Middle School
Worksheets
Alfred Hitchcock, Master of Suspense
Alfred Hitchcock
Reading Comprehension for August 13
Do you like stories that make you sit on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next? That is a genre or type of storytelling called suspense. Perhaps the all-time greatest suspense film director was Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock was born August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, England. His father was a greengrocer, and he had an older brother and sister.
Hitchcock was educated by the Jesuits at St. Ignatius College. He left there at the age of 15 to study engineering at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation. By the time Alfred was 19, he worked for Henley Telegraph Company as a draftsman and advertising designer.
Soon, Hitchcock developed an interest in silent films. When a new studio opened in London, he got a job as a title card designer. Within five years, he had worked his way up to being a film director. While working, he met his future wife, Alma Reville. They married in 1926 and continued working as a team both at home and with movies. She was a major collaborator on all his films.
Hitchcock's first completed directing job was for a film called The Pleasure Garden. It was a flop. In 1927 he directed a thrilling suspense film that established him as a successful director in England. In fact, he was more than just the director; he was also an art director and a writer. He also continued to design title cards until sound in movies made that unnecessary. His tenth film, Blackmail, is the first British feature film to have sound (1929).
