ALFRED HITCHCOCK was born in London in 1899, and came to America in 1940 to make his mark as a film director. He became one of the most renowned and emulated directors of horror and suspense film. Many of his films are still considered classics, such as "The Birds," "Psycho," "Rear Window," and "North by Northwest," and they starred some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Grace Kelley. Hitchcock also created many film techniques, but he is probably most famous...
"MacGuffin (n.) 1. In a film, a plot device whose sole purpose is to set the action in motion, such as a suitcase with unknown contents. Often, the MacGuffin turns out to be a decoy, causing men to make fools of themselves in pursuit of futile ends. Word origin: Coined by Alfred Hitchcock, 1939" (Enders). Hitchcock's directing created suspense that often left the audience wondering until the very last minute, as in "Psycho," when Anthony Perkins beholds his dead mother's skeleton in the last scene. Like a good mystery book the reader cannot put down, the films draw the viewer inside,…
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most well-known and respected names in British and American cinema. From his initial foray into cinema during the silent era and transitioning to sound cinema before heading to the United States to work in Hollywood, Hitchcock's influences can be traced to three distinct cinema and film styles and periods: German Expressionism, Soviet Constructivism, and Griersonian Documentary Realism. The combination of these three styles and
This ties closely with Hitchcock's belief that "dialogue means nothing" in and of itself. He explains, "People don't always express their inner thoughts to one another, a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person thinks or needs." Thus the focus of a scene within his movies never focuses on what actors say, but rather on what they are doing. Unlike a painter,
According to Francois Truffaut, "Hitchcock is universally acknowledged to be the world's foremost technician, even his detractors willingly concede him this title," and other critics state, "Hitchcock is one of the greatest inventors of form in the entire cinema," while still others assert that "his films remain central to questions of cinematic practice and critical theory" (Kirshner). Psycho was one Hitchcock's favorite films, because he derived his main satisfaction from
Among these were women's inaccessibility to birth control and proper information about their own sexuality, the lack of knowledge about which caused many women to suffer health and social problems. It is not only the overtly sexual scenes that show parts of a woman's body like the famous shower scene in Psycho or the depiction of sexual tension in L.B. Jeffries' room in Rear Window, therefore, that suggest Hitchcock's progressive
During the broadcasting of Psycho, Hitchcock asked for the doors to the cinema to be closed for those that wanted to enter. Psycho is a motion picture that had surely intimidated its audience. From the very start of movie, the viewers feel that they are being presented with a distorted image of an ordinary lunch. Marion and Sam have sex in their hotel room instead of finishing their food. This
Hitchcock even placed the camera behind the wheel of Scottie's car as he followed Madeleine around the city. In addition, Hitchcock uses the first-person technique to put the audience in the right mind frame of a suspense thriller. "Vertigo" ends in one of Hitchcock's most shocking, abrupt, and negative scenes. From Scottie's viewpoint: Madeleine! INT. CHURCH, SAN JUAN BAUTISTA -- DAY Scottie runs in, stops at the foot of the steps, hears
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