Alfred Hitchcock shaped modern thrillers with his signature blend of mystery and suspense. If you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries, then you need to watch these seven movies that will show you why he was called the Master of Suspense.


Why Alfred Hitchcock still reigns as the king of suspense, 7 must-watch films for thriller fans

Indian director Sriram Raghavan's recent film,&nbsp;Merry Christmas&nbsp;was one of the early releases of 2024. The movie features some of the top stars of the Indian film industry, including Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi and Sanjay Kapoor. The thriller marks Raghavan's first attempt at a Hindi-Tamil bilingual that was shot with different extended cast.&nbsp;

In this exclusive conversation with WION, Raghavan talked about his love for Alfred Hitchcock films, which are popularly called Hitchcockian dramas.&nbsp;

You have a fondness for Hitchock-styled drama. Can you talk about your favourite movies by Alfred Hitchcock?

My love for Hitchcockian drama started when I was a child. I used to go to the libraries and read the stories which Hitchcock used to present on screen. I was 10 when I watched&nbsp;North By Northwest&nbsp;and I completely loved it. These movies used to come on re-runs. When I joined a film institute I watched so many of his movies for the first time like&nbsp;Psycho. Today, of course, all of them are available. But you are right, among all the filmmakers who have influenced me, Hitchcock probably holds a special place in my heart.

Talking about my favourite, well it is difficult to pick one. But if I had to pick three, they would be;&nbsp;Notorious, that black and white thriller does not have a drop of blood in it. Psycho, I mean is the mother of all slasher movies. Then there is&nbsp;Vertigo, when this movie was released, it was not that big a hit at the theatres. But now it is one of the best work of the director. &nbsp;

What did the Fish, Teddy, and the chirping of the bird signify in&nbsp;Merry Christmas?

See the bird in the cage represented many things. You can imagine the symbol associated with it. If I talk about it I will sound pedantic. The bird has many reasons to be there. For alert audiences, the bird is a big clue, a catalyst and many things.

Then the teddy initially started as just a toy in a child's hand. Then it started symbolising something in the movie. I don't know if anyone noticed but the teddy bear started growing bigger with lies, just like Pinocchio's nose. If you are alert you can watch it. You have to read into or you can see it as a nice inclusion. Then the teddy also represents Maria's troubles and woes.

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What was the significance of shooting in Bombay and not Mumbai?

I wanted to establish the city of Bombay when there weren't so many cars on the street. I grew up in Bombay, and I wanted to capture those times. I wanted to avoid realism and wanted to give it a fairytale feel.

What were the minor clues you left in the film, which we will recognise once we revisit?

There are quite a few. You can notice the teddy. You can interpret the bird in many ways. Even the lift in the building represents the bird in the cage.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/nicki-minaj-katy-perry-snoop-dogg-artists-whove-surprisingly-never-won-a-grammy-before-686881">Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg: Artists who’ve surprisingly never won a Grammy</a>

Mainstream stars such as Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi are experimenting with films. Do you think the Hindi cinema industry is now beginning to experiment?

Of course, we are opening up to experiments. A lot of films will be made as long as there is an actor, producer, or director willing to join the fun. I never thought that was the problem. Katrina Kaif specifically met me and told me she wants to do something that's more in my zone.

Coming to Vijay Sethupathi, he is such a big star and has worked in so many range of films. Actors will always be willing to do a variety of roles but a star will always have calculations.

Indian director Sriram Raghavan's recent film, Merry Christmas was one of the early releases of 2024. The movie features some of the top stars of the Indian film industry, including Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi and Sanjay Kapoor.

