Introduction to HITCHCOCK: Biography and Filmography

Produce a timeline which demonstrates a filmography of Alfred Hitchcock.

Key terms: 
Gallows humor - grim and ironic humour in a desperate or hopeless situation.

Film canon - An individual's film canon is a limited group of movies that, in that person's opinion, serve as representations of the highest quality in the film genre, based on criteria that look past personal and popular taste, to encompass only those that "artistically defined film history.

The limited number of masterpieces by which all other films are judged

Starter: Complete the gap fill handout on Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Exam question example:

• How far has an awareness of the filmmaker as auteur influenced your response to your chosen film?

BIOGRAPHY

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, England on August 13, 1899. He was the youngest of three children born to William and Emma Jane Hitchcock.

After attending a technical school at 15, Hitchcock spent the first years of his career as a draftsman, advertising designer, and writer. An interest in photography led to him working in London's film industry, first as a title card designer for silent movies and, just five years later, as a director.

In 1926, Hitchcock married his assistant director, Alma Reville, and in 1928 they had a daughter, Patricia.

Hitchcock quickly gained notoriety as a director who delivered suspense, twist endings, and dark subject matter. His own personality and gallows humor were embedded in popular culture through interviews, film trailers, and cameo appearances in his own films. He was popular with audiences at home and abroad, and in 1939 the Hitchcock family moved to Hollywood. In the three decades that followed he would cement his legacy by directing and producing his most successful and enduring works. His television anthology, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, ran from 1955 to 1965 and made him a household name.

During his career, he created over fifty feature films in a career that saw not only the development of Hitchcock's own distinctive directorial style, but also landmark innovations in cinema. In 1929, Blackmail was his first feature film with sound and in 1948, his first colour film was Rope. Hitchcock himself has been credited with pioneering many camera and editing techniques for peers and aspiring directors to emulate.

Hitchcock collected many professional accolades including two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards, and five lifetime achievement awards. He was a five-time Academy Award nominee for Best Director and in 1940, his film Rebecca won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1980, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.

A husband, father, director, and the Master of Suspense, Sir Alfred Hitchcock passed away on April 29, 1980.

Thriller Genre

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information is a common element.Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome

HITCHCOCK FILMOGRAPHY

Prominent Films directed by Hitchcock:

Psycho 

RELEASE DATE: June 16th, 1960.

CAST: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland.

A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Vertigo 
RELEASE DATE: May 9, 1958

CAST:
James Stewart as John "Scottie" Ferguson
Kim Novak as Judy Barton ("Madeleine Elster")
Barbara Bel Geddes as Margaret "Midge" Wood
Tom Helmore as Gavin Elster

A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

Rear Window 
RELEASE DATE:September 1, 1954 (US)
CAST:
James Stewart as L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies
Grace Kelly as Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey as NYPD Det. Lt. Thomas "Tom" J. Doyle
Thelma Ritter as Stella
Raymond Burr as Lars Thorwald
Judith Evelyn as Miss Lonelyhearts

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Frenzy
RELEASE DATE: 21 June 1972
CAST:
Jon Finch as Richard Ian "Dick" Blaney
Alec McCowen as Chief Inspector Oxford
Barry Foster as Robert "Bob" Rusk
Billie Whitelaw as Hetty Porter
Anna Massey as Barbara Jane "Babs" Milligan
Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Brenda Margaret Blaney

A serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. The London police have a suspect, but he is the wrong man.

Task 1 and homework - Research and create a timeline of Hitchcock’s FILMOGRAPHY.
Indicate significant elements of the films that contribute to the film’s canonical status.

Ppt 10-15 slides. E-mail to Tony Ealey by the end of Wednesday 26.April