Outsider's Opinion: Top Ten Alfred Hitchcock Films

10. The 39 Steps- Undoubtedly one of Hitchcock's best spy movies (you'll find four on this list), The 39 Steps was one of his most successful films he made in Britain prior to arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930's, a change that would forever alter the mood and landscape of American film. With The 39 Steps Hitch was able to craft an entertaining and fast paced thriller that ranks with the best of his output. Made in 1935, the film is refreshingly suspenseful, even by today's standards, and shows that even earlier in his career (a good 15 years before he would enter what most consider to be his classic period), Hitch was innovating in a genre he would go on to dominate for the next half of a century. It showcases his sly, dark humor and is one of his most purely enjoyable films, filled with one memorable sequence after another. Often times missed due to it being created in his British period, any self respecting Hitchcock fan ought to track down the beautiful Criterion Collection DVD and enjoy the espionage.

9. Notorious- The pinnacle of Hitchcock's work with David O. Selsnick, the it Hollywood producer of the 30's and 40's, Notorious arrived on the heels of Spellbound, one of Hitchcock's most thematically and theoretically ambitious films to date. Spellbound, underrated in its own right, was Hitch's first real full foray into the psychoanalytic probing that would dominate his later, Freudian fueled films. Rather than expand on that immediately, Hitchcock turned back to espionage, creating a film concerned solely with entertaining the audience. It is wildly successful, utilizing the McGuffin to perfection, fueling Hitchcock's examination of a romance between a spy and an unsuspecting woman under the pretense for the search for missing uranium. As the story progress, the audience forgets about the initial reason for the spying and instead is completely absorbed by the romance between the two leads (Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman). Across the board, the acting is wonderful and the cinematography, borrowing from the emerging Film Noir movement, is nothing short of breathtaking. Written by Ben Hecht, one of the finest screenwriters in history, Notorious is an undisputed, complex classic.
8. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)- One of Hitch's most underrated and overlooked works from his classic period, The Man Who Knew Too Much is a terrific exercise in suspense and is a superior film to the original The Man Who Knew Too Much (also by Hitchcock, filmed in Britain in the 1930's). A globe spanning adventure film, Hitch's scope in TMWKTM is especially impressive and the final sequence in the Royal Albert Hall is wonderfully gripping, with each passing second increasing the tension to an almost unbearable level until it finally is released with a climatic cymbal crash. Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day prove why they were such huge attractions with smart, entertaining performances. Midway through his classic period (which I should probably define since I'm using it so much. From 1951 to 1963, Hitchcock created 12 films, 10 of which are widely considered to be cinematic classics. It is a period that is unrivaled in cinematic history, with perhaps only Preston Sturges' productions in the early to mid 1940's coming close), Hitchcock had fully hit his stride, innovating and entertaining at a feverish pitch. He was elevating cinema to a serious art form with each successive film elevating his status to newer heights.
7. Rope- Perhaps the most technically accomplished film of Hitchcock's career, Rope features a remarkably small number of cuts, 9 to be exact and most of those will be invisible to the mainstream audience. The result feels like a staging of a play yet still is oddly cinematic. Hitchcock wisely utilizes the devices afforded to him by the movies to make sure that it doesn't appear to be no more than a filmed play. Due to these long takes, the acting is superb, almost entirely without flaws. While many consider Hitchcock a great technical master, Rope works to prove that he was as equally adept at directing actors as camera movements. It is a testament to Hitch's skill that the film never feels dull or slow despite its lack of quick edits. Rather, it slowly builds suspense until the shocking conclusion. Rope's critics unfairly label it as nothing more than an experiment instead of the truly groundbreaking achievement it truly is. For a director to take such a risk and to pull it off so effortlessly is unique and this film, like many of his others, places Hitchcock in a realm untouched by others.
6. The Lady Vanishes- One of Hitchcock's last films in Britain, The Lady Vanishes is the best blend of humor and thrills of any Hitchcock film. It's brilliance in the blend of the two is amazing as Hitch is able to get his audience to laugh in the midst of a suspense sequence and then after breaking the tension, immediately create it again with grace and precision. His ability to virtually create tension out of thin air was and still is unmatched by any filmmaker. Even Spielberg, who is as manipulative a filmmaker as there is, needs to build suspense. For Hitchcock it instantly materializes out of thin air and is palpable to the audience. The Lady Vanishes benefits from its playful tone: the tension is never unbearable or uncomfortable as it is in some of Hitch's later works. This film, by comparison, is fairly light and airy, gracefully gliding through its 97 minute runtime, never outstaying its welcome. The pacing is pitch perfect and the characters, rare for an adventure film, are wonderfully developed and real. This is Hitchcock's best British film and like The 39 Steps, has a great Criterion Collection DVD that is the best means to watch this over 70 year old film that has aged as well as can be imagined.
