Essay about Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and the Crime Fiction Genre

In this essay I have chosen to analyse two key scenes, each from two of Hitchcock’s most critically acclaimed films, ‘The Birds’ (1963) and ‘Psycho’ (1960). Both of these scenes from both films display the female protagonists at their most vulnerable, facing the threat and fear of death.

After reading and watching both the book and the 1932 film ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue.’ It is evident that the film went mostly it’s own way, taking only small bits from Poe’s actual story, discarding many important details.

Hitchcock uses many techniques throughout the film “Rear Window” to convey suspense. The major theme of the film regards Jefferies voyeurism. His intrigue in the everyday lives of his neighbours is viewed as intrusive and morally wrong on principle. However, without this voyeuristic tendency the crime committed by Thornwald would never have been solved. Thus, the audience is lead through emotional turmoil in questioning whether it is wrong to invade someone’s privacy, or just and heroic to solve a crime. We see the climax of the film when Lisa and Stella venture out of Jefferies apartment to investigate the murder of Mrs Thornwald. This leads to a confrontation between Thornwald and Jefferies. These scenes build suspense through the use of detachment, the use of ‘split-screen’, ‘red-herring’ plot devices, lighting, music and diegetic sound.

Major Actors: James Stewart (L.B. Jefferies), Grace Kelly (Lisa Fremont), Wendell Corey (Thomas Doyle), Thelma Ritter (Stella), Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald), Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonelyhearts), Ross Bagdasarian (Songwriter), Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso), Sara Berner (Woman on Fire Escape), Frank Cady (Man on Fire Escape), Jesslyn Fax (Miss Hearing Aid), Rand Harper (Newlywed), Irene Winston (Mrs. Emma Thorwald), Havis Davenport (Newlywed)

The detective genre is recognizable by the mystery that it represents or establishes. Every word of a fiction novel is chosen with a purpose, and that purpose on a detective novel is to create suspense. The excerpts from The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Murder Is My Business by Lynette Prucha, and Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. Even though they all fit into this category, there are some differences that make each novel unique. The imagery that the authors offer in the excerpts helps the reader to distinguish the similarities and the differences.

Hitchcock's Psycho Psycho first hit our screens in 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It faced major controversy, as it was different. Horror films before this were more unrealistic and gruesome. Psycho was a groundbreaking film of the horror genre. It was more realistic the events could happen in reality.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.

Alfred Hitchcock is arguably the greatest director of all time. Many of his films are considered standards of American cinema and inspired many of today’s directors. Even though Hitchcock is known as timeless director, he had an understanding of philosophy that was beyond his time. Hitchcock had a brilliant perception as to how the mind works and human reaction. Hitchcock’s understanding of philosophy can be seen in his film Vertigo and illustrates how many theories can be debilitating in everyday life.

going back to the other views to see where the policeman is and how is

Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock, was shocking for its time. Made in the 1960's when film censorship was very tight to today's standards, Hitchcock pushed the limits of what could be shown and did with psycho things that had never been done before. The cinematic art, symbolism and sub-conscious images in this film were brilliant for the time and still are now. Realised for this, psycho has been copied in many ways and the things that made it great have become very clichéd.

I believe that in I Confess, the first four minutes is not only the most important, but it also relates back to the rest of the film perfectly. In the beginning of I Confess the audience is shown several shots of the beautiful povince of Quebec to emphasize the location and then we see a murder and a confession occur in the same night. In this essay, I 'm going to be analyzing the mise-en-scene, cinematography, and sound of the cinematic masterpiece I Confess by Alfred Hitchcock.

Throughout cinema, there has always been space in our hearts for the gore and intrigue that come from horror films. Though they come with different plots, there remains “the monster”, the character that brings along disgust, horror, suspense, and even sympathy. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), our monster is Norman Bates, the boy next door. This was one of the first times in American cinema that the killer was brought home, paving the way for the future of horror movies. According to Robin Wood in “An Introduction to the America Horror Film” (183-208), Bates follows the formula of the Monster being a human psychotic. This is conveyed through his normal façade portrayed with his introduction, the audience’s ambivalence, the use of

Citizen Kane is one of the world's most famous and highly-rated classic film masterpiece. Although it was not a commercial success at the time of its release it has always been praised by film critics. The film had a budget of $800,000 and was directed, produced, as well as acted by the twenty five year old Orson Wells. Wells used innovative and unique cinematic techniques in Citizen Kane that would influence the film making for all eternity.

Ronald Knox’s commandments for detective fiction ultimately function as a guide for what he believes constitutes a fair and satisfying instance of the genre, each charge serving to avoid a non-fulfilling resolution for the reader. Knox’s rules in combination work to this end and the ambitions of this essay are to explore works from Poe and Christie in relation to these commandments. Poe, considered the instigator of the detective fiction genre through ‘the Dupin tales’ penned and published works that would assist in defining its conventions, providing a prototype for future authors. Christie was a beneficiary of these earlier works and attempted to ‘modernize’ the pre-established ‘conventions of detective fiction’ , in an era in which the

A question that is often debated is that of what makes a good story. In the 1800s, Edgar Allan Poe created one list of rules that he think make a good detective story. These include requirements such as "clues must be present to allow the reader to solve the crime" and "a detective with strong intuitive skills" (Class Handout). Two mystery tales that attempted to follow these rules are Poe's own short story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and a movie, The Bone Collector. According to these guidelines, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a better mystery story than The Bone Collector because of the detective's strong but reasonable intuitive skills and the fair clues that are given to the reader.