Hitchcock is closely associated with the Thriller genre, his directing career began in the mid 1920s to 1976 he made 52 films in total. In 1939 Hitchcock got offered a contract by Hollywood which he accepted and from then on he spent most of his life based in America. Hitchcock cleverly publicized himself one of the ways he did this was he made a brief appearances in his films during the first few minutes. He also had his own TV show called ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents’ which he talked about his movies then he showed short films he had made. ‘Psycho’ was the most successful film Hitchcock made as it was a huge hit with the Box Office.
Known as the master of suspense; whose films came to be the benchmark for the ‘psychological thriller.’
“There is no terror in the bang only in the anticipation of it”
Based upon a childhood memory, there is the reoccurring theme throughout his films that feature an innocent man wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit, for example North by Northwest.
“If it’s a good movie the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what’s going on”
“Always make the audience suffer as much as possible”
“I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach”
“Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime and the accusation of an innocent bystander. Were the accused to contact the authorities, no doubt the case would be promptly solved but instead the poor bystander runs from the law thus further jeopardizing life and limb.” - Rick Altman
Examples; North by Northwest, Thirty-Nine Steps
“(in)... The Thirty-Nine steps... suspense films abandon both thrills and suspense when the falsely accused character finally reaches safety” – Rick Altman
