Alfred Hitchcock was born 124 years ago and has been dead for just over four decades, and we still can’t stop talking about him. He’s a household name with an instantly recognizable profile, and his films are required viewing for both movie nerds and newbies alike. Vertigo was recently voted the greatest film of all time in the influential Sight and Sound poll.
Various aspects of his work and life have been intensely examined in documentaries, interviews, biographies, academic studies, YouTube posts, and appeared in museum displays. There were two long-running anthology shows on TV, amusing cameos in his films, and his imprint (if nothing else) was on a delightful series of young adult books. He’s even got his own theme song.
Hitchcock successfully branded himself (pardon the corporate language) as few directors ever have. It’s quite a feat for such a reserved, enigmatic fellow to have flourished in the public eye as often as he did. Offering himself up for public consumption, so to speak, was yet another one of his directorial masterstrokes.
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