Hitchcock's MacGuffins

Hitchcock's MacGuffins

Part 2


Hitchcock's MacGuffins
WARNING: There are lots of spoilers here
Part 1 | Part 2
Film Title
(chronological order)
Identification of MacGuffin(s)
Screenshots of MacGuffin(s)

Notorious (1946)
  • the first MacGuffin: the importance of the key to the mansion's wine cellar - only one key existed, and it was in the possession of Nazi sympathizer Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains) in Brazil; Alex's wife Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) took the wine cellar key off Alex's key ring and passed it to Devlin (Cary Grant)
  • the second main MacGuffin: radioactive material (uranium ore or "vintage sand") found in a locked cellar's wine bottles that was being smuggled; it was discovered when one bottle smashed onto the floor and revealed uranium powder being mined in the mountains of Brazil by the Nazis
  • another very secondary MacGuffin was the poison in the coffee used to slowly kill Alicia

The Key to the Wine Cellar Hidden in Alicia's Hand

The Key Slipped to Devlin


Uranium Sand Discovered Hidden in Wine Bottles

Rope (1948)
  • the MacGuffin: the whereabouts of David Kentley (Dick Hogan), continually the main item of discussion in the film by guests at a dinner party
  • (David's corpse had been stuffed into an old wooden chest in the middle of the room - that was to be used as a buffet table!)
  • tension was created because the body might be discovered at any moment by the guests
  • another MacGuffin: the rope - out in the open - used for the strangulation murder of David, and then dangled about and used to tie up a bundle of books
  • a secondary MacGuffin: the wrong hat (the victim's monogrammed hat) picked up by Rupert (James Stewart)

The Mix-Up in Hats

The Rope Used to Tie Books Together

The Murder Weapon Used to Strangle David


The Chest Holding the Body - Chosen as The Dinner Party's Buffet Table

Stage Fright (1950)
  • the MacGuffin: the blood-stained dress - allegedly worn by stage actress/singer Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) when she murdered her husband
  • Charlotte's secret lover was another actor named Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd); in a flashback (although later learned to be untrue), he claimed that Charlotte came to his apartment door wearing the blood-stained dress to confess to the murder of her "abominable" husband during a quarrel in their bedroom; in his account, he described how he offered to go back to her London house to get her a clean replacement dress, and also arrange the murder scene to make it look as if there had been a bungled robbery; however, he had to flee when Charlotte's lower-class maid Nellie Goode (Kay Walsh) screamed when she saw the body, and watched him as he fled down the stairs
  • Jonathan became the prime suspect - but had he been framed by Charlotte, or was he really involved? - as Jonathan evaded police, an investigation commenced, and at times, it appeared likely that Charlotte was the guilty one
  • by the conclusion, it was revealed that Charlotte had conspired to kill her husband, but it was Jonathan who had committed the deed (although Charlotte was present); he admitted that his earlier 'flashback' story was mostly a lie - he was the one who had smeared blood onto the dress, and had killed her husband out of jealousy when Charlotte ended her relationship with him, and was preparing to marry her manager Freddie Williams (Hector MacGregor)

The Bloody-Dress

Jonathan with Charlotte

Strangers on a Train (1951)
  • the MacGuffin: Guy Haines' (Farley Granger) cigarette lighter, monogrammed with "A to G" and with a symbol of two criss-crossed tennis rackets -- it was a gift from Guy's girlfriend Anne Morton (Ruth Roman) to him
  • the lighter was to be used as incriminating evidence, to be planted by villainous psychotic Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) in order to frame Guy for murder
  • in the conclusion, as Bruno died from being crushed under a carousel, he refused to clear Guy, but his hand opened - revealing Guy's lighter (and innocence)

Guy's Cigarette Lighter

Guy's Lighter Revealed in Bruno's Opening Dead Hand

I Confess (1953)
  • the MacGuffin: the privileged or confidential information wanted by the police - a Catholic confession
  • the information was contained in an admission-confession given by sexton Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse), a German immigrant and housekeeper; he made the confession (of an accidental murder of crooked lawyer Vilette (Ovila Légaré)), to his Catholic priest Father Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) in Quebec City

