ALFRED HITCHCOCK, 'THE MASTER', IS THE MOST WIDELY KNOWN AND INFLUENTIAL

DIRECTOR IN THE HISTORY OF CINEMA. HIS PROLIFIC BODY OF WORK SPANNED OVER

50 YEARS

After some exposure to German-expressionism 'Hitch' established his preferred niche in the mystery/suspense genre where his films dominated public

appeal for decades.

His meticulous preparation and understanding

of every facet of the plot and production

medium of each project allowed the actual filming process to be considered a

foregone conclusion. It would, hopefully, be

a decision-less process with every contingency

already thoroughly considered.

. To deter studio post-intervention with his films Hitch would strive to limit his shooting process to only the required scenes. With each sequence essential to the plot, fitting as cohesively as the pieces of a puzzle, it left no other conceivable manner for them to be edited.

A Life in Cinema

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, and died on April 29, 1980. His life encompassed almost every period of the history of the cinema, from its earliest beginnings in primitive silent films to today’s blockbuster films, full of sound and special effects.

Many things set Hitchcock apart from his contemporaries (including such great directors as Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, John Huston, John Ford, and Frank Capra). One is the combination of popularity and critical acclaim Hitchcock attained during his lifetime; another is the mushrooming interest he still attracts 25 years after the release of his final film. Yet another is the seriousness and continuity of subjects he considered in his work. Finally, Hitchcock’s knowledge of the technical aspects of film and his innovations in cinematic storytelling make him unlike any other director of his era.

Without Hitchcock’s mastery and experimentation, the work of Spielberg and other contemporary directors like Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, and Brian De Palma might never have existed, or might have come to us in very different form. Without Alfred Hitchcock, the world of the cinema would be a very different place.

50 Years, 53 Films Alfred Hitchcock was

born in London to middle-class parents. Hitchcock’s father was a grocer and poultry dealer. The youngest of three children, Alfred attended Saint Ignatius preparatory school as a teenager, but the death of his father ended any thoughts of pursuing college exclusively.

Hitchcock’s first job proved prophetic of his later career: He worked both as a technician and a designer of advertisements for the Henley Telegraph Company. The combination of engineer and artist thus shows early in Hitchcock’s life, and the two would only become more closely entwined as he found his true calling.

Because of his interest in the cinema, Hitchcock submitted some of his designs to the Famous Players-Lasky film studio in London and found himself put to work. After several years spent learning the ropes of the film business in London and Munich, Hitchcock directed his first feature film, The Pleasure Garden, in 1925.

He made a total of 23 films — both silent and sound — for British release before coming to America at the invitation of producer David Selznick, who produced Hitchcock’s first American film, Rebecca (1940). A series of American successes and Hitchcock’s skill at self-promotion cemented his reputation as one of the world’s top film directors, and the greater production gloss and star power of Hollywood films showcased Hitchcock’s art as the tiny British film industry never could have done.

Although he himself never received an Academy Award as Best Director, his films were nominees and winners in various categories, and the public grew to anticipate not just Hitchcock’s name above the title of his films, but his particular trademark, a personal cameo in each of his films (a practice he began in 1927’s The Lodger because he had to use himself as an extra).

Licensing a Legend

Alfred Hitchcock released his final film, Family Plot, in 1976. Between 1925 and 1976, he directed a total of 53 films. Before assuming the helm as a director, he had also worked as an editor, a scenario and title card writer (silent films used written cards to convey dialogue and other information to the audience), and a set designer. In later years, Hitchcock continued to be actively involved in the writing and production design of his films and eventually added producing to his other duties.

This body of work represents not only a phenomenal quantity, but also a remarkable quality. Even Hitchcock’s lightly regarded films contain elements of his visual style or inklings of his thematic interests that make them noteworthy to filmgoers and film scholars.

Hitchcock also licensed his name and likeness for a series of books and a mystery magazine, none of which he had any artistic involvement with, although he did serve as host and directed two dozen episodes of the classic television show which bore his name, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Suspense and MacGuffins

Hitchcock loved to hold an audience in suspense, and he used the technique of Pure Cinema to do it. As Hitchcock explained it, suspense differs drastically from surprise. Imagine, he said, that a bomb is under a table and it explodes. Boom! You have surprise and a few moments of screen emotion.

