Key Directors in the History of the Thriller Genre

Key Directors in the Thriller Genre

Alfred Hitchcock:

Hitchcock excelled in the technical challenges that film presented to him. Especially in the film, ‘Lifeboat’ as Hitchcock sets the entire film in a small boat but is still able to prevent a repetitive cinematography. This is also the case for the film, ‘Rear Window’ as all the scenes are based around the single apartment. His film Rope in 1948 was a technical challenge as he filmed all of the scenes in 10 takes ranging from four and a half to 10 minutes each; 10 minutes being the maximum amount of film that would fit in a single camera reel. Some transitions between reels were hidden by having a dark object fill the entire screen for a moment. Hitchcock used those points to hide the cut, and began the next take with the camera in the same place. He later achieved the ‘stretch’ of the image onscreen, which was achieved by moving the camera in an opposite direction to that of the cameras zooms, this is now known as the Dolly Zoom.

Hitchcock became famous for his expert and largely unrivaled control of pace and suspense, and his films draw heavily on both fear and fantasy. The films are known for their droll humour and witticisms, and these cinematic works often portray innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding.

George Cukor

George Cukor was an American film director who concentrated mainly on literary adaptations. He was widely known for his work at the production company MGM and RKO. His main films included:

· What Price Hollywood? (1932)

· A bill of Divorcement (1932)

· Dinner At Eight (1933)

· David Copperfield (1935)

· Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Although his career suffered a setback as he was replaced as direct of Gone with the wind, but came back to produce films such as Born Yesterday (1950) and A Star is Born (1954) before producing his last major successful film being, ‘My Fair Lady’ in 1964.

John Frankenheimer

Frankenheimer began his directing career in live television. He recalled after being discharged, he had an interview with CBS and had a conversation with the hiring manager. The manager had also been a member of the armed forces and told Frankenheimer that while they had no openings at the time, he would call when needed. According to the director in an interview with The Directors Series, he had spent two weeks in his hotel room waiting for a phone call as the hotel didn't provide a messaging service. At the end of this period, Frankenheimer did receive a phone call and was put to work as a live television director. Throughout the 1950s he directed over 140 episodes of shows like Playhouse 90, Climax and Danger, including The Commedian, written by Rod Serling and starting Mickey Rooney as a ravingly vicious television comedian.

His first theatrical film was 1957's The Young Stranger, starring James MacArthur as a rebellious teenager. Frankenheimer oversaw the production, based on a Climax episode called "Deal a Blow", at the age of 26.

He returned to television during the rest of the 1950s, only moving to film permanently in 1961 with The Young Savages, in which he worked for the first time with Burt Lancaster in a story of a young boy murdered by a New York gang.