Hitchcock in the 50s: A golden run
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- Start Date: 31 May 2025End Date: 31 May 2025Sat (Daytime): 10:30 - 16:30In PersonFull fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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What is the course about?
This film studies course is about a director who was his own genre—a ‘Hitchcock movie’. He was always modern and possibly the first post-modernist director. I will argue for the 1950s as his most extraordinary decade on the merits of the movies themselves, buttressed by the assured auteurist claim that here we have the real Hitch, now an independent producer, in full control of his pictures, and at the height of his powers. Hitchcock’s rigorous preproduction and dedication to technique in creating his iconic shots and revolutionary suspense narratives is only matched by a handful of directors. His plots hinge on recurring figures and situations: the innocent man plunged into a vortex of guilt and suspicion, the charming and amoral killer, the Hitchcock blonde, the humdrum small town with tensions seething underneath (pace David Lynch). The consistency of his stories and themes furnished evidence for the European critics who proposed the auteur theory that a director working within the Hollywood film industry could be considered an artist.
What will we cover?
Hitchcock’s eleven 1950s films: Stage Fright (1950), Strangers on a Train (1951), I Confess (1953),
Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Trouble with Harry, (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Wrong Man, (1956), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959). This was his most productive period, often making two films a year (1954/1955/1956) as well as TV episodes.
Case Study: Strangers on a Train (1951), from a Patricia Highsmith novel, is proto-Ripley.
Case Study: I Confess (1953). Montgomery Clift anticipates Fleabag’s hot priest.
Case Study: Stage Fright (1950) is maligned for a flashback lying to the audience. I’ll prove it didn’t.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Be scared, to be very, very scared.
- Define exactly what constitutes a Hitchcock film by viewing key extracts.
- Describe common themes and motifs that justify the title Master of Suspense.
- Rate his fifties films in ascending order.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. No previous study is necessary but all levels will increase their knowledge and critical ability.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Opening lecture, proper big screen screenings of films, clips, sequences and re-mixes that stimulate group discussion and debate.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
No further costs. The tutor will show extracts of films so students need not obtain them. Please bring notebook or notepad.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other film courses at www.citylit.ac.uk/culture, history & writing/Film Studies.
John Wischmeyer (MA in Film Theory) set up, ran and programmed his own cinema in West London and has since taught film studies at the former Gainsborough studio, the BFI and City Lit since 1999, Hitchcock’s centenary year. John has covered a wide range film topics under the banner ‘Cinema Investigates America’ and has a particular interest in and considerable knowledge of Hitchcock, Hollywood studios, American independent cinema and film noir, film technique and style.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.