Alfred Hitchcock is arguably one of the, if not the, most influencial directors in cinema history. He produced and/or directed several land mark films that changed how films were produced. As a youngster he was living in the east end of London and inspired by the theatre and the new films industry. His life in London and his films made in London were a major influence in his films. As a teenager he became interested in crime. He joined the film industry in 1919. He worked for The Famous Players-Laskey writing title cards and met his wife Alma Reville. He then moved to Gainsborough Pictures with Michael Balcon and through this he worked with F W Murnau and Fritz Lange in Germany in silent films.
His first film as a director was The Pleasure Garden where he started to develop his style of directing, but it was The Lodger in 1927 that set his style of film making in which he used expressonist techniques that he had seen in Germany. His use of camera angles and sets enabled him to almost show sound, in a silent film. Blackmail was the first British sound film to be made and it allowed Hitchcock to expand his style as he used visuals and sound together. It also used notable British landmarks, a theme that continued through his later films. What he also developed was how the scenery was part of the dramatic element to the film and not just the back drop. It was becoming intergral into the story. He uesd sound as part of the drama and not just dialogue. He then signed with Gaumont British working again with Michael Balcon and made distinctively British films, but it is these films that he really develops his skills of delivering suspense to the screen. He sais this was a bout what the audience knows and what the charcter on screen knows. He made 6 thrillers at this time that were action thrillers.
The 39 Steps was the film that really set his style and made is name in Britain and in America. It has become one of the great British films. He followed up with Lady Vanishes his final film with Michael Balcon and his first train film and shows how setting was important to the film. It also parodies some aspects of British culture. His last film in England was the disappointing Jamaica Inn, but his first film in America was Rebecca adapted from the same author, which was also his first film with David Seleznick. He said the 1943 film Shadow Of Doubt was his favourite film which in many ways was a British film. For Spellbound he got Salvadore Dali to work on the dream scenes.
Rope in 1948 was his first colour film and is noted for his long single takes. In the 1950s he made 3 films with Gace Kelly including Rear Window. In the late 1950s he made was was arguably his best films including 2 with Cary Grant. In Psycho is made something that was very different and that surprised audiences which moved on with the Birds.
Although he is known for his Hollywood films he learnt his craft and forged his style in his British films in both silent films and early sound films. A number of his films had the idea of an innocent person making a mistake and then caught up in things outside of their control.
