was born on this date in 1899. The director was nominated for an Academy Award six times (five as director, once for best picture), but never won. The best director nominations were for Rebecca, Life Boat, Spellbound, Rear Window and Psycho.
CNN did a nice retrospective on Hitchcock on his 100th birthday five years ago. It includes a list of his “ten best” films.
10. “Strangers on a Train” (1951)
9. “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1934, 1956)
8. “To Catch a Thief” (1955)
7. “Dial M for Murder” (1954)
6. “The 39 Steps” (1935)
5. “North by Northwest” (1959)
4. “The Birds” (1963)
3. “Psycho” (1960)
2. “Vertigo” (1958)
1. “Rear Window” (1954)
Rear window? Ugh. Jimmy Stewart is barely watchable.
Notorious. Grant. Bergman. Raines. Now that’s a movie. A great story to boot. Bergman was persona-non-grata in Hollywood for her marital scandal. Grant said he wouldn’t do it without her. Hitchcock relented. Funny, but I can’t remember Hitchcock’s cameo in Notorious. Anybody?