Brief Overview of Alfred Hitchcock - European Studies

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European Studies, Alfred Hitchcock One of the 20th century’s most influential and successful directors was Sir Alfred Hitchcock. He was born in England on the 20th of April 1899, though later in 1956 he would become an American citizen. His film career spanned over six decades, making fifty feature films, some of which would be considered some of the greatest movies ever made. He worked with some of the most famous old Hollywood actors including Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, James Stewart and Grace Kelly. He had very distinct film techniques, probably the best known being how the camera mimics someone’s gaze, almost as if it takes on human qualities. The camera lets the audience feel more involved, as they too discover plot elements as the camera pans a room. The way he managed to tell a story not only verbally but visually, managed to capture many audiences’s attention. Another interesting quirk of his films is that he himself made cameos in them. The cameos last only a few seconds, sometimes barely noticeable, like walking along a train platform, but added a very original element. He made cameos in 39 of his 52 surviving films. ‘The Birds’, ‘North by Northwest’, ‘Rear Window’, ‘Dial M for Murder’, ‘To Catch a Thief’ and ‘The 39 Steps ’are seen as some of his best movies because of their suspense and mystery, while ‘Psycho’ is considered one of the most classic old horror thrillers . It’s due to these movies that he is seen as one of the cinema’s most significant

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