Indian director Sriram Raghavan's recent film, Merry Christmas was one of the early releases of 2024. The movie features some of the top stars of the Indian film industry, including Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi and Sanjay Kapoor. The thriller marks Raghavan's first attempt at a Hindi-Tamil bilingual that was shot with different extended cast. In this exclusive conversation with WION, Raghavan talked about his love for Alfred Hitchcock films, which are popularly called Hitchcockian dramas. You have a fondness for Hitchock-styled drama. Can you talk about your favourite movies by Alfred Hitchcock? My love for Hitchcockian drama started when I was a child. I used to go to the libraries and read the stories which Hitchcock used to present on screen. I was 10 when I watched North By Northwest and I completely loved it. These movies used to come on re-runs. When I joined a film institute I watched so many of his movies for the first time like Psycho. Today, of course, all of them are available. But you are right, among all the filmmakers who have influenced me, Hitchcock probably holds a special place in my heart. Talking about my favourite, well it is difficult to pick one. But if I had to pick three, they would be; Notorious, that black and white thriller does not have a drop of blood in it. Psycho, I mean is the mother of all slasher movies. Then there is Vertigo, when this movie was released, it was not that big a hit at the theatres. But now it is one of the best work of the director. What did the Fish, Teddy, and the chirping of the bird signify in Merry Christmas? See the bird in the cage represented many things. You can imagine the symbol associated with it. If I talk about it I will sound pedantic. The bird has many reasons to be there. For alert audiences, the bird is a big clue, a catalyst and many things. Then the teddy initially started as just a toy in a child's hand. Then it started symbolising something in the movie. I don't know if anyone noticed but the teddy bear started growing bigger with lies, just like Pinocchio's nose. If you are alert you can watch it. You have to read into or you can see it as a nice inclusion. Then the teddy also represents Maria's troubles and woes. What was the significance of shooting in Bombay and not Mumbai? I wanted to establish the city of Bombay when there weren't so many cars on the street. I grew up in Bombay, and I wanted to capture those times. I wanted to avoid realism and wanted to give it a fairytale feel. What were the minor clues you left in the film, which we will recognise once we revisit? There are quite a few. You can notice the teddy. You can interpret the bird in many ways. Even the lift in the building represents the bird in the cage. Also read: Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg: Artists who’ve surprisingly never won a Grammy Mainstream stars such as Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi are experimenting with films. Do you think the Hindi cinema industry is now beginning to experiment? Of course, we are opening up to experiments. A lot of films will be made as long as there is an actor, producer, or director willing to join the fun. I never thought that was the problem. Katrina Kaif specifically met me and told me she wants to do something that's more in my zone. Coming to Vijay Sethupathi, he is such a big star and has worked in so many range of films. Actors will always be willing to do a variety of roles but a star will always have calculations.

Merry Christmas director Sriram Raghavan on his love for Alfred Hitchcock and more

Apart from 'Batgirl', Nicolas Cage's 'Superman Lives' & these 7 films were also scrapped!

American actor, producer and director Norman Lloyd, whose career of more than 80 years included collaborations with legends such as Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles, has died at the age of 106, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported on Tuesday. 
 
Variety said Lloyd`s friend and fellow producer Dean Hargrove confirmed the death, saying Lloyd died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. Deadline Hollywood said he died in his sleep.

Reuters could not independently confirm the news. 
 
Lloyd had a long run as cancer-stricken Dr. Auschlander on the television hospital drama "St. Elsewhere" in the 1980s. 
His last movie appearance as an actor was in the 2015 raunchy comedy "Trainwreck," starring Amy Schumer and directed by Judd Apatow. 
 
"(Lloyd) lit up the set every moment he was on it," Apatow wrote in Vanity Fair at the time. 
 
Lloyd`s movie work also included Martin Scorsese`s "The Age of Innocence" in 1993 and playing the headmaster opposite Robin Williams in the 1989 film "Dead Poets Society." 
 
In the 2007 documentary "Who Is Norman Lloyd," television producer Tom Fontana, who worked with him on “St. Elsewhere,” described Lloyd as a combination of Peter Pan and Father Time.

He was a walking history of entertainment. With his erudite manner, he loved to entertain audiences with stories of his regular tennis matches with Chaplin, his friendships with Gregory Peck and Alfred Hitchcock, working with French director Jean Renoir and actress Ingrid Bergman and giving Stanley Kubrick one of his first film jobs. 
 
