Friday, June 01, 2007

Where's Alfred?

Those of you with kids nearing adulthood may remember the Where's Waldo craze of a few years back -- I guess it was "Where's Wally?" in the U.K.

In some households, I'm sure, it was all an act: Dad would let the kids find Waldo first so they could feel successful.

Not in my house.

The kids always could find Waldo... and I couldn't.

You may not remember, however, that this game was played before the Waldo craze, in movie theaters around the world, every time an Alfred Hitchcock picture was shown: Hitchcock allegedly had a cameo appearance in each and every picture he made. Here's a site that will show you 37 such cameos (out of a total, apparently, of 41). Nobody, it seems, can find the remaining four.

Here's the only one I ever found on my own -- Hitchcock, with Cary Grant, early on in To Catch A Thief:

I may try and get the family to watch a Hitchcock movie with me over the weekend just so I can amaze them with my sudden ability to spot Alfred....

12 comments:

Jean-Luc Picard said...

I couldn't remember seeing him on 'Psycho'. I'll look there again, now I know where.

LAC said...

Hmm, not much his movies. The Birds scared me!

Have a great weekend!

The Curmudgeon said...

Actually, Star, "The Birds" scared me so badly as a kid that I can't watch it even today. And it soured me on Hitchcock, too... until I watched "To Catch a Thief" and "North by Northwest."

sari said...

I have a big ol' boxed set of Alfred movies...maybe that will be a summer project for me.

Hmmm...!

Anonymous said...

I was always hopeless at spotting Wally, my son was far better than me.
You must see Agatha Christie's "The Moustrap" if you ever visit London - you'll love it.
Have a good weekend.

Lahdeedah said...

My biggest accomplishment was, for the first time, actually spotting Stan Lee in a Spiderman movie... and there's only three of them, and the cameo's are blatant... but yes... I never found Waldo either.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

was there really a waldo? since i never found one i always thought it was a joke. i am so pathetic!

smiles, bee

Linda said...

It's been so long since I've seen a Hitchcock movie that I'm sure I'd never find him without the "cheats". And for it's worth, I could never find Waldo either!

Lynn said...

Um...would't that be cheating??? p.s. I can usually find Waldo...

Jean-Luc Picard said...

I have my 100th TWQ on now. Don't forget to bring your list of dinner guests.

Anonymous said...

I *loved* looking for Alfred in the movies...wasn't it fun?

Barb said...

One of my favorite movies is Rear Window and I've heard he's walking in the background with an umbrella, but I've never been able to spot him.