Where's Alfred?

Did you find him? Did you catch the scene where the fat man strolls across the lobby, or struggles to contain an unruly child? Alfred Hitchcock, director of suspense movies, had an odd habit of making a single brief cameo appearance in many of his movies. He never spoke, didn't contribute to the story, and was often just a nameless face in the crowd.

Alfred's first appearance in films wasn't planned. While filming one of his earlier films (The Lodger), he decided to fill out a crowd scene by stepping in himself. Later, as it became a habit, and his fans began watching for him, he was forced to appear early in the movie, so the audience wouldn't be distracted from the story while watching for his appearance. Seldom did he appear more than once in a film, and as time went on, his manner of appearance would become more creative and hard to spot. In his last movie he appeared only as a shadow, and in one movie he is shown in a photo of a class reunion.

When interviewed in 1966, Alfred Hitchcock had this to say about his cameos:
"I always give a little thought to my appearances and come on as early as possible-- don't want to hold them in suspense for the wrong reason! I've been in all my films on and off. Missed a few. Only cancelled one. It got into the press ahead of time... I was going to walk along with a girl and talk to her-- in deaf-and-dumb language. My hands would be working very fast. And she turns around and slaps my face."

CAUTION!!! SPOILER!!! DON'T READ THIS!!!

• The Lodger He appears twice...3 minutes and 92 minutes into the movie.
• Easy Virtue Fifteen minutes into the movie.
• Blackmail Eleven minutes into the movie.
• Murder! Sixty minutes into the movie.
• The Man Who Knew Too Much Thirty-three minutes into the movie.
• The Thirty-nine Steps Six minutes into the movie.
• Sabotage Nine minutes into the movie.
• Young and Innocent Fifteen minutes into the movie.
• The Lady Vanishes At the end of the film.
• Rebecca At the end of the film.
• Foreign Correspondent Eleven minutes into the movie.
• Suspicion Forty-five minutes into the movie.
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith Forty-one minutes into the movie.
• Saboteur Sixty minutes into the movie.
• Shadow of a Doubt Seventeen minutes into the movie.
• Lifeboat Twenty-five minutes into the movie.
• Spellbound Thirty-six minutes into the movie.
• Notorious Sixty minutes into the movie.
• The Paradine Case Thirty-six minutes into the movie.
• Rope Fifty-two minutes into the movie.
• Under Capricorn Three and fourteen minutes into the movie.
• Stage Fright Thirty-eight minutes into the movie.
• Strangers on a Train Sixty minutes into the movie.
• I Confess One minutes into the movie.
• Rear Window(My personal favorite). Twenty-five minutes into the movie.
• Dial M for Murder Thirteen minutes into the movie.
• The Trouble with Harry Twenty-one minutes into the movie.
• To Catch a Thief Ten minutes into the movie.
• The Man Who Knew Too Much Twenty-five minutes into the movie.
• Vertigo Ten minutes into the movie.
• North by Northwest Two minutes into the movie.
• Psycho Seven minutes into the movie.
• The Birds Two minutes into the movie.
• Marnie Five minutes into the movie.
• Torn Curtain Eight minutes into the movie.
• Topaz Twenty-eight minutes into the movie.
• Frenzy Three minutes into the movie.
• Family Plot Thirty-eight minutes into the movie.

No, I didn't find all these myself. Despite being an avid Hitchcock fan, I've only spotted ol' Al five or six times on my own. I found most of this information at http://members.liwest.at/holzner/. If you'd rather learn about the scene that Alfred can be found in, rather than the timing of his appearance in the film, this site: http://nextdch.mty.itesm.mx/~plopezg/Kaplan/cam/cameos2.html has some good information.