Romance and Hitchcock? Viewing master of suspense as master of romance

ABSTRACT

This essay through literature and textual analysis argues that romance or romantic love is a dominant theme in Alfred Hitchcock’s films alongside suspense. Romance in Hitchcock’s films is highlighted in limited studies in the past and the findings are not conclusive. This study analysed a selected sample of 19 prominent films of Hitchcock. It argues that romantic content in Hitchcock’s films is similar to classic Hollywood romantic films. However, unique features of romance specific to Hitchcock’s films such as ‘working together to solve a mystery’, and ‘complicated love’ were also found as recurring themes. Hitchcock employs his auteur style in the portrayal of romantic love to an extent that the romantic content in his films can be characterised as having a distinct style lending itself to term it as Hitchcock romance. Hitchcock romance is the amalgamation of suspense and romance that support each other to drive the narrative forward.

KEYWORDS:

• Romance
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Auteur theory
• Hitchcock romance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.