Alfred Hitchcock Movies: Hollywood Films

1940 - 197630 Films55h 49m4.2 Average

When Alfred Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1940, he entered the most productive and acclaimed phase of his career. Working with major studios and Hollywood's biggest stars - Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly - Hitchcock gained access to larger budgets and more sophisticated technical resources that allowed him to fully realize his artistic vision.

The Hollywood period marks a stylistic evolution from his British work. While his British films built suspense primarily in their final acts, his American films maintained tension throughout, using advanced camera techniques, tighter framing, and more complex editing patterns. The psychological depth increased, exploring darker themes of obsession, guilt, and identity.

This watch list showcases Hitchcock's golden age, including his most iconic and influential works - from the Oscar-winning Rebecca to the groundbreaking Psycho, and masterpieces like Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest that continue to inspire filmmakers today.

There are 2 other watch lists available - see the links up above.

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1
Rebecca poster

Rebecca

19402h 10m4.8
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce

Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.

MysteryRomanceThriller
2
Foreign Correspondent poster

Foreign Correspondent

19402h4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Bassermann

American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.

ThrillerMysteryAction
3
Mr. & Mrs. Smith poster

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

19411h 35m3.2
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson, Philip Merivale

Happily married for three years, Ann and David Smith live in New York. One morning Ann asks David if he had to do it over again, would he marry her? To her shock, he answers, "No". Later that day, they separately discover that, due to a legal complication, they are not legally married.

ComedyRomance
4
Suspicion poster

Suspicion

19411h 39m4.1
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, May Whitty

A sheltered heiress falls for a charming playboy and elopes with him, but soon discovers his gambling vice and mounting debts. As his lies deepen and those around them meet mysterious ends, she begins to suspect that her husband’s affection may conceal a deadly motive—and that she could be his next victim.

MysteryRomanceThriller
5
Saboteur poster

Saboteur

19421h 49m3.9
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter, Clem Bevans

Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane flees across the United States after he is wrongly accused of starting the fire that killed his best friend.

Thriller
6
Shadow of a Doubt poster

Shadow of a Doubt

19431h 47m4.4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

ThrillerMystery
7
Lifeboat poster

Lifeboat

19441h 36m4.3
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

WarDrama
8
Spellbound poster

Spellbound

19451h 51m4.4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G. Carroll, Michael Chekhov, John Emery

When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.

ThrillerMysteryRomance
9
Notorious poster

Notorious

19461h 43m4.6
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Leopoldine Konstantin, Louis Calhern

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

ThrillerRomanceMystery
10
The Paradine Case poster

The Paradine Case

19471h 54m3.4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Alida Valli, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn

In London, barrister Anthony Keane takes the case of Maddalena Paradine, a beautiful woman accused of poisoning her blind husband. Though happily married, Keane becomes infatuated with his enigmatic client and convinced of her innocence. His obsession clouds his judgment as he builds a defense implicating her servant, André Latour—an act that leads to devastating consequences both in court and at home.

DramaMysteryRomance
11
Rope poster

Rope

19481h 21m4.8
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

ThrillerCrimeDrama
12
Under Capricorn poster

Under Capricorn

19491h 58m3.2
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding, Margaret Leighton, Cecil Parker

A British ex-convict in colonial Australia and his fragile wife, haunted by the past crime that binds them, struggle to rebuild their lives when a young newcomer stirs long-buried passions and secrets.

DramaHistory
13
Stage Fright poster

Stage Fright

19501h 50m3.9
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim

A struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence when he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer.

Thriller
14
Strangers on a Train poster

Strangers on a Train

19511h 41m4.6
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

CrimeThriller
15
I Confess poster

I Confess

19531h 35m4.1
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, O.E. Hasse

When a priest hears a murderer’s confession, he becomes bound by his vow of silence—even as circumstantial evidence turns suspicion toward him. Torn between faith and self-preservation, he faces public scandal and trial for a crime he cannot reveal the truth about.

DramaThrillerCrime
16
Dial M for Murder poster

Dial M for Murder

19541h 45m4.8
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson

When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.

ThrillerCrime
17
Rear Window poster

Rear Window

19541h 52m5
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

ThrillerMystery
18
To Catch a Thief poster

To Catch a Thief

19551h 46m4.3
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams, Charles Vanel

When a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera, suspicion falls on retired thief John “The Cat” Robie. To clear his name, he sets out to trap the copycat himself—entangling a wealthy widow and her beguiling daughter in a seductive game of pursuit, deception, and desire.

MysteryRomanceThriller
19
The Trouble with Harry poster

The Trouble with Harry

19551h 39m4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock

The trouble with Harry is that he’s dead. In a quiet Vermont village, a corpse creates unexpected chaos as several townspeople each believe they may be to blame.

ComedyMystery
20
The Man Who Knew Too Much poster

The Man Who Knew Too Much

19562h4.4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.

ThrillerMystery
21
The Wrong Man poster

The Wrong Man

19561h 45m4.2
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Charles Cooper

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

CrimeDrama
22
Vertigo poster

Vertigo

19582h 8m5
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones

A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

MysteryRomanceThriller
23
North by Northwest poster

North by Northwest

19592h 16m4.8
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

ThrillerAdventure
24
Psycho poster

Psycho

19601h 49m5
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

HorrorThrillerMystery
25
The Birds poster

The Birds

19632h4.4
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright

Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.

HorrorThriller
26
Marnie poster

Marnie

19642h 10m4.1
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker, Martin Gabel, Louise Latham

Marnie is a beautiful but emotionally withdrawn thief, stealing from employers before disappearing under new identities. When her new boss, Mark Rutland, discovers her secret, his fascination turns to obsession, and he blackmails her into marriage, convinced he can cure her. But as he probes deeper into Marnie’s fractured mind, long-buried fears and compulsions begin to surface.

ThrillerMysteryRomance
27
Torn Curtain poster

Torn Curtain

19662h 7m3.7
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova, Hansjörg Felmy, Tamara Toumanova

During the Cold War, an American scientist appears to defect to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the formula for a resin solution—but the plan goes awry when his fiancee, unaware of his motivation, follows him across the border.

Thriller
28
Topaz poster

Topaz

19692h 7m3.2
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, Michel Piccoli

Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962. When a high-ranking Soviet official decides to change sides, a French intelligence agent is caught up in a cold, silent and bloody spy war in which his own family will play a decisive role.

DramaThriller
29
Frenzy poster

Frenzy

19721h 56m4.1
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey, Alec McCowen

London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.

CrimeThrillerHorror
30
Family Plot poster

Family Plot

19762h3.8
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, William Devane, Ed Lauter

Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.

ComedyCrimeThrillerMystery