Editing Alfred Hitchcock (section)

===Inter-war career: 1919–1939===
====Famous Players–Lasky====
[[File:Number 13.jpg|thumb|alt=An early 1920s image of Hitchcock while directing his film titled Number 13|Hitchcock (right) during the making of ''[[Number 13 (1922 film)|Number 13]]'' in London]]
While still at Henley's, he read in a trade paper that [[Famous Players–Lasky]], the production arm of [[Paramount Pictures]], was opening a studio in London.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=27}} They were planning to film ''[[The Sorrows of Satan]]'' by [[Marie Corelli]], so he produced some drawings for the [[title cards]] and sent his work to the studio.{{sfn|Taylor|1996|p=24}} They hired him, and in 1919 he began working for [[Islington Studios]] in Poole Street, [[Hoxton]], as a title-card designer.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=27}}

Donald Spoto wrote that most of the staff were Americans with strict job specifications, but the English workers were encouraged to try their hand at anything, which meant that Hitchcock gained experience as a co-writer, art director and production manager on at least 18 silent films.{{sfn|Spoto|2008|p=3}} ''The Times'' wrote in February 1922 about the studio's "special art title department under the supervision of Mr. A. J. Hitchcock".<ref name=MillerBFI>{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Henry K. |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422787/index.html |title=Always Tell Your Wife (1923) |publisher=British Film Institute Screenonline |access-date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213454/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1422787/index.html|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> His work included ''[[Number 13 (1922 film)|Number 13]]'' (1922), also known as ''Mrs. Peabody;'' it was cancelled because of financial problems - the few finished scenes are [[Lost film|lost]]{{sfn|Spoto|1992|p=3}}{{snd}}and ''[[Always Tell Your Wife]]'' (1923), which he and [[Seymour Hicks]] finished together when Hicks was about to give up on it.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=27}} Hicks wrote later about being helped by "a fat youth who was in charge of the property room&nbsp;... [n]one other than Alfred Hitchcock".{{sfn|Kerzoncuf|Barr|2015|p=45}}<!--check page-->

====Gainsborough Pictures and work in Germany====
[[File:Hitchcock sculpture, London, 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Hitchcock sculpture at the site of [[Gainsborough Pictures]], Poole Street, [[Hoxton]], north London<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rose |first1=Steve |title=Where the lady vanished |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/15/artsfeatures |work=The Guardian |date=15 January 2001|access-date=30 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231051755/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/15/artsfeatures|archive-date=31 December 2017}}</ref>]]
When Paramount pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock was hired as an assistant director by a new firm run in the same location by [[Michael Balcon]], later known as [[Gainsborough Pictures]].{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=27}}{{sfn|Spoto|2008|pp=3–4}} Hitchcock worked on ''[[Woman to Woman (1923 film)|Woman to Woman]]'' (1923) with the director [[Graham Cutts]], designing the set, writing the script and producing. He said: "It was the first film that I had really got my hands onto."{{sfn|Spoto|2008|pp=3–4}} The editor and "script girl" on ''Woman to Woman'' was [[Alma Reville]], his future wife. He also worked as an assistant to Cutts on ''[[The White Shadow (film)|The White Shadow]]'' (1924), ''[[The Passionate Adventure]]'' (1924), ''[[The Blackguard]]'' (1925) and ''[[The Prude's Fall]]'' (1925).{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=30}} ''The Blackguard'' was produced at the [[Babelsberg Studios]] in Potsdam, where Hitchcock watched part of the making of [[F. W. Murnau]]'s ''[[The Last Laugh (1924 film)|The Last Laugh]]'' (1924).<ref>{{harvnb|Gottlieb|2002|p=42}}; {{harvnb|Gottlieb|2003|pp=157–158}}; also see {{harvnb|Garncarz|2002}}</ref> He was impressed with Murnau's work, and later used many of his techniques for the set design in his own productions.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2002|pp=42–43}}

