Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980)

“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

My all-time favourite director. He has a great catalog of films, and I find his best work is second to none. During my early teens he was the first moviemaker I became interested in. Prior to that I had only appreciated movies on individual aesthetic merits, independent of any knowledge of the full cast or crew. I imagine most people into movies will have seen at least one of his at some point in their lives.

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, London in 1899. In his early 20's he took a job at a production company as a title card designer. Over the next 5 years he worked his way up through the studio, from title designer to art director (whilst also undertaking occasional co-writing and assistant director responsibilities), meeting his future wife, Alma Reville, during the process. Although Alma's job was more skilled/higher paid than his when they first met, this did not prove a problem in their relationship, and soon she would collaborate on her husband's work (continuing this role throughout much of his career).

'Hitch' - 1960

“When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss
his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But
what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'”

Following an aborted directional debut, Hitchcock served as assistant director to Graham Cutts on a number of films in the early 1920's. The last of these (Die Prinzessin und der Geiger / The Blackguard), a German/English co-production, was filmed in Berlin. Jealousy led Graham Cutts to not allow him to work on his next picture, "The Rat", so Hitchcock was given the opportunity by Gainsborough Pictures to direct "The Pleasure Garden" and "The Mountain Eagle" in Germany, during which time he was able to observe the work of F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang, who would eventually prove very inspirational to the young filmmaker. Neither film created much of a stir, but back in London his next project, "The Lodger" with Ivor Novello, was an immediate success. This resulted in a multi-movie deal at British International Pictures, for whom he would work exclusively for the next 6 years (with the exception of 2 more pictures for Gainsborough - Downhill and Easy Virtue).

None of these films managed to match what "The Lodger" had achieved, but 1929's "Blackmail" fared well. Blackmail began life as a silent movie, but with the advent of sound, became one of the earliest British 'talkie's' during production. In 1933, Hitchcock began working with Gaumont-British Picture Corporation, producing a string of hit movies (The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent, Sabotage, The Lady Vanishes), and it wasn't long before America came calling.

“I never said all actors are cattle; what I said

was all actors should be treated like cattle.”

Whilst working on his last British film, "Jamaica Inn", he was lured to California by famed U.S. producer David O. Selznick, who had produced a number of classics in the 1930's (the latest being the epic "Gone With The Wind" - which would become one of the highest grossing movies of all time). Selznick offered Hitch a seven year contract, starting with the fantastic "Rebecca" in 1940. Despite the success of the film, tempers would flare during production. Selznick did not often see eye to eye with Hitch, and would appear on set to supervise the shooting of major scenes, which would unnerve the director. It was a tug-of-war, and Selznick demanded control, meanwhile Hitchcock would employ the technique of "In-camera editing". By shooting the sequences in order, and with limited takes, this would limit the amount of changes Selznick could oversee during editing/post-production.

For his next film (actually his next 6 films), Hitchcock was loaned out, along with other artists contracted to Selznick, to another studio. Foreign Correspondant was made for Walter Wanger, and then during 1941-1944 he continued with 2 pictures for RKO (Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Suspicion - his first collaboration with Cary Grant), 2 pictures for Universal (Saboteur and Shadow Of A Doubt), before his only picture for 20th Century Fox (John Steinbeck's "Lifeboat").

“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out”

Back in the hands of David O. Selznick, "Spellbound" was his next picture, which once again caused many clashes between director and producer. The excellent "Notorious" from '46 began as another Selznick production but, much to Hitchcocks relief, the producer lost interest/faith in the movie, and sold the film over to RKO before shooting began. Upon release, it became on of the years biggest hits.

Most of Hitchcock's 1940's films proved successful, with the exception of "The Paradine Case" (which signalled the end of his relationship with David O. Selznick), and "Under Capricorn" from '49.

After the war, Hitch had formed Transatlantic Pictures with Sidney Bernstein, intending to experiment whilst keeping control over his movies. His last two films of the 1940's (his first films shot in technicolour and the only films made for Transatlantic), Rope and Under Capricorn, were both commercial failures. Transatlantic Pictures closed in 1950.

The next four films were made for Warner Brothers, which included the popular Strangers On A Train and Dial M For Murder. Hitchcock moved to Paramount Pictures following the success at WB, and the remainder of the 50's provided us with some of the best films of the decade. Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo were all made for Paramount, whilst the drama (based on a true story) "The Wrong Man" was made for Warner Brothers to complete a contract commitment made in the 1940's. He continued this prolific period with North By Northwest, Psycho and The Birds.

“In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director”

Well into his 60's, Hitch's final 4 movies after Marnie didn't meet much critical success, but aren't without merit. He passed away in April 1980, four years after his final film, "Family Plot".

I have personally enjoyed all of his movies, but I would seriously recommend the following 10 films:

British Period: The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes
1940's America: Rebecca, Shadow Of A Doubt, Notorious
The 'Peak' Years: Strangers On A Train, Rear Window, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho