Alfred Hitchcock

Born in London on August 13, 1899, Alfred Hitchcock worked for a short time in engineering before entering the film industry in 1920. He left for Hollywood in 1939, where his first American film, Rebecca, won an Academy Award for best picture. Hitchcock created more than 50 films, including the classics Rear Window, The 39 Steps and Psycho. Nicknamed the "Master of Suspense," Hitchcock received the AFI's Life Achievement Award in 1979. He died in 1980.

Hitchcock wanted to be a recognisable and distinctive director. His films usually featured a fugative on the run or a very beautiful blonde woman. A lot of his films had twisted endings or very thrilling plot featuring depictions of violence, murder and crime, although many of the mysteries function as decoys or "MacGuffins" meant only to serve thematic elements in the film & psychological examinations of the characters.

Hitchcock's films usually had characters struggling in relationships with their Mothers. In North by North West, Roger Thornhill is an innocent man ridiculed by his mother for insisting that shadowy, murderous men are after him. In The Birds the main character, an innocent man, finds his world under attack by vicious birds, and struggles to free himself of a clinging mother The killer in Frenzy  has a loathing of women but idolises his mother. The villain Bruno in Strangers on a Train hates his father, but has an incredibly close relationship with his mother. Sebastian  in Notorious  has a clearly conflictual relationship with his mother, who is suspicious of his new bride Alicia Huberman. Norman Bates has troubles with his mother in Psycho.