Confessional Given by Otto Keller to His Priest Father Logan

Dial M for Murder (1954)
  • the MacGuffin: the duplicate latch-keys to the Wendice apartment - especially the one hidden under the stair carpet outside the apartment - the one that incriminated Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) in the final scene when he let himself in with the stair's key - revealing that he had designed the murder plot against his wife
  • the key under the stair's carpet was his wife Margot’s (Grace Kelly) own duplicate house key, which Tony snuck out of her handbag and put under the stairway carpet outside their door - it was put there to let wife-murderer Capt. Lesgate/Swann (Anthony Dawson) into the apartment, in a plot with Tony
  • during the murder, Lesgate was specifically instructed to enter with the key, commit the murder, then exit out the way he came, lock the door, and replace the key under the stairs - however, after opening the door, Swann returned the key to its hiding place immediately
  • during the investigation after the botched murder, Tony made an incorrect assumption - he postulated inaccurately that Swann must still have Margot's latch-key (from the stairs) on him in his pocket; so he surreptitiously took the key from Swann's pocket (Swann's own apartment key) and placed it back in Margot's purse; this mistake would ultimately lead to a self-incriminating display of his own guilt

After the Botched Murder, Tony Placed Swann's Key Back Into Margot's Purse

The Latch-Key From Stairway Used to Open Door in Film's Concluding Scene

Tony Sneaking Margot's Housekey Out of Her Handbag

Tony Positioning Margot's Key On Stairway for Swann to Use For Entry

Rear Window (1954)
  • the MacGuffin: the suspected 'murder' committed by apartment tenant and traveling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) across the courtyard, of his bed-ridden wife Mrs. Emma Thorwald (Irene Winston), and the suspicion about what was buried in the courtyard's garden?
  • the lingering question: what happened to her?
  • there was circumstantial evidence that was slowly pieced together:
    • (a saw and butcher knife wrapped in newspaper
    • the moving of a heavy trunk
    • the removal of jewelry from the wife's handbag
    • a strangled dog that had snooped in the courtyard's garden, etc.

Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald

Mr. Thorwald's Suspicious Packing

Trunk Carried Out

Taking Jewelry From Wife's Left-Behind Handbag

To Catch a Thief (1955)
  • the MacGuffin: the identity of the cat-burglar who committed a daring, night-time burglary (jewel theft) in the opening sequence set on the Riviera - the perpetrator was suspected to be reformed burglar John Robie (Cary Grant) (nicknamed "The Cat")
  • in the film's conclusion during a costume ball, Robie finally proved he was innocent and caught the real masked copycat thief - young blonde Danielle Foussard (Brigitte Auber), who was dangled from the roof until she confessed that her father Foussard (Jean Martinelli) and restauranteur Bertani (Charles Vanel) had planned all of the robberies [Note: Danielle was the daughter of the head waiter at Bertani's restaurant]

Who was the Figure in Black - a Cat Burglar?

Cat Burglar Revealed

The Trouble With Harry (1955)
  • the MacGuffin: Harry's corpse, found on a hill in the Highwater, Vermont forested countryside
  • there were many diversionary elements to the murder mystery plot and its MacGuffin - the frantic search of townsfolk (some of whom believed they were guilty) to learn:
    - WHAT or WHO killed the victim (early on identified as Harry Worp from Boston, played by Philip Truex)
    - HOW did the victim die
    - WHAT were the victim's interactions with some of the villagers that caused them to think they had killed him
  • the story's plot told more about its characters and their relationships than about the central (and titular) dead man - a perfect MacGuffin
  • the main dilemma (a story of cover-up) turned out to be: WHAT TO DO WITH THE BODY (that was buried and exhumed several times to avoid police charges) - especially to conceal it from being discovered by dim-witted Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano)
  • in the conclusion, the town's befuddled Dr. Greenbow (Dwight Marfield) announced that Harry died of natural causes - presumably a heart attack, although the corpse had a nasty bullet-like wound on his forehead, and Jennifer Rogers (Shirley MacLaine) admitted that at her doorstep that morning, she had whacked Harry (her second ex-husband who abandoned her) with a milk bottle in the head (he presumably staggered up into the woods and died)
  • the film opened with retired seaman Captain Albert Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) hunting rabbits in the woods and fearing that his third bullet had struck Harry and killed him - although later on, he learned that his third shot had actually killed a rabbit
  • another village resident, spinster Miss Ivy Graveley (Mildred Natwick) suspected that she had killed Harry when he attacked her on the hillside and she struck him in the forehead with the leather heel (and metal cleat) of her sturdy hiking shoes

