Monday 2 December 2013

British Thrillers - History of Alfred Hitchcock

1920-1930's
A man called Alfred Hitchcock made his first thriller (the third silent film in 1926) this film was called 'Lodger'. It was one of the first thrillers to be made and is about a landlady who suspects her new lodger is a madman killing women in London. 



His next thriller in 1929 was a film called 'Black mail' this was notable for being his and Britain's first sound film. From this point Alfred Hitchcock was known for producing thrillers.
There were also many other notable British directors who produced thriller films such as Walter Forde, Victor Saville,  George A. Cooper and the young Michael  Powell up to the years 1940.

1940's
Alfred Hitchcock went on to direct more suspense thrillers, in this year he produced two films in which one was oscar winning. These films were 'Foreign Correspondent' and 'Rebecca'. Rebecca being the oscar winning film. In 1941 he went on to release a film called 'Suspicion' and then released a film called 'saboteur' in 1942 and 'Shadow of a doubt' in 1943 which was one of Hitchcocks own personal favorite.

1950's
In the 1950's was when Hitchcock started adding technicolor to his thrillers, as the time changes you can see the development. Strangers on a train, made in 1951 is about a psychotic socialite who confronts a tennis star on how two complete strangers can get away with a murder, a theory that he plans to follow through.




1960's
In the 1960's the film Psycho was released. This film was one of the most well known thriller film ever directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is recognised and praised as a piece of cinematic art by international film critics.



Modern Day Thrillers
Most thrillers now borrow themes and elements from those in the past, but to avoid repetition they often use ideas and aspects from other genres such as horror where they add things in such as sadistic violence/gore etc which is why some people mistake thrillers for horrors. This is when we get sub genres and hybrids.

From reading this research done by a member of my group I now know more of Alfred Hitchock and his history throughout film making, British film industry and the thriller genre. As well as this I now realise the impact the British film industry had on the thriller genre as well as Hitchcock himself.

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