The Art of Alfred Hitchcock

in VHS, Print & CD

While some viewers may think of Alfred Hitchcock simply as "the Master of Suspense," many critics regard him as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His artistry turned crowd-pleasing thrillers into eloquent essays on the power of love, the danger of obsession, the dual nature within us all, and the chaos that at any moment can shatter our orderly lives. London-born and Jesuit-educated, Alfred entered the film industry designing titles for silent movies. The Lodger, his third directorial effort, introduced his favorite theme: the innocent man accused of a crime. The film also included the first of Hitch's trademark cameo appearances. Blackmail began as a silent, but was completed as his first talkie. The classics of his British period include The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, and The Lady Vanishes. After lensing Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn, Hitchcock came to Hollywood to adapt her book Rebecca. In America, the director embarked on a remarkable series of suspense classics, among them Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Shadow of a Doubt (his favorite of all his films), Lifeboat, Spellbound, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, The Wrong Man, and North by Northwest. After a lengthy legal dispute, five films of this era were rereleased in the 1980s to great acclaim: Rope, Rear Window, the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Trouble with Harry, and Vertigo. In 1960, Hitch traumatized a generation of bathers with Psycho, and shocked us further with The Birds, his third du Maurier adaptation. Bernard Herrmann, who composed the scores for seven other Hitchcock films, created the frightening electronic "sound construction" for The Birds. The director's final films include the brutal Frenzy and the comic thriller Family Plot. Sir Alfred died in 1980 at the age of 79.

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock in VHS

Films are listed in chronological order.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. Residents at a boarding house suspect that new lodger Ivor Novello is Jack the Ripper. Silent with musical score. 1926. 75 min. VH1/LODG-0001.

Easy Virtue. After a scandalous divorce, a socialite marries a proper young man who knows nothing about her past. Based on a Noel Coward play. Silent with organ score. 1927. 87 min. VH1/EASY-0001.

The Ring. British boxer Carl Brisson and his Australian rival, Ian Hunter, battle for the love of the same woman, Lilian Hall Davis. Silent. 1927. 85 min. VH1/RING-0001.

Champagne. A condensed version of the film about a wealthy champagne manufacturer who teaches his spoiled daughter (Betty Balfour) a lesson. Silent. 1928. 30 min. VH2/CHAM-0001.

The Farmer's Wife. Widowed farmer Jameson Thomas seeks a new bride, overlooking his own housekeeper, Lilian Hall Davis. Silent. 1929. 93 min. VH1/FARM-0001.

The Manxman. When Peter (Carl Brisson) is reported lost at sea, Kate (Anny Ondra) marries his childhood friend, Philip (Malcolm Keen). Silent with organ score. 1929. 129 min. VH1/MANX-0001.

Blackmail. A woman (Anny Ondra) kills a rapist, then finds herself caught between a blackmailer and her boyfriend, the detective investigating the case. 1929. 86 min. VH1/BLAC-0009.

Juno and the Paycock. Hitch adapts Sean O'Casey's play about the Irish troubles of the 1920s. With Sara Allgood and Edward Chapman. 1930. 85 min. VH1/JUNO-0001.

Murder! After serving on the jury that convicted actress Norah Baring of murder, actor Herbert Marshall sets out to prove her innocence. 1930. 92 min. VH1/MURD-0004.

The Skin Game. When two families battle over the development of a country estate, a woman with a shady past becomes a pawn in their game. With Edmund Gwenn and Jill Esmond. 1931. 79 min. VH1/SKIN-0002.

Number 17. Tramp Leon M. Lion stumbles into the hideout of jewel thieves in this convoluted suspenser. Watch for the chase between a runaway bus and a train, and an exciting ferry crash. 1932. 64 min. VH1/NUMB-0001.

Rich and Strange. When married couple Henry Kendall and Joan Barry take a world cruise, he romances phony princess Betty Amann, and she falls in love with explorer Percy Marmont. 1931. 80 min. VH1/RICH-0001.

The Man Who Knew Too Much. As part of an assassination plot, Peter Lorre and Cicely Oates kidnap young Nova Pilbeam, daughter of Leslie Banks and Edna Best. 1934. 75 min. VH1/MANW-0002.

The 39 Steps. Handcuffed together, Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll try to solve the mystery of a murdered spy and a secret organization. 1935. 81 min. VH1/THIR-0002.

The Secret Agent. John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, and Robert Young star in this W. Somerset Maugham tale. The mountaintop murder is a highlight. 1936. 86 min. VH1/SECR-0001.

Sabotage. Sylvia Sidney suspects that husband Oscar Homolka, a movie theater owner, is a saboteur. Beware the boy on the bus with the bomb! 1936. 77 min. VH1/SABO-0001.

