Alfred Hitchcock Caricature

Alfred Hitchcock Caricature, illustrated here in Cambridge, May 1966 age 67.

Hitchcock was an English film director and producer. He is one of the most influential and extensively studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.

Known as “the Master of Suspense”, he directed over 50 feature films in a career spanning six decades, becoming as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing of the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1965). His films garnered a total of 46 Oscar nominations and six wins.

Born in Leytonstone, Essex, Hitchcock entered the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer after training as a technical clerk and copy writer for a telegraph-cable company. He made his directorial debut with the silent film The Pleasure Garden (1925).
His 1929 film, Blackmail, was the first British “talkie”. Two of his 1930s thrillers, The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938), are ranked among the greatest British films of the 20th century.

By 1939 Hitchcock was a filmmaker of international importance, and film producer David O. Selznick persuaded him to move to Hollywood. A string of successful films followed, including Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943)(His favorite), and Notorious (1946). Rebecca won the Academy Award for Best Picture, although Hitchcock himself was only nominated as Best Director; he was also nominated for Lifeboat (1944) and Spellbound (1945), although he never won the Best Director Academy Award.

The “Hitchcockian” style includes the use of camera movement to mimic a person’s gaze, thereby turning viewers into voyeurs, and framing shots to maximise anxiety and fear.

Hitchcock approached John Steinbeck with an idea for a film, which recorded the experiences of the survivors of a German U-boat attack. Steinbeck then began work on the script which would become the film Lifeboat (1944).

By 1960 Hitchcock had directed films often ranked among the greatest of all time: Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M For Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch A Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960) with the Rear Window and Psycho garnering him Best Director nominations.

In 1955 Hitchcock became a United States citizen. From 1955 to 1965, Hitchcock was the host of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. With his droll delivery, gallows humour and iconic image, the series made Hitchcock a celebrity.

In Vertigo, the first time it was ever used, the film contains a camera technique developed by Irmin Roberts, commonly referred to as a dolly zoom, that has been copied many times by filmmakers.

Following Vertigo, he made three more successful films, which are also recognized as among his best: North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).

Failing health reduced Hitchcock’s output during the last two decades of his life. Movies like Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969) and Frenzy (1972). Family Plot (1976) was Hitchcock’s last film.

Hitchcock was knighted by the British Crown in December of 1979. He died of kidney failure, age 80 on April 29, 1980 in his Bel Air home.
Hitchcock was survived by his wife and daughter. His body was cremated and his remains were scattered over the Pacific Ocean on May 10, 1980.