Double Take

It's amazing what you can do with computer technology and a good voice impersonator. The film makers were able to take actual clips of Alfred Hitchcock from his movies, movie promos, his "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" introductions and archival footage and create an odd documentary-like film about the Cold War and a doppleganger for Hitchcock. I was concerned, however, as the idea of taking famous dead folks and putting them into your film without their permission brings up a HUGE ethical and legal question. I have no idea whether or not they obtained permission from his daughter--I sure hope they did. But even then, it seems wrong. However, putting this debate aside, what did I think of the film? Well, frankly, after the initial interest wore off, I found all the clips very disjoint and the film a bit dull....no, very dull. Plus, why, exactly, did they choose to use Hitchcock other than they had a great impersonator and the clips?! An interesting experiment but a film that I think would satisfy only a very small group of film viewers. I would prefer to see the original clips strung together--as Hitchcock's movie promos and other appearances were often brilliantly funny.