Biography for
Alfred Hitchcock (I) More at IMDbPro »
ad feedback
Date of Birth
13 August 1899, Leytonstone, London, England, UK
Date of Death
29 April 1980, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA (renal failure)
Birth Name
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
Nickname
Hitch
The Master of Suspense
Height
5' 7" (1.70 m)
Mini Biography
Alfred Hitchcock was the son of East End greengrocer William Hitchcock and his wife Emma. Raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, Hitch had very much of a regular upbringing. His first job outside of the family business was in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. His interest in movies began at around this time, frequently visiting the cinema and reading US trade journals.
In 1920, Hitch learned that Lasky were to open a studio in London and managed to secure a job as a title designer. He designed the titles for all the movies made at the studio for the next two years. In 1923, he got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitch completed the movie. Impressed by his work, studio chiefs gave him his first directing assignment on Number 13 (1922); however, before it could be finished, the studio closed its British operation. Hitch was then hired by Michael Balcon to work as an assistant director for the company later to be known as Gainsborough Pictures. In reality, Hitch did more than this -- working as a writer, title designer and art director. After several films for the company, Hitch was given the chance to direct a British/German co-production called The Pleasure Garden (1925). Hitchcock's career as a director finally began. Hitchcock went on to become the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant body of work produced over 50 years.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
Mini Biography
He was born Alfred Joseph Hitchcock. His father was a green grocer called William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914); his mother was Emma Jane Whelan (1863 - 1942), and he had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and Eileen Hitchcock(born 1892). He grew up in a very strict Roman Catholic family. He attended St. Ignatius College and a school for engineering and navigation. In 1914, when Hitchcock was 15 years old, his father died.
It was around 1920 when Hitchcock joined the film industry, he started off drawing the sets (Since he was a very skilled artist) and he met Alma Reville, though they never really spoke to each other. It was only when the director for "Always tell your wife" fell ill and Hitchcock had to complete the film, that he started off in the directing part of the film world, then Alma Reville and Hitchcock began to talk to each other.
Hitchcock had his first shot of being the director of a film in 1923 when he was to direct the film "The Number 13", though the production was stopped. Hitchcock didn't give up then. He directed a film called "The Pleasure Garden" in 1925, a British/German production, which was very popular. In 1926, Hitchcock made his first trademark film, "The Lodger". In the same year on the 2nd of December, Hitchcock married Alma Reville. They had one child, Patricia Hitchcock (born 7th July 1928).
His success followed when he made a number of films in Britain such as "The Lady Vanishes" (1938) and Jamaica Inn (1939), some of them which also made him famous in the USA. David O. Selznick, an American producer at the time, got in touch with Hitchcock and the Hitchcock family moved to the USA to direct an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1940).
It was when Saboteur (1942) was made, that films companies began to call his films after him; such as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot, Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy.
During the making of Frenzy (1972), Hitchcock's wife Alma suffered a paralyzing stroke which made her unable to
paper, I have decided to compare two Hitchcock films. Ever since I can remember, I have seen Alfred Hitchcock films; Psycho, The Birds, North by Northwest, I enjoy his work because I like the suspense, and visual effects that he was able to accomplish. Out of all of his films, I believe that my favorite Hitchcock films would have to be Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958), because I think that the two incorporate everything that is “Alfred Hitchcock”. Hitchcock films are known for being mysterious…
According to Chapter 4 of Nicholas Haeffner’s book, Alfred Hitchcock, the author exchanges his views on the subject of realism and how it is portrayed in Hitchcock’s films. Early in the chapter, Haeffner mentions that since the beginning of his career, Hitchcock received criticism for the lack of realism that was not portrayed in his films. The criticisms Hitchcock received regarding this subject did not matter to him. Hitchcock believed that the people who viewed his films wanted them to be credible…
been greenlit for production. Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, London, England. He began to dabble in the arts in his early 20s, and would later go on to work as a title designer before making the jump into a successful silent film-directing career in Britain. There, he made a string of high successful silent films before making the jump to talkies, directing “Blackmail” (1929) and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1934). In 1939, Hitchcock made his prolific move to Hollywood…
DATE: Friday April 11th Rear Window (1954) is one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most successful and well-known films. Upon its initial release it was both a critical and commercial success and its reputation as one of the Hitchcock’s masterpieces has grown over the decades since. In a recent AFI (American Film Institute) poll, Rear Window came in at #42 on the list of the 100 greatest films ever made with three other Hitchcock films in the top 100: Psycho (#18), North by Northwest (#40) and Vertigo…
101-013 October 29, 2014 Alfred Joseph Hitchcock Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, was born on August 13, 1899 in Leytonstone, England. His parents are Emma Jane Hitchcock and William Hitchcock. Alfred had two older brothers and a sister. At the age of five, Alfred’s father William wanted to teach Alfred a lesson about what happened to people who did bad things, William sent Alfred to the police station with a letter. After the police read and looked the note, they locked Alfred into a cell for several minutes…
Paper Throughout the film Psycho, we learn the themes of different characters and how it affects them. The film is an Alfred Hitchcock movie produced in the mid 1960s. Ever since this movie was made, Hitchcock was mistakenly labeled as a horror film director. It is much layered and complex that multiple viewings are necessary to capture all of its subtlety. In the film, Alfred Hitchcocks nightmarish, disturbing themes of oedipal murder, confused identities, and dark past histories are realistically revealed…
Horror/Thriller Film Study – Psycho – Erik Abella 10.5 One cinematographic technique that is used in this shot from the film Psycho is a full shot. With the full shot we have a clear view of the area where the victim is hiding and how far the murderer is. We can see that the distance between the two is short which places the victim vulnerable, as it gives her a slim chance of escaping and surviving. The place of her hiding is not clear yet to Norman Bates but it’s as if he’s facing her and is…
Madness in Rebecca is portrayed only by female characters and invites viewers to dismiss any underlying reason why this may be so. Hysteria, anxiety, paranoia and disturbance of the psych is cleverly addressed by Hitchcock to disable ones grasp on reality in his iconic film Rebecca. Madness is defined as the state of having a serious illness, but none of the characters in the film are directly associated with having any sort of mental affliction other than ‘Ben’ who witnesses many of the atrocities…
What is the `auteur theory’? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least three films by Alfred Hitchcock. ‘There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it’ Alfred Hitchcock The auteur theory began to develop in the 1950s it started with the writers of Cahiers du Cinema including Francois Truffaut who began to discuss that the directors personal vision within films, they should instead go beyond and express their individuality in response to the industrialised conveyer…