A Year of Hitchcock

Over the years I have seen every movie that Alfred Hitchcock directed. Well almost. The one that I haven’t seen is ‘The Mountain Eagle’, which is described as a lost film. I can’t say that I remember every one of those films: his films from the 1950s onwards have had a longer lasting impression on me (with notable exceptions such as ‘39 Steps’ and ‘The Lady Vanishes’) than his earlier ones, particularly from the silent period. It is for this reason that I have decided not only to reacquaint myself with those early films, but also to reappraise the rest of his oeuvre.

With the help of two books written by his biographers: Patrick McGilligan’s ‘Alfred Hitchcock: A life in Darkness and Light’ (published by Wiley 2003) and Donald Spoto’s ‘Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock’ (published by Plexus 1983), I plan, over the year, to write about each and every one of his films.

So, there you have it: fifty two weeks to watch and write about fifty three films! This week I’ll start with his first film: ‘The Pleasure Garden’, made in 1925.