Yet the plot about an innocent man caught in a web of intrigue has hair-raising suspense, romantic and comic relief that heighten tension. A huge hit in both Britain and the USA, Hitch later remade it in America in 1956.Īn even bigger success than the previous movie, Hitchcock told Francois Truffant in a book-length interview that starting with this movie, he was more concerned with building emotion and mood than with plausibility and logical story progression. This was Peter Lorre's first Hitchcock film. Audiences were introduced to Hitchcockian themes of sudden shock and sinister jeopardy lurking beneath the surface of commonplace serenity. That all changed in 1934.Ī British couple in Switzerland become involved in international intrigue ending with the rescue of their own daughter. Hitchcock's next few films were forgetable, including a low-budget musical (Waltzes From Vienna/Strauss's Great Waltz). Phyllis Konstam, Norah Baring, Edward Chapman. Murder! (1930)Īn actor (Herbert Marshall) on jury duty tries to prove a condemned woman innocent of murder. Hitch would put similar chase scenes in future films. Special effects included the Schufftan Process for a chase scene through halls and across rooftops. As with America's first sound movie (The Jazz Singer), it began as a silent film, then scenes had to be redone when the decision was made to use sound. The Lodger was remade in 1932 & 1944, then by Hitchcock himself as an American movie in 1954 as "Man In The Attic."Īfter a string of mostly forgotten silent films, this was not only Hitch's first sound movie, it was also Britain's first. It was also the first film in which Hitchcock made a cameo (as a corpse there weren't enough bodies for the scene). The success of "The Lodger" firmly established Hitchcock's theme of a man accused of a crime he didn't commit, in a web of extraordinary events. Drew is an innocent man, but finds himself running from a bloodthirsty mob convinced that he's a killer. Drew, one of the people in her roominghouse, is actually Jack The Ripper. But it was his third film as director that both Hitchcock and his fans consider the first true Hitchcock film, "The Lodger" (1926), aka "The Case Of Johnathan Drew" (US title). He was assigned "The Pleasure Garden" as director in 1925, a forgetable melodrama. In 1922 the studio changed hands and Hitchcock began working as assistant director, art director and screenwriter on various productions. In 1920 he began designing titles for the London branch of Lasky (Paramount Studios), and showed an interest in directing. He once commented that in a free society a policeman is the only person who can say "Come here," and you have to go.Īt age 19 he went to work for a telegraph company as an electric cable tech estimator while taking art classes at the university of London. Whether the father's motives were good or a practical joke gone wrong, it left Hitchcock with a life-long fear of authority which would become a hallmark of Hitchcock movies. He had a policeman friend put young Alfred in jail overnight, saying this was the punishment for bad grades. At a young age, he got a bad report card and his father decided to teach him a lesson. "Witness a murder and catch the killer, watch a blackmailing ring unfold, get inside a secret agency that controls all the governments in the world and the evil agents who work there, a mysterious kidnapping results in a mystery not even the greatest minds can solve, but can a small child?"Īlfred Hitchcock was born in London 8-13-99 (died 1980). Hitchcock, also a tv series host and subject of books. This is devoted to the great movie director Alfred Intro from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: More Stories Not For The Nervous * Big, strong men who would be embarrassed to have their wives see them hiding beneath the bedcovers.Īnyone else who might be offended by Alfred Hitchcock's special brand of menace, murder and un-innocent merriment. * Impressionable children who go into hysterics at the sight of a dead ant (or aunt). * Sheltered little old ladies who believe all stories must have a happy ending and crime should never pay Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock TV and movie page
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