A tribute to Sir Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980)was an iconic and highly influential British/americanfilmmaker and producer, who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres.
After a very substantial career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and, in 1956, became an American citizen, also retaining his British citizenship.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films, in a career spanning six decades, from the silent era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the color era.
As a director, he was among the most consistently recognizable by the general public, and was one of the most successful of his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best-known and most popular filmmakers of all time.
Awards
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Hitchcock the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, in 1967. His other Oscar nominations were:
Best Director in 1960 for Psycho.
Best Director for Rebecca (1940), Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), and Rear Window (1954).
Producer for Best Picture: Suspicion (1941).
Rebecca, which Hitchcock directed, won the 1940 Best Picture Oscar for its producer David O. Selznick. In addition to Rebecca and Suspicion, two other films Hitchcock directed, Foreign Correspondent and Spellbound, were nominated for Best Picture.
Hitchcock is considered the Best Film Director of all time by The Screen Directory. Hitchcock was knighted in 1980.
Sixteen films directed by Hitchcock earned Oscar nominations, though only six of those films earned Hitchcock himself a nomination. The total number of Oscar nominations (including winners) earned by films he directed is fifty. Four of those films earned Best Picture nominations.
In 2008, four of Hitchcock's films were named among the ten best mystery films of all time in the AFI's 10 Top 10. Those films are Vertigo (at No. 1); Rear Window (No. 3); North by Northwest (No. 7); and Dial M for Murder (No. 9).
Quotes
"Suspense is like a woman. The more left to the imagination, the more the excitement."
"Drama is life with all the boring bits cut out."
"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."
Last film work
Near the end of his life, Hitchcock had worked on the script for a projected spy thriller, The Short Night, collaborating with screenwriters James Costigan and Ernest Lehman. Despite some preliminary work, the story was never filmed. This was due, primarily, to Hitchcock's own failing health and his concerns over the health of his wife, Alma, who had suffered a stroke. The script was eventually published posthumously, in a book on Hitchcock's last years.
Vertigo
Vertigo (1958) is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes. The film tells the story of a retired policeman who falls in love with a mysterious woman he has been hired to follow. Although it received mixed reviews on its first release, it has since gained in esteem and is frequently listed among the greatest films ever made. It is sometimes seen as the middle installment in a trilogy of Hitchcock films concerning voyeurism, starting with Rear Window (1954) and ending with Psycho (1960).
Knighthood
Hitchcock was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980 New Year's Honours. Although he had adopted American citizenship in 1956, he was entitled to use the title "Sir" because he had remained a British subject. Hitchcock died just four months later, on April 29, before he could be formally invested by her.
Born Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
August 13, 1899
Leytonstone, London
Died April 29, 1980 (aged 80)
Bel Air, Los Angeles
Other name(s) Hitch
The Master of Suspense
Years active 1921-1976
Spouse(s) Alma Reville (1926-1980)
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