| Andrew Neill |
Under Capricorn plays at the Heights Theater on Thursday, April 10th, as part of our collaboration on the 2025 Hitchcock Film Festival. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org.
I have never seen the 1949 film Under Capricorn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I freely (and quite bravely) admitted this in my pitch to the benevolent editors of this blog. On April 10th, when the film screens at the historic Heights Theater, I will be sitting eagerly, snacking on the best movie theater popcorn in town, ready for my first viewing of this under-discussed entry in the master director’s lengthy oeuvre.
Inspired by the film’s astrological title, I’m taking this opportunity to appoint zodiac signs to characters within Hitchcock’s mighty pantheon. Another admission: I am no expert in the vast and multi-layered school of astrology, but rather an enthusiastic novice. For this exercise, I’m using only the most basic archetypes of these signs to represent each character. It’s going to be a highly superficial and entirely frivolous activity, but maybe we’ll have a little fun in the process!
Warning: There be spoilers ahead!
Aries: John Dall as Brandon Shaw in Rope
People born under Aries are natural leaders, but characters with such quality are hard to find in Hitchcock’s films. When you consider the traits of entrepreneurial types—ambitious, egotistical, impulsive people—it’s easy to see the potential for darkness, and Brandon Shaw manifests it. Shaw’s self-confidence warps into a god complex. He convinces his friend Phillip—the beta to Shaw’s alpha, played by Farley Granger—to murder a classmate, hide the body in a chest in their apartment, and then hold a dinner party. Aries love a challenge, and Shaw believes committing “the perfect murder” will prove his ultimate superiority over others.
Taurus: Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest
Tauruses crave stability and get testy with change. They’re strong-willed but stubborn and set in their ways. Roger Thornhill gives BTE (Big Taurus Energy). He’s on the receiving end of Hitchcock’s most extravagant “wrong man” plot, and boy-oh-boy would he rather not be. He’d rather be back at the club where the movie begins, enjoying his lavish Mad Man existence, and not be mistaken as a player in an elaborate espionage plot. However, Tauruses have determination and endurance to spare, which Thornhill exhibits as he unwillingly treks cross-country, out-manuevering murderous crop dusters and scaling the igneous crania of certain South Dakotan monuments.
North by Northwest is screening at the Heights Theater on May 26th!
Gemini: Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho
How am I doing so far? Am I doing this right? You’re still here, so… let’s not overthink it.
We’ve reached Gemini, the twins, representative of the duality in human nature. Geminis are a bundle of contradictions. They harbor disparate personalities in conflict, taking turns as driver and passenger within a single vehicle. No overthinking required here! This one’s a gimme. Norman Bates is the archetypal Gemini of horror. The guy literally has a split personality: the sweetly awkward taxidermist/motel proprietor and the murderous, vengeful spirit of his dead mother. If all of these were this easy, I’d be at the bar already.
Cancer: Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca
Hard outer shells and fragile insides characterize those born under Cancer. These folks are fierce protectors of their domestic spaces, distrusting of outsiders, and overly sentimental towards the past. Enter Mrs. Danvers, keeper of the vast House of Manderlay and antagonist of Rebecca. When the new Mrs. de Winter suddenly and unceremoniously usurps the role of lady of the house, Danver’s claws come out. Her violent loyalty to the former Mrs. de Winter, the titular Rebecca, and the waning, if troubling days of old lead her ultimately to madness.
Leo: Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels in The Birds
Guys, I’m feeling great about the last few picks! This next one, too. Everything is going so well!
Leo. The lion! Folks born under this summertime sign tend to be over-confident, arrogant, and more-than-a-little dramatic. Their strong personalities assert loud opinions, and any dissent pecks at their fragile pride. Melanie Daniels gets pecked plenty in The Birds, but that’s not what makes her a Leo. This lady meets a hot misogynist in a pet store, who says he’s going to buy songbirds for his sister, negs Melanie, and leaves without buying the birds. Melanie then buys the songbirds (what?), drives a hundred miles to his hometown (no…), rents a dingy to cross a bay (huh?!), and plans to secretly leave the birds on his doorstep, only to be attacked by a seagull. If this isn’t delusionally persistent, bonkers Leo behavior, I don’t know what is.
The Birds is screening at the Heights Theater on April 17th!
Virgo: Joel McCrea as John Jones in Foreign Correspondent
Okay, this is where I admit that I don’t understand what a Virgo is. Apparently they’re analytical and helpful, but also perfectionists obsessed with hygiene? There’s a lot going on there. If you’re a Virgo, drop a line in the comments and let me know what your deal is. Anyway, John Jones, the titular foreign correspondent, proves himself quite analytical and helpful while following a story of shadowy spy games leading up to World War II. I don’t recall him washing his hands much, if at all. Is there such a thing as a dirty Virgo?
