The Hitchcock Primer_1

Narrator: Full disclosure: it was tough to pick which Hitch would make the list, simply due to the fact that the man made over 65 films, not including the 20 TV episodes he directed, so if you're a maker just getting into Hitchcock, first of all, shame on you it's Hitchcock, and consider this a list of the ones you absolutely have to watch to begin to have a conversation about the man and his style. Vertigo: quintessential Hitchcock. Mystery, tension, and an odd portrayal of a blonde leading lady. Vertigo follows Scotty an agoraphobic private investigator what's gotten into the suicidal wife of a former colleague. Obsessions and twists ensue with an ending that gets straight to the bottom of things. Ah, "Psycho." A movie that really needs no introductions. Even if you haven't seen it, you've at least seen: Marion: *screams* Narrator: But let's rewind. Marion steals $40,000 to start a new life with her side squeeze. She stops at a motel operated by Norman Bates, and so begins Hitchcock's low-budget, Freud-would-have-a-field-day, genre-making experience. Narrator: "North by Northwest": a case of mistaken identity. Thornhill: Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening. Narrator: Roger Thornhill, an unassuming ad-man, is accidentally kidnapped by spies who think he's some dude named Kaplan, and has to dodge cops and flee from ironically sticky situations to figure out the plot Thornhill: I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent upon me. Narrator: But stay 'til the end. The symbolism in the final shot is ripe. "Rear Window." Hold onto the edge of your wheelchair? If there's one Hitchcock movie that defines Alfred Hitchcock as a man, it might be "Rear Window". Just as Hitchcock paid razor-sharp attention to his peers and audience, Jeffries, a wheelchair-bound photographer, peeks into the lives of the neighbors behind his apartment. After the wife of neighbor Lars Thurwold goes missing, Jeffries seeks to prove her murder. "4 o'clock". This one's a little out of left field, but for a good reason. For the short lived TV series, "Suspicion," Hitchcock directed just one episode, but this one episode is a Hitchcock story boiled down to the essentials, clearly laid out without any bells and whistles. A jealous watch repairman builds a bomb intended for the man he suspects his wife is cheating with. Coincidentally, just after planting the bomb, two burglars tie him up and gag him, incidentally leaving him to his own devices. We think these are sufficient to get you primed enough to watch the other 60+ Hitchcock films, but did we miss any? Officer: Is anything wrong? Marion: Of course not. Narrator: Which ones do you think are enough to get someone hooked? The suspense is killing us.