Five decades of the Master of Suspense produced one of the richest director-led poster catalogues in cinema. Here are ten campaigns that stand out, from Saul Bass’s masterpiece to the gems around it.
10. Rebecca (1940), US One Sheet The painterly, romantic illustration style typical of the era, a useful reminder of just how different Hitchcock’s early Hollywood campaigns looked from the graphic minimalism that would define some of his later work.
9. Notorious (1946), US One Sheet A tense, glamorous campaign built around Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman at the height of their star power.
8. Rear Window (1954), US One Sheet Lush, Technicolor-era imagery that fits the film’s sophisticated apartment-courtyard setting perfectly.
7. To Catch a Thief (1955), US One Sheet Continues the glamorous, romantic register of Rear Window, built around Cary Grant and Grace Kelly on the French Riviera.
6. The Birds (1963), US One Sheet A striking, graphic approach built around menacing bird imagery that needs no further explanation to communicate the film’s premise.
5. Frenzy (1972), British Quad One of Hitchcock’s later films, marking a return to London settings, with campaign art that carries real atmosphere for a director working late in his career.
4. North by Northwest (1959), US One Sheet Built around the image of Cary Grant on the run, the campaign captures the film’s blend of glamour, wit and pursuit, one of the defining thrillers of the era.
3. Psycho (1960), US One Sheet A bold, stark campaign that broke from the glamour of Hitchcock’s previous films, matching the shock of what audiences were about to see, and still influential on horror poster design well over sixty years later.
2. Vertigo (1958), Three Sheet The larger-format version of Saul Bass’s spiral design gives the image room to breathe at a scale the standard one sheet simply can’t match.
1. Vertigo (1958), Saul Bass US One Sheet The spiral. One of the most referenced images in twentieth-century graphic design, and the poster most responsible for cementing the idea that a film’s poster could be as significant a work of art as the film itself.
Building a Hitchcock collection
See our full guide to the art of the Hitchcock poster for the wider story behind these campaigns, and our authentication guide before buying, given how widely reproduced the most famous Hitchcock images have become.
