aving already edited a pair of Englishwar documentaries (that were directed by others) in 1941, Hitchcockconsidered such work to be his patriotic duty, and he immediately acceptedthe offer.The plan called for Hitchcock to direct refugee French actors in twohalf-hour French language mini-movies designed to be shown in secretlocations in Nazi-held France. Hitchcock wanted to keep the films simple aspossible, achieving a dark, black-and-white “film noir” look which he felt thepeople of Occupied France could relate to. Walking in the dark shadows,telling secrets in dark corners, a very effective way to associate the film to itsviewers. Hitchcock chose to highlight in the story irony, surprises, moralambiguity, and the uncertainties of life. The joint venture of the British and the French Nationalist to try topromote these two films fell short by the simple fact that the GermanOccupied France was isolated by the Germans. Reaching out to the massesof the population of France was all but impossible with the Germanscontrolling the theaters and projectors. Conducting secret screenings of onlya select few people really didn’t have the same christening effect as wouldshowing the films to thousands. Gathering support in a occupied country wasa lost cause when the people are being fed German propaganda every day andseeing the appearance of their unsurpassable strength would be hard to overcome, especially after falling victim to it. Besides the fact that the films neverreached the masses they were intended for, Hitchcocks inability to resist histemptations to focus on ironies and ambiguities was for the majority the downfall of the two films. Propaganda, especially in a highly political wartime context, strives toglorify one system or ideology and assault the opposing views. In otherwords, propaganda needs to be clear, direct, and orthodox, with everyperception razor sharp and every moral issue purely black and white. Noam...