In the summer of 1925, Balcon asked Hitchcock to direct ''[[The Pleasure Garden (1925 film)|The Pleasure Garden]]'' (1925), starring [[Virginia Valli]], a co-production of Gainsborough and the German firm [[Emelka]] at the [[Bavaria Studios|Geiselgasteig studio]] near Munich. Reville, by then Hitchcock's fiancée, was assistant director-editor.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|pp=31, 36}}{{sfn|Spoto|1992|p=3}} Although the film was a commercial flop,{{sfn|McGilligan|2003|pp=68–71}} Balcon liked Hitchcock's work; a ''Daily Express'' headline called him the "Young man with a master mind".{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=39}} In March 1926, the British film magazine ''[[Picturegoer]]'' ran an article entitled "Alfred the Great" by the film critic [[Cedric Belfrage]], who praised Hitchcock for possessing "such a complete grasp of all the different branches of film technique that he is able to take far more control of his production than the average director of four times his experience."{{sfn|Spoto|1999|p=84}} Production of ''The Pleasure Garden'' encountered obstacles which Hitchcock would later learn from: on arrival to [[Brenner Pass]], he failed to declare his [[film stock]] to customs and it was confiscated; one actress could not enter the water for a scene because she was on her [[Menstrual cycle|period]]; budget overruns meant that he had to borrow money from the actors.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=70}} Hitchcock also needed a translator to give instructions to the cast and crew.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=70}}

In Germany, Hitchcock observed the nuances of [[German cinema]] and filmmaking which had a big influence on him.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=63}} When he was not working, he would visit Berlin's art galleries, concerts and museums. He would also meet with actors, writers and producers to build connections.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=64}} Balcon asked him to direct a second film in Munich, ''[[The Mountain Eagle]]'' (1926), based on an original story titled ''Fear o' God''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-the-mountain-eagle-1926 |title=Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: The Mountain Eagle (1926) |publisher=Brenton Film |access-date=30 August 2019 |date=23 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219011242/https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-the-mountain-eagle-1926|archive-date=19 December 2019}}</ref> The film is lost, and Hitchcock called it "a very bad movie".{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=39}}{{sfn|Spoto|1992|p=5}} A year later, Hitchcock wrote and directed ''[[The Ring (1927 film)|The Ring]]''; although the screenplay was credited solely to his name, [[Eliot Stannard|Elliot Stannard]] assisted him with the writing.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=98}} ''The Ring'' garnered positive reviews; the ''Bioscope'' critic called it "the most magnificent British film ever made".{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=76}}

When he returned to England, Hitchcock was one of the early members of the London Film Society, newly formed in 1925.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=75}} Through the Society, he became fascinated by the work by Soviet filmmakers: [[Dziga Vertov]], [[Lev Kuleshov]], [[Sergei Eisenstein]] and [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]]. He would also socialise with fellow English filmmakers [[Ivor Montagu]], [[Adrian Brunel]] and [[Walter Mycroft]].{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=76}} Hitchcock recognised the value in cultivating his own brand, with the director aggressively promoting himself during this period.<ref>{{harvnb|Kapsis|1992|p=20}}</ref> In a 1925 London Film Society meeting he declared directors were what mattered most in making films, with [[Donald Spoto]] writing that Hitchcock proclaimed, "''We'' make a film succeed. The name of the director should be associated in the public's mind with a quality product. Actors come and go, but the name of the director should stay clearly in the mind of the audience."{{sfn|Spoto|1999|p=73}} 

