Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (1899–1980) was an English movie director. This “master of suspense” is one of the most recognizable film directors in the history of cinema. He made 53 films, 20 of which are regarded as masterpieces; his movies were, in his heyday, considered supreme pieces of cinematic technique.
Acclaimed in Britain for movies such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935,) Hitchcock relocated to Hollywood in 1939. Among his later works, noteworthy for their suspense and their technical ingenuity, are the psychological thrillers Strangers on a Train (1951,) Psycho (1960,) and The Birds (1963.)
Many of Hitchcock’s spy-thriller movies were influenced by the techniques of the silent era, and by German expressionism. His characteristic style of creating suspense contributed the adjective “Hitchcockian” to the English dictionary.
Hitchcock made a trademark fleeting appearance in 39 of his 52 surviving major films, giving audiences the further excitement of trying to distinguish him on the screen.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Alfred Hitchcock
Luck is everything. … My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I’m fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn’t make a good suspense film.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: Luck
Drama is life with the dull parts cut out of it.
—Alfred Hitchcock
In the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don’t want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: Audiences, Crime
There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: One liners, Fear
A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.
—Alfred Hitchcock
The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.
—Alfred Hitchcock
I’m not against the police; I’m just afraid of them.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: Police
If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: Audiences
I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
—Alfred Hitchcock
Topics: Acting, Actors
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