Film History and Alfred Hitchcock Timeline

  • Kinetograph

    Kinetograph
    William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, commissioned by Thomas Alva Edison, builds the first motion-picture camera and names it the Kinetograph.
  • Period: to

    NO SOUND IN FILMS

  • First motion-picture studio

    First motion-picture studio
    The Edison Corporation establishes the first motion-picture studio, a Kinetograph production center nicknamed the Black Maria (slang for a police van).
  • The first Kinetoscope parlor

    The first Kinetoscope parlor
    The first Kinetoscope parlor opens at 1155 Broadway in New York City. Spectators can watch films for 25 cents.
  • The first true motion picture and the first film makers

    The first true motion picture and the first film makers
    In France, Auguste and Louis Lumière hold the first private screening. The brothers invent the Cinématograph, a combination camera and projector. The image of an oncoming train is said to have caused a stampede. (NO SOUND)
  • Hitchcock is born

    The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era.
  • First movie theater

    First movie theater
    The first movie theater opens in Pittsburgh. The Nickelodeon.
  • First movie review

    First movie review
    The New York Times publishes the first movie review, a report on D. W. Griffith's Pippa Passes.
  • Hitchcock starts working with film

    Received a full-time job at Islington Studios, and its British successor, Gainsborough, designing titles for silent movies. This was Hitchcock’s first shot in the film industry. His humble origins as a title designer contrasts greatly with his future job as a full-time director.
  • First Disney Cartoon

    First Disney Cartoon
    Walt Disney creates his first cartoon, "Alice's Wonderland."
  • HItchcock has an opprotunity

    Michael Balcon of Gainsborough Pictures gave Hitchcock a chance to direct his first film The Pleasure Garden (based on a novel by Oliver Sandys) made at UFA studios in Germany. Starring Virginia Malli and Carmelita Geraghty, it was commercial failure and endangered his future as a film director. Hitchcock’s first movie to direct was a failure, and people were not sure of this man’s future as a film director, but his later movies were instant classics.
  • Start of Hitchcock

    Hitchcock made his debut in the thriller genre, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (released in January 1927 in the UK). This film was a commercial and critical success, and was the first true “Hitchcockian” film that incorporated many themes he would use in his later films. This film can be considered Hitchcock’s first “true” film as this film was more like his later ones. Many consider this the “start” of his career.
  • Sound introduced to film

    Sound introduced to film
    Sound introduced to film. The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era.
  • Period: to

    SOUND IN FILMS - NOW

  • HItchcock is known for suspense

    Blackmail was released as the first all-talkie movie (motion picture with sound), starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. It was first meant to be a silent movie, but producers later decided to make it with sound. The climax of the film was taken on the dome of the British Museum, and started Hitchcock’s tradition of making use of landmarks for suspense scenes in his movies. Hitchcock’s Blackmail had many “firsts” and was a precedent to many of his critically-acclaimed films.
  • Hitchcock introduces new technique

    39 Steps. This film introduced the plot device of the “MacGuffin,” something around which the whole movie revolves around, but in the end the object itself has little relevance or importance to the story or ending of the movie.
  • Hitchcock introdces another NEW technique

    Hitchcock did extensive location shooting, especially atop the Statue of Liberty, a first in Hollywood. Hitchcock set the precedent of using famous landmarks in films. He repeatedly did this in his movies.
  • Psycho

    Psycho
    Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho terrifies audiences and becomes one of the year's most successful films, as well as one of the most memorable psychological thrillers.
  • Hitchcock starts a new trend and introduces anotehr NEW techniqe

    The Birds was released and it was one of the first films to deal with an apocalyptic theme and the “revenge” of nature (in this case, birds). This eerie and spine-chilling film set the stone for movies based on infestation or diseases.
  • Hitchcock dies

    Alfred Hitchcock dies at age 81 of arthritis, liver failure, and slowdown of kidney function.
  • Period: to

    Hitchcock still lives on until NOW

    Many films and directors are inspired by Hitchcock's work. His techniqes and work is incorporated into new films and entertainment.
  • Hitchcock introduces another NEW technique

    August 15, 1946 – Notorious was released. The film shows that Hitchcock was way ahead of his time, as he incorporated a story that we might see in action movies these days.