Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) English / American film Producer, Director

Introduction

English director Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was a renowned filmmaker. He is recognized as one of the most important personalities in the history of movies. He created over 50 films throughout his career, many of which are still hailed for cinematography and are widely watched.

Early life and career beginnings

Alfred Hitchcock was born on 13th August 1899 in London. He was brought up in the East End located in London. Despite having two brothers, he remembered his childhood as being lonely and having a strict disciplinarian father. Before enrolling in 1913-1914 to the London County Council School of Marine Engineering and Navigation, Hitchcock studied in St. Ignatius College. Before moving to the advertising department in 1918, he was employed in the sales division of W.T. Henley's Telegraph Works Company. Hitchcock enrolled at the University of London in 1916 to pursue drawing and design lessons after giving in to his artistic side.

He continued working at Islington until the company Famous Players shut down its British branch in 1922. Since then he worked as an art director, production designer, editor, assistant director, writer, and other roles on movies for indie filmmakers as he began to take on more responsibilities. The comedy Mrs. Peabody was Hitchcock's debut project as a filmmaker, but it was never finished due to a lack of money. Always Inform Your Wife (1923), although he did not earn credit, was his first film to be released.

In 1926, he married Alma Reville who is a screenwriter. The couple had a daughter whose name is Patricia Alma Hitchcock. His wife co-authored many of his films. He died on 29 April 1980.

Directorial Style and Innovation

The main themes of Hitchcock's movies are typically murder or espionage, with pursuit scenes, deception, and mistaken identities and complicated narratives in addition with humour. Throughout Hitchcock's movies, there are mainly three basic themes.

• The most frequent scenario is that of the innocent man who must search for the genuine offender in order to clear his name after being wrongly suspected or charged of a crime.

• The second theme concerns a guilty lady who becomes involved with a male protagonist and either destroys him or is saved by him in the end.

• The third theme is where the identity of a murderer is established as the film progresses.

The ability to master the technical techniques needed to create and sustain tension was Hitchcock's greatest talent. In order to do this, he employed creative camera angles and motions, intricate editing strategies, and impactful soundtrack music, frequently provided in his best films by Bernard Herrmann. Beside this, some of his filmmaking techniques include:

• One of the more intriguing methods for building suspense in Hitchcock’s movies was using female leads. His female leads were lively and action-oriented, which helped in generating tension.

• Subjectivity was frequently used by Hitchcock for creating suspense. His characters were made to stare at a dangerous situation with a helpless attitude of being incapable of preventing it. This is the "Kuleshov Effect".

• He also used the technique of MacGuffin which is the use of a person or object to keep moving the plot for the purpose of storytelling. This object or person may not be an important part of the story of the film.

Major films and Critical Receptions

Some of the major films of Alfred Hitchcock are Blackmail (1929), The 39 Steps (1935). The Lady Vanishes (1938) of the 20th century is one of the greatest ranked movies in Britain. After he moved to hollywood he produced a range of hit movies like ‘Rebecca’ and ‘Foreign Correspondent’ (1940), Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Among these the Academy Awards for Best Picture was won by ‘Rebecca’. It was also during this award that he was nominated as the Best Director.

Some of his other greatest films are ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954), ‘Strangers on a Train’ (1951), ‘Vertigo’ (1958), ‘North by Northwest’ (1959).

Legacy and Influence on Cinema

Hitchcock received two stars for his work in motion movies and television when he was welcomed into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8th, 1960. He was awarded the most influential director of all time by MovieMaker in 2002, and he was named the best director in Britain by The Daily Telegraph reviewers in 2007. The Sight & Sound Critics' Poll's 1992 ranking of the "Best 10 Directors" of all time rated Hitchcock at No. 4 on the list. In addition to the first BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979, he received two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards, and five lifetime achievement awards.

Conclusion

Hitchcock and his contributions to films are precious to the history of cinema. He received five nominations for the Best Director Academy Award. Among his filmmaking approaches one approach was to inform the audience of the looming danger that the characters in the film are about to face. This way his art to create suspense, mystery and thrill with a glow of comedy marked his legacy and inspired many genres of filmmaking.

FAQs

Q1 Who is hailed as a ‘Master of Suspense’?

Ans. Alfred Hitchcock is hailed as a ‘Master of Suspense’. He is regarded as one of the finest directors due to his cinematographic ideas and contributions.

Q2 What were the first films of Alfred Hitchcock?

Ans. The comedy movie, Mrs. Peabody (1922; sometimes known as Number 13), was Hitchcock's debut as a filmmaker, but was never finished due to a lack of funds. Always Inform Your Wife (1923), a movie he co-directed with Seymour Hicks was released but did not give him any credit.

Q3 Which is the first successful film of Alfred Hitchcock?

Ans. The first successful film that gave recognition to Alfred Hitchcock was “The Lodger: A story of the London Fog” of 1927. This movie is classified as a thriller or a mystery movie.