Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) was an English director and filmmaker. Popularly known as the "Master of Suspense" for his use of innovative film techniques in thrillers, Hitchcock started his career in the British film industry as a title designer and art director for a number of silent films during the early 1920s. His directorial debut was the 1925 release The Pleasure Garden. Hitchcock followed this with The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, his first commercial and critical success. It featured many of the thematic elements his films would be known for, such as an innocent man on the run. It also featured the first of his famous cameo appearances. Two years later he directed Blackmail (1929) which was his first sound film. In 1935, Hitchcock directed The 39 Steps; three years later, he directed The Lady Vanishes, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.
In 1940, Hitchcock transitioned to Hollywood productions, the first of which was the psychological thriller Rebecca, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. He received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director, and the film won Best Picture. Hitchcock worked with Fontaine again the following year on the film Suspicion, which also starred Cary Grant. In 1943, Hitchcock directed another psychological thriller Shadow of a Doubt, which starred Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Three years later, he reunited with Grant on Notorious, which also starred Ingrid Bergman. The film included a three-minute intermittent kissing scene between the leads shot specifically to skirt the Motion Picture Production Code which at the time limited such scenes to three seconds. In 1948, Hitchcock directed Rope, which starred James Stewart. The film was his first in Technicolor and is remembered for its use of long takes to make the film appear to be a single continuous shot. Three years later, he directed Strangers on a Train (1951).
Hitchcock collaborated with Grace Kelly on three films: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). For Rear Window, Hitchcock received a nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards. 1955 marked his debut on television as the host of the anthology television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which he also produced. In 1958, Hitchcock directed the psychological thriller Vertigo, starring Stewart and Kim Novak. The film topped the 2012 poll of the British film magazine Sight & Sound of the 50 Greatest Films of All Time and also topped the American Film Institute's Top Ten in the mystery genre. He followed this with the spy thriller North by Northwest (1959), which starred Grant and Eva Marie Saint. In 1960, he directed Psycho, the biggest commercial success of his career and for which he received his fifth nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards. Three years later, he directed the horror film The Birds, starring Tippi Hedren. The following year, he reunited with Hedren on Marnie, which also starred Sean Connery.
In recognition of his career, Hitchcock garnered the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Fellowship Award, the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Directors Guild of America's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. He received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to acknowledge his film and television achievements. In 1980, Hitchcock received a knighthood.
Film As director Year Title Credited as NotesDirectorProducer Writer1922Number 13Lost filmUnfinished1925German title: Irrgarten der Leidenschaft (Maze of Passion)1926Lost filmGerman title: Der Bergadler1927American title: The Case of Jonathan DrewScreenplay writerDownhillAmerican title: When Boys Leave Home1928Easy VirtueChampagneScreenplay co-writer1929BlackmailReleased in both silent and sound versions1930Short filmLost filmJuno and the PaycockScreenplay co-writerMurder!Screenplay co-writer1931Screenplay co-writerMaryGerman-language version of Murder! filmed with German actorsRich and StrangeAmerican title: East of ShanghaiScreenplay co-writer1932Number SeventeenScreenplay co-writer1934Waltzes from ViennaAmerican title: Strauss' Great Waltz/ The Strauss Waltz19351936Secret AgentSabotageAmerican title: The Woman Alone1937Young and InnocentAmerican title: The Girl Was Young19381939Jamaica Inn1940RebeccaForeign Correspondent1941Mr. & Mrs. SmithSuspicion1942Saboteur1943Shadow of a Doubt1944LifeboatUnited States propaganda short1945Spellbound1946Notorious19471948RopeCo-producer1949Under CapricornCo-producer1950Stage Fright1951Strangers on a Train1953I Confess1954Dial M for MurderFilmed in 3DRear Window1955To Catch a Thief1956Remake of Hitchcock's 1934 movie of the same name1958Vertigo1959North by Northwest1960Psycho19631964Marnie1966Torn Curtain1969Topaz1972Frenzy1976Family Plot1993Bon VoyageFrench-language propaganda shortFilmed in 1944 but only released in 1993Aventure MalgacheFrench-language propaganda shortFilmed in 1944 but only released in 1993
Other work Year TitleCredited as NotesProducer Writer Other1920Title designerShort filmLost film1921Title designerShort filmLost filmAppearancesTitle designerLost filmTitle designerLost filmTitle designerLost filmDangerous LiesTitle designerLost filmTitle designerLost film1922Three Live GhostsArt director, and title designerLove's BoomerangTitle designerLost filmArt director, and title designerLost filmArt director, and title designerTell Your ChildrenArt director, and title designerLost film1923Always Tell Your WifeCo-director (uncredited), and production managerShort filmPartially lost filmWoman to WomanAssistant director, screenplay co-writer, and art directorLost filmUS title: White ShadowsAssistant director, screenplay co-writer, and art directorPartially lost film1924Assistant director, screenplay co-writer, and art director1925German title: Die Prinzessin und der Geiger (The Princess and the Violinist)Assistant director, screenplay writer, and art directorUS title: Dangerous VirtueAssistant director, screenplay writer, and art directorPartially lost film1930Elstree CallingSketches, and other interpolated items1932Lord Camber's Ladies2014German Concentration Camps Factual SurveyTreatment advisorDocumentaryFilmed in 1945 but only released in 2014
Television Year(s)TitleRole Notes 1955–1962Alfred Hitchcock PresentsHost17 episodes 1957Suspicion—Episode: "Four O'Clock" 1960Startime—Episode: "Incident at a Corner" Only television show directed by Hitchcock in colour1962Alcoa Premiere—Episode: "The Jail" 1962–1965The Alfred Hitchcock HourHostEpisode: "I Saw The Whole Thing"
See also Alfred Hitchcock's unrealized projects List of awards and nominations received by Alfred Hitchcock Remakes of films by Alfred Hitchcock
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