The Role Of National Monuments In Alfred Hitchcock's Films

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National monuments often figure prominently in Hitchcock’s films, they usually have an obvious connection to the plot. In the gripping climax scene of North by Northwest, for example, the American agent Eve Kandall dangles perilously from Mount Rushmore and her suspension from the monument translates into visual terms the cold-war conflict at the heart of the film. Mount Rushmore stands for the democratic principles at stake in the recovery of the microfilm stolen by the Communist spies. Set in Washington, D.C, Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train abounds with images of the federal government. The repeated shots show the dome of the Capitol building appearing in the background brilliantly lit up, and the Jefferson Memorial provides the setting