Lloyd went so far back that he appears in the earliest surviving footage of American television - a segment of "The Streets of New York" from 1939. It was his first screen credit. 
 
He did not give up tennis until suffering a fall at age 100 and was still driving at 99. Lloyd and wife Peggy had two children and were married for 75 years until her death in 2011 at age 98. 
 
Lloyd was born Norman Perlmutter on Nov. 8, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in the New York borough of Brooklyn. His mother took him to Broadway plays and instilled a love of acting that he began pursuing as a boy in local shows. He was still a teenager when he dropped out of New York University to pursue entertainment full time. 
 
He made his Broadway debut in 1935 and the next year appeared in a staging of "The Crime," which was directed by Elia Kazan and also included Peggy Craven, who he would marry. 
 
Lloyd joined the Mercury Theatre, founded by Welles and John Houseman, in time for its 1937 debut, "Caesar," an update of Shakespeare`s "Julius Caesar" with an anti-fascist tone as Adolf Hitler pushed the world to war. 
 
Welles took Lloyd and the rest of the troupe to Hollywood with plans for a movie based on the novel "Heart of Darkness." When the project fell apart, Lloyd returned to New York. That angered Welles and no doubt cost Lloyd a chance at being in Welles` next project, the revered "Citizen Kane." 
 
Instead Lloyd went to work with Hitchcock, which led to his 1942 film debut in "Saboteur," in which his Nazi spy, the title character, dies in a memorable scene - falling from the Statue of Liberty`s upraised arm. 
 
That role led to a long relationship with Hitchcock, including playing a mental patient in "Spellbound" with Peck and working as executive producer and director of the popular television show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in the 1950s and `60s. 
 
Hitchcock hired Lloyd despite studio concerns about his connections to left-wing New York theater and Hollywood at a time when such connections led to entertainers ending up on the anti-communist blacklist. 
 
Lloyd first got to know Chaplin on the tennis court in the 1940s and played a key role in "Limelight," Chaplin`s 1952 film about a washed-up comedian and a suicidal dancer, which also featured Buster Keaton. 
 
In the 1950s Lloyd directed a five-part television series, "Mr. Lincoln" about President Abraham Lincoln - a project on which he gave a young Stanley Kubrick his first substantial movie work. 
 
After some fallow years, Lloyd`s career revived in the 1980s with "St. Elsewhere" and recurring television roles in "Wiseguy," "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Practice." In 2010 he had a spot on the sitcom "Modern Family." 
&nbsp;

American actor, producer and director Norman Lloyd, whose career of more than 80 years included collaborations with legends such as Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles, has died at the age of 106, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported on Tuesday.