Opening Credits: Sketch of Harry's Body


First Views of Harry

The Lifeless Corpse - Viewed at Ground Level (After His Shoes Were Stolen by a Tramp)

Last Frame of Film

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  • the MacGuffin: it was the warning (a whispered message from a dying man) that there was to be an assassination of a foreign statesman in London - and that the authorities must know about "Ambrose Chappell"
  • in the plot, the McKenna family, Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) and his famous singer-wife Jo Conway McKenna (Doris Day), while in Marrakesh, French Morocco, became acquainted with French businessman Louis Bernard (Daniel Gelin); the next day in the town square during an acrobatic show, a dark-skinned man lethally wounded in the back with a knife stumbled into Ben's arms and whispered: "A man, a statesman is to be killed...assassinated...in London, soon, very soon. Tell them in London to try...Ambrose Chappell"; the man was Louis Bernard in disguise; Ben transcribed the man's words, later given on a note to Jo; it was revealed that Bernard was a known agent of the Deuxieme Bureau (the French version of the FBI)
  • after their young son Hank McKenna (Christopher Olsen) was kidnapped, the couple returned to London where Ben received anonymous phone calls and was pressured to keep silent; nonetheless, Ben went on a search for a person named 'Ambrose Chappell'
  • it was Jo who understood that 'Ambrose Chappell' was an actual place, Ambrose Chapel, where she and Ben found further clues to the assassination plot
  • the film climaxed during a performance at the Royal Albert Hall where the assassination attempt of the foreign prime minister was thwarted

Dying Louis Bernard's Misinterpreted Whispered Words About Assassination Plot

Assassination Attempt Written in Note

Ambrose Chapel - a Place in the Phone Book, not a Personal Name

The Wrong Man (1956)
  • the MacGuffin: would Stork Club musician 'Manny' Balestrero (Henry Fonda) ever be cleared of the crime (assault and robbery) he allegedly committed?
  • Christopher Emanuel “Manny” Balestrero was arrested on suspicion of robbery of an insurance company, and due to circumstantial evidence (a spelling mistake, and his similar appearance to the actual criminal) was arrested and booked - he was only released after the real crook was apprehended for robbing a delicatessan and clearly was 'Manny's' double in a case of mistaken-identity

Wrongly-Accused Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda)

The Two Identical-Looking Suspects

Vertigo (1958)
  • the MacGuffin: the spirit of a dead woman known as Carlotta Valdes, motivating obsessed Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) to investigate what possessed or haunted his beloved but now-dead Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), Carlotta's great-granddaughter
  • a suspicious link between Carlotta and Judy was established when Judy (who was dressed to look like Madeleine at Scottie's insistence) decided to wear Carlotta's red-ruby heirloom necklace (it revealed that Judy was involved in the on-going deception of pretending to be Madeleine, who actually didn't exist)
  • two secondary MacGuffins: Madeleine herself (non-existent), and Scottie's crippling fear of heights and vertigo

