54-598 Alfred Hitchcock and His Films

6 units, Carnegie Mellon University

HITCHCOCK AND HIS FILMS lecture and discussion course This course is open to all university students. This course will examine Hitchcocks life and his many films beginning with his first American film REBECCA in 1940 and ending with FRENZY in 1972. We will examine his notions of pure cinema and his distinction between suspense and surprise, which dominates his many films. We will analyze the psychological, moral, and social aspects of his films and to understand how amazingly audiencecentered his films are, and to see the high degree of audience manipulation he sustains in his film. Among the films we will watch are REBECCA, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, ROPE, REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO, PSYCHO, THE BIRDS. There will be one required text TRUFFAUTHITCHCOCK ed. by Francois Truffaut.

Prerequisites: none listed

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