Young and Innocent. Police chief's daughter Nova Pilbeam helps fugitive Derrick de Marney track down a killer in this Josephine Tey story. Look for the twitching eye! 1937. 80 min. VH1/YOUN-0007.

The Lady Vanishes. Train passengers Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave seek Mrs. Froy (Dame May Whitty), a little old lady kidnapped by spies. 1938. 91 min. VH1/LADY-0001.

Jamaica Inn. Maureen O'Hara discovers that her uncle, Emlyn Williams, is involved with a team of cut-throats led by magistrate Charles Laughton. 1939. 97 min. VH1/JAMA-0001.

Rebecca. Joan Fontaine marries Laurence Olivier, a gentleman with a mysterious past. Rebecca won an Oscar for Best Picture, beating out Hitch's next film, Foreign Correspondent. 1940. 104 min. VH1/REBE-0002.

Foreign Correspondent. A windmill turning against the wind helps newspaperman Joel McCrea uncover a spy ring. With Herbert Marshall, Robert Benchley, George Sanders, and Edmund Gwenn. 1940. 120 min. VH1/FORE-0001.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Bickering couple Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery discover they are not legally married in Alfred's only screwball comedy. 1941. 95 min. VH1/MRAN-0003.

Suspicion. Joan Fontaine suspects that husband Cary Grant is a murderer. Watch for the glowing glass of milk! With Nigel Bruce and Cedric Hardwicke. 1941. 99 min. VH1/SUSP-0002.

Saboteur. Aircraft factory worker Robert Cummings chases Nazi spies from Boulder Dam to the torch of the Statue of Liberty. 1942. 108 min. VH1/SABO-0002.

Shadow of a Doubt. Teenaged Charlie (Teresa Wright) looks forward to a visit from her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten), unaware that he is a serial killer. 1942. 108 min. VH1/SHAD-0010.

Lifeboat. Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Hume Cronyn, Canada Lee, and Henry Hull play survivers of a U-Boat attack. 1944. 96 min. VH1/LIFE-0004.

Bon Voyage ; Aventure Malgache. A Scottish RAF pilot escapes from a concentration camp, and a lawyer fights Vichy rule in Madagascar, in two short dramas, made for the British government but unreleased until 1993. Subtitled. 1944. 57 min. VH2/BONV-0001.

Spellbound. Psychiatrist Ingrid Bergman helps amnesiac Gregory Peck recover his past. Salvador Dali designed the surreal dream sequence. 1945. 111 min. VH1/SPEL-0001.

Notorious. Intelligence agent Cary Grant forces Ingrid Bergman to marry spy Claude Rains. Watch for the amazing crane shot zeroing in on a hidden key. 1946. 101 min. VH1/NOTO-0001.

The Paradine Case. Barrister Gregory Peck defends accused murderess Ann Todd. This courtroom drama co-stars Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore, Louis Jourdan, and Valli. Written and produced by David O. Selznick. 1948. 125 min. VH1/PARA-0002.

Rope. Hitchcock filmed this tale of two young thrill-killers (John Dall, Farley Granger) and their professor (James Stewart) in an elaborate series of long, unedited camera shots. Screnarist Hume Cronyn adapted Patrick Hamilton's play. 1948. 81 min. VH1/ROPE-0001.

Under Capricorn. Hitch again used long, unbroken takes for this tale of a disturbed woman (Ingrid Bergman) torn between her cold-hearted husband (Michael Wilding) and an old beau (Joseph Cotten). 1949. 117 min. VH1/UNDE-0007.

Stage Fright. Drama student Jane Wyman impersonates a maid in order to clear boyfriend Richard Todd of the murder of actress Marlene Dietrich's husband. With Michael Wilding, Kay Walsh, Alastair Sim, and Joyce Grenfell. 1950. 110 min. VH1/STAG-0004.

Strangers on a Train. In this Patricia Highsmith thriller, Robert Walker offers to kill the wife of tennis player Farley Granger, if the athlete will commit a murder in exchange. 1951. 101 min. VH1/STRA-0008.

Strangers on a Train. The British edition runs 2 minutes longer than the American version. 1951. 103 min. VH1/STRA-0020.

I Confess. Priest Montgomery Clift hears a murderer's confession, then finds himself accused of the crime. With Anne Baxter, Karl Malden and Brian Aherne. 1953. 95 min. VH1/ICON-0001.

Dial M for Murder. Jealous husband Ray Milland plots to murder wife Grace Kelly in this adaptation of Frederick Knott's play, originally filmed in 3-D. 1954. 105 min. VH1/DIAL-0001.