{{Quote box
 |quote = Visually, it was extraordinarily imaginative for the time, most notably in the scene in which Hitchcock installed a glass floor so that he could show the lodger pacing up and down in his room from below, as though overheard by his landlady.
 |source ={{snd}}[[BFI]] entry for Hitchcock's first thriller, ''[[The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog]]'' (1927)<ref>{{cite news |title=The Lodger A Story of the London Fog|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6af1296e |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222212308/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6af1296e |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2016 |access-date=2 May 2023 |publisher=BFI}}</ref>
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Hitchcock established himself as a name director with his first thriller, ''[[The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog]]'' (1927).<ref name="Lodger BFI"/> The film concerns the hunt for a [[Jack the Ripper]]-style serial killer who, wearing a black cloak and carrying a black bag, is murdering young blonde women in London, and only on Tuesdays.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=45}} A landlady suspects that her lodger is the killer, but he turns out to be innocent.{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=47}} Hitchcock had wanted the leading man to be guilty, or for the film at least to end ambiguously, but the star was [[Ivor Novello]], a [[matinée idol]], and the "[[star system (filmmaking)|star system]]" meant that Novello could not be the villain. Hitchcock told Truffaut: "You have to clearly spell it out in big letters: 'He is innocent.'" (He had the same problem years later with [[Cary Grant]] in ''[[#Suspicion|Suspicion]]'' (1941).){{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=43}} Released in January 1927, ''The Lodger'' was a commercial and critical success in the UK.{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=85}}<ref>{{harvnb|Kapsis|1992|p=19}}</ref> Upon its release, the trade journal ''Bioscope'' wrote: "It is possible that this film is the finest British production ever made".<ref name="Lodger BFI">{{cite news |title=Lodger, The: A Story of the London Fog (1926) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/438120/index.html |access-date=13 July 2022 |work=BFI}}</ref> Hitchcock told Truffaut that the film was the first of his to be influenced by [[German expressionist cinema|German Expressionism]]: "In truth, you might almost say that ''The Lodger'' was my first picture."{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=44}}<!--<ref>{{harvnb|McGilligan|2003|p=83}}</ref> in 2004 edition; is the date correct? --> In a strategy for self-publicity, ''The Lodger'' saw him make his first [[List of cameo appearances by Alfred Hitchcock|cameo appearance]] in a film, where he sat in a newsroom.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-the-lodger-a-story-of-the-london-fog-1926 |title=Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926) |publisher=Brenton Film |access-date=30 August 2019 |date=23 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222033129/https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-the-lodger-a-story-of-the-london-fog-1926|archive-date=22 December 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Truffaut|1983|p=49}} 

Continuing to market his brand following the success of ''The Lodger'', Hitchcock wrote a letter to the ''[[The Evening News (London newspaper)|London Evening News]]'' in November 1927 about his filmmaking, participated in studio-produced publicity, and by December 1927 he developed the original sketch of his widely recognised profile which he introduced by sending it to friends and colleagues as a Christmas present.<ref>{{harvnb|Kapsis|1992|p=20}}</ref>

====Marriage====
[[File:Hitch Gets Hitched.jpg|thumb|Hitchcock and Reville on their wedding day, [[Brompton Oratory]], 2 December 1926]]
On 2 December 1926, Hitchcock married the English screenwriter [[Alma Reville]] at the [[Brompton Oratory]] in [[South Kensington]].{{sfn|Spoto|1999|p=5}} The couple honeymooned in Paris, [[Lake Como]] and St. Moritz, before returning to London to live in a leased flat on the top two floors of 153 [[Cromwell Road]], Kensington.{{sfn|McGilligan|2003|pp=89–90}} Reville, who was born just hours after Hitchcock,{{sfn|Hitchcock O'Connell|Bouzereau|2003|p=15}} converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, apparently at the insistence of Hitchcock's mother; she was baptised on 31 May 1927 and confirmed at [[Westminster Cathedral]] by Cardinal [[Francis Bourne]] on 5 June.<ref>{{harvnb|Hitchcock O'Connell|Bouzereau|2003|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Spoto|1999|pp=92–93}}</ref>

In 1928, when they learned that Reville was pregnant, the Hitchcocks purchased "Winter's Grace", a [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] farmhouse set in eleven acres on Stroud Lane, [[Shamley Green]], Surrey, for £2,500.<ref>{{harvnb|Spoto|1999|p=115}}; {{harvnb|Hitchcock O'Connell|Bouzereau|2003|p=55}}; {{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Ross |title=Alfred Hitchcock: A long way from the Bates Motel |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/period-property/3360983/Alfred-Hitchcock-A-long-way-from-the-Bates-Motel.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=13 April 2008|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227193225/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/period-property/3360983/Alfred-Hitchcock-A-long-way-from-the-Bates-Motel.html|archive-date=27 December 2017}}</ref> Their daughter and only child, [[Pat Hitchcock|Patricia (Pat) Alma Hitchcock]], was born on 7 July that year.{{sfn|Hitchcock O'Connell|Bouzereau|2003|pp=59–60}} Pat died on 9 August 2021 at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |title=Pat Hitchcock, 'Strangers on a Train' Actress and Daughter of Alfred Hitchcock, Dies at 93 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/pat-hitchcock-dead-alfred-daughter-1234995917/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=10 August 2021 |access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>

