WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

MisterWhiplash This was my introduction to Alfred Hitchcock, and it makes for a splendid introduction! This was shown on the Starz network around this time of release, and it was a good overview of Hitchcock's career. It may be somewhat standard in that it look at the major Hollywood films more than some of the British fare (that does get some spotlight, and there's actually more time spent on films you might not expect like Foreign Correspondent and Saboteur), and you get some expected talking heads like Brian De Palma (this was probably the first time I can remember seeing him interviewed) and Peter Bogdanovich (would any Hitchcock doc be complete without him, I'm not sure). But if you consider that someone like me, a young and aspiring movie buff in the 90's, could get a lot from it and realize how much there is to learn about Hitchcock, it's best recommended as a primer for people who want to learn more about his films and why he mattered so much and what an impact he made (i.e. the Psycho shower scene for audiences who were seeing it for the first time in theaters).

Michael_Elliott Dial H for Hitchcock (1999) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Well made documentary covering the entire career of Alfred Hitchcock features interviews with Janet Leigh, Jonathan Demme, Brian De Palma, Curtis Hanson, Wes Craven, Peter Bogdanovich and various others including Hitchcock himself. We really don't learn anything new here but it's always interesting hearing directors speak of their favorite films and there are some nice stories told here. Psycho gets the majority of the talk but I always find these stories the most entertaining since this film does contain the greatest number of shocks. A lot of detail is also given to Hitchcock's relationship with his wife, which was pretty touching. AKA Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius.

Petri Pelkonen This is a great documentary of a great man.It tells the story of Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), the master of suspense.It covers his career starting from the early stuff he made in The Great Britain and all of his classic movies we all know.Kevin Spacey is the narrator of Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999).There are many people talking about the master.There are cast and crew members such as Tippi Hedren, Joseph Stefano, Norman Lloyd, Robert F. Boyle, Teresa Wright and Janet Leigh.There are these film directors who admire the work of Hitch: Brian De Palma, Jonathan Demme, Curtis Hanson, Robert Altman, Ronald Neame, Peter Bognadovich, Wes Craven and Bryan Singer.There's also Hitchcock's only daughter, Patricia Hitchcock (b.1928) sharing her memories of her father.It's really fascinating to see all those home movies with the Hitchcock family.You really start liking the man.This is also a love story.The passion he had for his wife, Alma Reville, is really something.In the end, when Alfred receives the award, being really old, it's really touching to see him praising his wife, who's listening to her beloved husband on stage with tears in her eyes.He truly was a kind and loving man.A man who made terrific movies.After seeing this documentary you know everything you ever wanted to know about Alfred Hitchcock.This is a great documentary of a great man.

rollo_tomaso Some magnificent background on early Hitchcock and marvelous seldom-seen footage gets this well-meaning documentary off on the right track for the first 40 min. The rest is a waste of time with the same old clips being shown as the same old talking heads concur one-at-a-time to what has become accepted wisdom among today's entertainment artist intelligencia. It's a shame that Billy Wilder, Stanley Kramer and other quasi-contemporaries of Hitchcock were not interviewed to provide balance -- Truffaut's adoration of Hitchcock has proven to be both a blessing and a curse because there is now a protected unified front over what Hitchcock "loved" and didn't love. For example, despite Selznicks' "interference", Rebecca is still a picture for the ages, and Suspicion was quite successful at the box office despite revisionist history. The Wrong Man was also ignored totally since it didn't fit into the thesis.