5. Psycho- The film that most contribute with being the first slasher horror, which depending on who you ask is a mixed blessing, is also still its best. With two all time great sequences (the shower and the staircase), Psycho is considered by many to be one of the scariest films ever released, despite its grand old age of 46. It holds up remarkably well, as suspenseful and shocking as it must have been in 1960. It's timelessness is a testament to Hitchcock's tremendous skill as it scares even hardened, cynical modern audiences. Anthony Perkins gives the performance of a lifetime, with his ominous stare at film's end as disturbing as any other one shot in cinema history. While I personally think that its greatness pales in comparison to some of Hitchcock's other accomplishments, its importance in film cannot be understated. Its pioneering violence (all of which is off screen) and portrayal of a serial killer is startling in their freshness and its black and white cinematography adds to the creepiness of the situations. In the hands of an inferior director (Gus Van Sant), the remake sagged under its own weight, showing that it took a director of exceptional skill to sustain the film as well as Hitchcock does. Another indisputable classic.
4. Strangers on a Train- Hitchcock's most criminally underrated film, Strangers on a Train is a masterful adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel, brimming with suspense. Farley Granger gives a wonderful performance and Robert Walker is deliciously evil as a sociopath who tries to convince his hero, a tennis star, agree to a murder plot. This was near the start of the classic period and is overlooked due to its proximity to his other more intellectual masterpieces. However, like North By Northwest, this features some of the directors best sequences, particularly the climatic sequence at a carnival on a merry go round. The tension reaches amazing heights and for fans of thrillers, this should be required viewing. The script, penned by Raymond Chandler among others, is astounding. Chandler, my personal choice for the best crime novelist of all time in a close race with Hammett and Ellroy, shows that his work on Double Indemnity was no fluke as he is able to craft a screenplay filled with witty dialogue and wonderfully dangerous situations.
3. Vertigo- Of his classic works, Vertigo is Hitchcock's most intellectually stimulating (Rear Window is a close second) with its riveting and disturbing portrayal of a man obsessed with a dead woman. Jimmy Stewart contributes one of the best performances of his illustrious career. His work as Scottie Ferguson is remarkable in the way it plays against type. Stewart, who almost always played the moral protagonist of the film, here is a disturbed obsessive, determined to get to the bottom of an investigation. While the film starts off as supernatural, an oddity in Hitchcock's work, it quickly switches its tone back to reality, focusing on the downward spiral of Ferguson. The cinematography is stunning in its color and depth of field. The script is a wonderful adaptation of the French novel d'Entre les Morts and the supporting players are superb. The film's climax is a wonderful explanation of the films questions and leaves the viewer shaken to the core. A brave film for 1958, this was the start of a three film stretch that included North by Northwest and Psycho, an absolutely astounding run of filmmaking prowess.
2. Rear Window- Anchored by two fantastic lead performances by Jimmy Stewart and stunning Grace Kelly, Rear Window is an in depth examination of voyeurism masquerading as a simple thriller. Shot in only one room (much like Rope), its pacing are a marvelous technical achievement. The film, despite no changes of scenery, never drags or feels dull. It is exciting and suspenseful from the get go, and the films conclusion is as suspenseful as Hitch's films had ever gotten. Deceptively intelligent, it is a careful examination (like Vertigo) of obsession and voyeurism. There has been as much critical and scholarly writing on Rear Window as any other Hitchcock film and for good reason. There is a wealth of thematic and narrative material here that can be overlooked on first viewing. Its subtleties slow reveal themselves, enveloping the audience with each passing moment. Rear Window's masterful ability to act as either a thriller for the intellectual crowd or an intelligent thematic work for the thrill seekers has allowed it to stay vital and relevant, over 50 years after its initial release.
1. North By Northwest- Hitchcock's best work is a triumphant espionage thriller featuring memorable set piece after set piece, brimming with suspense, humor and fantastic performances. It is the ultimate distillation of Hitchcock's skill as a director and the peak of his creative career. Cary Grant is superb as a business man mistakenly caught up in an international spy ring who refuse to accept that he is who he says he is. What follows is a roller coaster ride through the United States with each moment revealing a clever new twist to the film's plot. The script is razor sharp, providing Grant with countless memorable lines to sink his teeth into. Don't be mistaken though, the character development is there as well, with interesting and believable arcs for each member of the cast. The famous crop duster sequence is as good as one can imagine and literally is one of the top 5 moments ever put on film. Hitchcock would work for another 15 years, but nothing would ever come close to his amazing achievement here with North By Northwest. This is the perfect starter film for a new viewer. It goes down easily and doesn't require intense thought, just a careful eye and the ability to follow a weaving plotline. Not only the best film by Hitchcock, it is undoubtedly one of the best films of all time.