American actor, producer and director Norman Lloyd, whose career of more than 80 years included collaborations with legends such as Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles, has died at the age of 106, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported on Tuesday. Variety said Lloyd`s friend and fellow producer Dean Hargrove confirmed the death, saying Lloyd died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. Deadline Hollywood said he died in his sleep. Reuters could not independently confirm the news. Lloyd had a long run as cancer-stricken Dr. Auschlander on the television hospital drama "St. Elsewhere" in the 1980s. His last movie appearance as an actor was in the 2015 raunchy comedy "Trainwreck," starring Amy Schumer and directed by Judd Apatow. "(Lloyd) lit up the set every moment he was on it," Apatow wrote in Vanity Fair at the time. Lloyd`s movie work also included Martin Scorsese`s "The Age of Innocence" in 1993 and playing the headmaster opposite Robin Williams in the 1989 film "Dead Poets Society." In the 2007 documentary "Who Is Norman Lloyd," television producer Tom Fontana, who worked with him on “St. Elsewhere,” described Lloyd as a combination of Peter Pan and Father Time. He was a walking history of entertainment. With his erudite manner, he loved to entertain audiences with stories of his regular tennis matches with Chaplin, his friendships with Gregory Peck and Alfred Hitchcock, working with French director Jean Renoir and actress Ingrid Bergman and giving Stanley Kubrick one of his first film jobs. Lloyd went so far back that he appears in the earliest surviving footage of American television - a segment of "The Streets of New York" from 1939. It was his first screen credit. He did not give up tennis until suffering a fall at age 100 and was still driving at 99. Lloyd and wife Peggy had two children and were married for 75 years until her death in 2011 at age 98. Lloyd was born Norman Perlmutter on Nov. 8, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in the New York borough of Brooklyn. His mother took him to Broadway plays and instilled a love of acting that he began pursuing as a boy in local shows. He was still a teenager when he dropped out of New York University to pursue entertainment full time. He made his Broadway debut in 1935 and the next year appeared in a staging of "The Crime," which was directed by Elia Kazan and also included Peggy Craven, who he would marry. Lloyd joined the Mercury Theatre, founded by Welles and John Houseman, in time for its 1937 debut, "Caesar," an update of Shakespeare`s "Julius Caesar" with an anti-fascist tone as Adolf Hitler pushed the world to war. Welles took Lloyd and the rest of the troupe to Hollywood with plans for a movie based on the novel "Heart of Darkness." When the project fell apart, Lloyd returned to New York. That angered Welles and no doubt cost Lloyd a chance at being in Welles` next project, the revered "Citizen Kane." Instead Lloyd went to work with Hitchcock, which led to his 1942 film debut in "Saboteur," in which his Nazi spy, the title character, dies in a memorable scene - falling from the Statue of Liberty`s upraised arm. That role led to a long relationship with Hitchcock, including playing a mental patient in "Spellbound" with Peck and working as executive producer and director of the popular television show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in the 1950s and `60s. Hitchcock hired Lloyd despite studio concerns about his connections to left-wing New York theater and Hollywood at a time when such connections led to entertainers ending up on the anti-communist blacklist. Lloyd first got to know Chaplin on the tennis court in the 1940s and played a key role in "Limelight," Chaplin`s 1952 film about a washed-up comedian and a suicidal dancer, which also featured Buster Keaton. In the 1950s Lloyd directed a five-part television series, "Mr. Lincoln" about President Abraham Lincoln - a project on which he gave a young Stanley Kubrick his first substantial movie work. After some fallow years, Lloyd`s career revived in the 1980s with "St. Elsewhere" and recurring television roles in "Wiseguy," "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Practice." In 2010 he had a spot on the sitcom "Modern Family."

Prolific actor and director Norman Lloyd dies at age 106

Actress Tippi Hedren graphically chronicles in a new memoir incidents in which she says she was sexually assaulted and harassed by famed British director Alfred Hitchcock during her star turns in &quot;The Birds&quot; and &quot;Marnie.&quot;

&quot;Tippi,&quot; which goes on sale on Tuesday, documents Hedren&#39;s rise from fashion model to movie star and &quot;Hitchcock blonde&quot; after the director spotted her in a commercial and cast her in the lead of the 1963 thriller &quot;The Birds.&quot;

The book by Hedren, mother of actress Melanie Griffith and grandmother to &quot;Fifty Shades of Grey&quot; star Dakota Johnson, offers a rare, first-person account of the rotund &quot;master of suspense&quot; that contrasts sharply with Hitchcock&#39;s public image as a mild-mannered, self-effacing English gentleman.

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&#39;Tippi&#39; documents Hedren&#39;s rise from fashion model to movie star and &#39;Hitchcock blonde&#39; after the director spotted her in a commercial. (Getty)
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What emerges is the unflattering portrait of a powerful director who nursed a dark, uncontrollable obsession with the icy-blonde leading ladies of his films.

Hitchcock died in 1980 at age 80. A representative for his estate did not immediately return requests for comment.

Hedren, 86, recalled Hitchcock making unwanted advances during her gruelling six-month shoot for &quot;The Birds&quot; in 1962, including one encounter while riding back to her hotel with the filmmaker in his limousine.