Carlotta Valdes - With Necklace

Judy Linking Herself to Carlotta (and Madeleine) by Wearing Her Necklace

Scottie's Nightmarish Fear of Heights

North by Northwest (1959)
  • the MacGuffin: the existence of CIA agent "George Kaplan" (mistakenly thought to be Cary Grant's character Roger Thornhill) who was being chased by spies, but 'George Kaplan' didn't really exist
  • another MacGuffin: "government secrets" on microfilm - the microfilm was hidden in a Pre-Columbian statue of a warrior that was being smuggled out of the country by the spies, led by Philip Vandamm (James Mason)
  • the true definition of a MacGuffin - it was revealed to be the central nature of Roger O. Thornhill's identity, based upon his own initials: R-O-T - with the middle initial implying "nothing"

Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) Seized and Identified as the Non-Existent "George Kaplan"

Roger's R.O.T. Initials

Statue with Microfilm

Psycho (1960)
  • the original MacGuffin: $40,000 of stolen money (in an envelope), taken from the realtors' Phoenix office by employee Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who intended to run off with her debt-ridden lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin)
  • at the Bates Motel run by nervous, suspicious and creepy proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), Marion had second thoughts and regrets about the theft and was planning on returning the $40,000 the next day
  • the money was ultimately wrapped up in a newspaper in the motel bedroom - discarded, and sunk in the trunk of the murdered Marion's car into a swamp, by Norman, to allegedly cover up for the stabbing shower murder of Marion by a female figure (his mother?) wielding a knife
  • two new MacGuffins then surfaced - (a) the whereabouts of Marion Crane?, and (b) the apparent existence of Norman's invalid, bed-ridden mother who lived in the house perched on the hill behind the hotel - she might be able to help in the search for the whereabouts of Marion
  • and then came a second brutal murder; Detective Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) was assaulted at the top of the stairs - again by the knife-wielding, dress-wearing figure; was Norman's mother (Mrs. Bates) responsible for both murders?
  • the entire plot was upturned when the town's Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire) described how Mrs. Bates had died over ten years earlier in a double-murder suicide: ("Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates, who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?")

The "Mother" Figure Involved in Shower-Stabbing Death of Marion

The Shadow of "Mother' in The Window of the Bates Motel's House

$40,000 in envelope on Marion's Bed

Marion Counting the Money

The Money Wrapped in LA Newspaper in Bates Motel Room

The Birds (1963)
  • the main MacGuffin: the unexplained cause, explanation or reason for the strange bird attacks in the town of Bodega Bay - hypothesized by many in the Tides Restaurant attack sequence; however, ultimately, there was no solid, rational reason why the birds were attacking - they were not seeking revenge for nature's mistreatment, or foreshadowing doomsday, and they didn't represent God's punishment for humankind's evil
  • one of the more insightful reasons given was an hysterical mother's (Doreen Lang) vicious attack on rich and glamorous socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) for bringing some kind of chaotic "evil" into town: "Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here, the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're the cause of all this. I think you're evil. (Shrieking) EVIL!"
  • earlier in the film, it was noted that Melanie was known for destructive and expensive practical jokes that often back-fired on her ("Don't you remember one of your practical jokes that resulted in the smashing of a plate-glass window?"), and later, Melanie's notorious reputation as a jet-setting rich socialite was recollected in another scandalous report about her cavorting naked (as a jaybird?) into a fountain (birdbath?) in Rome the previous summer
  • the underlying MacGuffin: the nature of the conflicted romance between Melanie Daniels and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) - symbolized by a gift of two love-birds; the attacks were mysteriously related to the mother and son relationship in the film - Mitch's jealous, initially hostile mother Lydia Brenner (Jessica Tandy) expressed anger (and fears of abandonment or being left lonely) that came to the surface when her bachelor son Mitch brought home the attractive young Melanie
  • it was clear that the "birds" (females) in the film, including Lydia, Melanie, and the town's schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette) (Mitch's former girlfriend) were circling and flocking around, seeking attention and affection from the sole, emotionally-cold male lead

Melanie and Mitch - Symbolized by Lovebirds

Lydia, Melanie, and Mitch

Reasons Suggested for Bird Attacks by Ornithologist Expert Mrs. Bundy (Ethel Griffies)

