MovieChat Forums > The Invaders (1967) Discussion > Hitchcock Influences on INVADERS

Hitchcock Influences on INVADERS



Having recently purchased both seasons on DVD, I've been rediscovering this great show. It had some of the best writing, before the CGI aliens took over.

What dawned on me was how many episodes took cues from Hitchcock.

In the episode NIGHTMARE, Kathleen Widdoes fearfully learns that her 'keepers', Robert Emhardt and Jeanette Nolan are trying to convince her she's going mad, and, as an added bonus, plan to off her. NOTORIOUS popped in mind. This episode also had moments reminiscent of THE BIRDS, with locust.

In SUMMIT MEETING PT.2, Vincent cooly swipes an alien's briefcase, similar to the scene from TOPAZ.

In THE INNOCENT, the aliens force liquor down Vincent's throat, then send him off on a runaway car; taken directly from Cary Grant's drunken ride in NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Also, when Vincent finds a regeneration station, and brings the police or other characters back there, everything is 'normal', alien equipment (proof) is now gone. Just as in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, again.

Many of the women, were cool blonde allies, that Vincent wasn't sure if he could trust. Sometimes they would end up being aliens, or were in collusion with them, and would betray Vincent. The 'cool blonde Hitchcock motif'

There's more, but I'm a bit beat now.

Can anyone else point out other 'Hitchcock' inspired moments?





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[deleted]

You make some very good points, but then, in the 1980s I spent one hell of a lot of time watching old HITCH movies, in more recent years THE INVADERS has been given more screening time with me. I have to admit: I never paired up HITCH and THE INVADERS.

In regards to the locust attack, only one thing entered my mind when that appeared: it looked like IRWIN ALLEN got a few ideas from it when making THE SWARM movie in 1978.

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Good observations with some specific examples. Unfortunately, I don't have any other specific examples to contribute.

The general premise of The Invaders, though, is a variant of Hitchcock's "innocent man drawn into into events beyond his control and must convince others" idea. Granted, David Vincent is not wrongly accused of a crime (not counting plot devices in certain episodes), but his trying to convince others of the Invaders' presence and intentions is a similar uphill battle.

Given the narrower range of films and television programs of the times, only a handful of channels and the major studios still producing the majority of films, it is not surprising to see an overt Hitchcockian influence--Hitchcock was a popular and influential filmmaker. A previous Quinn Martin production, The Fugitive, is a direct take on the Hitchcockian "innocent man unfairly wronged" trope, and The Invaders shares a number of ideas with The Fugitive.

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." -- Hunter S. Thompson

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There`s an episode where he`s running through a cornfield trying to escape.

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there were several big influences for Invaders - Hitchcock of course, but also Invaders from Mars and Invasion of Body Snatchers (in many ways Invaders is like the tv version of that movie the ideas expanded and built on..in a similar way to Star Trek basically being Forbidden Planet the tv show), and of course The Fugitive

and of course in turn The Invaders went on to heavily influence stuff like Incredible Hulk (actually more based on The Fugitive), and The XFiles

regarding specific Hitchcock movies ...maybe Vincent himself shared something of a James Stewart/Vertigo obsessive quality (and the similar style blonde hair) and the strange eerieness of that movie...perhaps the off the beaten track/out of townness of the Bates motel was seen in many of the episodes (and the general feel of unease/impending horror in that movie), also the various Invaders scores had something of a Hitchcock feel similar to various movies

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