A former San Francisco police detective (James Stewart) who suffers from an intense fear of heights is hired to prevent an old friend’s wife (Kim Novak) from committing suicide, but all is not as it seems.

Initially rejected by critics and audiences, Hitchcock’s haunting, compelling masterpiece is uniquely revelatory about the director’s own predilections and hang-ups and is widely considered to be one of his masterworks and even topped the 2012 Sight & Sound list of the greatest films ever made.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock (US 1958) 128 min