Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was a renowned film director, who specialized in the thriller genre. He was born in 1899 in Leytonstone. As a child, he was introverted and had many fears. His father had once locked him into a police cell for the night as punishment: this affected his attitudes towards police; even in his adult years, he refused to drive for fear that a policeman would pull him over for speeding. His career spanned from the 1920s, to 1976 and in this period he made 52 films. He initally worked in Britain, until 1939 when he was offered a contract in Hollywood.

Hitchcock would often make a short appearance in his films; this helped his own efforts get recognised by the pulic, as previously, people would go and see a film for it's leading actors - and not for the director. His success had gone beyond just making thrillers, and in the 1950s, he started his own TV show: "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

Hitchcocks' most successful film was Psycho - which he created in the 1960s.

Alfred Hitchcock was known as a master of suspense, and his films were the 'benchmark' for psychological thrillers.
"Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime and the accusation of an innocent bystander. Where the accused should contact the authorities, no doubt the case could be promptly solved, but instead the poor bystander runs from the law thus jeopardizing life and limb."
    - Rick Altman

This is shown in Hitchcock's film Saboteur, where the protagonist is framed for starting a fire in an airplane plant during WW2 (where his friend is killed in an attempt to stopped the fire), and goes on the run whilst attempting to search for the real culprit.

Alfred Hitchcock quotes:

"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what's going on."
"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."