Biographical reference to Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was born on 13th August, 1899 and died on 28th April 1980 from liver failure and heart problems. He studied at St. Ignatius College in London, School of Engineering and Navigation (mechanics, electricity, acoustics, navigation) and studied art at the University of London. 'The acknowledged master of the thriller genre he virtually invented', Hitchcock began his career in 1919 when he illustrated title cards for silent films at Paramount's Players-Lasky studio in London. In 1939 Alfred went to Hollywood and his first film was 'Rebecca', where he won an Academy Award for best picture. for the next 30 years Alfred usually made a film a year. In 1979 he won an AFI life's achievement award. A famous quote from Hitchcock '"Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs."


Hitchcock's films are usually centered around murder, his films are all full of deception, mistaken identities, and chase sequences. there are three main elements that make up Hitchcock's films, the first being an innocent man who is accused of a crime and has to track down the real guilty person to prove his innocence 'Examples of films having this theme include The Lodger, The Thirty-nine Steps, Saboteur, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, To Catch a Thief, The Wrong Man, North by Northwest,and Frenzy.' the second main element his films are made up of is of a guilty woman who enmeshes a male protagonist and ends up killing him or being saved by him, 'examples of this theme include Blackmail, Sabotage, Notorious, Rebecca, Vertigo, and Marnie.' the third element is when the murderer's identity is established during the coming together of the plot 'examples of this theme include Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, and Psycho.'

Hitchcock's greatest gift was his ability to build and maintain suspense, he used innovative camera viewpoints and movements, well developed editing techniques and effective music. He had a grasp on human psychology and was able to develop this into his films to create suspense and change the audiences frames of mind, he had great ability to develop his thrillers whilst maintaining their believability.