Alfred Hitchcock “Hitchcock” redirects here. For other uses, see Hitchcock 1 Early life (disambiguation). Born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone (then part of Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 Essex, now part of London), England, Hitchcock was the – 29 April 1980)[2] was an English film director second son and the youngest of three children of William and producer.[3] Often nicknamed “The Master of Hitchcock (1862–1914), a greengrocer and poulterer, Suspense”,[4] he pioneered many techniques in the and Emma Jane Hitchcock (née Whelan; 1863–1942). suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a suc- Named Alfred after his father’s brother, Hitchcock was cessful career in British cinema in both silent films and brought up as a Roman Catholic and was sent to Salesian early talkies, renowned as England’s best director, Hitch- College[14] and the Jesuit Classic school St Ignatius’ Col- cock moved to Hollywood in 1939[5] and became a US lege in Stamford Hill, London.[15][16] His parents were citizen in 1955. both of half-English and half-Irish ancestry.[17][18] He of- Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitch- ten described a lonely and sheltered childhood worsened cock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognis- by his obesity.[19] able directorial style.[6] He pioneered the use of a cam- Around age five, according to Hitchcock, he was sent by era made to move in a way that mimics a person’s gaze, his father to the local police station with a note asking forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism.[7] He the officer to lock him away for five minutes as punish- framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and ment for behaving badly.[20][21] This incident not only im- used innovative film editing.[7] His stories often feature planted a lifetime fear of policemen in Hitchcock, but fugitives on the run from the law alongside “icy blonde” such harsh treatment and wrongful accusations would be female characters.[8][9] Many of Hitchcock’s films have found frequently throughout his films.[22] twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of vi- olence, murder, and crime. Many of the mysteries, how- When Hitchcock was 15, his father died. In the same ever, are used as decoys or "MacGuffins" that serve the year, he left St. Ignatius to study at the London film’s themes and the psychological examinations of the County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in characters. Hitchcock’s films also borrow many themes Poplar, London.[23] After leaving, he became a draftsman from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual overtones. and advertising designer with a cable company called Through his cameo appearances in his own films, inter- Henley’s.[24] During the First World War, Hitchcock was views, film trailers, and the television program Alfred rejected for military service because of his obesity. Nev- Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon. ertheless, the young man signed up to a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers in 1917. His military stint was Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a ca- limited: he received theoretical briefings, weekend drills reer spanning six decades. Often regarded as the great- and exercises. Hitchcock would march around London’s est British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of Hyde Park and was required to wear puttees, the proper film critics in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, which said: “Un- wrapping of which he could never master.[25] questionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape While working at Henley’s, Hitchcock began to dabble modern cinema, which would be utterly different without creatively. After the company’s in-house publication, The him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding cru- Henley Telegraph, was founded in 1919, he often submit- cial information (from his characters and from viewers) ted short articles and eventually became one of its most and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one prolific contributors. His first piece was “Gas” (1919), else.”[10][11] The magazine MovieMaker has described published in the first issue, in which a young woman imag- him as the most influential filmmaker of all time,[12] and ines that she is being assaulted one night in Paris – only he is widely regarded as one of cinema’s most significant for the twist to reveal that it was all just a hallucination in artists.[13] the dentist’s chair, induced by the anaesthetic. Hitchcock’s second piece was “The Woman’s Part” (1919), which involves the conflicted emotions a hus- band feels as he watches his wife, an actress, perform onstage.