Film Nitrate

"Be careful, I'll get you yet." Alfred Hitchcock made nine silent films from 1925 to 1929 (ten if you count Blackmail , which was made simultaneously in both sound and silent), and fortunately all of these except one ( The Mountain Eagle , his second film) still survive today. The vast majority of British silent films have been lost, but because of Hitchcock's rising fame in the 30s and 40s, it was thought prudent to ensure that these early silents were preserved. Without that later fame, it is almost certain that most, if not all, of these films would have suffered the same tragic fate of countless others. The great thing about having access now to 54 of the 55 films Hitchcock produced is we can look at how his techniques developed over 50 years, and also look at themes that he was to later revisit. After serving his filmmaking apprenticeship in Germany, as well as time spent on the set of such legendary films as F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh , and making tw...