Alfred Hitchcock's Life And Suspense Films

Alfred Hitchcock was a very famous film director who also made very good movies. He filmed famous movies like The Birds (1963), Saboteur (1942), and of course, Psycho (1960). He starred in his movies as cameos most of the time, and for the rest he just helped direct. His movie Psycho revolutionized a lot of horror/thriller movies today, as it brought in new ideas and innovative thoughts. He was born August 13th, 1899 and died April 29th, 1980.

Alfred Hitchcock was a successful English film director and producer. He was often known as “the master of suspense.” He filmed psychological thrillers, one of these thrillers include “Rear window” which in mostly all of his films, he portrays women to look and act a certain way. Two significant themes portrayed throughout this film include marriage and the gender roles within the film.

This paper will discuss the motif of the double in Strangers on a Train. While the double is a recurring motif in Hitchcock’s work that he routinely employs in order to explore questions of moral responsibility, identity, and guilt, it receives its most overt and thorough treatment in Strangers on a Train. Studies of the film have consistently understood Bruno as a stand in for Guy’s unspoken desire, the chaos held at bay by societal order - Guy does indeed want to ‘get rid of’ his wife, but he transfers this responsibility (and associated guilt) to Bruno (Walker; Wood; Dellolio; Truffaut). As Walker notes, in Hitchcock’s films, the double most often serves as an ‘alter ego’ that enacts the repressed/disavowed/unpermitted desires of another character. Indeed, as Walker points out, There is little ambiguity that this is precisely what Hitchcock meant to communicate in the film, as he has formally stated this in correspondence with Francois Truffaut:

In this era of movies and stories we have better graphics and word choice to make the stories more scary. Unlike now they did not have this in 1963 and 1843. But still the people who made it feel like it was a modern day story was Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock. One way they created suspense was by using foreshadowing to give a hint of what's coming next. Another way they created suspense is by using different wording than we would use than modern talking slang/wording. Lastly, they use onamonapias to create the story or film more scary and suspenseful.

Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the "master of suspense", most notably in one of his cinemas, "Psycho".Hitchcock used a variety of sensory details, to shock moreover frighten his audience.Three sensory details that he used, is when we notice a cop following Marion, we see that Norman is stalking Marion, and when a shadowy figure shows up while Marion is taking a shower.

To the unknown eye, Hitchcock has carefully and skillfully used Mise-en-scene to his advantage, causing the audience to feel fear and a sense of caution towards the character of Norman Bates. It isn’t until we reflect back on the scene and notice how intelligently Hitchcock uses the positioning of props and the characters, lighting, camera angle and staging, that we notice how he has added meaning to his characters but has also to the film, creating suspense and fear from one scene to the end of the film. Ultimately proving the point that Hitchcock “the master of suspense” uses Mise-en-scene to not only help make a brilliant film but also uses it as his disposal to add meaning in his

Alfred Hitchcocks powerful and complex psychological thriller, horror film “Psycho” (1960) was classes as the first sub genre of horror, the slasher. The film ushered in the era of slashes with graphic content of blood-letting and shocking killings of the time. Although this was Hitchcock’s first horror film, he was labelled as a horror film director ever since. The film contains disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation. These themes symbolise the effects of money, oedipal murder and the dark histories. These were explored by the use of the motifs of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors (Filmsite.org, n.d.).

When mention about suspense, “Hitchcock” must be the first word appears out in the mind. Alfred Hitchcock produced plenty of films which are suspense and thrilling. In his filmography, Spellbound and Rope were produced in a bit earlier stage. Spellbound is the first batch of film using the topic of Psychoanalysis. Rope is the first experiment film made by Hitchcock. Even though, these two films produce early before the well-known film such as Psycho and Vertigo in his filmography. Hitchcock was successful in creating suspense and mystery in these two films as using rusty technique and editing.

Hollywood has always done a terrible job of depicting real women in film, and although his work has a somewhat misogynistic reputation, Alfred Hitchcock has done so much involving the progression of female roles in Hollywood cinema. Although many of his female victims wind up dead, the survivors have lots of power – and without reliance on their male counterparts. Women remain the central focus in many of Hitchcock’s films, not just because of their beauty, but because the narrative is dependent on them.

Shadow of a Doubt, a 1943 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, begins with Uncle Charlie lying on his bed in deep thought. The landlady informs Charlie that the two men waiting at the corner were waiting for him, and Charlie quickly gathers his items and flees. The two men follow him around corners and past alleyways. Once Charlie is sure he has lost them, he stops at a pay phone booth and sends a telegram to his sister in Santa Rosa, California, telling her that he will visit in a couple of days. In Santa Rosa, Charlotte, who also goes by Charlie, is lying in bed complaining to her father. Once the family learns that Charlie is coming for a visit, they are all beaming with excitement, especially Charlotte. The family picks

One of the greatest director ever to live is an independent filmmaker. Spike Lee work in film have revolutionized the industry of filmmaking and independent filmmaker. Spike Lee films were not just revolutionary, they were healing in a way. Spike lee movies spark a generation of black and brown filmmaker. He is just one of the few black filmmakers, who was able to open up a new opportunity for black and brown people in the filmmaking industry. He also opened up opportunities for black artist in the independent film industry. He showed that a low budget film can make money as long as it has a great story. He also showed that a black film could be a profitable film in the filmmaking industry. Here the story of one of the best Independent filmmaker

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense. In 2018, reviews of films often are headlined with “the book was better.” But, in 1960 there was no such thing

The film opens on a small boy, Arnie (Jerry Mathers), playing in the Vermont hillside on a splendid autumn day. He comes on the dead body of a man happens to be one of Harry Worp (Philip Treux). The entire story revolves around the dead body which is buried, then taken out and reburied, till it becomes convinced that Harry died a natural death. Parisian audiences and critics appreciated the first release there, but British and American viewers reacted coldly to this visually beautiful but static and finally unsettling little movie. Hitchcock himself says “The Trouble with Harry is an approach to a strictly British genre, the humour of the macabre. I made that picture to prove that the American public could appreciate British humour”(qtd

Hitchcock utilizes sound, camera work, MacGuffins, and plot twists to tell the storylines of the movies.

He has always been the shadowy figure or the familiar face in the background of one of his films. He has masked himself behind routines and monotone expressions. He also refused to disclose information about his personal life with the public. The intimate parts of his life, however, are on display for the public in the form of motion pictures. In his films, Hitchcock expresses his unspoken desires, frustrations, and relationship problems. The films, Vertigo and The Birds reflect elements from Hitchcock’s private and inner thought life.