As well as licensing his name for use by publishers, he hosted 360 episodes of television anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-62) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962-65).įollowing the release of Psycho (1960), he signed to Universal Pictures for whom he made 6 films before his death in April 1980.ĭespite frequently having a high degree of creative control and freedom, he regularly returned to favoured themes and his films often portray innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding.Īlthough often regarded as a skilled entertainment director by many contemporary journalists, the French New Wave critics of Cahiers du Cinéma argued that Hitchcock film's should be regarded as artistic masterworks and he became a key figure in the emergent Auteur Theory. Throughout his career, Hitchcock strove to maintain a highly visible public profile and remains one of the most easily recognisable film directors. A series of well-received films during the 1940s led to Hitchcock briefly forming the independent company Transatlantic Pictures before entering his "golden decade" making films for Warner Bros. Selznick on the Academy Award winning Rebecca (1940). He married fellow worker Alma Reville in 1926 and she remained a key collaborator throughout his career.īy the late 1930s, his profile was rising internationally and he moved to Hollywood in 1939 to work for David O. He directed 23 films during the first phase of his career in England, including Blackmail (1929), one of the early British sound films. He began working in the British film industry at the start of the 1920s as a title designer before progressing to become a director. In a career spanning six decades he directed over fifty feature films, many of which are now regarded as classics, including The 39 Steps (1935), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). However, for those unfamiliar with Hitchcock, or maybe only aware of his biggest hits, the following are all worth exploring, and collectively deliver hours of suspense, dark comedy, thrills, and intense psychological drama.Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE was a British film director and producer, often referred to as "The Master of Suspense" due to his mastery of the suspense thriller genre. In total, he made about 60 films, and since the majority of those are worth watching, a ranking of just 25 proves to be challenging, as there are naturally some omissions. The best of his works still feel alive, exciting, and vital, and that's a reason other filmmakers have always been influenced by him, whether it was back when he was alive and making movies, or in the years since 1980.Īs a director, Hitchcock made numerous movies in both the British and American film industries, starting with silent films in the 1920s, and continuing to direct into the 1970s. Many of his best works don't feel like they live in the past, or merely feel like products of it. His films live on and hold up well, despite the fact Hitchcock himself passed away in 1980, and his final film was released in 1976. Alfred Hitchcock's influence on cinema cannot be denied.
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