Every Alfred Hitchcock movie, ranked

Here’s EWs ranking of every Alfred Hitchcock film.

His films frequently feature espionage, mistaken identities, claustrophobic locations, and unnerving camera movements to maximize tension.

Read on to see our list of every Alfred Hitchcock movie, ranked.

JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, (aka THE SHAME OF MARY BOYLE), form left: Kathleen O’Regan, John Longden, Sara Allgood, Edward Chapman, 1930

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It’s never in the position to do anything wrong because it does almost nothing at all.

Even if you’ve seen this movie, odds are good that you’ll struggle to remember it.

There isn’t any particular weight to the conversational scenes, nor much sense of rhythm.

RICH AND STRANGE, (aka EAST OF SHANGHAI), seated from left: Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, Betty Amann (standing between them), 1931

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And it doesn’t help that the off-kilter editing makes for atrocious pacing.

It’s technically competent but narratively sparse, with no humor or sense of urgency.

The film looks decent, though not as striking as any of Hitchcock’s prior sound films.

1932: John Stuart (1898 - 1979) stars with Leon M Lion in the film ‘Number Seventeen’, a thriller about a gang of jewel thieves, directed by Alfred Hitchcock for British International Pictures. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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The melodramatic proceedings are too stuffy and bloated to make much of an impact.

For a rom-com, it’s neither funny nor particularly romantic despite the actors' best efforts.

Mary (1931)

The German-language version ofMurder!

The Farmer’s Wife (1928) Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker, and Jameson Thomas in The Farmer’s Wife (1928)

British International Pictures

It’s still pretty fun, butMurder!does more justice to the concept with its lengthier runtime.

The rest is decently crafted, but somewhat stiff and unremarkable.

The story and character work get the job done, but aren’t likely to leave a lasting impression.

24th December 1938: Charles Laughton (1899 - 1962) as Sir Humphry Pengallan in the film ‘Jamaica Inn’ produced by Mayflower Pictures and directed by Alfred Hitchcock from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Original Publication: Picture Post - 60 - Laughton Makes Up - pub. 1938 (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images)

Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty

Here, Hitchcock mines the espionage genre for more humor than thrills to mixed results.

The humor makes the whole scenario feel relatively weightless, save for a couple of tense standout scenes.

The film follows several townspeople who attempt to decide what to do with a dead body.

Kino. Sklavin Des Herzens, Under Capricorn, Sklavin Des Herzens, Under Capricorn, ngrid Bergman, Michael Wilding Charles Adare (Michael Wilding) versucht, die alkoholsüchtige Lady Henrietta (Ingrid Bergman) aufzuheitern und ihr Selbstvertrauen zu stärken., 1949. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty

The Manxman (1929)

Hitchcock’s final fully-silent film is one of his greatest early works.

Saboteur (1942)

This wartime drama often feels more like aFrank Caprafilm than an Alfred Hitchcock picture.

These thrilling moments double as comedic sequences, and the film would deflate without them.

MR. AND MRS. SMITH, from left: Robert Montgomery, Carole Lombard, 1941

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Matters are further complicated by a murder, of course.

It’s distressing to watch, but well-acted, gorgeously composed, and uncomfortably powerful by its conclusion.

LikeRear Window,Dial M for Murderfixates on the intersections between romance, paranoia, and curiosity.

THE RING, Lillian Hall-Davis, Carl Brisson, 1927

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It’s a visually and narratively gripping film that’s, well, spellbinding.

(The Lodgeris also the first to employ his “wrong man” plot unit.)

The characters are distinct, and the rapidly evolving conflicts pose troubling ethical questions.

American actor Gregory Peck (1916 - 2003), as Anthony Keane, and Italian actress Alida Valli (1921 - 2006) as Mrs. Maddalena Anna Paradine in ‘The Paradine Case’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1947. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

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The film boasts some of the best dialogue of any Hitchcock film and makes substantial use of music.

(the joke lands in context, just trust us).

Perhaps Hitchcock is teasing the audience by suggesting that innocent entertainment can harbor a frightening dark side.

Kino. Irrgarten der Leidenschaft, (PLEASURE GARDEN) USA, 1925, Regie: Alfred Hitchcock, Stichwort: Tanz. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty

Vertigo (1958)

IsVertigoa film primarily concerned with unquenchable desire?

Sins of the past?

There are so many different ways to read Hitchcock’s dizzying noir.

THE SKIN GAME, from left: Frank Lawton, Jill Esmond, 1931

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Cary Grant is a little underutilized, and the central relationship could benefit from more time to develop.

But this is a spy thriller after all, and not a strict romance.

(Spoiler alert: They didn’t even come close.)