Reville became her husband's closest collaborator; [[Charles Champlin]] wrote in 1982: "The Hitchcock touch had four hands, and two were Alma's."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Champlin |first1=Charles|author-link=Charles Champlin |title=Alma Reville Hitchcock, The Unsung Partner |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 July 1982}}</ref> When Hitchcock accepted the [[AFI Life Achievement Award]] in 1979, he said that he wanted to mention "four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter, Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville."<ref>{{cite web|title=Alfred Hitchcock Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979|website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5VdGCQFOM&t=3m14s|access-date=11 February 2023 |date=16 April 2009}}</ref> Reville wrote or co-wrote on many of Hitchcock's films, including ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'', ''[[Suspicion (1941 film)|Suspicion]]'' and ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reville [married name Hitchcock], Alma Lucy |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-109643?d=%2F10.1093%2Fodnb%2F9780198614128.001.0001%2Fodnb-9780198614128-e-109643&p |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography}}</ref>

====Early sound films====
[[File:BlackmailUSWindowCardOndra.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=An advertisement for the film ''Blackmail'' Surrounding text describes the film as "A Romance of Scotland Yard" and "The Powerful Talking Picture"|Advertisement for ''[[Blackmail (1929 film)|Blackmail]]'' (1929)]]

<!--mention Hitchcock Baker Productions and cruise in 1931-->Hitchcock began work on his tenth film, ''[[Blackmail (1929 film)|Blackmail]]'' (1929), when its production company, [[British International Pictures]] (BIP), converted its [[Elstree Studios (Shenley Road)|Elstree studios]] to [[Sound film|sound]]. The film was the first British "[[Sound film#Transition: Europe|talkie]]"; this followed the rapid development of sound films in the United States, from the use of brief sound segments in ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927) to the first full sound feature ''[[Lights of New York (1928 film)|Lights of New York]]'' (1928).<ref name=Blackmail>{{cite web |title=Blackmail (1929) |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a55273b |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231082847/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a55273b|archive-date=31 December 2017}}; also see {{harvnb|White|Buscombe|2003|p=94}}; {{harvnb|Allen|Ishii-Gonzalès|2004|p=xv}}</ref> ''Blackmail'' began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences, which includes an early example of a [[red telephone box]] being used for criminal activity, while the climax takes place on the dome of the [[British Museum]].<ref name="Time Out"/> It also features one of his longest cameo appearances, which shows him being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book on the [[London Underground]].{{sfn|Walker|2005|p=88}} In the [[PBS]] series ''The Men Who Made The Movies'', Hitchcock explained how he used early sound recording as a special element of the film to create tension, with a gossipy woman ([[Phyllis Monkman]]) stressing the word "knife" in her conversation with the woman suspected of murder.<ref>{{harvnb|McGilligan|2003|pp=120–123}}; {{cite web |title=Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick Collaborations |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/hitchcock_a.html |publisher=Public Broadcasting System |date=10 January 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319043811/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/hitchcock_a.html |archive-date=19 March 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> During this period, Hitchcock directed segments for a BIP [[revue]], ''[[Elstree Calling]]'' (1930), and directed a short film, ''[[An Elastic Affair]]'' (1930), featuring two ''Film Weekly'' scholarship winners.{{sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=137}} ''An Elastic Affair'' is one of the lost films.<ref name=Kerzoncuf2009>{{cite journal |last1=Kerzoncuf |first1=Alain |date=February 2009 |title=Alfred Hitchcock and The Fighting Generation |journal=[[Senses of Cinema]] |issue=49 |url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2009/feature-articles/hitchcock-fighting-generation/ |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405234711/http://sensesofcinema.com/2009/feature-articles/hitchcock-fighting-generation/ |archive-date=5 April 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The 39 Steps Still.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Madeleine Carroll]] (the archetypal [[Blonde stereotype#Typology|"Hitchcock blonde"]]) and [[Robert Donat]] in ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'' (1935)]]

