Alfred Hitchcock is the Golden Age of Cinema

When I saw that we could write about a director of the Golden Age of American film I have to say I got excited. I was excited because I could write about Alfred Hitchcock. Now he was an English filmmaker and producer yet his contributions to American cinema are milestones and he did become a dual citizen. This is the man who pioneered techniques in the suspense and psychological thrillers not to mention the voyeur-esque style he shot his films to evoke a sense of anxiety. With a career that spanned more than half a century Alfred Hitchcock perfected the plot twist unlike anyone before or since. To be honest who ever knew what was going to happen at the end of Psycho. He even lock down the set while filming and made everyone who worked on the set to sign a contract of silence. I even heard and this could all be rumors but there is a story that Alfred Hitchcock hired someone or even dressed himself as an old lady, oh say like a mother, and this person would walk in and out of set so that no one would catch on that there was no mother and the guy who played Norman Bates was reading those extra mom lines. Other then Psycho of course there were other very popular films. For example The Birds, Vertigo, To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith which may or may not have been remade with the lovable scamps Bad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I'm still not sure on that one - to me they seen two different movies but exactly the same name, yet the Alfred Hitchcock I remember is the one who brought me Alfred Hitchcock Presents every week on my TV when I was very little. If you haven't seen these I would have to highly recommend you pick these up and watch them. I think there is only seventeen or so episodes but each one is like a little Hitchcock movie squeezed into thirty minutes. A great director and crossing over to TV, there was nothing Hitchcock could not do. Unfortunately his TV career was short lived and only lasted one season I think but he was going after Rod Serling who was after all the god of suspense and horror TV.
I think one person who was influenced by Alfred Hitch was Steven King. It seem like they share the same interest in cameo shot on their movies. Now Hitchcock originated this and most likely appeared in every movie in some form or another yet it seems like King is only in about eighty to ninety percent of his films. I think this is what made Hitchcock a house hold name. His movies were great but every time you watch one you recognize this one guy in every single one of these movies. It is never a significant role but it is like he always pops in. Subliminal Remembrance - now I know that this is not a real word but I feel this is one of the reasons I remember and many people I know remember the great Alfred Hitchcock. Sometimes it even became a game to point him out, this game would later be sold off as Where's Waldo in the mid-nineties in which I received no compensation for the idea. Seriously though Alfred Hitchcock to me is the inventor of suspense and thriller. He is the one who had the guts to throw chocolate syrup on the shower walls when no one else would and call it blood. It was black and white, would the audiences even realize it? Let's not forget to mention his 'MacGuffins' they were objects or devices which drove the plot and were of great interest to the film's characters, but which to the audience were otherwise inconsequential and could be forgotten once they had served their purpose. Hitchcock to me is the most influential director I know that originated from The Golden Age of Cinema and without Hitchcock's wonderful antics like inserting shots of a woman's hairstyle - frequently in close-ups, his dark humor and dry wit, especially regarding murder, and he used to create more shadows on the walls to create suspense and tension we wouldn't have the adjective "Hitchcockian" for suspense thrillers.