ALFRED HITCHCOCK is widely regarded as the twentieth
century’s greatest director.

 But which is his best film?

Is it one of the early British thrillers like The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes or the brooding Rebecca or the twisted torment
of Strangers On A Train? Sinister undertones pervade Rear
Window and Vertigo is a hymn to obsession. And what about
the sheer bravura of North By Northwest with the classic crop-
spraying sequence? Or do you prefer your Hitchcock in the
raw from the full-on carnage of Psycho With its even more famous shower scene to the apocalyptic The Birds?

In this book, Brian Hannan analyses his classic films in detail,
explaining how Hitchcock achieved his effects, examining the
movies from both the point of view of technical innovation
and how the director explored the darker side of human
nature.