British director Alfred Hitchcock, known as the “master of suspense,” is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of film. Over the course of a five-decade career, he has helmed more than 50 feature films, bending genres and adding his own distinctive touch that has influenced and inspired other filmmakers. Take a look at five Hitchcock thriller movies helped to define modern thrillers.
1. Suspicion (1941)
Cast- Jaon Fontaine, Cary Grant, Cedric Hardwicke
The repressed, reserved Lina McLaidlaw meets the rambunctious playboy Johnnie Aysgarth while riding the train to the English countryside. That’s when he crashes her first-class cabin with a third-class ticket. When they first meet again, Johnnie overhears her father discussing her heritage and starts to pursue her. She quickly falls in love with him. When they get married, and Lina learns that Johnnie is a broke gambler who borrows money from his buddies. All of it in order to live in a high standard when they return from their opulent honeymoon.
Lina suspects Johnnie of planning to murder Beaky after discovering that he is also a liar and having Beaky, an old friend and business colleague, over to their house. To break off their partnership, they choose to go to Paris. Lina thinks Johnnie is the murderer and she will be his next victim when two detectives arrive at their home to look into Beaky’s inexplicable death in Paris.
2. Rebecca (1940)
Cast- Laurence Oliver, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
When a young woman meets the newly widowed and extremely affluent Maxim de Winter, he is working as a ladies’ companion in Monte Carlo. They fall in love, and soon after, they marry. The de Winters move into the Mandalay estate owned by the Maxim family. Mrs. de Winter has a difficult time blending in. Rebecca, Maxim’s late wife, seems to be everywhere in the house. Mrs. de Winter can’t help but feel like she is constantly being compared to Rebecca and that she is an outsider. Rebecca’s personal maid, Mrs. Danvers, likewise makes an effort to make the new Mrs. de Winter as miserable as possible. Mrs. de Winter worries constantly that thoughts of Rebecca will make her and Maxim grow distant. She gets to know Rebecca more and better over time.
3. Rear Window (1954)
Cast- Grace Kelley, James Stewart, Thelma Ritter
Incapable photojournalist L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies has plenty of time to see at other people’s lives from behind his curtain. Since he is addicted to the sinful pleasure of doing so. Jeff indulges in his voyeuristic inclinations while confined to his upper-story redbrick Manhattan flat. As he does so, something eventually attracts his attention. His intense curiosity has evolved into a bizarre addiction. Additionally, restless Jeff drags his beautiful girlfriend Lisa, a fashion consultant, and his insurance nurse Stella into a risky conspiracy in which nothing is as it seems. As he is convinced he witnessed one of his neighbours kill someone in cold blood. But was there actually a crime to begin with?
4. Dial M For Murder (1954)
Cast- Grace Kelley, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings
Tony Wendice resolves to murder his wife Margot. After realising that she had a brief liaison with mystery author Mark Halliday. In order to give himself an unbeatable alibi, he blackmails Charles Swann, a former classmate with a questionable record. In order to carry out the murder on his behalf. Simple is the strategy. He will give Swann the key to their apartment so that he may enter and strangle her when he and Halliday are out to supper.
Everything goes according to plan, but Margot successfully defends herself and ends up killing Swann. As a result of Tony’s testimony, which suggested that he had been extorting her, she is found guilty of his murder. She is soon imprisoned before being hanged. Mark Halliday and Chief Inspector Hubbard, a friendly police officer, are entrusted with the task of discovering Wendice’s scheme and gathering the proof necessary to place him under arrest.
5. Strangers On A Train (1951)
Cast- Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Pal Hitchcock, Ruth Roman
Bruno Antony believes he has the ideal plan to get rid of his loathed father. After meeting tennis player Guy Haines on a train, he believes he has found the collaborator he needs to carry it out. His strategy is rather straightforward: He convinces two strangers to kill someone the other person wishes to get rid of. For instance, Guy may murder his father and divorce Guy’s wife Miriam, allowing Guy to wed Anne Morton, the stunning daughter of a U.S. senator. Guy dismisses everything out of hand, but Bruno follows through on his end of the “deal” and eliminates Miriam.
When Guy refuses, Bruno makes it plain that if he doesn’t get rid of his father, he would set up evidence to link Guy to her murder. After Miriam declined to get a divorce from Guy, he also said some regrettable things about her. The combination of everything makes the police think Guy committed the murder. It forces him to put up with Bruno’s insane outbursts.