DOWNHILL, from top: Hannah Jones, Isabel Jeans, 1927

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Mary (1931) Alfred Abel in Mary (1931)

British International Pictures

WALTZES FROM VIENNA, from left: Esmond Knight as Johann Strauss, the Younger, Jessie Matthews, 1934

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EASY VIRTUE, Isabel Jeans, Robin Irvine, 1928

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CHAMPAGNE, from left: Jean Bradin, Betty Balfour, 1928 champagne-fsct02(champagne-fsct02)

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Derrick de Marney and Nova Pilbeam on the set of “Young and Innocent”, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

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1936: Madeleine Carroll (1906 - 1987) and John Gielgud (1904 - 2000) in the film ‘The Secret Agent’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Gaumont British. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hulton Archive/Getty

Bruce Dern on the set of “Family Plot”. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty

John Vernon and others in uniform stand before Cuban flag in a scene from the film ‘Topaz’, 1969. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

Universal/Getty

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Mildred Natwick, Edmund Gwenn, 1955

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Joel McCrea staring down at old man in a scene from the film ‘Foreign Correspondent’, 1940. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)

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Actress Anny Ondra, Alfred Hitchcock and John Longden in a scene from the movie “Blackmail” (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)

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Julie Andrews and Paul Newman walk outside in a scene from the film ‘Torn Curtain’, 1966. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

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THE MANXMAN, Carl Brisson, Anny Ondra, 1929

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Joseph Cotten laying in bed fully dresses with open cash beside him in a scene from the film ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’, 1943. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

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MURDER!, Norah Baring, Herbert Marshall, 1930

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American actor Cary Grant (Archibald Alexander Leach) playing roulette in the film To Catch a Thief. USA, 1955. (Photo by Mondadori via Getty Images)

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Kino. Die Voegel, 1960er, 1960s, Birds, The, Film, Thriller, Die Voegel, 1960er, 1960s, Birds, The, Film, Thriller, Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy Obwohl alle Fenster und Türen mit Brettern vernagelt sind, koennen die Voegel eindringen., 1963. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

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FRENZY, FRENZY Br 1972 BARRY FOSTER AND BARBARA LEIGH-HUNT A UNIVERSAL PICTURE Date 1972. Photo by: Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection(10314391)

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Otto Kruger and Robert Cummings on the set of “Saboteur”, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

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1934: Nova Pilbeam, Leslie Banks (1890-1952) and Edna Best (1900-1974) in a scene from the spy thriller ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock for Gaumont. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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1950: Jane Wyman and Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992) share a cigarette in a scene from the murder mystery ‘Stage Fright’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

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American actress Sylvia Sidney on the set of Sabotage based on the novel Polish-born British Joseph Conrad and directed by British Alfred Hitchcock. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Kino. Zum Schweigen Verurteilt, I Confess, Zum Schweigen Verurteilt, I Confess, Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter Bevor Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift) Priester wurde, hatte er ein Verhältnis mit Ruth (Anne Baxter)., 1953. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty

Kino. Verdacht, Suspicion, Verdacht, Suspicion, Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Nigel Bruce Linda McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) hat den charmanten, aber undurchsichtigen Playboy Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant,m) geheiratet. Obwohl er völlig verschuldet ist, überhäuft Johnnie seine Frau mit Geschenken., 1941. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

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1954: Anthony Dawson (1916 - 1992) sneaks up behind an oblivious Grace Kelly (1929 - 1982) in a tense scene from the film ‘Dial M For Murder’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

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1940: Joan Fontaine, playing the second Mrs de Winter, with her screen husband Laurence Olivier and the intimidating house keeper Mrs Danvers portrayed by Judith Anderson. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

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Unidentified man looking at Rhonda Fleming in the shadows in a scene from the film ‘Spellbound’, 1945. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)

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Ivor Novello looks up the stairs in a scene from the film ‘The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog’, 1927. (Photo by AmerAnglo/Getty Images)

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Kino. Das Rettungsboot, Lifeboat, Das Rettungsboot, Lifeboat, John Hodiak, Tallulah Bankhead Die erfolgreiche, verwöhnte Autorin Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) kuschelt sich an den selbstbewußten Seemann Kovak (John Hodiak)., 1944. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

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Doris Day, Christopher Olsen, James Stewart, and Daniel Gelin gathered together in a scene from the film ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’, 1956. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)

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John Dall and Farley Granger talk to each other in a scene from the film ‘Rope’, 1948. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)

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Henry Fonda with a newspaper in a scene from the film ‘The Wrong Man’, 1956. (Warner Brothers Pictures/Getty Images)

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Cary Grant holding Eva Marie Saint in a scene from the film ‘North By Northwest’, 1959. Grant is wearing a pale grey Oxford shirt by Brooks Brothers. (Photo by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images)

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Farley Granger and Ruth Roman in a scene from the film ‘Strangers On A Train’, 1951. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)

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VERTIGO, James Stewart, Kim Novak, 1958.

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NOTORIOUS, from left, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, 1946

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View of a silhouetted figure holding a knife in the famous shower scene from the film, ‘Psycho,’ directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1960. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images)

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American actor James Stewart (1908 - 1997) focuses on a shapely pair of female legs in a scene from the film ‘Rear Window’, directed by Alfred Hitchcock for Paramount, 1954. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Paramount Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty