[Blarg]

Hitchcock has always been one of my very favorites, and though this is not one of my favorites of his films, he does any number of things superlatively well here, including a long descending spiral shot that was a virtuoso bit of storytelling all in itself and will probably be as forever identified with him as the swooning effects of his brilliant shots in Vertigo, but probably never bettered. The perfectly captured queasy aftermath of a night of drinking in the film's beginning is another personal favorite bit. There is a great sense of tension in many of the scenes here, of people concealing things and always on the brink of discovery and catastrophic consequences. This makes for a lot of great moments. And Claude Rains is gold everywhere I've been lucky enough to see him.

This is a big favorite among many Hitchcock fans, though I think it's outshone by many of his others. But you definitely see an astonishing mastery in this film that can make you almost giddy with glee at its perfection sometimes. Even if you wind up not being the greatest fan of the movie, it's hard not to be a great fan of Hitchcock after seeing this flick.