Sir Alfred Hitchcock Obsessed master of suspense

The life The style The conclusion The movies I’ve never said that actors are cattle. I said they should be treated as cattle !

The biography : early life Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born the 13 August 1899, in Leytonstone (London). He described his childhood has lonely and sheltered. His two parents ( William and Emma Hitchcock) were two zealous Roman Catholic and send Alfred to a Jesuits College, where Alfred feared religion and physical punition. Next Menu Another crucial moments of his childhood would be when he acted childishly, his father sent him to the police office, where polices locked him for 1 hour. This was the origin of Hitchcock police phobia. At 14, he lost his father and ran of his Jesuits school to the School of Engineering and Navigation. He also started to work in an electric cable company, where he made publicity. There, he became more and more interested in photography.

The biography : beginning in cinema and early succes Alfred first work in cinema industry was designing intertitles for silent movie. This is where he will get the way of drawing plan by plan a movie. In 1922, he will try to produce and realize his first movie, Number Thirteen, but the project was abandoned. After, he started to work as assistant in Michael Balcon company where he discovered tastes for techniques. During these years, he will be implicated in any aspect of a movie : costume, scenes, script, actors… This will give him a extremely perfectionism attitude. Next Menu He then worked at the German UFA as a scenarist and decorator. This experience was one of the most important in Hitchcock carrier. In 1925, he directed his first movie, The Pleasure Garden, who was a failure, but better would come. His first true movie is The Lodger, a thriller based on the novel Where is he ? of Marie Belloc-Lowdes. Succes is incredible and critical, never people has seen such thrilling movie. Then after, some less good movies will appear, to Blackmail, 1929, the last silent movie of Hitchcock, that made a little succes.

The biography : from London to Hollywood New talking movies from Hitchcock have great success, such The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935) and Young And Innocent (1937). With these movies, Hitchcock had acquired a great international reputation and already qualified of ‘‘the master of suspense’’. Next Menu With all this, Hitchcock is contacted by David O. Selznick to direct film for him. Start for Hitchcock his american era. The first american movie of Hitchcock is Rebecca, a terrifying drama, released in The movie has won an Oscar for best movie of the year. After, tensions will occur between Selznick and Hitchcock. He will do five movies with him and became a personnal producer in 1947.

The biography : Alfred Hitchcock Present On his solo career, Alfred Hitchcock produced two bad films : Rope and Under Capricorn. They have so much cost that Hitchcock had no choice and to get engage again. In 1955, he gave his name for a series named Alfred Hitchcock Present. 1 hour of show of a black tense with a cynical humor, where Hitchcock appears at the beginning and the end to talk to the public. Even if he didn’t really appreciate the job, this series has made Hitchcock famous through America, England and France, and had give a lot of money. The series was diffused from 1955 to 1962 and from 1985 to 1989 on the CBS and NBC chain. With show as Bang ! Your’re Dead !, For Closing In and The Glass Eye, this series won the Global Award of the best series. Why Hitchcock didn’t appreciate this lucrative job ? Because he only wrote 18 scenarios ! Menu Next

The biography : the best of the master and his decline During 1954 and 1963, Alfred Hitchcock will made his greatest masterpieces. Rear Window (1954),Vertigo (1958), North By Northwesr (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Menu It was only then that his age and physical disease started to slow him down. Besides Marnie (1964) and Frenzy (1972), all of his last movies lost some of they ambitions and power. 4 months before his death, in 1980, Hitchcock was named Knight Commander of The Order of The British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, but he never make it the ceremony alive. On his last days, Hitchcock was working on a spy movie, The Short Night. A book of the scenario has been published. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock died the 29 April 1980 at the age of 81, from an urinal complication.

The style : how he worked Next Menu Alfred Hitchcock was renowned for his perfectionism. He would write the scenario and the script in every detail, drawin plan by plan, and then, go directly to the filming. Although it was never written in the credits, his wife, Alma, helped him many times in most of his movie for writing the story. Except for the one hired for it, Hitchcock would not accept ideas from other. All of his movie could be noted for his personal influence on it.

The style : suspense Hitchcock preferred the use of suspense over surprise in his films. In surprise, the director assaults the viewer with frightening things. In suspense, the director tells or shows things to the audience which the characters in the film do not know, and then artfully builds tension around what will happen when the characters finally learn the truth. Next Menu

The style : spectators participating Next Menu One of Hitchcock tricks is to make the spectators inside the movie., often as voyeur, often as part of the plot. For example, in Psycho, the public hopes the murder wont forget to take the journal from the police : a proof against him. Hitchcock knows the public wants action, and he’s willing to make the spectators being part of it. To make the watchers part of the movie, even in ugly roles, that the power of Hitchcock.

The style : the MacGuffin Next Menu The MacGuffin is the term of an technique invented by Hitchcock with The 39 Steps. It is an event that starts the story and may seems to be important, yet, in the end, doesn’t influence the story. For example, in North By Northwest, the MacGuffin is unspecified secret informations that the main character must deliver to a man. Throughout the movie, the character will search the man to discover that he doesn’t exist, Interviewed on what is the MacGuffin, Hitchcock replied this story. "It might be a "It might be a Scottish name taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a McGuffin.' The first one asks 'What's a McGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no McGuffin!' So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all."

