Annie's Physical Appearance

Annie, like Melanie in the opening scene, has a masculine wardrobe. The first time the viewer sees her, she is wearing masculine slacks and a red cardigan sweater, which reminds one of something an old man would wear. Like Melanie in the driving scene, the film codes Annie as reckless. Hitchcock achieves this by presenting her to the audience in a tell-tale red sweater and through her hairstyle. In previous films, and especially in North by Northwest (1959), Hitchcock associates red with women who are sexually charged, imperfect and do not fit the mold of femininity he would have them accept. A good example of this is Eve from North by Northwest. [8] Eve is coded throughout the film as sexually deviant, and untrustworthy. This is particularly true in the scene at the auction house, in which Eve's infidelity to Roger becomes apparent to the viewer. In the scene, Hitchcock has Eve in a red dress, which becomes inextricably connected with her behavior. Annie's hair distinguishes her from the other two women as well. All three women sport similar pinned up coiffures that pull the hair off of the forehead. However, Annie's hair is significantly less tamed than that of Melanie or Lydia. There are loose hairs flying everywhere and the style is much more unkempt. The vast majority of Hitchcock women that he seems to approve of have tight coiffures that keep the hair out of the face (i.e. Madeleine in Vertigo) and so Annie's frizzy hairstyle further signifies that she deviates from the feminine ideal. The manner in which Annie stores her cigarettes also codes her as more masculine. Whereas Melanie stores her cigarettes in a beautiful leather case with what appears to be her initials on it, Annie simply keeps a crumpled up carton in her pocket. This codes her as more rugged and hence more masculine as well.