As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t see many contemporary films/movies in my youth. Starting at about age 10 through my 20’s, I spent much of my viewing hours watching old movies, with Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Marnie, Vertigo & Notorious at the top of my list of favorites.

Of course Alfred Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense, an even as a child I was drawn into the eerie, mysterious, dangerous qualities of these films, but it wasn’t really what fascinated me.  I most certainly didn’t watch for perspective, crane shots, camera angles or filmmaking techniques. Although, I’m sure subconsciously, I responded to these aspects of the films, which we now attribute to the genius of Hitchcock.

No. both then and now, it was the style and grace of the heroine that drew me in. Their tragic, forlorn faces, all the sophistication and upscale settings. I loved that these women were so terribly flawed, qualities that made each man (Lawrence Olivier, Sean Connery, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant) fall even more wildly in love with them, enchanted from first meeting.

The Philadelphia Film Society together with The University of the Arts has been collaborating on a series entitled The Artist As A Filmmaker – highlighting world-renowned directors who transitioned their careers from visual artistry to filmmaking.