Hysterical Mother's Accusation Against the "Evil" Melanie

The Birds' Takeover of Bodega Bay

Marnie (1964)
  • the MacGuffin: thunderstorms and the color red that triggered or caused deep-rooted psychological problems and neuroses for Marnie, but why?
  • it was eventually explained that Marnie experienced extreme childhood trauma - seen in flashback - that occurred during the murder of her mother's abusive sex partner, drawing red blood
  • the revelation of the root of Marnie's problems occurred in the Baltimore home of her crippled mother Bernice Edgar (Louise Latham) during a thunderstorm; she remembered (and relived) how her prostitute-mother's leg was broken by a Sailor client (Bruce Dern), and to come to her mother's aid, she struck the Sailor on the head with a fireplace-poker and killed him; subsequently, her mother took the blame for the crime

The Color Red - Triggering Fear

Flashback: Murdered Sailor

Young Marnie at Scene of Crime

Torn Curtain (1966)
  • the MacGuffin: the secret formula of mathematical equations (known by East German scientist and Professor Gustav Lindt (Ludwig Donath)) for an anti-nuclear device or anti-missile defense rocket ("Gamma Five") that the East Germans had been developing to compete with the American anti-missile program
  • at Karl Marx University in Leipzig, Germany, Professor Lindt (Ludwig Donath) was tricked and goaded by defecting US physicist and rocket scientist Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) - a double-agent - into divulging his entire complicated equation on his classroom blackboard; the scientist boasted: "But it works! In Russia we built it, it works!"; Armstrong congratulated him: "My God. That's brilliant. You jumped a step, didn't you?"; the Professor bragged: "Of course it's brilliant. It's genius. The Russians thought I was crazy. They didn't know I'm Lindt"; but then after realizing his mistake and that he had revealed everything without learning anything himself, he mused: "You told me nothing. You know nothing" - he ordered Armstrong: "I forbid you to leave this room"


E. German Prof. Lindt Goaded Into Revealing Mathematical Equations for Soviet Anti-Missile Defense System

Topaz (1969)
  • the MacGuffin: the identity of Topaz -- What or who was Topaz? Who was in Topaz? What was its function?
  • "Topaz" was ultimately revealed to be the code-name for a group of elite intelligence agents in the French government who were traitors; they were actually Soviet spies or Communist moles leaking NATO documents to the Soviet KGB; the documents in question were regarding the delivery and installation of Soviet missiles bases and nuclear warheads to Cuba in the fall of 1962 (the Cuban Missile Crisis)
  • in the film, the informal group of French traitors was exposed by a high-ranking Soviet intelligence and KGB officer Boris Kusenov (Per-Axel Arosenius), who defected to the West with the help of the US CIA, and confirmed that four classified, top-secret NATO documents had been leaked to him and other Soviets from French diplomats
    • Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli), code-named "Columbine," was revealed to be the leader of the spy ring
    • NATO official and economist Henri Jarré (Philippe Noiret) was his second-in-command
  • another MacGuffin: visiting Castro-like Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra's (John Vernon) locked red leather briefcase in his makeshift office in a hotel in Harlem, NY, that held an alarming, written "trade-pact" agreement - with imminent plans for the Soviets to ship in and presumably supply Cuba with "offensive weapons" (Russian missiles with nuclear warheads); photos were secretly taken of the documents by ex-French operative Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne), who ran the Martinique Flower Shop in Harlem, NY, and was able to surreptitiously deliver his camera (with the photos) to French intelligence Chief André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford); Devereaux was working with the US' CIA Intelligence Agent Michael "Mike" Nordstrom (John Forsythe) in Washington, DC
  • another MacGuffin-esque element in the film: the microfilm (hidden in a slim volume of poetry) that revealed the unloading of Soviet missiles at the dock in Cuba (documented in pictures taken by underground members Carlotta and Pablo Mendoza); the evidence was given to André Devereaux as a gift by his undercover counter-revolutionary mistress Juanita (Karin Dor) before he left Cuba