Now imagine showing the audience the bomb under the table — and the people at the table chatting away, perfectly unaware of the danger. Every moment yields emotion. Instead of three seconds of surprise, you have three minutes of suspense, and what’s more, you place the audience squarely in sympathy with the characters, whoever they might be.

Suspense and Pure Cinema

Hitchcock’s camera angles and editing further enhance suspense in his films. In “North by Northwest,” for example, Roger Thornhill gets off a bus and waits for a man he is supposed to meet. Hitchcock intercuts sustained shots of Grant waiting and his subjective viewpoint. We see through his point of view as vehicles pass on the highway, a crop-dusting plane works in the distance, and a man comes up to the bus stop across the highway.

The suspense builds through long periods of silence as we wait, with Grant, for the metaphorical bomb to explode. When it does, and the crop-duster swoops down to attack, Hitchcock speeds his editing to build our suspense even further. “North by Northwest” also features Hitchcock’s characteristic plot device, the MacGuffin, an object of great concern to the film’s central character that motivates the plot. In North by Northwest, it is microfilm of sensitive government secrets hidden in an antique idol. Hitchcock doesn’t seem to care about resolving what happens to this much sought-after object; the spy game is primarily an excuse to explore the human relationships at the heart of the film.

Hitchcock and the Horror Genre

Today, Hitchcock is often thought of as a director of horror films. The influence of Psycho is far-reaching, and directors such as John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, and Brian de Palma — as well as countless second-rate talents who helmed derivative slasher films — all owe a great debt to Hitchcock. Filmmaker Gus Van Sant paid Hitchcock perhaps the ultimate tribute in 1998 when he directed and released a controversial, shot-by-shot remake of Psycho!

Hitchcock’s frequent exploration of the thin line between sanity and insanity paved a direct road to contemporary horror films. Film villains today are often psychopaths or sociopaths who seem to be — and sometimes think themselves — beyond morality; it was Hitchcock’s great skill that he never led audiences to believe them free of guilt.

Psycho led the way for graphic violence on the screen with the skillfully rendered violence of its shower and stairway murders. Following its lead, the fast-paced montage of violent images has become a staple of horror films, and of film violence in general. The action montages in Jaws (1975), The Godfather (1972), Starship Troopers (1997) or Rambo 4 (2008) are, at their best, examples of Pure Cinema. Too many directors and screenwriters miss the point, however. They believe startling images and lightning-quick editing will instill shock and terror in their audiences, whereas Hitchcock portrayed terror by laying bare the killer’s psyche.

Perhaps Hitchcock’s most important contribution to horror films was his frequent use of the subjective camera to reveal a character’s vision, as in Psycho when Norman Bates peeps through a hole at Marion, or when “Mother” slashes Marion in the shower.

Hitchcock’s Legacy

As a film innovator, Hitchcock showed us that diverse cinematic techniques could be transformed into a powerful storytelling language. Every montage in the movies or music videos reminds us how Hitchcock made frenetic editing mainstream.

His influence on major film genres, as well as on contemporary directors as diverse as Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palma, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino, is profound and lasting. But perhaps Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest legacy is his body of work. The films Hitchcock left behind will continue to challenge and entertain audiences all over the world for years to come.

The Films of Alfred HitchcockFamily Plot (1976), Frenzy (1972), Topaz (1969), Torn Curtain (1966), Marnie

(1964), The Birds (1963), Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959), Vertigo

(1958), Suspicion (1957), The Wrong Man (1956), The Man Who Knew Too

Much (1956), The Trouble with Harry (1955), To Catch a Thief (1955), Rear

Window (1954), Dial M for Murder (1954), I Confess (1953), Strangers on a

Train (1951), Stage Fright (1950), Under Capricorn (1949), Rope (1948), The

Paradine Case (1947), Notorious (1946), Spellbound (1945), Lifeboat (1944),

Bon Voyage (1944), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Saboteur (1942), Suspicion

(1941), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Rebecca

(1940), Jamaica Inn (1939), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Young and Innocent

(1937), Sabotage (1936), Secret Agent (1936), The 39 Steps (1935), The Man

Who Knew Too Much (1934), Waltzes from Vienna (1933), Number 17 (1932),

Rich and Strange (1931), The Skin Game (1931), Murder! (1930), Blackmail

(1929), The Manxman (1929), Easy Virtue (1928), The Farmer's Wife (1928),

Champagne (1928), Downhill (1927), The Ring (1927), The Lodger (1927)