The style : dark woman and blonde Next Menu Alfred Hitchcock always gave to woman the most black role. In The Bird, Melanie is accused of black magic. In Vertigo, Judy is part of a murder. There is also the constancy of the oppressive mother on his son. In The Bird, where the mother fears to be abandoned by his boy. In Psycho, the murder of his mother brings Norman Blates to schizophrenia. This won’t stop Hitchcock to fall in love of every blonde actress he had ! This will turn in an obsession, throwing real birds to the actress Tippi Hedren when she refused his advances.

The style : recurring theme Menu One recurring theme of Hitchcock was ordinary people who lived extraordinary situation, as the family in The Bird. Another theme is mistaken identity, when people are believed to be someone else. For example, a prime example can be found in North By Northwest, when Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan, a non-existent government agent made up by the CIA. Also, there is the bumbling authorities. In nearly all the Hitchcock movie, police knows nothing or don’t have clues. This is due to Hitchcock fears of police. An unexplained obsession of Hitchcock was staircase. If stairways could create emotions, Hitchcock had the way to add perfectly useless staircase in all of his movie. Hitchcock always added in his movie brandy. “I’ll get you brandy’’ is a quote that can be hear in most of his film. Hitchcock has a nearly obsession of the number seven, wich was included everywhere.

The style : the cameo A cameo is the furtive passage of a celebrity in a movie. In all his american movies, Hitchcock appears in a silent cameo in the first 15 minutes; it’s a game to the spectators to find him. Next Menu Alfred in the 2th minute of The Bird, going out of a pet shop with his two fox-terrier.

The movies : The Bird Next Menu Melanie Daniels go the pet shop of Bogeda Bay and met Mitch Brenner, come to buy lovebirds to his sister. Mitch takes Melanie for a worker and then, go away. Melanie, impressed by the guy, intend to brought him the couple pf lovebirds. Unfortunately, wild birds in the area grow crazy and kill everyone. This movie, released in 1963, was a thriller added with a bit of terror. Extremely powerful emotionally, even today, the strong fear its create is in fact that all the bird were real ! It is considered as the best movie of Hitchcock, with Psycho and Vertigo. It is also very simple, in comparison of other Hitchcock production, and suitable for everyone. Definitely a must for all cinema fan.

Menu The movie : Psycho Next Marion and Sam are in love, but if financial situation of Sam dos not improve, they can’t marry. Desperate, Marion stole 40,000$ to her job and went to an hotel, before joining Sam. The hotel is held by Norman Blates and her mother, who shows some crazy tendency; she will kill Marion in the now-famous shower scene with the violin strings screeching. Norman, afraid, will cover the act by swallowing the car, the body and the 40,000$. But a detective come to investigate and the mother kill him also… This movie is extremely suspenseful and hard to your nerves. Going into more and more complicates schemes, plots and actions, you will fell like bursting when Sam and his sister arrives in the action. Using music, sounds, image and concepts to feel you the crep, this is definitely my favorite Hitchcock movie !

The movie : Filmography Silent movie The Lodger (1926) The Ring (1927) Easy Virtue (1927) Champagne (1928) The Farmer's Wife (1928) Manxman (1929) British movie Blackmail (1929) Juno and the Paycock (1930) Murder! (1930) Skin Game (1931) Rich and Strange (1932) Number 17 (1932) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) The 39 Steps (1935) Secret Agent (1936) Sabotage (1936) Young and Innocent (1937) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Jamaica Inn (1939) American movie Rebecca (1940)Marnie (1964) Foreign Correspondent (1940) Torn Curtain (1966) Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) Topaz (1969) Suspicion (1941) Frenzy (1972) Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Spellbound (1945) Lifeboat (1944) Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache (1944) Notorious (1946) The Paradine Case (1947) Rope (1948) Under Capricorn (1949 Stage Fright (1950) Strangers on a Train (1951) I Confess (1953) Dial M for Murder (1954) The Wrong Man (1956) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock (1960) The Birds (1963) 49 movies ! Menu

The conclusion : the contribution Alfred Hitchcock created a particular way of doing suspense movie. Although he explored a bit camera shots or luminosity, his captivating thrill come with his perfect mastery of the story, with the MacGuffin and suspense effect, using the spectators as a part of the movie. Hitchcock directed 49 movies (with 2 of them produced by himself) and wrote them. He also animed the show Alfred Hitchcock Presents and directed a series of novels. Next Menu Many producers are directly taking inspirations from Hitchcock, such Steven Spielberg in Munich. Hitchcock has introduced a so powerful way of making film, production who seems to have some of his techniques are called Hitchcockian.

The conclusion : quote ’’The duration of a film should be adapted to the endurance of the bladder.’’ ‘’I am a philanthropist: I give to people what they want. People adore being horrified, terrorized.’’ Next Menu

The conclusion : ovophobia Alfred Hitchcock had an extreme fear of eggs (also known as ovophobia), he said: I’m frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes … have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I’ve never tasted it. Next Menu

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The horrible question Who’s the most sexy of those two guys ?