Hitchcock

The final paper consists of a 9-page essay on an issue in auteurism using the figure of Alfred Hitchcock as a case study. You may choose to examine films, television episodes or other media from outside the syllabus. It is recommended that you only write about 1 or 2 films, but you must make reference to at least ONE film or television episode screened in class.

Films screened in class:

Vertigo (1958)

Strangers on the Train (1951)

The Lodgers (1926)

The 39 Septs(1935)

Spellbound (1945)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Rebecca (1940)

Psycho (1960)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Notorious (1946)

“Revenge” from Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) Season 1, E1

“Little White Frock” from Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) Season 3, E39 “Lamb to the Slaughter” from Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) Season 3, E28

Rope (1948)

 

Some SAMPLE topics include:

 

• A comparison of Alfred Hitchcock’s leading men in The Thirty-Nine Steps and Young and Innocent as an example of Hitchcockian style
• A comparison of Duel in the Sun (1946) and Spellbound (1945), both produced by David O. Selznick, to explore the extent of Selznick’s influence on Hitchcock
• A study of themes of religion in Hitchcock’s oeuvre with reference to his biography

 

Additional instruction:

1. For the film you choose, please give detail analysis of a specific scene. Do not just review the films or simply mention the plots.
2. Make sure that the argument is about an ISSUE of auteurism. And it has to be clear in the thesis statement.
3. Please use academic source only.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION(May help you to explore a related topic):

This course will explore the movement in film theory known as auteurism through a case study of one of the most examined auteurs of the 20th century, director Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock’s decades-long international career saw him work within a number of genres, styles and production systems, but he is best remembered for the thrillers which dominated his filmography. Hailed as an important director from his first film in England, Hitchcock established a signature poetic and technically-innovative visual style, a narrative formula that mixed the comedy of errors with the chase film, a stable group of actors, writers, and designers with whom he worked and even a cameo signature that set his films apart as Hitchcock productions. Adopted as the very emblem of the auteur theory that developed in France in celebration of the technical proficiency of Hollywood studio directors, Hitchcock’s films have been examined as the products of his legendarily controlling artistic vision. While exploring the history of auteurism as a mode of film criticism, this course will examine both the process of Hitchcock’s transformation into the auteurist Master of Suspense and problems and challenges to the auteur theory by proposing other authors present within Hitchcock’s texts. Students of this course will become familiar with key texts, authors, and concepts in auteur theory and the filmography of Alfred Hitchcock.