Films of Alfred Hitchcock
5 Episodes
Born in London on August 13, 1899, Alfred Hitchcock worked for a short time in engineering before entering the film industry in 1920 designing title cards for silent films. Within a few years, he was working as an assistant director. In 1925, Hitchcock directed his first film and began making the "thrillers" for which he became known the world over. His 1929 film BLACKMAIL is said to be the first British "talkie." In the 1930s, he directed such classic suspense films as THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934) and THE 39 STEPS (1935). After making JAMAICA INN (1939), Hitchcock left England for Hollywood. The first film he made there, REBECCA (1940), won an Academy Award for best picture. He would go on to direct SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), NOTORIOUS (1946), REAR WINDOW (1954), VERTIGO (1958), NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), PSYCHO (1960) and THE BIRDS (1963). His cameo appearances in his own films, as well as his interviews, film trailers and the television program ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS (1955-65), made him a cultural icon. Nicknamed the "Master of Suspense," Hitchcock received the AFI's Life Achievement Award in 1979. He died in 1980.
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1:15:22Episode 1
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Episode 1
This 1934 vintage suspense thriller was Alfred Hitchcock’s biggest British success and, although it was remade by Hitchcock in 1955, this remains the definitive version. The story concerns a British couple and their daughter traveling in Switzerland where they witness the murder of a Frenchman (P...
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1:26:22Episode 2
The 39 Steps
Episode 2
In Alfred Hitchcock’s brilliant spy thriller, Richard Hannay has a knack for ending up with beautiful women. The first one asks him if she can come up to his apartment. It turns out she is a British secret agent being hunted by international agents working for a villainous man described only as h...
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Sabotage
Episode 3
Based on Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent and starring Oscar Homolka and Sylvia Sidney, Sabotage is one of Hitchcock's most significant pre-war British films. Karl Verloc (Homolka), manager of a London cinema, is secretly involved with a gang of European saboteurs who are plotting a massive bomb...
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1:35:14Episode 4
The Lady Vanishes
Episode 4
In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood, traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty), who then seems to disappear into thin air. The younger woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a compl...
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1:39:13Episode 5
Jamaica Inn
Episode 5
Adapted from the Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca, The Birds) novel of the same name, Jamaica Inn was the last British film that Alfred Hitchcock directed before heading to Hollywood. An often overlooked gem from the master of suspense, its story of cutthroats luring ships to be wrecked and then robbed...