Rico Parra's Locked Red Leather Briefcase

Strips of Microfilm Hidden in a Book of Poetry Given to Andre Devereaux by his mistress-lover Juanita

Frenzy (1972)
  • the MacGuffin: the necktie-killer Bob Rusk's (Barry Foster) distinctive tie pin (with the initial R inset with diamonds) - it had to be removed from his tie before he raped and strangled his female victims
  • the tie-pin was left behind at the scene of the crime after the killing of Barbara "Babs" Milligan (Anna Massey) - it was clenched in her corpse's hand (her stiff body suffering from rigor mortis was stuffed in a potato sack and loaded into the back of a truck-lorry); Rusk was forced to jump into the back of the lorry and pry open her hand to retrieve the tie-pin, as the vehicle moved along during the night - a tense sequence
  • in the conclusion, Rusk was found about to deposit his latest female victim into a trunk for disposal; he was pointedly asked by Chief Inspector Timothy Oxford (Alec McCowen): "Mr. Rusk, you're not wearing your tie"

Rusk's Incriminating Initialed/Monogrammed Stickpin

Removing the Tie-Pin From a Corpse's Hand

"Mr. Rusk, you're not wearing your tie!"

Family Plot (1976)
  • the MacGuffins: (a) the search in California for a missing heir - a nephew named Eddie Shoebridge, and (b) the location of a ransomed, criminally-acquired diamond exchanged for a kidnap victim
  • during a seance session in the mid-1970s in the elegant Victorian mansion of elderly matron-spinster Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt) conducted by fake spiritualist 'Madame' Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris), Julia confessed that her recently-deceased sister Harriet Rainbird - as an unmarried mother - had borne an illegitimate son 40 years earlier; Julia had facilitated the adoption of the boy, who then disappeared and had become estranged from the family; Julia feared that Harriet was angry with her for slighting her deserving son and not offering her inheritance fortune to him
  • Blanche was asked to investigate and locate the whereabouts of Julia's nephew, after being paid $10,000 to locate her missing heir; she was paired up with self-professed "actor" boyfriend George Lumley (Bruce Dern) and amateur detective, who was forced to work to pay bills as a taxi-cab driver; he bragged about how he deserved all the credit for his sleuthing and investigative work for her
  • another corresponding subplot told about a second criminal couple: Arthur Adamson (William Devane) and his attractive associate-girlfriend Fran (Karen Black); they were partnering together to kidnap rich or wealthy persons in San Francisco, followed by the demand for a ransom (of a valuable diamond); Arthur taped, hid, and concealed their first diamond ransom within the crystal chandelier near the staircase in his home, where it supposedly wouldn't be noticed
Diamond Hidden or Concealed in Arthur Adamson's Crystal Chandelier (Revealed in a Zooming Closeup)
  • Arthur (nicknamed "The Trader") was eventually revealed to be a rich crook, who was also operating a jewelry store in the city; in the film's major plot twist, he was discovered to be Julia Rainbird's missing nephew (Eddie Shoebridge) who had contracted to have his adoptive parents (Harry and Sadie Shoebridge) murdered, and had also faked his own death 25 years earlier (Eddie's grave was discovered empty with a tombstone dated 1950)
  • in the ending, the location of Arthur's first stolen ransomed diamond was discovered by Blanche who faked a trance - hanging from the crystal chandelier in his home near the staircase; the film concluded with a smiling Blanche who sat on the stairs, looked at the camera and winked at the audience (breaking the fourth wall)

Arthur Adamson (William Devane) - A Jewel Thief and Kidnapper (His Real Name: Eddie Shoebridge, the Missing Rainbird Heir)

Fran (Karen Black) - A Brunette Partner in Crime with Arthur


Barlow Creek Cemetery: Evidence of Edward's Faked Death, With A Tombstone Erected Over an Empty Grave
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