Rear Window. Injured photojournalist James Stewart tries to convince fiancee Grace Kelly that neighbor Raymond Burr has done away with his wife. 1954. 112 min. VH1/REAR-0001 or -0002.

To Catch a Thief. Pampered heiress Grace Kelly helps retired cat burglar Cary Grant discover who is committing a series of copy-cat thefts. 1955. 103 min. VH1/TOCA-0001.

The Trouble with Harry. Two couples, one young and one old, fall in love as they attempt to dispose of a corpse. This macabre romantic comedy stars Shirley MacLaine, John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, and Mildred Natwick. 1955. 100 min. VH1/TROU-0002.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The master himself directs Revenge (1955) with Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles, The Crystal Trench (1959) with James Donald, Breakdown (1955) with Joseph Cotten, and The Perfect Crime (1957) with Vincent Price. 102 min. VH2/ALFR-0001.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Claude Rains in The Horseplayer (1961), Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre in Man from the South (1960), Audrey Meadows in Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat (1960), and Keenan Wynn in A Dip in the Pool (1958). 105 min. VH2/ALFR-0002.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. This compilation includes Robert Stevens' The Cheney Vase (museum curator Darren McGavin attempts to fleece wealthy Patricia Collinge) and Josef Leytes' The Sorcerer's Apprentice (disturbed Brandon De Wilde joins the circus). 1955/1961. 52 min. VH2/ALFR-0004.

The Best of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Hitch presents three shorts which he directed: Lamb to the Slaughter (1958) with Barbara Bel Geddes, The Case of Mr. Pelham (1955) with Tom Ewell, and Banquo's Chair (1959) with John Williams. 78 min. VH2/BEST-0007.

The Man Who Knew Too Much. In this remake of the earlier film, James Stewart and Doris Day's son Christopher Olsen is kidnapped by Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie. Composer Bernard Herrmann plays himself in Albert Hall sequence. 1956. 120 min. VH1/MANW-0012.

The Wrong Man. When musician Henry Fonda is mistaken for a robber and arrested, wife Vera Miles suffers a nervous breakdown. 1956. 105 min. VH1/WRON-0003.

Vertigo. Neurotic detective Scotty Ferguson (James Stewart) falls in love with mysterious Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) and, after her death, with look-alike shopgirl Judy Barton (Novak again). Also, Harrison Engle's Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece (1997-30 min.). 1958. 128 min. VH1/VERT-0001.

North by Northwest. Spy James Mason mistakes businessman Cary Grant for a secret agent. This thriller features the famous crop-dusting scene and a climactic scramble across the faces of Mount Rushmore. 1959. 136 min. VH1/NORT-0001.

North by Northwest. This letterboxed edition also features Peter Fitzgerald's Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest (2000 - 41 min.), hosted by Eva Marie Saint. VH1/NORT-0006.

Psycho. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals money and runs away to a desolate hotel run by mother-fixated taxidermist Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). This influential shocker co-stars Vera Miles, John Gavin and Martin Balsam. 1960. 109 min. VH1/PSYC-0001.

Psycho. Gus Van Sant's nearly-shot-for-shot remake stars Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen and William H. Macy, and recycles the Bernard Herrmann score as well. 1998. 104 min. VH1/PSYC-0002.

The Birds. Swarms of birds attack the residents of a California town. Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright star. 1963. 119 min. VH1/BIRD-0003.

A Talk with Hitchcock. The master reviews his career in Fletcher Markle's program. 1964. 52 min. VH2/TALK-0005.

Marnie. Sean Connery tries to psychoanalyze Tippi Hedren, his emotionally disturbed bride, to learn the cause of her compulsive thieving and lying. 1964. 130 min. VH1/MARN-0001.

Torn Curtain. Scientist Julie Andrews follows fiance Paul Newman as he pretends to defect to East Berlin. Based on the novel by Leon Uris. 1966. 129 min. VH1/TORN-0001.

Topaz. This tale of espionage, betrayal, suicide, and murder stars John Forsythe, Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret. 1969. 126 min. VH1/TOPA-0003.

Frenzy. Jon Finch is arrested for a series of "necktie murders" committed by acquaintance Barry Foster, a charming psychopath. With Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey and Alec McCowen. 1972. 116 min. VH1/FREN-0004.

The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock. (a.k.a. Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense). Cliff Robertson narrates Richard Schickel's program. 1973. 58 min. VH2/MENW-0001.

High Anxiety. Mel Brooks scripted, directed and stars with Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman in this spoof of Hitchcockian thrillers. 1974. 94 min. VH1/HIGH-0016.

Family Plot. Hitch's 53rd and final film is a black comedy about a psychic (Barbara Harris), her cabbie boyfriend (Bruce Dern), and a pair of kidnapping jewel thieves (William Devane, Karen Black). 1976. 121 min. VH1/FAMI-0004.

