Joe, you can't go wrong if you decide to wallow in Hitchcock films for the next couple of months. Quite a few are at NetFlix and several are probably streaming. This is indeed a gap in a liberal education. :)

There are the early films he made in the UK, and then there are the later films he made in Hollywood. An interesting comparison is to watch the UK vs Hollywood versions of The Man Who Knew Too Much - venues shift and the story changes as far as the character backstory, but when Doris Day screams, well, it's worth the price of your ticket. I love the feminist (even if it was unintentional) rift in the earlier version. The Lady Vanishes is another one with an extremely strong female heroine.

Robert Donat was not in many Hollywood films, he had very bad allergies or asthma, but his early work is sparkling and The 39 Steps is best in Hitchcock's original black and white version (other filmmakers have done remakes). I took a friend to see it years ago in an event on campus; she complained that the film sound was kind of crackly and said she'd leave if it didn't get any better. It didn't improve at all, but she stayed right there in her seat. :) I saw Sabotage many years ago and should dig it out - my ex and I were both National Park Rangers and used to laugh about the Hitchcock Park Series of films, of which this is one. :)

If I had one film to take to a desert island it might well be Rear Window. There is so much in there to enjoy. But so many of them, were I to watch it right before writing this post, I'd say the same about North By Northwest, The Trouble With Harry (a dark film chock full of double-entendre), To Catch A Thief, Vertigo, etc.

Some of them are leaner cast or set-wise but exquisite, Dial M For Murder (another of my all-time desert island favorites), Lifeboat, Strangers On A Train, and Notorious. (Spellbound and Marnie are in the category of "suspend disbelief" for believability plot-wise). I saw Mr. And Mrs. Smith a long time ago but I think I didn't watch the entire thing - my impression is that it was Hitchcock's nod to the screwball comedy.

I've seen Shadow of a Doubt several times, and I swear, every time I watch it it's like a new movie. There is so much going on. Shift your focus and it's a different story. Joseph Cotton was so good as good guys and so good as bad guys.

Years ago I saw Torn Curtain and it didn't grab me, but I was a kid and it was shown in fragments every day at school at the noon lunch hour. I should give it a full viewing and then say what I think. I remember Frenzy from about that same time and thought it was rather odd, and should re-watch it. I think he has very unsympathetic characters in there.

I have to get back to work now, but I can see a Hitchcock movie-binge in my near future. As my kids were growing up we used to watch movies together, and mixed in were a lot of Hitchcock films. My son wrote a report about The 39 Steps in middle school - probably startling his teachers when the rest of the kids were in their George of the Jungle phase. :)

SRS