&quot;With no warning, he threw himself on top of me and tried to kiss me,&quot; she wrote. The actress said she pushed the director away and left the vehicle.

The breaking point, she wrote, came in 1964 during production of Hedren&#39;s second Hitchcock film, &quot;Marnie,&quot; when the director &quot;suddenly grabbed me and put his hands on me.&quot;

&quot;It was sexual, it was perverse, and it was ugly, and I couldn&#39;t have been more shocked and more repulsed,&quot; she added, alleging that Hitchcock threatened to ruin her career when she insisted on ending her contract, which she did that day.

&quot;It was the early 1960s. Sexual harassment and stalking were terms that didn&#39;t exist back then,&quot; she wrote.

&quot;Besides, he was Alfred Hitchcock, one of Universal&#39;s superstars, and I was just a lucky little blonde model he&#39;d rescued from relatively obscurity. Which one of us was more valuable to the studio, him or me?&quot;

&quot;The Birds,&quot; about a California town terrorized by a vicious flock of birds, is often named among the best horror films in American cinema.

Hedren&#39;s experiences with Hitchcock were dramatised in HBO&#39;s 2012 film &quot;The Girl,&quot; and stars actress Sienna Miller as a young Hedren being coached, manipulated and tormented by Hitchcock.

The film features the limousine incident and sees Hedren terminate her contract with Hitchcock when he demands she be &quot;sexually available&quot; to him at all times.

(Reuters)

'With no warning, he threw himself on top of me and tried to kiss me,' she writes in her new memoir

Actress Tippi Hedren graphically chronicles in a new memoir incidents in which she says she was sexually assaulted and harassed by famed British director Alfred Hitchcock during her star turns in "The Birds" and "Marnie." "Tippi," which goes on sale on Tuesday, documents Hedren's rise from fashion model to movie star and "Hitchcock blonde" after the director spotted her in a commercial and cast her in the lead of the 1963 thriller "The Birds." The book by Hedren, mother of actress Melanie Griffith and grandmother to "Fifty Shades of Grey" star Dakota Johnson, offers a rare, first-person account of the rotund "master of suspense" that contrasts sharply with Hitchcock's public image as a mild-mannered, self-effacing English gentleman. 'Tippi' documents Hedren's rise from fashion model to movie star and 'Hitchcock blonde' after the director spotted her in a commercial. (Getty) × What emerges is the unflattering portrait of a powerful director who nursed a dark, uncontrollable obsession with the icy-blonde leading ladies of his films. Hitchcock died in 1980 at age 80. A representative for his estate did not immediately return requests for comment. Hedren, 86, recalled Hitchcock making unwanted advances during her gruelling six-month shoot for "The Birds" in 1962, including one encounter while riding back to her hotel with the filmmaker in his limousine. "With no warning, he threw himself on top of me and tried to kiss me," she wrote. The actress said she pushed the director away and left the vehicle. The breaking point, she wrote, came in 1964 during production of Hedren's second Hitchcock film, "Marnie," when the director "suddenly grabbed me and put his hands on me." "It was sexual, it was perverse, and it was ugly, and I couldn't have been more shocked and more repulsed," she added, alleging that Hitchcock threatened to ruin her career when she insisted on ending her contract, which she did that day. "It was the early 1960s. Sexual harassment and stalking were terms that didn't exist back then," she wrote. "Besides, he was Alfred Hitchcock, one of Universal's superstars, and I was just a lucky little blonde model he'd rescued from relatively obscurity. Which one of us was more valuable to the studio, him or me?" "The Birds," about a California town terrorized by a vicious flock of birds, is often named among the best horror films in American cinema. Hedren's experiences with Hitchcock were dramatised in HBO's 2012 film "The Girl," and stars actress Sienna Miller as a young Hedren being coached, manipulated and tormented by Hitchcock. The film features the limousine incident and sees Hedren terminate her contract with Hitchcock when he demands she be "sexually available" to him at all times. (Reuters)

Actress Tippi Hedren alleges Alfred Hitchcock sexually assaulted her