I consider Alfred Hitchcock to be one of my favorite directors. He directed several of my all-time favorite films, including my ultimate “comfort film” pick-me-up, To Catch a Thief. I’ve seen Hitchcock silent and with sound, black and white and in technicolor. I’ve written about him on the blog many times:
- Celebrating To Catch a Thief for National Classic Movie Day in 2015
- Reviews of big-screen showings of To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Notorious, and Rope
- Digging up contemporary reviews of Notorious and Rope
- Sharing my favorite things about Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- Exploring The Birds in comparison with its source material
- Reviewing a double feature of Easy Virtue and Blackmail
- Recapped and briefly reviewed every episode of the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Yeah, I guess you could say I’m a fan!
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from over a decade of being a classic movie fan and five years of classic movie blogging, it’s that there’s always more to learn.
If Hitch is one of those things you want/need to learn more about, TCM has got you covered. The network has partnered with Ball State for TCM Presents The Master of Suspense: 50 Years of Hitchcock, a free online course. This is the third course presented by TCM and Ball State, following 2015’s Film Noir course and 2016’s Slapstick Comedy course.
The course will explore over 40 Hitchcock films, from his British beginnings in the silent era to his final film, also exploring the director’s lasting impact and cultural legacy.
The Hitchcock course begins June 26, so you still have a few days to enroll before it kicks off! (Did I mention that it’s completely free?!) It runs for six weeks, ending on August 7. Enrollment instructions and further details, including a course syllabus/outline, can be found at the course’s Canvas site.
To go along with the online course, Hitchcock will be celebrated as July’s TCM Spotlight, with films airing every Wednesday and Friday throughout the month. The schedule offers a chronological exploration of the director’s work.
While a TCM cable subscription isn’t required to take part in the online course, this match-up of programming will certainly make it easy for those of us who do have TCM access to get as much out of the course as possible. (For those who don’t have access, a list of key films to rent will be provided, with clips and public domain links made available on the Canvas site.)
I’m enrolled in the course — my first time participating in one of the TCM/Ball State courses. While I never pass up an opportunity to re-watch/discuss my Hitchcock favorites, I’m most excited to catch up on some of my blindspots from his filmography, like his earliest silent films (airing on TCM July 5) and his final film, 1976’s Family Plot (airing July 28).
Once again, to enroll in the course or learn more about TCM’s celebration of the Master of Suspense, visit the #Hitchcock50 website!
The Motion Pictures 
I was peeved that I missed the film noir course, so thanks for giving me a heads up for this one! A class about my favorite director? Count me in…I hope!
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You should definitely enroll! I’m probably going to audit the course rather than participating for the certificate, so I don’t have to worry about falling behind haha. I’m excited to see how it goes, though!
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Well, I just signed up, so now we’re classmates at Ball State! I’m looking forward to this, and I’m hoping to complete the entire course…it’s been a while since I’ve watched many of my Hitchcock films, so this should be fun. See you there!
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I’ve signed up, but I may drop out after the course moves out of the silent era. I do have a lot to learn about early Hitchcock, and it’s only a few years until his films make their century mark!
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That’s the nice thing about these courses — since they’re free and quite flexible, you can pick and choose what you want to learn/focus on. I hope to complete the entire course but the silent modules are definitely some of my most anticipated!
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