So you want to watch some Alfred Hitchcock. With a library as impressive as his, it’s sure to be a rewarding experience. Few directors can boast of a career so loaded with creative successes as Hitchcock’s. Over the course of a more than 50-year directing career, stretching from the silent era to the dramatically changed world of 1970s film, Hitchcock was at the helm of quality production after quality production, proving himself to be one of the most consistently great creators in the history of cinema. From stylish silent films like The Lodger to moody thrillers like Strangers On A Train to special effects extravaganzas like The Birds, he again and again hit the mark. It is this extended run of sustained quality, so loaded with memorable screen moments, that makes Hitchcock a director so essential to watch. During just one prolific period of sustained brilliance between 1954 and 1963, he created more classic films than most respected directors have over their entire career.

But there sure is a lot to choose from.

With a resume as packed with solid films as Hitchcock’s, finding a place to start can be difficult. Maybe even intimidating. After all, you could throw a dart at a list of Hitchcock’s films and chances are you’ll hit a title worth seeing. So where to begin? If you want to peek into the wonderful world that is Alfred Hitchcock, the following five films are a good place to start. Any one of them would be more than welcome on an all-time “best of” list.

5) The Lady Vanishes (1938)
One of Hitchcock’s best British films (his first Hollywood film came two years later with Rebecca) and certainly my favorite from his pre-Hollywood days, in The Lady Vanishes Hitch brings together three genres to create one classic that manages to display some of the best post-silent Hitchcock has to offer. The Lady Vanishes tells the story of Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), a train passenger who befriends an older woman named Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) after taking a bump on the head. When Miss Froy goes missing, Iris becomes obsessed with finding her, first to prove that she isn’t crazy – none of the other passengers believe Miss Froy exists, you see – and then because she finds herself pulled into a much larger mystery. A relationship between Iris and another passenger, Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave), adds a touch of humor and romance to the proceedings.

Hitchcock manages to open with a highly comedic first act, pulls the audience into a slow-burning suspense story for the second act, and catapults us into an action-filled third act, all in just under 100 minutes. Through it all Hitch populates his train with a wide cast of varied and interesting characters, all of them quite memorable. Fun and engrossing, for a peek into Hitchcock’s British era, The Lady Vanishes is the one to see. (As a side note, settle for nothing less than the Criterion Collection release of this film).

4) Notorious (1946)
If Hitch’s run from 1954 to 1963 was his Great Decade, his run through the 1940s (and on to 1951’s Strangers On A Train) was almost as impressive, featuring a series of great, highly watchable films. Rebecca (1940) may have been Hitch’s only Best Picture winner, but Notorious is the mid-period film that has most remained near the top of critics’ lists. And for good reason. As beautifully shot as any film on his resume, Notorious is an elegant, sexy, dark noir featuring beautiful people doing dire things in beautiful locations. Cary Grant’s T.R. Devlin is a moody, brooding character drawn to a woman (Ingrid Bergman) asked to spy on her father’s South American Nazi friends. Bergman and Grant’s relationship is stormy and sexual, and their spying efforts – focusing on a brilliant Claude Rains character – features several memorable twists

Notorious displays well the incredible way in which Hitchcock can build suspense, while also showing what a keen eye he had for gorgeous photography. Notorious is luscious to behold, all bold shadows and sharp framing. He pulls out all the stops with his camera trickery, too, featuring an audacious zoom shot from a high balcony to an object in Bergman’s hand, and an extended kissing scene between Grant and Bergman that is often cited as one of the best kisses in cinema. The film is in many ways quintessential Alfred Hitchcock, encompassing all that set him apart from the pack. It’s one of the best films in his catalog and arguably the best from his middle period. (Again, seek out the impeccable Criterion release).

3) Vertigo (1958)
Considered by many to be Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, routinely placed right alongside such landmark films as Citizen Kane and Casablanca on the short list of greatest American films ever made, Vertigo offers up the director’s work at its most tortured, a swirling and hazy cinematic experience that features one of the most compelling Jimmy Stewart performances ever to grace the screen. In Vertigo, Stewart plays a detective hired to follow a wealthy friend’s wife. The innocuous enough job, though, throws Stewart for a loop. He finds himself drawn into love, a love which turns to loss, and a loss which turns to obsession. To say much more spoils the ride that is this film. Stewart’s acting chops are at their best here. He simply boils with want, desire and need, an on-screen transformation from a normal, unassuming man to one twisted by his own mad wants that is riveting to watch.

