Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was an English / American film director who pioneered cinematic developments in the production of several classic films, especially of the thriller genre. Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest and most influential film producers of the Twentieth Century. Some of his most famous films include: 39 Steps (1935), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo(1958), and Psycho (1960)

“In the documentary the basic material has been created by God, whereas in the fiction film the director is a God; he must create life.”

– Alfred Hitchcock – as quoted in Hitchcock (1984)

Early life of Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was born 13 August, 1899 in Leytonstone, Essex, England where he studied at the Roman Catholic Salesian College and later St Ignatius College. His childhood was not particularly happy. He suffered from obesity, a result of a glandular condition and his parents were strict and somewhat remote. When he was just five, his father sent him to a police station with a note that he should be locked up for 5 minutes. This left him with a life-long fear of authority and the police in particular. During his childhood, the young Alfred would often spend time by himself, inventing games and spending time drawing maps.

Aged 15, he left college to study at the London County Council school of Engineering and Navigation; this qualified him to be a draftsmen. He gained his first job with a Telegraph company, but it was around this time he developed a burgeoning interest in the cinema, which was a recent innovation. In the evening, he watched many films and studied the cinema trade newspapers

Towards the end of the First World War, he attempted to join the army, but was rejected because of his weight, though he did later manage to sign up for a brief time as a cadet in the Royal Engineers.

First steps in film direction

After the war, he began writing short stories, which were published in his companies in-house magazine. Hitchcock also developed an interest in photography and the new art of film production. He gained employment in 1920 as a title card designer for a company which would later be known as Paramount Pictures. He progressed through the company and within five years was producing silent films. He later said silent films were the ‘purest form of cinema’

In the mid 1920s, he travelled to Germany where he picked up many of the emerging ‘expressionist’ techniques used in modern film making. After a few difficult early films, he gained his first commercial and critical success with The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog(1927)

By 1929, he had produced 10 films, and his 10th film ‘Blackmail’ was a significant moment because it was one of the first ‘talkers’ – films with an audio track.

Success in the 1930s

By the mid 1930s, Hitchcock was establishing his reputation as one of the leading film producers in Britain. Several films proved a great success, such as 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936) andThe Lady Vanishes (1938). Hitchcock proved a master at creating tension and a fast moving plot line; he didn’t tie down the audience in detail, but created scenes of dramatic tension. Hitchcock pioneered the use of famous backdrops, either famous landmarks in a city, or the wilderness of the Scottish moors 39 Steps(1935). Later in his career, he used many famous landmarks such as Mt Rushmore (North by Northwest (1959)) and the Statue of Liberty – Saboteur. (1942)

Move to America

Hitchcock’s critical success in England, led him to being approached by David Selznick from Hollywood. In 1939, the Hitchcock family moved to California, where he began working on a new film. His first film Rebecca (1940) received an Oscar for Best Picture. Hitchcock was not particularly enamoured of America, but he did enjoy the greater resources enjoyed by American studios, it was an improvement on the small budgets of the English film producers.

Towards the end of the Second World War (1943), he returned to England, where he produced two films in French, for the Free French forces. In 1945, he also served as film editor for a documentary about the concentration camps liberated by the British forces (Bergen-Belsen). However, the images were so shocking, it was later shelved until being published in 1985 (Memory of the Camps); it was also re-released in 2014.

After the war, Hitchcock returned to America, where he resumed his long and successful American film career. In particular, he enjoyed developing his talents in creating psychologically intriguing films.

More and source: http://www.biographyonline.net/actors/alfred-hitchcock.html