Summary

• Hitchcock's thrillers succeed because of the intricacies of his characters & the actors who bring them to life.
• Hitchcock's films often explore deeper themes & social commentary, such as the rise of fascism and the failings of the criminal justice system.
• Hitchcock's films are a masterclass in suspense, tension, and storytelling, with innovative techniques still used today.

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most influential directors of all time, and his best movies stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the irrefutable classics of cinema. Hitchcock pioneered many filmmaking techniques and storytelling devices which are still in use today, including long takes, MacGuffins, and the subjective camera. He is known as the "Master of Suspense" for good reason, but he was also adept at directing action, romance, and deeply personal dramas. But focusing on Hitchcock's legacy alone would ignore his remarkably compelling thrillers, which are just as enjoyable decades later.

Hitchcock's thrillers succeed where other genre films fail due to his attention to the intricacies of his characters. Hitchcock knew that horror movies are less scary and dramas are less intriguing when the characters are bland or vague. Hitchcock had access to some legendary actors, and they helped him achieve his vision of complex, character-driven narratives. Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and James Stewart all worked with Hitchcock on multiple occasions. Hitchcock never won the Academy Award for Best Director, despite his five nominations, but his status as one of the greatest directors in history in indisputable.

20 Spellbound (1945)

Starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman

Gregory Peck plays a man whose amnesia hides his repressed trauma even from himself, and Ingrid Bergman is the psychologist who tries to unlock his mysterious past. Spellbound is a psychological drama with an unusual approach to its mystery, but Hitchcock's direction helps to draw the audience into Peck's troubled state of mind. For added strangeness in the dream sequences, Hitchcock teamed up with Salvador Dalí. The artist populated the dreamscape with floating eyes, faceless men, and elongated, monolithic shadows. These images have all the uncomfortable, austere horror of Dalí's work, but within the context of the story they are given an even more sinister connotations.

19 Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Starring Joel McCrea and Laraine Day

World War II movies made during the war are interesting from a historical perspective, but many of them merely served as propaganda. This is not the case with Foreign Correspondent, a tightly scripted thriller about a journalist who uncovers an Axis conspiracy involving spies from different countries. The dark thriller shows Hitchcock's flair as a director of action sequences, especially during a thrilling car chase in Amsterdam and the plane crash in the finale, as the cabin quickly fills up with water. But these impressive moments never overshadow the intriguing story of international espionage, and Hitchcock unfolds the mystery at a steady pace.

18 Lifeboat (1944)

Starring Tallulah Bankhead and William Bendix

As the title suggests, Lifeboat takes place entirely in one location, after a enger ship is sunk by a German U-Boat. The survivors are forced to cooperate in order to survive, but the sole Nazi who climbs aboard causes a rift between the American engers. Lifeboat is a detailed character drama, and the lengthy fight for survival helps to tease out the hidden depths of the engers, as they are driven to desperate lengths. Despite its restrictive setting, Hitchcock manages to keep Lifeboat visually interesting throughout, framing characters in different ways to represent the shifting power dynamics and alliances within the group.

17 Notorious (1946)

Starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

The relationship in Notorious feels more natural, and the circumstances surrounding it are consequently far more threatening.

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman team up to infiltrate a gang of Nazis in Brazil after the Second World War, but this spy thriller is far more dangerous than its romance suggests. Many spy movies feature some kind of love interest, but the relationship in Notorious feels more natural, and the circumstances surrounding it are consequently far more threatening. Hitchcock produces some of his most ambitious and impressive set pieces in Notorious, and he utilizes long takes in particular to ground his scenes in reality. The camera often sweeps over vast scenes, but nothing can distract from Grant and Bergman's electric chemistry.

16 The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave

After an elderly woman disappears on a train, her young traveling companion helps to investigate what happened to her. The Lady Vanishes is an acutely observed examination of human nature, with each enger on the train hindering th investigation in some way, often for selfish reasons completely unrelated to the crime. Many of the characters represents different nations or political tribes in the lead up to the Second World War, and the entire incident is an allegory for Europe's ive response to the rise of fascism. Even removed from this historical context, however, The Lady Vanishes is an intriguing mystery.

15 Shadow Of A Doubt (1943)

Starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten

Shadow of a Doubt is often referenced as Hitchcock's personal favorite from his extensive filmography, even if many of his irers don't share this opinion. Still, Shadow of a Doubt presents a malicious side to American suburbia, and it blows the hallowed notion of the nuclear family to pieces. Charlie suspects her beloved uncle, also called Chalie, of horrific crimes. Her investigation causes him to turn his murderous gaze on her. Shadow of a Doubt reflects the commonly held fear that evil can come from anywhere, even the safety of one's own home and the love of one's own family.

14 The Wrong Man (1956)

Starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles

So many of Hitchcock's movies feature an innocent protagonist who is falsely accused of a crime. It's a great way to introduce an everyman character into a dark and criminal world, and The Wrong Man is a perfect encapsulation of this concept. The Wrong Man is scathing in its criticisms of the criminal justice system, particularly the idea that an innocent man can be found guilty based on flimsy evidence and unreliable witnesses. There are shades of Kafka to the trial, especially in the way the system dehumanizes the people who are duty-bound to uphold it. Henry Fonda is outstanding as the innocent man, the movie's most human character.

13 The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Starring James Stewart and Doris Day

In a rare move, Hitchcock remade his own 1934 movie over 20 years later, and the result displays how far his talents had matured. The debate over which version is superior persists to this day, but the latter version, made in America rather than Britain, has a grander scale and far more of Hitchcock's idiosyncratic flourishes. The Man Who Knew Too Much partly because he was dissatisfied with his first attempt. The second version makes plenty of changes to the plot and the characters, but what makes it the superior movie is its excellent dialogue, which can be both humorous and tense.

12 To Catch A Thief (1955)

Starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

To Catch a Thief features Cary Grant as a debonair former cat burglar who teams up with Grace Kelly to hunt down one of his imitator's on the French Riviera. It's a gorgeously stylish and atmospheric film, and Hitchcock seems fully aware of the glamour of both his stars and his location. To Catch a Thief isn't the sort of compulsive thriller Hitchcock is so frequently associated with, but its elegant swagger is more than enough to justify its slower pace. It's a more light-hearted and breezy crime caper, a kind of opulent escapist movie set in a world where everyone is beautiful, and they always know what to say.

11 Frenzy (1972)

Starring Jon Finch, Alec McCowen and Barry Foster

Many of Hitchcock's most enduring films were produced in the 1950s and 1960s, but Frenzy showed that he was still capable of bold innovation in the later years of his career. Frenzy is far more explicit in its depiction of violence than most of Hitchcock's classics. He was brilliant at maintaining suspense, but Frenzy portrays a serial killer with overt brutality. As the media storm surrounding the killings rises, Hitchcock probes at the bloodthirsty nature of his own audience. Several characters imply that they are secretly ing the murderer, viewing the crimes as an entertaining media spectacle rather than a real-life tragedy.

Frenzy was Hitchcock's penultimate movie. His final project was 1976's Family Plot.