Essential Alfred Hitchcock

Ever since I was a little girl I've been in love with classic films. Sure the acting is uneven, the scripts can be heavy-handed, and they might be dated in parts, yet they still have that indescribable "it" quality. The master of suspense, famed director Alfred Hitchcock, was one my favorites from the start. The ultimate auteur, he had the ability to tell fresh stories, brimming with innovative camera angles, all while creating a shadowy world of intrigue that he would make all his own. Here are my picks for the Hitchcock films you simply cannot afford to miss:

1) Notorious - When you think Hitchcock you don't really think of a tragic love story (that's more George Cukor territory) but that's exactly what you get in this phenomenally acted and directed 1946 thriller. Cary Grant stars as a government agent on the hunt for Nazis hiding out in Brazil. Ingrid Bergman is hired to spy on said Nazis and, in order to infiltrate their world, she soon finds herself married to one, played by Claude Raines in a deliciously evil performance.

Complicating matters is the fact that Bergman and Grant are in love with one another even though their wounded pride always seems to get in the way of admitting it. There are some spectacular camera tricks at hand and the suspense is at an all-time high. Add to the mix a deeply disturbing relationship between Raines and his mother (the mother of all mothers really) and you've got yourself one classic bit of Hitchcock lore.

2) Shadow of a Doubt - It's not one of Hitchcock's more famous films but, in my opinion, it's his best. An in-depth expose on the shocking duality of man, it might be his most layered film. Bustling with clever symbolism and anchored by two extraordinary performances, Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright, it's also one of his most brilliantly acted films. Cotten chills you to the bone as Uncle Charlie, a sweet talking, devilishly charming man who comes to stay with his sister and her family in the sleepy, almost too perfect, little town of Santa Rosa, California. Before long however his niece, played by Wright, begins to suspect he might in fact be a cold blooded murderer.

Thornton Wilder's sometimes corny dialogue and Hitchcock's simplified Americana imagery are intentional, and not only address this seemingly "perfect" world with a cynical eye, but aid the fact that this is the first American Hitchcock film in which the threat is of domestic persuasion. Here the villain is not only a family member but represents a threat to the idealized American home. He's a threat to "goodness" as well, for how much evil will the angelic Wright inflict on Cotten in order to protect the sanctity of her family?

3) Vertigo - Jimmy Stewart would receive high accolades for turning in the performance of his career as Scottie Ferguson, a retired San Francisco detective battling his fear of heights. He's hired to track his friend's suicidal wife, Kim Novak, after she shows signs of possibly being possessed by a spirit from beyond the grave. Scottie soon becomes dangerously fixated with the young woman and inevitably tragedy strikes.

It's a ludicrous plot with massive holes and absurd coincidences that should irk viewers beyond the point of acceptable patience. However you can't help but be instantly enraptured by this gorgeous film embedded with heartbreaking imagery and its alarming tale of obsession. Yes Novak does overact, but she photographs as such a haunting presence on screen you can't help but fall under her spell as well.

4) Psycho - It's been called the first great horror movie and they (whoever they might be) couldn't be more right. Arguably the most famous film in Hitchcock's canon, it's justifiably earned its place in the annals of cinematic history. By now we all know the gruesome Janet Leigh shower scene and, in terms of violence, how shocking it was for its time. However the most interesting aspect of Psycho is how the film drastically shifts points-of-view more than half-way through the film.

The first half of the film builds suspense around the fact that Leigh has just embezzled $40,000 in cash from her boss and is now on the run. However once she checks into the Bates Motel, and is subsequently killed in the famed shower scene, the story begins to follow motel owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). It's a fascinating twist leaving the audience off-kilter and uncertain of what lies ahead for all of the characters. Style-wise it's a very straight forward film with very few of Hitchcock's trademarks frills, but it's the stark simplicity that makes the film so realistic and, ultimately, frightening.

5) North by Northwest - Cary Grant is an ordinary man living a mundane life until a case of mistaken identity turns his world upside down. Struggling to prove his innocence from a murder he didn't commit, he must also fight to save his own endangered life. James Mason, as the man who wants Grant dead, is hardly Hitchcock's most threatening villain but, equipped with icy one-liners, he's no doubt his most entertaining.

It's the most daunting script Hitchcock ever had to mount for the big screen due to its intricate plot twists and stunning locales, including the famed chase scene atop Mt. Rushmore. It's an extremely sophisticated thriller entrenched with iconic imagery and the deft touch of a master filmmaker at the top of his game.