In 1933, Hitchcock signed a multi-film contract with [[Gaumont-British]], once again working for Michael Balcon.{{Sfn|Spoto|1999|p=37}}{{Sfn|McGilligan|2003|p=153}} His first film for the company, ''[[The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)|The Man Who Knew Too Much]]'' (1934), was a success; his second, ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'' (1935), was acclaimed in the UK, and gained him recognition in the US. It also established the quintessential English "Hitchcock blonde" ([[Madeleine Carroll]]) as the template for his succession of ice-cold, elegant leading ladies.<ref name="Chapman">{{cite book |last1=Chapman |first1=James |title=Hitchcock and the Spy Film |date=2017 |page=54 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|quote=Carroll was the archetypal 'Hitchcock blonde' – the first in a lineage that would also include Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren}}</ref> Screenwriter [[Robert Towne]] remarked: "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with ''The 39 Steps''".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Scragow |first1=Michael |title=Rewatching Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/rewatching-hitchcocks-the-39-steps |magazine=The New Yorker |date=9 July 2012|access-date=25 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026110604/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/rewatching-hitchcocks-the-39-steps|archive-date=26 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> [[John Buchan]], author of ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]'' on which the film is loosely based, met with Hitchcock on set, and attended the high-profile premiere at the [[New Gallery (London)|New Gallery Cinema]] in London. Upon viewing the film, the author said it had improved on the book.<ref name="Chapman"/> This film was one of the first to introduce the "[[MacGuffin]]" plot device, a term coined by the English screenwriter and Hitchcock collaborator [[Angus MacPhail]].<ref>{{cite book |last=McArthur |first=Colin |title=Whisky Galore! and the Maggie |year=2003 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |location=London |page=21}}</ref> The MacGuffin is an item or goal the protagonist is pursuing, one that otherwise has no narrative value; in ''The 39 Steps'', the MacGuffin is a stolen set of design plans.<ref>{{harvnb|Truffaut|1983|pp=137–139}}</ref>

Hitchcock released two spy thrillers in 1936. ''[[Sabotage (1936 film)|Sabotage]]'' was loosely based on [[Joseph Conrad]]'s novel, ''[[The Secret Agent]]'' (1907), about a woman who discovers that her husband is a terrorist, and ''[[Secret Agent (1936 film)|Secret Agent]]'', based on two stories in ''[[Ashenden: Or the British Agent]]'' (1928) by [[W. Somerset Maugham]].{{efn|In 2017, a ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' magazine poll ranked ''Sabotage'' as the 44th best British film ever.<ref name="Time Out">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/100-best-british-films#tab_panel_4 |title=The 100 best British films |magazine=Time Out |access-date=24 October 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190403073405/https://www.timeout.com/london/film/100-best-british-films%23tab_panel_4|archive-date=3 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>}} In his positive review of ''Sabotage'' for ''[[The Spectator]]'', the writer and journalist [[Graham Greene]] identified the children's matinée scene as an "ingenious and pathetic twist [[Hitchcockian|stamped as Mr Hitchcock's own]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last= Greene|first= Graham|author-link= Graham Greene|date= 11 December 1936|title= Sabotage/The Tenth Man|journal= [[The Spectator]]}} (reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell|editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|url= https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/122|publisher= Oxford University Press|pages= [https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/122 122-123]|isbn= 0192812866}})</ref> ''Secret Agent'' starred Madeleine Carroll and [[John Gielgud]], with [[Peter Lorre]] playing Gielgud's deranged assistant, and typical Hitchcockian themes include mistaken identity, trains and a "Hitchcock blonde".<ref>"'Secret Agent' – Exciting Spy Film by Alfred Hitchcock", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 11 May 1936, p. 13; "New Films in London", ''The Times'', 11 May 1936, p. 10; and "'Secret Agent' at the Gaumont", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 13 October 1936, p. 13</ref>

[[File:Hitchcocks-Joan-Harrison-1937.jpg|thumb|left|[[Alma Reville]], [[Joan Harrison (screenwriter)|Joan Harrison]], Hitchcock, and [[Pat Hitchcock]], 24 August 1937]]

