Hitchcock

Master actor, Anthony Hopkins gets under the skin of one of the most influential filmmakers of all time: Alfred Hitchcock.

After completing his most recent big-budget thrill ride (North By Northwest), Alfred Hitchcock was at a loss for what to do next. Upon reading the newly published Robert Bloch suspense novel, Psycho, Hitchcock found his inspiration. Bringing the material to the Hollywood studio that was his second home, Paramount, the top brass balked at The Master of Suspense taking on what they considered an unfilmable tale of horror, sex, and violence... but these were just the things that sparked Hitch's imagination.

Putting down his own money to finance the film, Hitchcock was able to have free reign at the studio, but at home it was a different story. His wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) - who was truly his better half -, begins to have her own nerves tested when they are forced to re-mortgage their house to pay for a black-and-white film in which the main character (Scarlett Johansson playing Janet Leigh as Marion Crane) gets killed off in the first thirty minutes!

With the film being banned at theatres and picketed across the country, no one at the time imagined that this gamble would pay off. 52-years later, with Psycho toping lists of the best of horror and suspense films of all time, it is clear that Hitchcock's prescient vision was as remarkable as his films.