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Alfred Hitchcock

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15 May, 1939

Jamaica Inn

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Hitchcock directs this movie about a young woman who discovers that there are criminal using her uncle’s inn as part of a scheme to wreck ships for profit. Maureen O’Hara, Robert Newton, and Charles Laughton star. On actor Charles Laughton:

When we started the picture, he asked me to show him only in close shots because he hadn’t yet figured out the manner of his walk. Ten days later he came in and said, “I’ve found it.” It turned out that his step had been inspired by the beat of a little German waltz.

7 Oct, 1938

The Lady Vanishes

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Hitchcock directs this mystery film which also has touches of surrealism. A young woman traveling by train makes the acquaintance of a nice older lady who then vanishes without a trace. As the mystery deepens, and the other passengers continue to doubt her story, the young woman begins to question her own grasp of reality. Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, and Paul Lukas star. Director and Hitchcock scholar, Francois Truffaut:

Since I know it [The Lady Vanishes]by heart, I tell myself each time that I’m going to ignore the plot (and study the technique and effect). But each time, I become so absorbed by the characters and the story that I’ve yet to figure out the mechanics of the film.”

2 Dec, 1936

Sabotage

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Hitchcock directs this movie about a bombing plot in London and an undercover detective’s efforts to thwart it. This follow-up to Hitchcock’s Secret Agent is actually loosely based on the classic Joseph Conrad novel with the same title, though the two films have completely different stories. Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, Desmond Tester star.

Aside from a few scenes . . . it was a little messy. No clean lines about it.

Sabotage (1936) - Delivering The Bomb

1936

Secret Agent

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Hitchcock directs this espionage film about a group of spies sent to assassinate an enemy agent. As they pursue their goal, they soon find themselves dealing with a crisis of conscience. The film is based on a novel by Somerset Maugham. John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young star.

9 Jul, 1935

The 39 Steps

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Hitchcock directs this fast paced espionage thriller about a man falsely accused of murdering a female spy. Before dying, the woman gives him tantalizing clues about an enemy spy ring, and now he must unravel the mystery in order to prove his own innocence. Stars Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, and Lucie Mannheim.

8 Jul, 1934

The Man Who Knew Too Much

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Hitchcock directs this tense thriller about a couple on vacation who witness the murder of a spy. Right before the man dies he gives the couple crucial information about an assassination plot, but before they can report anything their child is kidnapped in an attempt to force their silence. The film stars Leslie Banks, Edna Best, and Peter Lorre.

1932

Number Seventeen

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Hitchcock directs this action packed crime film about a group of thieves who steal a diamond necklace and then meet up afterward. Meanwhile, a clever detective is pursuing them relentlessly. The film stars Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, and John Stuart. Hitchcock’s wife and collaborator, Alma Reville:

As the climax of a thriller was invariably a chase…Number Seventeen’s climax must be a chase to end all chases – its details so preposterous that excitement would give way to gales of laughter. It was on these lines and in this spirit that we conceived and wrote the script.

Rich and Strange

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Hitchcock directs this film about a newly married couple who receive a large inheritance. They use the money to travel abroad, but things keep going awry as they gradually learn that there is much more to life than wealth.  The film, which is also known as East of Shanghai, stars Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, and Percy Marmont.

Rich and Strange - Clip

1931

The Skin Game

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Hitchcock directs this film about two families with very different outlooks on the world, feuding over a piece of land. Things turn truly nasty when one family tries to swindle the other. The film, based on a stage play by John Galsworthy, stars Edmund Gwenn, Jill Esmond, and C.V. France .

1930

Murder!

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Hitchcock directs this whodunit about an actress accused of a murdering one of her co-stars. She was found at the crime scene in a daze and has no memory of what actually happened. The film, which stars stars Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, and Phyllis Konstam, was co-written by Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville.

1929

Juno and the Paycock

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Hitchcock directs this film set during the Irish Revolution. It’s about a family who inherit a fortune and then begin living indulgently as they lose a proper sense of moral perspective. The film, which stars Sara Allgood, Edward Chapman, and Barry Fitzgerald is based on a screenplay by Sean O’Casey.

Juno And The Paycock

Blackmail

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Hitchcock directs this film about a woman who kills an attempted rapist in self-defense, and tries to cover it up instead of reporting the incident. It is Hitchcock’s first sound film, but a silent version was filmed simultaneously with the same cast. The movie stars Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Sara Allgood.

The Manxman

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Hitchcock directs this romantic melodrama about a love triangle. A fisherman and a young lawyer both fall madly in love with the same woman. She becomes engaged to the fisherman but when he goes away to seek wealth and prosperity overseas, she and the lawyer are inexorably drawn together. The film, based on a novel by Hall Caine, stars Anny Ondra, Carl Brisson and Malcolm Keen.

1928

Champagne

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Hitchcock directs this comedy about a young woman who runs away with her boyfriend in an attempt to elope, but various coincidences and difficulties keep them from succeeding. Meanwhile, her angry father plots a scheme for teaching her a lesson. The film, starring Betty Balfour, Jean Bradin, and Ferdinand von Alten, is co-written by Hitchcock himself, based on a novel by Walter C. Mycroft.

Easy Virtue

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Hitchcock directs this film about a woman falsely accused of adultery and divorced. Later when she remarries a man of wealth and property, she finds it necessary to keep her past a secret. The film, which focuses on the prejudices of the English Aristocracy, stars Isabel Jeans, Franklin Dyall, and Eric Bransby Williams.

The Farmer’s Wife

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Hitchcock directs this romantic comedy about a widowed farmer searching for a new wife with the help of his loyal maid. They interview candidates from around the town one at a time, and all the women seem to be unsuitable in one way or another until the farmer eventually begins to wonder if he’ll ever find someone he can love again. The film stars Jameson Thomas as the farmer and Lillian Hall-Davis as the maid.

1927

The Lodger

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Hitchcock directs this silent thriller about a suspicious lodger who moves in with a family while a serial murderer is terrorizing the London streets. The film is based on novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes, which was inspired by the real life Jack the Ripper murders. It stars Ivor Novello, June Tripp, and Malcolm Keen.

The Lodger (1927) - the new tenant arrives

26 Dec, 1926

Hitchcock, Reville marry

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Hitchcock-Alma-Reville-weddingAt the age of 26, director Hitchcock marries Alma Reville, an editor who also worked as an assistant director on several British films, including Hitchock’s own The Lodger. The marriage ceremony is held at Brompton Oratory, a Roman Catholic church in South Kensington, London.

Had the beautiful Ms. Reville not accepted a lifetime contract without options as Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock some 53 years ago, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock might be in this room tonight, not at this table but as one of the slower waiters on the floor. I share my award, as I have my life, with her.

1925

The Pleasure Garden

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Hitchcock directs a silent melodrama based on a novel by Oliver Sandys about the romantic trials and tribulations of two chorus girls working at a music hall called The Pleasure Garden. The film stars Carmelita Geraghty, Patsy Brand, Miles Mander, and Jon Stuart.

Melodramatic. But there were several interesting scenes in it.

Alfred Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden (1926) - trailer