Claim: Alfred Hitchcock framed shots to maximize fear.

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock -LRB- 13 August 1899 -- 29 April 1980 -RRB- was an English film director and producer , at times referred to as `` The Master of Suspense '' . He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres . He had a successful career in British cinema with both silent films and early talkies and became renowned as England 's best director . Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939 , and became a U.S. citizen in 1955 .   Hitchcock became a highly visible public figure through interviews , movie trailers , cameo appearances in his own films , and the ten years in which he hosted the television programme Alfred Hitchcock Presents -LRB- 1955 -- 1965 -RRB- . He also fashioned for himself a recognisable directorial style . Hitchcock 's stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person 's gaze , forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism . In addition , he framed shots to maximise anxiety , fear , or empathy , and used innovative forms of film editing . His work often features fugitives on the run alongside `` icy blonde '' female characters . In 1978 , film critic John Russell Taylor described Hitchcock as `` the most universally recognizable person in the world '' , and `` a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius '' .   Prior to 1980 , there had long been talk of Hitchcock being knighted for his contribution to film . Critic Roger Ebert wrote : `` Other British directors like Sir Carol Reed and Sir Charlie Chaplin were knighted years ago , while Hitchcock , universally considered by film students to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time , was passed over '' . Hitchcock later received his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980 New Year Honours .   Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades and is often regarded as one of the most influential directors in cinematic history . Following a 2007 critics ' poll by Britain 's Daily Telegraph in which he was ranked Britain 's greatest filmmaker , one scholar wrote : `` Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema , which would be utterly different without him . His flair was for narrative , cruelly withholding crucial information -LRB- from his characters and from the audience -RRB- and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else . '' Hitchcock 's first thriller , The Lodger : A Story of the London Fog -LRB- 1926 -RRB- , helped shape the thriller genre in film . His 1929 film , Blackmail , is often cited as the first British sound feature film , while Rear Window -LRB- 1954 -RRB- , Vertigo -LRB- 1958 -RRB- , North by Northwest -LRB- 1959 -RRB- , and Psycho -LRB- 1960 -RRB- are regularly ranked among the greatest films of all time .