50's & 60's Thrillers

The thriller genre goes way back to the 1697 story of little red hiding hood - a story that can be argued to be a psycho-stalker tale.
Yet the first 'modern thriller' film is said to be the 1903 hit 'Heart of Darkness' which is a first person account of a man on his travels whilst searching for something. The film then delves into the ideas of civilisation. By todays standards, this film would be considered a psychological thriller.

As the years went on, there were noticeable figures in the uprising of the thriller genre. The 1931, German film 'M' directed by Fritz Lang which murders and crimes made 'normal criminals' help to find and capture the killers as soon as possible - due to the pure fear that was created in this movie. Also in the 30's Sir Alfred Hitchcock started to become an ever more increasingly important figure in the thriller film with his 1934 film 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' - which is seen as a very important suspense thriller and also one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period. However, this film was then remade for the American audience in 1956 - of which there are obvious differences in the tone, setting and plot of the story.

The 1950's saw one of the greatest advancements to the thriller genre. Once again, down to Hitchcock. This time, he added technicolor (colour motion picture) to the thriller genre. With films like 'Strangers on a Plane' and 'Vertigo' it is said that he reached the zenith of his career.
Although Hitchcock was a very important figure in the expansion of the thriller genre, there were other important figures. John Frankenheimer directed films such as 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seconds'. 'The Manchurian Candidate' had a lot of press due to the fact the story line featured a political assassination and then a year later J.F Kennedy was assassinated, meaning that it was taken out of distribution. Yet in 1988 it was reissued and claimed that the decision to take it out of distribution was unrelated to the assassination of Kennedy.

Also the sixties saw the birth and rise of the 'Spy-Thriller'. And the birth of the James Bond franchise. Between 1960 and 1970, 6 Bond films were released. 'Dr. No' received a huge reception in the UK, but only got the American boost when JF Kennedy spoke about his love for the Bond films.
The Bond films influenced the spy thriller genre in such a way that it is still going on today and you can see elements of the original Bond films in modern spy thrillers such as 'Bourne Identity' & 'Mission Impossible'.