August 13 marked the 119th anniversary of the birth of the genius of cinema Alfred Hitchcock – a director who not only had a huge influence on the development of cinema and the thriller genre in particular but also created a new direction in cinema – suspense.
Psycho, The Farmer’s Wife, Birds, Rebecca, Dizziness, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Rope, The Lady Disappears – this is not a complete list of works by the master of intrigue and horror. It is difficult to imagine what modern thrillers and detective stories would be if it were not for the creative legacy of a genius.
Our selection contains the most interesting and sometimes rather strange facts about the famous director Alfred Hitchcock.
- The director starred in a cameo (as himself) in almost all films. The first cameo in The Tenant, according to Hitchcock, was just to fill the frame. In one interview, he said: “I try to appear on the screen in the first 5 minutes, so that people can watch the film in peace, without looking for me in a crowd of extras.” Over time, this trick became part of his signature style.
- Although Alfred Hitchcock is considered an innovator in the field of cinema, he never received an Oscar. He has received five nominations for directing, as well as three at the Cannes Film Festival and six from the Directors Guild of America. In 1968 he was presented with the Irving Thalberg award, but his speech of thanks was the shortest in the history of the Oscar: “Thank you.”
- The director loved to play pranks on people, and these seemingly childish pranks were not always harmless. Once on the set, for example, Hitchcock had a falling out with actress Tippy Hedren and gave her five-year-old daughter Melanie Griffith a doll with a mother’s face lying in a coffin.
- The person who loved to terrify others with his films had several phobias. Hitchcock was afraid of children, oval objects, and police officers. The latter fear is reflected in many of his films and was caused by childhood trauma. One day, his father sent little Alfred to the police station with a note in which he asked to lock the boy in a cell for a few minutes for bad behavior. Another equally strange director’s phobia is eggs. The director also admitted that he was afraid to watch his films.
- Alfred Hitchcock never learned to drive and did not get a driver’s license. This was probably due to a reluctance to contact the police once again.
- Hitchcock was banned from entering Disneyland, and Walt Disney himself refused to use the amusement park as a location for filming, because the director “made that disgusting movie, Psycho.”
- As a victim, Hitchcock loved to film blondes, because “Blondes are the best victims. It’s like pure snow on which a bloody footprint is imprinted. “
- Due to excess weight and small stature, the director was released from service during the First World War.
- The director was born in England and lived there for many years, but in 1939 he was forced to move to Hollywood. Hitchcock received American citizenship only in 1955, but even after that, he did not renounce British citizenship. For his devotion to the Motherland and many other merits, Queen Elizabeth knighted him.
- In 1979, Hitchcock received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. He jokingly told his friends that he might soon die. A year later, the talented director was gone.
