Ranking Various Alfred Hitchcock Movies………

THE MOVIES...

Torn Curtain: 6.5/10

American physicist Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) shocks his friends and family by defecting to East Germany to work with the Soviets during the height of the Cold War. Even his fiancée (Julie Andrews) is surprised by the move, but when she follows him behind the Iron Curtain, she discovers that her husband-to-be isn't a spy, but a double agent working to discover Soviet nuclear secrets. As they plot a way to escape back to America, his cover is blown, putting both of their lives in jeopardy.

Topaz: 7/10

When a Soviet official defects to the United States, he brings with him claims that Russia is using Cuba as a staging ground for nuclear missiles. CIA agent Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) enlists the help of French spy André Devereaux (Frédérick Stafford) to find out if the official's claims are true. Not only do the agents discover that the Soviet's suspicions are valid, but they also find out that a French spy ring known as "Topaz" is working with the Russians to uncover NATO secrets.

Sabatour: 8/10

Factory worker Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) is wrongfully accused of setting a deadly fire at an airplane plant in an apparent act of sabotage. Kane believes that the fire was set by another worker (Norman Lloyd), and he travels across the country to find the mysterious saboteur. Along the way he is forced to take Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) hostage, but as he begins to earn her trust, she turns from an unwilling captive to a willing accomplice in his quest to help clear his name.

Marine: 8.5/10

Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) is a customer of one Mr. Strutt, whose business was robbed by his secretary, the mysterious Marnie Edgar (Tippi Hedren). When Marnie applies for a job with Mark, with the intention of stealing from him, Mark -- who is obsessively in love with her -- blackmails her into marrying him. However, he soon discovers that she has severe psychological issues regarding men, thunderstorms and the color red, and resolves to help her come to terms with her past trauma.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: 8.5/10

Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) is on vacation with his wife (Doris Day) and son in Morocco when a chance encounter with a stranger sets their trip, and their lives, on a drastically different course. The stranger, killed in front of the family in the marketplace, reveals an assassination plot to the Americans. The couple's son is abducted in order to ensure the plot is kept secret, and suddenly the mother and father, with no help from the police, must figure out a way to get their child back.

The Trouble With Harry: 9/10

When a local man's corpse appears on a nearby hillside, no one is quite sure what happened to him. Many of the town's residents secretly wonder if they are responsible, including the man's ex-wife, Jennifer (Shirley MacLaine), and Capt. Albert Wiles (Edmund Gwenn), a retired seaman who was hunting in the woods where the body was found. As the no-nonsense sheriff (Royal Dano) gets involved and local artist Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe) offers his help, the community slowly unravels the mystery.

Frenzy: 9/10

London is held in the grip of a serial killer whose modus operandi is to murder his victims by strangling them with a necktie. When short-tempered ex-Royal Air Force officer Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) discovers his ex-wife (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) murdered, Blaney becomes a suspect. Forced to go on the run, Blaney attempts to take refuge with his best friend, fruit merchant Bob Rusk (Barry Foster), however Rusk may, in fact, be the necktie murderer himself.

Family Plot: 9/10

Blanche (Barbara Harris), a less than reputable psychic, and her equally shady boyfriend, George (Bruce Dern), are hired by an elderly lady to find her nephew Arthur (William Devane), who had been given up for adoption as a boy. With little information to go on, the pair track down the now-adult man in San Francisco. Arthur has had a colorful past, including murder and thievery with girlfriend Fran (Karen Black). So when he discovers he is being trailed, he assumes it's for other reasons.

Rope: 9/10

Just before hosting a dinner party, Philip Morgan (Farley Granger) and Brandon Shaw (John Dall) strangle a mutual friend to death with a piece of rope, purely as a Nietzsche-inspired philosophical exercise. Hiding the body in a chest upon which they then arrange a buffet dinner, the pair welcome their guests, including the victim's oblivious fiancée (Joan Chandler) and the college professor (James Stewart) whose lectures inadvertently inspired the killing.

Vertigo: 9/10

An ex-police officer who suffers from an intense fear of heights is hired to prevent an old friend's wife from committing suicide, but all is not as it seems. Hitchcock's haunting, compelling masterpiece is uniquely revelatory about the director's own predilections and hang-ups and is widely considered to be one of his masterworks.

The Birds: 9.5/10

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds and they strike up a romance. One day birds start attacking children at Mitch's sisters party. A huge assault starts on the town by attacking birds.

Psycho: 9.5/10

Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), is overcome by exhaustion during a heavy rainstorm. Traveling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother.

North By North-West: 9.5/10

This classic suspense film finds New York City ad executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) pursued by ruthless spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) after Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent. Hunted relentlessly by Vandamm's associates, the harried Thornhill ends up on a cross-country journey, meeting the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) along the way. Soon Vandamm's henchmen close in on Thornhill, resulting in a number of iconic action sequences.

Rear Window: 10/10

The story of a recuperating news photographer who believes he has witnessed a murder. Confined to a wheelchair after an accident, he spends his time watching the occupants of neighbouring apartments through a telephoto lens and binoculars and becomes convinced that a murder has taken place.

Shadow Of A Doubt: 10/10

Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) visits his relatives in Santa Rosa. He is a very charming man, but his niece slowly realizes that he is wanted for murder and he soon recognizes her suspicions. Although one of the suspected murderers is killed and the case is considered closed, she still has her suspicions.

THE TV SHOWS...

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 8.5/10

The familiar "plink, plink" of the theme song, accompanied by the line drawing of a man in profile immediately identifies the show as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." The famed director opens almost every episode with the words "Good evening ..." After a joke -- usually about the evening's sponsor -- Hitchcock lays the groundwork for that episode's freestanding story of suspense and terror.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: 8.5/10

Stories of terror, horror and suspense by Alfred Hitchcock.

Overall, I'd Rate Alfred Hitchcock'a Film-Career, A Solid 8/10