Alfred Hitchcock's Influence On American Movies

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Recommended: Works of Alfred Hitchcock an Analysis

All the same, Hitchcock never abandoned the themes that earned him his name: the wrong man, the importance of the couple, the ubiquitous evil, the coy sexuality, the engagement with the audience, dysfunctional family, extra-marital relationship, man caught in a trap, and a shadow of doubt. These themes were examined in more depth with greater stylistic verve during the 1950s. In 1960s and 1970s Hitchcock made fewer films and many critics feel the films of the period revealed a decline in his talent. Of these, The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) still remain popular. Hitchcock returned to Great Britain with is film Frenzy (1972) which was greeted with much fan fare and warm critical approval. His glorious career came to a close with Family Plot (1976). According to Francis Truffaut “Hitchcock’s oeuvre
Like “Proustian” and Kaftaesque,” the word “Hithcockian” has invaded the English language as a popular term referring to the humorously macabre or bizarre evil that characterizes his films. Hitchcock undoubtedly is an icon of American crime movies and the infalliable popularity of his films can be seen in the fame that he enjoys. A dynamic interplay of art and life can be evinced in the relationship between films and society. Films provide escape from daily life, opportunity to solve mysteries, chances to identify with powerful competent heroes and discussions of morality that are comfortingly unambiguous. By opening a window on exotica, films enable us to become voyeurs, secret observers of the personal and even intimate lives of characters even when we know that the stories are largely fantasies. The present thesis proposes to focus its attention on film studies, subsumed within Cultural Studies to examine Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre. Cultural Studies evident in the study of cultural artifacts (films, music, novels) and examination of practices (sports, national events) is

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