Happy Birthday Alfred Hitchcock

It always amuses me when Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday – August 13 – lands on a Friday. It’s so appropriate somehow, part of that wry humor he used in his films. Although he’s not around to celebrate his 122nd birthday, his body of work is and is still as popular now as in its time.

Starting with silent films in the twenties in England and Germany, he released films right up until 1976, with a stopover in the late 50s – early 60s for his television anthologies Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the Alfred Hitchcock Hour. That iconic line drawing of him at the beginning of each show was done by Hitchcock himself. He directed several of the episodes and his daughter Pat appeared in 10 shows.

Early in his career he was already known as the “Master of Suspense.” His early films The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938) are considered classics of the 20th century among British films. By 1939 David O. Selznick had convinced Hitchcock to come to Hollywood. Rebecca (1940) won the Academy Award for best picture. Hitchcock was nominated for best director for this and four subsequent films, but never won.

Although he was a tough person to work for, especially for women, actors and actresses often said that he got performances out of them they didn’t think they were capable of. Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Edmund Gwenn each performed in four films. Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly were in three each. Tippi Hedren, Vera Miles, and Hume Cronyn each made two films. Among these movies were Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest, Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Foreign Correspondent, The Trouble with Harry, Spellbound, Under Capricorn, Dial M for Murder, Lifeboat, The Birds, and probably his best known picture Psycho. And this is only about a third of his output.

These are all great films but I think one of my favorites is The Trouble with Harry, probably because it has more whimsy than horror. The quirky cast of characters each thinks he or she was the one who killed Harry and his body is buried and dug up, moved around, and finally put back where it was found to avoid throwing suspicion on any of them. I won’t give away the ending. The movie stars Edmund Gwenn (Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street), John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick, and Jerry Mathers (not as the Beav). It is the film debut of Shirley MacLaine. Also making his film debut with Alfred Hitchcock is the great composer Bernard Herrmann. They would go on to collaborate for twelve years. If you scare easily, this might be the best place to start with Hitchcock.