Foreign Correspondent is screening at the Heights Theater on April 3!
Libra: Ingrid Bergman as Alicia Huberman in Notorious
We’ve arrived at Libra just in time. The scales of this article are seriously out of balance. That last one really threw me. I’m flailing, struck with indecision, just like Alicia Huberman in Notorious. Will she choose the handsome, yet insolent American operative who negs her about her sexual past? Or the affectionate silver fox who loves her unconditionally but happens to be… checks notes… Oh no! A Nazi?! Alicia’s desire to be accepted and loved, mixed with her fluctuation between dark, uncertain futures, make her such a Libra.
Scorpio: Robert Walker as Bruno Anthony in Strangers on a Train
From what I’ve gleaned from my basic astrological research, the thing about Scorpios is that they’re evil. They’re initially described with words like resourceful, passionate, and cunning, but then words like resentful, temperamental, and vindictive sneak up and why do I suddenly have a knife in my back? Before I bleed out, I’m bestowing the title of Scorpio upon Bruno Anthony, a true blue psychopath. Bruno really wants tennis star Guy Haines—Farley Granger, returning as Hitchcock’s stock beta cuck—to “trade murders” with him. In fact, Guy turns him down and Bruno still kills Guy’s unfaithful wife and threatens to pin it on him unless the racket jockey offs Bruno’s old man. Classic Scorpio behavior.
Sagittarius: James Stewart as L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries in Rear Window
We’ve made it, folks! Your humble narrator’s own sign: Sagittarius. No vindictive psychopaths here, just optimistic, freedom-loving explorers with a restless urge for adventure. It takes one to know one, and our man Jeff Jeffries fits the bill! The intrepid, globetrotting photojournalist may be laid up in his New York apartment with a cast from hip to toe, but that’s not going to stop his insatiable drive for stimuli! There are no smartphones in 1954, so he’s going to channel that restless energy into productive action: breaking out the binoculars and spying on his neighbors’ private lives. Sure, that doesn’t sound great, but Jeff’s pretty sure one guy across the way killed his wife, so it’s probably totally justified.
Capricorn: Joseph Cotton as Sam Flusky in Under Capricorn
I just learned that the title Under Capricorn refers to the Tropic of Capricorn, the famous latitudinal line halfway between the Equator and South Pole that spans Australia where the film is set. That title sounds about as sweaty as the premise of this article, but I’m powering through! You might recall that I have not seen this film, so I’m calling this one blind. Capricorns are characterized as ambitious social-climbers, so based off Joseph Cotton’s whole vibe in other films that I have seen (Citizen Kane, Shadow of a Doubt) I’m willing to bet his character Sam Flusky fits the mold. Find out if I’m right live on April 10th at the historic Heights Theater! If I am, high fives all around!
Aquarius: Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion
My knowledge of this sign of the water-bearer doesn’t extend much beyond the opening number of Hair, but the impression I’m getting is that Aquarians are impratical contrarians who like to rebel just for the sake of it (i.e., hippies). Enter Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth, who is a hippie of an older generation and whose name sounds like a complete sentence in a lost tongue. Lina’s form of protest is to marry the sketchy but smoking hot Johnnie (Cary Grant) despite the protests of her wealthy father. Lina almost immediately regrets it as Johnnie is revealed to have extensive gambling debts and may be plotting to kill her for the life insurance money. If I were her, I’d let him. He’s so hot.
Pisces: Kim Novak as Judy Barton / Madeleine Elster in Vertigo
I’m going to land this plane, dammit! We’ve arrived at the final sign: Pisces, the dancing fish. Pisces people are highly sympathetic and adaptable. They can almost too easily acquiesce to more powerful personalities and lose track of who they are. Enter Judy Barton, who transforms herself into the enigmatic Madeleine Elster, or more accurately the idea of Madeleine as imagined by Scottie Ferguson, an acrophobic detective and sex pest played by Jimmy Stewart. Judy submits to Scottie’s desires, but she can never satisfy his obsession. In the end, she loses herself completely, plummeting to her fate from the top of a belltower. A much less desirable, but much more iconic conclusion than this hasty and abrupt one.
Vertigo is screening at the Heights Theater on April 24th!
Author’s notes:
- If you’re looking for writing about astrology from a more thoughtful and experienced practitioner, I recommend the work of Claire Comstock-Gay aka Madame Clairevoyant, who writes for The Cut.
- Thanks to AstroLibrary.org for all the free information that made this silly exercise possible!
Edited by Olga Tchepikova-Treon