"Hitchcock" redirects here. For other uses, see Hitchcock (disambiguation).
[>>]

Source: Wikipedia

"Hitchcock" redirects here. For other uses, see Hitchcock (disambiguation).

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 - 29 April 1980) was a British-American film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, billed as England's best director, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939 and became a U.S. citizen in 1955.
Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. His stories often feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime. Many of the mysteries, however, are used as decoys or "MacGuffins" that serve the film's themes and the psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual overtones. Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." The magazine MovieMaker has described him as the most influential filmmaker of all time, and he is widely regarded as one of cinema's most significant artists.

Early life [edit]
Born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone, (then part of Essex, now part of London), England, Hitchcock was the second son and the youngest of three children of William Hitchcock (1862-1914), a greengrocer and poulterer, and Emma Jane Hitchcock (née Whelan; 1863-1942). Named Alfred after his father's brother, Hitchcock was brought up as a Roman Catholic and was sent to Salesian College and the Jesuit Classic school St Ignatius' College in Stamford Hill, London. His mother and paternal grandmother were of Irish extraction. He often described a lonely and sheltered childhood worsened by his obesity.
Around the age of 5, according to Hitchcock, he was sent by his father to the local police station with a note asking the officer to lock him away for five minutes as punishment for behaving badly. Harsh treatment and wrongful accusations are found frequently in Hitchcock's films.
When Hitchcock was 15, his father died. In the same year, Hitchcock left St. Ignatius to study at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in Poplar, London. After leaving, he became a draftsman and advertising designer with a cable company called Henley's. During the First World War, Hitchcock was rejected for military service because of his obesity - sometimes thought to have been caused by a glandular condition. Nevertheless the young Hitchcock signed up to a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers in 1917. His military stint was limited: he received theoretical briefings, weekend drills and exercises. Hitchcock would march around Hyde Park and was required to wear puttees, which he could never master how to wrap around his legs properly.
While working at Henley's, Hitchcock began to dabble creatively. After the company's in-house publication, The Henley Telegraph, was founded in 1919, he often submitted short articles and eventually became one of its most prolific contributors. His first piece was "Gas" (1919), published in the first issue, in which a young woman imagines that she is being assaulted one night in Paris - only for the twist to reveal that it was all just a hallucination in the dentist's chair, induced by the anaesthetic. His second piece was "The Woman's Part" (1919), which involves the conflicted emotions a husband feels as he watches his wife, an actress, perform onstage."Sordid" (1920) surrounds an attempt to buy a sword from an antiques dealer, with another twist ending. The short story "And There Was No Rainbow" (1920) was Hitchcock's first brush with possibly censurable material. A young man goes out looking for a brothel, only to stumble into the house of his best friend's girl. "What's Who?" (1920), while humorous, was also a forerunner to the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" routine. "The History of Pea Eating" (1920) was a satirical disquisition on the various attempts people have made over the centuries to eat peas successfully. His final piece, "Fedora" (1921), was his shortest and most enigmatic contribution. It also gave a strikingly accurate description of his future wife, Alma (whom he had not yet met).
During this period, Hitchcock became intrigued by photography and started working in film production in London, working as a title card designer for the London branch of what would become Paramount Pictures. In 1920, he received a full-time position at Islington Studios with its American owner, Famous Players-Lasky, and their British successor, Gainsborough Pictures, designing the titles for silent movies. His rise from title designer to film director took five years.
[<<]

This text is based on a article from the open encyclopedia Wikipedia and stands under GNU license for free documentation. On Wikipedia there is List of the authors Available. Image: Original uploader was Frogskin9 at en.wikipedia