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Master of Suspense Part III

© Jo-Ann Pittman

This is the last of the three part series on the Master of Suspense--the second half of his filmography. Because Hitchcock made almost 60 films, not all films will be covered; just the best of the best. In this half we will look at his most famous films and explore the themes and some trivia.

Rear Window is the story of a photographer, who because of a broken leg, spends his days watching his neighbors. He even gives them all nicknames. Everything is fine until, one rainy night when he begins to suspect one of his neighbors has killed his wife and buried her in the backyard. This is an excellent example of how Hitchcock loved to intertwine sexual tension and suspense. The love affair between Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly underlies the whole film. This movies is also unique in that all the sounds in the film come from within the story. There is no outside music to heighten the suspense. Hitchcock can be seen in the songwriter's apartment in this film. He is winding a clock.

Grace Kelly also stars in Hitchcock's next film, Dial M for Murder. This is the story of an ex-tennis pro who wants to kill his wife to get his hands on her money. He blackmails one of his old college friends in order to make it look as if the friend has committed the murder. He thinks he has planned the perfect murder, but has he? Watch Grace Kelly's costumes in this film. Hitchcock had her wearing progressive darker outfits as the film goes on. And his cameo comes early in the film because he knew that people were watching for his cameo and he did not want them to miss the story. So he always tried to put his appearance in as early as possible. He can be seen in the college reunion photograph.

Hitchcock was not done with Grace Kelly yet. The next year he starred her and Cary Grant in his film, To Catch a Thief. Cary plays a retired cat burglar who is hired to find the thief who is committing jewel thefts similiar to his own style. His nickname was the cat and Hitchcock uses subliminal cat images at the beginning of the film whenever Grant comes on screen. Hitchcock's cameo is about ten minutes into the film. He is seen sitting next to Grant on a bus. Also note the name of the boat that Grant and Kelly are riding in early in the film. The boat is name "Maquis Mouse".