Spotlight: Simply Hitchcock
Ahh, Hitchcock! He of the great suspense and thriller films, Alfred Hitchcock was born in London in 1899. Hitchcock was a great storyteller in his youth, and aspects of his mother were borrowed for the movie Psycho. Surprising as it may seem, Alfred Hitchcock only won one Academy Award for his films; his film, Rebecca won Best Picture in 1940.
Hitchcock was the second son and youngest of three children born to William Hitchcock, a greengrocer and poulterer, and Emma Jane Hitchcock. His father was stern, and it is widely known that Hitchcock’s father once sent him to the local police station with a note asking them to lock him up for 10 minutes as punishment for bad behavior. The idea of being wrongly accused or harshly treated is reflected in his movies. His mother would often make him address her while standing at the foot of her bed, especially if he behaved badly. He often had to stand there for hours. This would be recalled by the character Norman Bates in Psycho.
As a young man, Hitchcock worked in advertising before entering the film world. Hitchcock directed his first film in 1925 (The Pleasure Garden). It was a highly unsuccessful film and threatened to derail his career. However, his next film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog was his entry in the thriller genre and was a major success.
The list of Hitchcock’s films is a list of true classics. Read more about Hitchcock’s life, his films, and his achievements on the Simply Hitchcock Web site. Check out the Free Downloads for some awesome stuff. Don’t forget to take the Simply Hitchcock Poll!
Happy learning!
March 28th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Do you know if it is indeed true that Hitchcock did many of tha same things to his actors to ready them for a part that his father did? For example I think I read that Tippi Hedren said he locked her in a phone booth to get her prepared for her part in The Birds and that it was one of the worst experiences of her life.