Is he really supposed to be a clock repairman/calibration technician (who makes house calls)?
Doesn't seem plausible to me.
My brother collected over 300 clocks. He had a repairman who came to the house and repaired/ fine tuned them.
shareYes.
shareHe looks like he is winding the clock anti-clockwise. I wonder if that is a Hitchcock thing ? .
sharejust him and the piano player in the apartment.
It's a fascinating cameo. To me he seems to be winding the clock in synch movements with the composer's piano playing. In other words he's keeping time. A pun?
Another Hitchcock cameo I find fascinating is the one in 'Shadow of a Doubt.' A couple are having a conversation on a train. The famous profile of Hitchcock is in the foreground holding a hand of playing cards. We can't see his face. The camera zooms into his hand of cards and he's holding the complete suit of spades. They are arranged neatly in order from the deuce through to ace high. I'm sure he's having a joke with this. I reckon the spades represent his dark humour.