The American Film Institute Salute to Alfred Hitchcock. Marty Pasetta's tape includes clips from 18 films plus tributes from Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Anthony Perkins, James Stewart, and Francois Truffaut. 1979. 72 min. VH2/AMER-0029.

The American Film Institute Salute to James Stewart. Marty Pasetta's program includes Hitch paying tribute to one of his favorite actors. 1980. 71 min. VH2/AMER-0014.

Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann. Josh Waletzky profiles the man who scored The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, and Marnie. Also, a recreation of Herrmann's unused score for Torn Curtain. 1992. 57 min. VH2/MUSI-0002.

Hitchcock Bibliography

Film Criticism

Richard J. Anobile's Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (OV 791.437 H)

Judy Arginteanu's The Movies of Alfred Hitchcock (791.4302A)

Dan Auiler's Hitchcock's Notebooks: An Authorized and Illustrated Look Inside the Creative Mind of Alfred Hitchcock (791.3402 A) and Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (791.4372A)

Charles Barr's Vertigo (791.4372 B)

Andre Bazin's The Cinema of Cruelty: From Bunuel to Hitchcock (791.4375B)

John Belton's Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (791.4372 A)

Leslie Brill's The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock's Films (791.4302 Hitchcock B)

Peter Conrad's The Hitchcock Murders (791.4302 Hitchcock C)

Robert J. Corber's In the Name of National Security: Hitchcock, Homophobia, and the Political Construction of Gender in Postwar America (791.4302 Hitchcock C)

Steven DeRosa's Writing with Hitchcock (791.4302 Hitchcock D)

Raymond Durgnat's The Strange Case of Alfred Hitchcock, or The Plain Man's Hitchcock (791.43D)

Jonathan Freedman & Richard Millington's Hitchcock's America (791.4302 Hitchcock)

Focus on Hitchcock (Albert J. LaVelley, ed) (791.4302 Hitchcock F)

Sidney Gottlieb's Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Selected Writings and Interviews (791.4302 Hitchcock)

Hitchcock Poster Art (OV 791.4302 Hitchcock)

Patrick Humphries' The Films of Alfred Hitchcock (791.4302 Hitchcock H)

Evan Hunter's Me and Hitch (791.4372 H)

Robert E. Kapsis' Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation (791.4302 Hitchcock K)

Leonard J. Leff's Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick in Hollywood (791.4302 Hitchcock L)

Thomas Leitch's The Encyclopedia of Alfred Hitchcock (791.4302 Hitchcock L)

Tania Modleski's The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory (791.43 Hitchcock M)

James Naremore's North by Northwest: Alfred Hitchcock, Director (791.4372N)

Gene D. Phillips' Alfred Hitchcock (791.43023 Hitchcock P)

Walter Raubicheck and Walter Srebnick's Hitchcock's Rereleased Films: From Rope to Vertigo (791.4302 Hitchcock)

Stephen Rebello's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (791.4302 Hitchcock R)

Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol's Hitchcock: The First Forty-Four Films (791.43 Hitchcock R)

Tom Ryall's Alfred Hitchcock and the British Cinema (791.4302 R) and Blackmail (791.4372)

Jane E. Sloan's Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources (R791.4302S)

Donald Spoto's The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures (791.4302 Hitchcock S) and The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (B Hitchcock S)

John Russell Taylor's Cinema Eye, Cinema Ear: Some Key Film-Makers of the Sixties (791.43T)

John Russell Taylor's Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock (791.4302 Hitchcock T)

Francois Truffaut's Hitchcock (OV 791.4302 Hitchcock T)

Maurice Yacowar's Hitchcock's British Films (791.4302 Hitchcock Y)

Adult Fiction

George Baxt's The Alfred Hitchcock Murder Case (MYS Baxt) (Hitch and his wife solve two murders while working on The Lady Vanishes)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories Not for the Nervous (FIC Hitchcock)

Juvenile Fiction

William Arden's Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Secret of Shark Reef (J Arden)

Robert Arthur's Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Green Ghost (J Arthur)

Arthur's Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy (J Arthur)

Alfred Hitchcock's Daring Detectives (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock's Supernatural Tales of Terror and Suspense (J Hitchcock)

Alfred Hitchcock on CD

Music from Alfred Hitchcock Films (Family Plot by John Williams, Strangers on a Train by Dimitri Tiomkin, Suspicion by Franz Waxman, Notorious by Roy Webb) (CD4/HITC-0001)

North by Northwest by Bernard Herrmann (CD4/NORT-0001)

List compiled by Jonathan Guildroy, October 2002