The Master of Suspense: Alfred Hitchcock

By the mid-1950s, Alfred Hitchcock has been in Hollywood for fifteen years, has long since moved beyond the rockiness of his early American productions (like Rebecca), and was about to embark on the portion of his career that would see him soar like The Birds to new, Vertigo-inducing heights of filmmaking prowess, popular appeal, and critical acclaim. In fact, by the time the ride ended a decade later, the director had long since lost sight of his peers out the Rear Window, and audiences and critics alike were going Psycho to find out what the Master of Suspense would take a stab at next. How did Hitchcock arrive at this pinnacle? Why does he occupy such a unique place in the cinematic firmament? Join us to discuss these and other questions, to see clips from a number of his classic films, and to learn more about some of the director’s most notable cinematic trademarks: blonde women in trouble, danger in everyday places, Machiavellian matrons, and, of course, his iconic cameos.

Sponsored by Ellen Agress and Jay Gerber

Guest Speaker:
Andrew J. Douglas, Ph.D., is the deputy director at Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI), a non-profit film center on the Main Line. Previously, he was BMFI’s founding director of education, having joined the organization in July 2005, four months after its opening. The programs he started, educate roughly 5000 students of all ages about film each year. Dr. Douglas has given talks at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University and has written for Film International and the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, among other publications. He has been used as an excuse for his grandmother to meet Robert Redford and was dressed down by Harrison Ford, whom Dr. Douglas still thinks is America’s greatest living leading man.

This talk will take place on Tuesday, January 21 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm online via Zoom.