Psycho, Vertigo, North By Northwest... everyone knows that these films are classics. But Alfred Hitchcock made more than 60 films in his career and others, like Rope, are less widely known.
These are my personal picks of five more of The Master's films that you might not have seen before but are certainly worth your time.
What?
Tippi Hedren is the serial thief whose problems stem from a horrific childhood incident. Sean Connery the wealthy man who uncovers her criminal ways, marries her and then tries to get to the root of the problem.
Why?
A strange, stylised and unsettling psychological drama that showcases Hedren's icy screen persona and Hitchcock's weird sexual obsessions. Connery twinkles as playboy Mark Rutland but none of the leading characters are truly likeable. Look out for the brilliantly suspenseful five-minute silent robbery sequence.
What?
A serial killer is stalking the streets of 1970s London. An ex-RAF officer falls under suspicion but the real murderer is his close friend.
Why?
Hitchcock's penultimate film was also the first that he had made in Britain for over 20 years. The city he depicts is strangely anachronistic - full of cheery market porters and pubs with pre-war atmosphere. The murders are starkly portrayed and Barry Foster is genuinely disturbing as the psycho. Look out for a majestic long tracking shot taking us away from the scene of one of the killings.
What?
In a small Californian town a teenage girl's humdrum life is enlivened by the arrival of her uncle who is a serial killer called 'The Merry Widow Murderer'.
Why?
Joseph Cotten, one of cinema's finest and least-appreciated actors plays the killer with eerie charm and Teresa Wright is perfect as the teenager he draws into his web. This is Hitchcock's most American film and his personal favourite. It features a discomfiting score by the great Dimitri Tiomkin.
What?
Crazy goings on in a Vermont mental hospital when the incoming director of the institution is unveiled as an imposter by one of the doctors. But did he commit murder to get there?
Why?
Stilted, some would say wooden and definitely featuring one of Hitch's more preposterous plots. Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman struggle through the dialogue, but this curiosity is also full of guilty pleasures - not the least of which are the haunting dream landscapes designed by the Surrealist painter Salvador Dali.
What?
From John Buchan's classic adventure novel - an innocent man goes on the run when he is implicated in a murder. To prove his innocence he must unmask the killers and their plan to steal military secrets.
Why?
Nearly 80 years after it was made this thriller is as fresh, sharp and funny as the day it was released. Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll have real sexual chemistry as the pair thrown together by fate and there are some outstanding sequences including the music hall scenes featuring Mr Memory (not in the original book). Look out for a young John Laurie from 'Dad's Army' playing a suspicious Scottish crofter.
