ALFRED HITCHCOCK: MASTER OF SUSPENSE is a straightforward career retrospective of the famous director that consists entirely of archive footage either taken from Hitch's films themselves or occasionally the trailers for the movies. The inclusion of a handful of behind the scenes photos adds a little more coherency to the proceedings, but this is basic stuff indeed, perhaps for newcomers to the director rather than established fans.
The documentary adopts a chronological approach beginning with Hitchcock's career in silent cinema before moving into his career-building work of the 1930s. It really hits its stride when it reaches the 1940s, and doesn't let up until the mid '70s, when Hitch retired due to ill health. I particularly enjoyed the wealth of footage from the various TV shows that Hitchcock presented and which I didn't know much about. The clips are accompanied by basic narration which offers only the most obvious conclusions and facts. My main complaint is that the quality of the footage from the director's filmography as well as the trailer footage is very poor indeed, thoroughly grainy as though it's been taken from public domain prints or even Youtube.
The documentary adopts a chronological approach beginning with Hitchcock's career in silent cinema before moving into his career-building work of the 1930s. It really hits its stride when it reaches the 1940s, and doesn't let up until the mid '70s, when Hitch retired due to ill health. I particularly enjoyed the wealth of footage from the various TV shows that Hitchcock presented and which I didn't know much about. The clips are accompanied by basic narration which offers only the most obvious conclusions and facts. My main complaint is that the quality of the footage from the director's filmography as well as the trailer footage is very poor indeed, thoroughly grainy as though it's been taken from public domain prints or even Youtube.
