Alfred Hitchcock: 50 Years Of Movie Magic
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reputation for high-art film-making with great audience popularity. Throughout
his career he gave his audiences more pleasure than could be asked for. The
consistency of quality plot-lines and technical ingenuity earned him the
recognition of being one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His films
earned him the reputation of being the "master of suspense", and after viewing
two of his more popular films, Psycho and The Birds, it is evident why. There
is a distinction between surprise, which lasts only a few seconds, and suspense
which captivates one's attention the entire length of a film. This is something
that Hitchcock realized early on, and applied into his movies. He is one of the
few directors whose name on a marquee is as important, if not more so, than any
actor who appears in the film itself. Both his style of directing, and that of
the movies that he has directed are very unique, making him stand out in the
film industry. He pioneered the art of cinematography and special effects,
which along with his cameos, are what he is most often associated with.
Hitchcock led a long and prosperous life in the movie industry, starting as a
teenager and making movies up until his death in 1980, while working on the 54th
of his career (Sterrit 3).
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1889 in London, England.
As a child his parents were very strict with him and they imposed severe and
unusual punishments upon him, as what they considered to be discipline. One of
these incidents scarred him for life. As punishment for arriving home late one
night, young Alfred's father had a policeman friend lock the boy up in a cell
for five minutes, "in order to teach him where naughty little boys who come home
after 9 o'clock would eventually end up." (Phillips 27). Throughout his career
he used the innocent man being arrested and imprisoned in his...
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