At this time, Hitchcock also became notorious for pranks against the cast and crew. These jokes ranged from simple and innocent to crazy and maniacal. For instance, he hosted a dinner party where he dyed all the food blue because he claimed there weren't enough blue foods. He also had a horse delivered to the dressing room of his friend, actor [[Gerald du Maurier]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/04/29/alfred-hitchcock-a-sadistic-prankster/ |title=Alfred Hitchcock: a sadistic prankster |last=Chilton |first=Martin |date=29 April 2016 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=9 January 2019 |issn=0307-1235|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110014406/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/04/29/alfred-hitchcock-a-sadistic-prankster/|archive-date=10 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hitchcock followed up with ''[[Young and Innocent]]'' in 1937, a crime thriller based on the 1936 novel ''[[A Shilling for Candles]]'' by [[Josephine Tey]].{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=137}} Starring [[Nova Pilbeam]] and [[Derrick De Marney]], the film was relatively enjoyable for the cast and crew to make.{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=137}} To meet distribution purposes in America, the film's runtime was cut and this included removal of one of Hitchcock's favourite scenes: a children's tea party which becomes menacing to the protagonists.{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=138}}

[[File:The-Lady-Vanishes-1938.jpg|thumb|[[Margaret Lockwood]] (middle) and [[Michael Redgrave]] (right) in a publicity shot for ''[[The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938)]]

Hitchcock's next major success was ''[[The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938), "one of the greatest train movies from the genre's golden era", according to [[Philip French]], in which Miss Froy ([[May Whitty]]), a British spy posing as a governess, disappears on a train journey through the [[List of fictional countries on the Earth|fictional European country of Bandrika]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Philip |last=French |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/24/my-favourite-hitchcock-lady-vanishes |title=My favourite Hitchcock: The Lady Vanishes |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 July 2012|access-date=10 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209074800/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/24/my-favourite-hitchcock-lady-vanishes|archive-date=9 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The film saw Hitchcock receive the [[1938 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1938 New York Film Critics Circle Award]] for Best Director.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Lady Vanishes |work=Turner Classic Movies |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/80706/the-lady-vanishes |access-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711175302/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/80706/The-Lady-Vanishes/ |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Benjamin Crisler of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in June 1938: "Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not: [[Magna Carta]], the [[Tower Bridge]] and Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest director of screen melodramas in the world."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crisler |first1=B. R. |title=Hitchcock: Master Melodramatist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/06/12/archives/hitchcock-master-melodramatist.html |work=The New York Times |date=12 June 1938|access-date=11 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612224617/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/06/12/archives/hitchcock-master-melodramatist.html|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was based on the novel ''[[The Wheel Spins]]'' (1936) written by [[Ethel Lina White]], and starred [[Michael Redgrave]] (in his film debut) and [[Margaret Lockwood]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holston |first1=Kim R.|title=The English-speaking Cinema An Illustrated History, 1927-1993 |date=1994 |publisher=McFarland |page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=11 December 2021|title=Crime writer Ethel Lina White's Abergavenny blue plaque|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-59550580|access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref>

By 1938, Hitchcock was aware that he had reached his peak in Britain.{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=140}} He had received numerous offers from producers in the United States, but he turned them all down because he disliked the contractual obligations or thought the projects were repellent.{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=141}} However, producer [[David O. Selznick]] offered him a concrete proposal to make a film based on the sinking of {{RMS|Titanic}}, which was eventually shelved, but Selznick persuaded Hitchcock to come to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. In June 1938, Hitchcock sailed to New York aboard the [[RMS Queen Mary|RMS ''Queen Mary'']],<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=1938-06-01 |title=Western Morning News from Plymouth, Devon, England |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/816153978/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and found that he was already a celebrity; he was featured in magazines and gave interviews to radio stations.{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=142}} In Hollywood, Hitchcock met Selznick for the first time. Selznick offered him a four-film contract, approximately $40,000 for each picture ({{Inflation|US|40,000|1938|fmt=eq|r=-4}}).{{Sfn|Taylor|1996|p=142}} Before finalising any American deal, Hitchcock had one last film to make in England, as director of the [[Charles Laughton]]-produced picture ''[[Jamaica Inn (film)|Jamaica Inn]]'' (1939), which he had signed on to make in May 1938, right before his first trip to the US.<ref name=":1" />