Alfred Hitchcock's Funniest Characters

When it comes to comedy, it may be too much to suggest that Alfred Hitchcock was the Danny McBride of his day-a guy in charge of putting a comic vision on the screen that is shockingly lacking in humor-but he most certainly made the correct choice is going with suspense over comedy as his genre of preference. That said, it cannot possibly be argued that no funny characters appear in Hitchcock's films. They just don't appear in Hitch's comedies.

Strangers on a Train

Without question, Robert Walker's Bruno in "Strangers on a Train" is Hitchcock's greatest comedic creation. That Bruno is also a psychopathic mama's boy killer only heightens the intensity of his humor. Of course, it goes without saying that 99.9% of Bruno's comedic attributes is a direct result of Walker's performance, but that Hitchcock didn't leave all that stuff on the cutting room floor so it counts. Bruno's syrupy delivery of a type of sincerity that can't possibly be authentic yet feels absolutely real lends "Strangers on a Train" a strong enough foundation of humor that it allows you to enjoy the film from the strange perspective of actually rooting for Bruno.

Shadow of a Doubt

"Shadow of a Doubt" is filled with humor and could well be Hitchcock's most laugh-filled film. It is certainly funnier than his outright comedies and, I think, more darkly humorous than "The Trouble with Harry." The younger sister of Charlie seems to catch onto the fact that Uncle Charlie ain't all he should be more quickly than sis and also reveals a greater sense of humor. Ann is never without a book in her hand and her delivery of lines lead to the suspicion that, in another time and another place, she would have grown up to be Daria.

Equally funny characters in "Shadow of a Doubt" are Ann and Charlie's father and his best friend who is played as a much older man by a much younger Hume Cronyn. These two guys spend the bulk of the movie engaged in illicit conversations about the best ways to commit murder. The darkness that pervades these comedic conversations works on at least three levels: they counterpoint the reality of having the serial killer Uncle Charlie in the house, they show that the average American family who inhabit this household reveals a much more sinister underbelly to the concept of average Americans and, perhaps most importantly, Cronyn's character becomes a test run for Norman Bates as it begins to dawn on you that his preoccupation with fictional murder is a substitute for his lack of courage to take out his domineering mother in real life.

North by Northwest

Cary Grant appears in a number of Alfred Hitchcock's films, but his brilliant comedic potential was never exploited. While almost gruesomely serious in other appearances, in "North by Northwest" Grant is finally given a small amount of leave to show his sense of humor. One can well imagine George Clooney taking over Grant's role in a remake as the character's comic sensibility is constructed upon that sense of self-effacement. Grant is allowed on occasion to express a mocking kind of ironic detachment that firmly places Roger Thornhill in second place behind Bruno Anthony as Hitchcock's funniest character.

For more from Timothy Sexton:

Why Alfred Hitchcock is Known as the Master of Suspense and Not the King of Comedy