Donat and Lucie
Mannheim run from the theater, seven minutes into the movie.

Murder
Walking past the house where the murder was committed, about an hour into the movie.

Blackmail
Being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book in
the subway.

Easy Virtue
Walking past a tennis court, carrying a walking stick.

The Lodger
At a desk in a newsroom and later in the crowd watching an arrest.

 

I saw that 3-D "tour" too. Very cool. I also saw the re-release premiere of Vertigo at a cool Art Deco theatre in the Castro district of San Francisco a few decades back. A large part of that movie was shot there, and when a line about "having a gay time" was delivered, the audience erupted in cheers.

 

sounds like a Hitchcock film (or more like a series episode) in itself!

 

Have you heard the story filming NBN with the little kid and the gun going off? Funny....