alfred hitchcock comparison of 4 movies

Alfred Hitchcock is the undoubted master of suspense, and virtually invented the thriller genre. He
began his film career in 1919, illustrating title cards for silent films at Paramount's Famous
Players-Lasky studio in London. His first directed film was The Pleasure Garden in 1925. From
there Hitchcock went on to make such films as The 39 Steps in 1935, an espionage thriller
involving spies and murder set in London, Vertigo in 1958, a mystery about a man with a near
insane obsession, North By Northwest in 1959, a cross-country manhunt for a mistaken
government agent by a group of spies, and Psycho in 1960, a thriller based around murders inside
of an isolated motel. In these four movies, Hitchcock used similarities such as McGuffins,
suspense techniques, similar characters and situations, a similar basis, and movies that featured
ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Each movie takes someone that could be found in
everyday life, and put into a situation that most people would never dream of being in.
Alfred Hitchcock's movies have a very similar basis they feature ordinary people in extraordinary
situations. For example, in The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay visits a typical music hall for an
evening, and ends up with a murdered spy in his London apartment. Hannay started his night
listening to music, and later came across a woman after shots had been fired inside of the music
hall. Taking her into his apartment and away from danger turns quickly into an extraordinary
situation as she reveals herself as a spy. Soon he has the government after him for murder, and a
group of spies after him because of a secret that he doesn't hold. In Vertigo, a policeman named
Scottie Ferguson follows a friend's wife, and eventually finds a extraordinary connection between
her and someone who died many years ago. This situation can also be seen in North by Northwest,
when Roger Thornhill, an ad executive is involved in a case of mistaken identity. What would
normally be an ordinary situation quickly escalates when his accusers take him off to be killed
instead of listening to reasoning. Psycho, the 1960 suspense movie, Marion steals $40,000 on an
impulse, and runs away to start a new life. In each of these movies, the main character starts off
just as an ordinary person would. The events that take place, put the person into an extraordinary
position, which is frequent in Hitchcock's films.
Hitchcock has become famous for his many suspense techniques, seen in many of his films.
Showing the viewer of the film the danger involved, but not the characters. For example, in North
by Northwest, Vandamm and his associate are speaking while Eve is upstairs. Vandamm's
associate fires the blanks at Vandamm showing that Eve did not commit a murder, but instead
faked it. They talked about throwing her out of the plane over the water later in the film. The

viewer becomes aware of this, but Eve is up in her room preparing, unaware. This method of
suspense is also in Psycho after Marion is killed, and the viewer knows that there is a killer in the
house. Sam doesn't know anything, but the viewer feels the suspense due to the last murder.
The McGuffin has been attached to the Hitchcock name due to its use in many of his films. A
McGuffin is something that the characters in the movie focus their attention around, but the
viewers don't. A McGuffin can be used to draw a story line to a certain point, where it is then
dropped. It can also be used to tie different parties together in the end of a film. In The 39 Steps,
the spies after Hannay don't want the secret of the 39 steps getting out. This is their motive for
killing the woman in his apartment, and attempting to kill him. The viewer is not intended to care
about the 39 steps, but instead about Hannay's chase, and his attempts to prove his innocence.
North by Northwest's McGuffin is the microfilm which contains the government secrets, which is
trying to be smuggled out of the country by Vandamm. This is what includes the authorities into
the chase, but the viewer is initially told to think that they are chasing Hannay. In Psycho Marion
takes $40,000 to start a new life. For the entire first half of the film viewers are lead to believe that
the movie is essentially a story of stolen money, but that McGuffin only lasts until the Bates Motel
comes into the story.
Hitchcock was not compared with directors during his lifetime. Besides Rebecca, none of his films
won an Academy Award for Best Picture. As a producer, Alfred received one Best Picture
nomination for Suspicion. He was nominated Best Director for five of his films: Rebecca,
Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window, and Psycho. The only Academy Award that he ever received
was the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968. Hitchcock would be knighted in January
1980 by Queen Elizabeth II just four months before his death in Los Angeles.