Alfred Hitchcock Biography

The The Farmer's Wife (1928), which concerned a man's selection of a wife from the community, this was followed by a film that was not as bubbly as it sounded. Champagne (1928) originally had a Hitchcock story but was rejected by studio executives. British International Pictures then assigned Hitchcock a Hall Caine novel, The Manxman (1929), which was definitely not material that interested him. Accordingly, it was less than successful, but the studio had savvy enough to hold it from release until after his next film had received a gratifying box-office. Blackmail (1929) was to be his last silent film; it was 1929 and the talkies had arrived. For Alma and Alfred Hitchcock, 1929 also meant the arrival of their first and only child, Patricia Hitchcock had almost completed shooting Blackmail when the studio told him that they wanted to remake it as a sound picture. He has always enjoyed, even invited, challenge to his work, and sound gave him the opportunity to invent new methods to overcome its problems. Even though Blackmail was his first dealing with sound, his innovations proved successful. He had exploited a new invention of a mechanical art which had proven deadly to others. Not yet known as the master of suspense, Hitchcock next directed a sequence in a musical revue called Elstree Calling (1929), Hitchcock directed only a small sequence in which Gordon Harker did a couple of sketches.

Hitchcock then returned to the format of the more serious stage-play adaptation. Juno and the Paycock (1930) was a film based on the Sean O'Casey play. This was nothing more than a photographed stage play. it was followed by Murder (1930) which, because of its technical innovations in sound, was a melodrama that went above its class. In 1931 he directed only one film, The Skin Game (1931), based on the John Galsworthy play about the English class system. Rich and Strange (1932), his first 1932 production, was part comedy, part drama, which Hitchcock enjoyed doing but which apparently audiences didn't appreciate. Number Seventeen (1932), his final film for British International Pictures, was based on a stage play and was a comedy-thriller, a genre in which he felt at home. It seems Hitchcock had performed every function on a movie production except to act as producer. He got that chance with Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), which he produced but did not direct. It was quickly made and starred the marvellous Gertrude Lawrence. The idea of getting caught up in independent productions made him decide to return to Michael Balcon, head of Gaumont-British, where his first film was a Viennese pastry called Waltzes from Vienna (1933), a film he considers to be his worst. His six finest British thrillers were the result of this union. The first, released in 1934, was the highly praised The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), followed in 1935 by The 39 Steps (1935) which outdid it. The Secret Agent (1936) was based remotely on a novel by Somerset Maugham. Sabotage (1936), also produced in 1936, was based, ironically, on The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad but had absolutely no connection to the previous film. Young and Innocent (1937), a delightful production, starred the now-grown Nova Pilbeam, child actress of The Man Who Knew Too Much. It was followed by the remarkable The Lady Vanishes (1938). This completed his contract with Gaumont-British conveniently so.

After many entreaties from the United States, he finally accepted David O. Selznick's offer to make five films for $800,000. It meant selling his beloved Shamley Green, but the pastures did indeed look greener in America. When he began his television series in the 1950s, he named the production company after Shamley. Selznick did not need Hitchcock until late in 1939, so the director decided to make one more picture in England to keep busy. He returned to Elstree, where he was coaxed into working on Jamaica Inn (1939). His first film for Selznick was supposed to be Titanic. This was scrapped, and instead he directed a British Gothic based on Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name, Rebecca, starring Joan Fontaine. Although he didn't win an award for his expert direction, he did help the film win the Best Picture of the Year Award for 1940.

The war had begun in Europe, and Hitchcock yearned to return to Britain. But he was urged to remain in America and use his talents for the Allied cause in his films. The result was a flag-waving but sensational film called Foreign Correspondent (1940). Made for Walter Wanger and United Artists, it was his first film on loan from Selznick. It was also the first of an unrelated trilogy of war propaganda films he would direct. Hitchcock relished the Hollywood high-life and became good friends with many of the leading stars and craftsmen. One enduring relationship was with the beguiling Carole Lombard, who insisted that Hitch direct her in a film. The result was the fast-paced 1941 screwball comedy called Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941). Later followed another RKO production, a British locale thriller called Suspicion (1941). Once again he used Joan Fontaine, who picked up an Oscar for her performance. In 1942, Hitchcock made his second war-effort film, a cross-country chase thriller, Saboteur (1942).