How could I let August 13th go by without recognizing the fact that today would have been my favorite filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s 112th birthday? In 1979, Hitch was presented with the AFI Life Achievement Award. One of the salutes that night came from my favorite actor and Hitchcock regular Jimmy Stewart. (Hitch died the following year.)
Below are Stewart’s salute and Hitch’s acceptance speech.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh0h8Eg_PPw&feature=fvsr]Though he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 1968 Academy Awards, Hitch never won a competitive Oscar, despite five nominations for Best Director. A travesty. In fact, only one of his films, Rebecca (1940), went on to win Best Picture. Though the film is good, it’s by no means his best.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5VdGCQFOM&feature=relmfu]My favorite Hitchcock films (in order of release):
Rope (1948)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
*Rear Window (1954)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
*Vertigo (1958)
*North by Northwest (1959)
*Psycho (1960) (This was my first Hitchcock film, and remains my favorite.)
*The Birds (1963)
*Denotes a film that appears on the 170 list.
the170 
I love his work. I’m moving to London and I’ll be in the neighborhood where he once lived. I’m pretty excited about it!
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That’s awesome! I’ve only been to London once before, but would love to go back.
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I’ve never been, but we are committed to two years. Any suggestions for a movie fan while I’m there?
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I was only there for a day or two, and that was about 15 years ago. I’ll be looking forward to you giving me suggestions. 🙂
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