Behind it all, of course, is Hitchcock himself, pulling the strings like he never had before. Roger Ebert called this Hitch’s most personal film, and for good reason – the director’s psyche is on display for the world to see. He tells this story with some of his very best directorial flourishes, building an ominous tone, heightening the drama with each scene, and ramping up the intensity by, of all things, revealing the core plot twist only halfway through the film. His purposeful use of color through the film is worth paying attention to, and the dreamlike tone he establishes is impressive. Throw in one of the greatest kisses in film history –one sweep of the camera says enough to fill volumes – and you have a Hitchcock that simply cannot be missed.

2) Rear Window (1954)
In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock filmed his classic thriller Dial M For Murder, one of his most memorable movies and one of Grace Kelly’s great films. And it wasn’t even the best film he made with Grace Kelly that year. That honor goes to Rear Window, the remarkable thriller that doesn’t even need to leave the room it’s set in to keep you riveted from start to finish. L. B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) is a photographer stuck in a wheelchair after an accident. Aside from occasional visits by his girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (played by a glowing Grace Kelly), and his nurse, Stella (a superb Thelma Ritter), Jefferies is alone in his apartment. Alone and restless. Left to his own devices, he wastes away scorching hot summer days watching his apartment complex neighbors through his camera’s zoom lens, peering into their world – and by extension, offering the viewer a score of tiny little stories that breath life into the small world created for film.

It is Stewart’s isolation that sets Rear Window apart. His only contact with the world outside his window – encompassed only in that small apartment courtyard – is through the roving eye of his lens. It is through that lens that he sees his neighbors argue, fall in love, fail at romance ... and maybe even do murder. When Stewart starts to suspect that one of his neighbors killed his wife, Hitch begins piling on the suspense, building the tension piece by piece. That he manages to sustain the interest over two hours despite never leaving Stewart’s apartment is an astonishing cinematic accomplishment. We spy with Stewart. We peer into his neighbors’ apartments through his lens, and wonder if his mysterious neighbor did or did not do it right along with him. It’s a fantastic ride, demonstrating in no uncertain terms that Alfred Hitchcock is a master of his craft. Absolutely no Hitchcock experience is complete without Rear Window. With a superbly remastered DVD available from Universal, there is no reason to wait any longer.

1) North By Northwest (1959)
Alfred Hitchcock was a fan of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, wanting very badly to try his hand at a Bond film. He never got his chance (and wasn’t a big fan of the direction the character was taken in for the big screen), but with North By Northwest he did Bond one better with one of the greatest adventure films of all time. With daring action, memorable characters and a wealth of Hitchcockian touches, North By Northwest is a film its fans watch over and over. Watch it once and you’ll know why.

A dashing and funny Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive who is mistaken for a spy. This case of mistaken identity – a reoccurring theme throughout Hitchcock’s career – puts him on a chase that brings him cross country, on the run from the law and from a group of spies that want him dead. Thornhill wants to find out why these men are after him while clearing his name with the authorities, putting himself in a series of increasingly dangerous situations to do so (the most dangerous of all being the seductions of Eve Kendall, played by a ravishing Eva Marie Saint). Some of these situations remain today among the most recognizable in cinema history, the famous crop duster sequence being the best known. Hitchcock pulls each off with a technical bravado that remains as influential as the day they hit the big screen.

North By Northwest is all about moving forward. The pace, while never so frantic as to leave you breathless, does not let up. Hitch throws Grant into one bad situation after another, layering the action with just enough charismatic character moments and well-placed humor to keep things moving along briskly. He never, ever fails to entertain during the whole ride. It’s entirely mainstream, and perfect because of it. It’s a film of pure, unadulterated entertainment, fun, funny and full of adventure. A must-watch Hitchcock if ever there was one. Grab the DVD; it features a great documentary and an excellent, informative commentary.

Conclusion
Few people will ever see all, or even most, of the films Alfred Hitchcock directed. His resume is simply too long for the average film lover. Yet no film lover should go without watching at least a handful of the classics by the Master of Suspense. These five are a great place to start. No, his best known film (Psycho), with its dazzling editing and legendary shower scene, did not make the list. Nor did Rebecca, the only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture. Or his gloomy, apocalyptic The Birds. Or The Man Who Knew Too Much. Or his best-known British film, The 39 Steps. Or several other of his beloved films. Why? Because I believe these five films offer a broad look at what Hitchcock can do and how he did it during several key periods of his career. For my money, if you’re going to explore the world of Hitchcock, seeing a little of everything he is capable of doing, these five are where you should start. In a career as sprawling as his, of course, there is plenty of room for disagreement, so by all means, drop into the HOLLA Thread (linked below) and register your disappointment that I left a key classic off this list.

The most important thing is this: If you love film, you need to see some Hitchcock. So break out your DVD player – all of these are available in fantastic editions – and get watching.