Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is among the few directors to combine a strong

reputation for high-art film-making with great audience popularity. Throughout

his career he gave his audiences more pleasure than could be asked for. The

consistency of quality plot-lines and technical ingenuity earned him the

recognition of being one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His films

earned him the reputation of being the "master of suspense", and after viewing

two of his more popular films, Psycho and The Birds, it is evident why. There

is a distinction between surprise, which lasts only a few seconds, and suspense

which captivates one's attention the entire length of a film. This is something

that Hitchcock realized early on, and applied into his movies. He is one of the

few directors whose name on a marquee is as important, if not more so, than any

actor who appears in the film itself. Both his style of directing, and that of

the movies that he has directed are very unique, making him stand out in the

film industry. He pioneered the art of cinematography and special effects,

which along with his cameos, are what he is most often associated with.

Hitchcock led a long and prosperous life in the movie industry, starting as a

teenager and making movies up until his death in 1980, while working on the 54th

of his career (Sterrit 3).

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1889 in London, England.

As a child his parents were very strict with him and they imposed severe and

unusual punishments upon him, as what they considered to be discipline. One of

these incidents scarred him for life. As punishment for arriving home late one

night, young Alfred's father had a policeman friend lock the boy up in a cell

for five minutes, "in order to teach him where naughty little boys who come home

after 9 o'clock would eventually end up." (Phillips 27). Throughout his career

he used the innocent man being arrested and imprisoned in his films, and claimed

that forever after he had a fear of the police (Spoto 16). Fear was also a big

part of his childhood, which later was evident in many of his movies. "Fear? It

has influenced my life and my career." (18) explains Hitchcock, he also had a

fear of being alone and of darkness which once again appeared in many of his

movies. "...fear you see is an emotion that people like to feel when they know

they are safe." (39).