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20 recommended works by Alfred Hitchcock! A collection of masterpieces created by the god of suspense
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Alfred Hitchcock once famously said, "Some directors make films that show a slice of life. I make films that show a slice of a cake." He showed no interest in lofty human dramas and continued to make thoroughly entertaining films. Most of his 53 films are suspense films that follow the traditional entertainment path. Here, I will introduce 20 of his best films, selected arbitrarily and subjectively by the author.
Index
20 Best Alfred Hitchcock Films from the 1920s to 1940s
・6. "Foreign Correspondent" (40)
20 Best Alfred Hitchcock Films from the 1950s to 1970s
14. The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)
16. North by North by Northwest(59)
20 Best Alfred Hitchcock Films from the 1920s to 1940s
1. Blackmail (29) Silent version 76 minutes / Talkie version 85 minutes
It is also sometimes written as "Blackmail" or "Hitchcock's Blackmail". It is one of Hitchcock's earliest suspense films, depicting the anguish of a woman who commits a murder in self-defense. Starting with "The Jazz Singer" released in 1927, the film industry was transitioning from silent to talkies. This film was originally shot as a silent film, but some scenes were reshot and it was released as the first talkie in the UK. There are scenes that remind you of silent film techniques, such as a murder through a curtain.
2. The Assassin's House (34) 75 min
Hitchcock had been making crime films such as "The Lodger" (27), "Blackmail" (29), and "Murder" (30), but it was with this film that he established his style as a suspense film. It depicts the fate of a couple who become embroiled in an international conspiracy with a tense touch. The boss of the assassination group is played by Peter Lorre, known for his role as a serial killer in Fritz Lang's "M" (31). His strong presence stands out even among Hitchcock's films.
3. “The 39 Steps” (35) 88 minutes
The film is based on The 39 Steps by John Buchan, Hitchcock's favorite novelist. A man who is mistaken for a murderer struggles to prove his innocence, making it one of Hitchcock's signature <insertion-type suspense> films. The opening and ending scenes are both set in music halls, creating a sandwich-type structure that is clever. Mr. Memory, who has a superhuman memory, is one of the characters who leaves an unforgettable impression.
Also worth reading: The dense drama woven into Hitchcock's British spy suspense masterpiece "The 39 Steps"
4. The Lady Vanishes(38) 97 min.
This is the original milestone of the "disappearing human film" genre, which follows films like "Forgotten" (2004), "Flight" (2005), and "Unknown" (2011), in which a familiar person suddenly disappears. An elderly woman goes missing from an express train, but all the passengers insist that they have never seen such a woman before. The mysterious disappearance is solved by the duo played by Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Film critic Haruo Mizuno was inspired by this film to direct and star in the "Trans-Siberian Express" series himself.
Also worth reading: "The Lady Vanishes" A classic suspense story and a romantic comedy full of humor. *Note! Contains spoilers.
5. "Rebecca" (40) 130 min.
This was Hitchcock's first film in Hollywood after he came to the US at the request of producer David O. Selznick. It is a gothic romance about a heroine who is married to a wealthy British man, but is haunted by visions of her supposedly dead ex-wife, Rebecca. It is the only film in his filmography to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, but Hitchcock later said, "That award was given to Selznick." Although he was nominated for the Best Director award a total of five times, he never won. In 2020, it was remade starring Lily James and Armie Hammer.
6. “Foreign Correspondent” (40) 120 minutes
This was Hitchcock's second Hollywood film, a sudden shift from the literary-inspired Gothic romance "Rebecca" to his specialty, spy suspense. Set in Europe just before the turbulent Second World War, the film follows an American The Journalist investigating the assassination of a prominent politician. The assassination scene, in which the assassin is carried out in the pouring rain, hiding among a sea of umbrellas, pays homage to Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" (2002).
Also worth reading: The extraordinary fun of Alfred Hitchcock's second Hollywood film, "Foreign Correspondent"
7. The Saboteur(42) 109 min.
Barry (Robert Cummings), who is falsely accused of being a terrorist, goes on a getaway across America with Pat (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Lane). Hitchcock reflected on the film, saying, "I had a lot of ideas, but they were all crammed together without being properly organized," but praised himself for the film, saying, "It's a stylish, humorous film." The climax scene, set at the Statue of Liberty, is one of the highlights of Hitchcock's films. The original title is "Saboteur," which means destructive activity in French, but it's quite confusing, as the original title of the 1936 film "Sabotage" is also "Sabotage," which has the same meaning in English.
Also worth reading: The spirit of freedom and democracy that permeates the film "Saboteur" *Note! Contains spoilers
8. Shadow of a Doubt (43) 108 mins
"Is my beloved Uncle Charlie a serial killer?" Charlie, the niece, begins to suspect. Set in the rural town of Santa Rosa, California, the two "Charlies" engage in a fierce psychological battle. In "The Third Man" (1949), Joseph Cotten was overwhelmed by Orson Welles' overwhelming presence, but in this film he gives a charming and bizarre performance as the mysterious Uncle Charlie. Teresa Wright, who plays the niece Charlie, also leaves a lasting impression with her dignified beauty.
9. "White Terror" (45) 111 min
Hitchcock has many works that deal with the abnormal psychology of characters in psychoanalytic ways, such as "Psycho" (1960) and "Marnie" (1964), and this film is a neurotic suspense film that follows in that lineage. By tracing the memories of "he", played by Gregory Peck, who suffers from an incurable disease that causes him to have seizures when he sees stripes, his sealed past comes to light. The film's nightmarish images, in which reality and fantasy seem to blend together, were created by Salvador Dali, a representative Surrealist painter.
10. Notorious(46) 101 min
According to biographer Donald Spoto, "It was the first time that she attempted a full-scale love story at the age of 46." The conflict of Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), who is deeply in love with an FBI man (Cary Grant) but ends up marrying another man as a spy, touches the hearts of viewers. At the time of the film's release, there was a mysterious rule that "kisses should last no more than three seconds each time," which led to the creation of a legendary kiss scene that lasted more than two minutes, in which the two kissed repeatedly, repeating the cycle of "kissing" → "quickly removing the lips" → "kissing again." No, on the contrary, it's more erotic.
Also worth reading: Why is "Notorious" Truffaut's favorite Hitchcock film?
11. Rope(48) 80 min.
Inspired by Nietzsche's idea of the superman, two university students murdered a boy to demonstrate their ability to carry out the perfect crime in "Leopold and Loeb." Based on an actual murder case that occurred in 1924, this is Hitchcock's greatest experimental work, showing the crime uncovered through the deductions of a university professor (James Stewart) in one scene and one take. The film was meticulously planned down to the smallest detail, with the camera's course drawn across the entire floor and pulleys attached to the furniture to make it movable.
Also worth reading: Hitchcock's masterful technique demonstrated through one scene and one shot in "Rope"
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