[26] “Sordid” (1920) surrounds an attempt to buy a sword from an antiques dealer, with another twist end- 1 2 2 INTER-WAR BRITISH CAREER ing. The short story “And There Was No Rainbow” (1920) was Hitchcock’s first brush with possibly cen- surable material. A young man goes out looking for a brothel, only to stumble into the house of his best friend’s girl. “What’s Who?" (1920), while humorous, was also a forerunner to the famous Abbott and Costello "Who’s on First?" routine. “The History of Pea Eating” (1920) was a satirical disquisition on the various attempts people have made over the centuries to eat peas successfully. His final piece, “Fedora” (1921), was his shortest and most enigmatic contribution. It also gave a strikingly accurate description of his future wife, Alma Reville (whom he had not yet met).[27] Hitchcock (right) during the making of Number 13 in London 2 Inter-war British career o' God in the United States). This film was eventually Hitchcock became intrigued by photography and started [38] working in film production in London, working as a title lost. card designer for the London branch of what would be- In 1926, Hitchcock’s luck changed with his first thriller, come Paramount Pictures.[28] In 1920, he received a The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, a suspense full-time position at Islington Studios with its American film about the hunt for a Jack the Ripper type of owner, Famous Players-Lasky, and their British succes- serial killer in London.[39] Released in January 1927, sor, Gainsborough Pictures,[29] designing the titles for it was a major commercial and critical success in the silent movies.[30] His rise from title designer to film di- United Kingdom.[40] As with many of his earlier works, rector took five years. During this period, he became this film was influenced by Expressionist techniques an unusual combination of screenwriter, art director and Hitchcock had witnessed first-hand in Germany.[41] assistant director on a series of five films for producer Some commentators regard this piece as the first truly Michael Balcon and director Graham Cutts: Woman to “Hitchcockian”[42][43] film, incorporating such themes as Woman (1923), The White Shadow (1924),[31] The Pas- the “wrong man”.[44] sionate Adventure (1924), The Blackguard (1925), and [32] Following the success of The Lodger, Hitchcock hired The Prude’s Fall (1925). a publicist to help strengthen his growing reputation. Hitchcock’s penultimate collaboration with Cutts, The On 2 December 1926, Hitchcock married his assis- Blackguard (German title Die Prinzessin und der Geiger, tant director, Alma Reville, at the Brompton Oratory in 1925), was produced at the Babelsberg Studios in Pots- South Kensington, London.[39] Their only child, daughter dam near Berlin, where Hitchcock observed part of Patricia, was born on 7 July 1928. Alma was to become the making of F. W. Murnau's film The Last Laugh Hitchcock’s closest collaborator, but her contributions to (1924).[33] He was very impressed with Murnau’s work his films (some of which were credited on screen) Hitch- and later used many techniques for the set design in cock would discuss only in private, as she was keen to his own productions. In a book-length interview with avoid public attention.[45] François Truffaut, Hitchcock also said he was influenced [32] In 1929, Hitchcock began work on his tenth film by Fritz Lang's film Destiny (1921). He was likewise Blackmail. While the film was still in production, the stu- influenced by other foreign filmmakers whose work he dio, British International Pictures (BIP), decided to con- absorbed as one of the earliest members of the “seminal” [34] vert it to sound. As an early 'talkie', the film is often cited London Film Society, formed in 1925. by film historians as a landmark film,[46] and is often con- Hitchcock’s first few films faced a string of bad luck. His sidered to be the first British sound feature film.[47][48] first directing project came in 1922 with the aptly titled With the climax of the film taking place on the dome of Number 13.[35] The production was cancelled because of the British Museum, Blackmail began the Hitchcock tra- financial problems;[35] filmed in London, the few scenes dition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for sus- that had been finished at that point have been lost. In pense sequences. It also features one of his longest cameo 1925, Michael Balcon[36] gave Hitchcock another oppor- appearances, which shows him being bothered by a small tunity for a directing credit with The Pleasure Garden, boy as he reads a book on the London Underground.[49] a co-production of Gainsborough and the German firm In the PBS series The Men Who Made The Movies,[50] Emelka, which he made at the Geiselgasteig studio near Hitchcock explained how he used early sound record- Munich in the summer of 1925; the film was a commer- ing as a special element of the film, stressing the word cial flop.[37] Next, Hitchcock directed a drama called The “knife” in a conversation with the woman suspected of Mountain Eagle (possibly released under the title Fear murder.[51] During this period, Hitchcock directed seg- 3 ments for a BIP musical film revue Elstree Calling (1930) director.