This was my introduction to Alfred Hitchcock, and it makes for a splendid introduction! This was shown on the Starz network around this time of release, and it was a good overview of Hitchcock's career. It may be somewhat standard in that it look at the major Hollywood films more than some of the British fare (that does get some spotlight, and there's actually more time spent on films you might not expect like Foreign Correspondent and Saboteur), and you get some expected talking heads like Brian De Palma (this was probably the first time I can remember seeing him interviewed) and Peter Bogdanovich (would any Hitchcock doc be complete without him, I'm not sure). But if you consider that someone like me, a young and aspiring movie buff in the 90's, could get a lot from it and realize how much there is to learn about Hitchcock, it's best recommended as a primer for people who want to learn more about his films and why he mattered so much and what an impact he made (i.e. the Psycho shower scene for audiences who were seeing it for the first time in theaters).

Not only a good glimpse at the legendary works of the Master of Suspense, this documentary, which, had it been a series, could have focused on more films, but a more modern approach that does not only repeat what Hitchcock declared himself about his movies in the famous Truffaut book. It is a very good lesson to all those who still consider Hitch only from that point of view. One of the film's greatest pleasures - one only wishes we had been given more of it - is to watch all those modern directors (who mainly started their career years after Hitchcock had died) explain the different movies and what they meant to them. Seeing, among others, Bryan Singer getting quite excited when explaining the bird's first attack on Bodega Bay is inspiring...should not every film fan and, even more, every director have the same light in his eyes when being allowed to speak about the classics, or movies in general?

Ted Haimes' subject for this fantastic documentary is the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, who had a long and distinguished career as a film director. He gave the English and American cinemas some of the best movies during the first three quarters of the twentieth century. Mr. Haimes takes us to examine the life and the genius of Alfred Hitchcock.We are introduced to people that worked with Mr. Hitchcock, like Farley Granger, Tippi Hedren, Teresa Wright, Janet Leigh, among others, and people that admired and were influenced by the man himself such as Robert Altman, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Bayer, Wes Craven, Curtis Hansen, Brian DePalma, Jonathan Demme and Joseph Stefano, among others.The first part of the documentary deals with his early years in London. We are given a good account of how this great man worked during those first years and later on, as he came to Hollywood. Mr. Hitchcock's collaboration with Alma Reville, his wife, is one of the things that comes across as what made him get involved in projects because it was Ms. Reville who had a critical eye and saw where the best opportunities were for her husband to excel. We also hear from his daughter Pat, who followed her father's career closely.Two of the films that are given more time are "Vertigo" and "Psycho", both considered by most of the guests that speak in the film as two of the most accomplished movies of Hitchcock's career. They are examined with great care and analyzed with a great deal of intelligence, especially by Joseph Stefano, the screen writer of "Psycho". Credit is also given to Hitchcock's association with Bernard Herrmann who composed some of the best scores for the master's films. In fact, collaboration seems to be at the center of everything this great man did, which denotes the intelligence of Hitchcock since he clearly understood that movie making is a collaborative process.Thanks to Mr. Haimes for this most informative account on the life of a true genius: Alfred Hitchcock!

This might be a fine documentary to watch if you've never seen anything at all on Hitchcock before; it gives you the basic facts and a chronology of his career and all that. But for anyone with any actual familiarity with Hitchcock, this will all have been seen before.This documentary is basically a pedestrian retelling of Hitchcock's film life. It rarely dips beneath the surface. Surprisingly, the most interesting comments on Hitchcock's approach to film are made not by the directors and academicians but by actresses who have worked with him. But the documentary fails to shed any light on what makes Hitchcock important, or give any insights into his artistry. It just tells you he is important and artistic.I wouldn't say this was without any merit at all. There is an occasional interesting comment, or brief snippet of film, that is worthwhile. But it is very weak.