Netflix Just Added Great Alfred Hitchcock Films to Their Collection, and It Should Be the Beginning of a New Change

Anyone who’s been online knows that the film community often bemoans Netflix’s egregious lack of classic cinema presence in its catalog. Despite being the number one streaming service in the world, a platform practically synonymous with streaming itself, they have more or less ignored any film or television series made before 1980. Granted, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to parse out any licensed material in Netflix’s cluttered library, mainly filled with their quick and disposable original content. However, it appears that the streamer has listened to our complaints, or, what’s more likely, they unlocked a new algorithm, as this June sees them ushering in a new library of films by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. There are still ways to go, but Netflix, and perhaps the mainstream public as well, is starting to realize the importance of restoring classic movies in an era where art is being buried without pause.

Netflix’s Alfred Hitchcock Library is a Positive Step Forward

Image via Universal Pictures

In what feels like a bygone era, Netflix was a rich catalog for cinema. You could find anything on the mailing list or the early streaming page, anything from arthouse classics to contemporary blockbusters. Now, they are more associated with trying to disarm cinema’s cultural influence by buying out critical darlings on the festival circuit and refusing to give them theatrical releases. When it comes to satisfying that cinephilia itch and exploring the vast world of renowned classics and under-the-radar gems by essential directors, the Criterion Channel and Mubi are the way to go, but Netflix is hoping to shed its reputation as a content factory.

This month, Netflix rolled out the red carpet for the Master of Suspense, adding a vast collection of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest works, including Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho (which was streaming prior to the collection’s arrival), and The Birds. They’ve also shone a light on some of his later, lesser-known films, such as Frenzy and Family Plot. For completionists, the film Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins as the British filmmaker during the production of Psycho, is also streaming. In addition, Netflix is running a program at the Paris Theater through June, screening numerous Hitchcock and Hitchcock-inspired films in 35mm. Despite CEO Ted Sarandos‘ recent comments about the theatrical exhibition being outdated, this sure sounds like there’s an audience for watching 70-year-old movies on the big screen.

Classic Cinema Should Not Be Ignored by Mainstream Audiences

Before this long-awaited collection was added, you could count on one hand the number of movies made before 1980 available on Netflix. It’s somewhat of a chicken-or-egg scenario, as Netflix’s lack of classic representation has either indirectly caused mass audiences’ indifference towards the classics, or its paltry lineup merely reflects how most people feel about movies made before the digital age. In an ironic twist of fate, classic Hollywood, once viewed as a lesser product compared to the vibrant artistic European movements, is now lumped in with the pack of arthouse fare. During Hollywood’s heyday, due to the presence of a monoculture and diversified landscape, movies were arguably more populist-minded. Nowadays, people who watch something as broad and crowd-pleasing as a John Wayne Western or a Katharine Hepburn–Spencer Tracy rom-com are viewed as highbrow cinephiles who share their Letterboxd Top 4 and sport A24 merch.

Considering that Netflix is a primary source of media consumption for a large chunk of people across the globe, they have a responsibility to platform a wide variety of movies. No one expects them to be Criterion-level curators and educators of cinema history, but to ignore four-fifths of movies in the 20th century is a grave disservice. Modern audiences are too comfortable being fed the same content through an algorithm on their favorite streamers, which causes the marginalization of classic Hollywood films.

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The 30 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked

From early masterwork ‘The 39 Steps’ to Hollywood classics ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Psycho,’ this is Collider’s ranking of Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies ever.

Of course, watching more classic films should not be equated with “eating your vegetables,” as even the most rudimentary Golden Age Hollywood musicals and noirs evoke the sentiment of “magic of the movies,” that the likes of Tom Cruise are quick to wax poetically about. This is not to suggest that Hollywood back in the day didn’t have monetary interests or predatory behavior, but there was an overriding aura of innocence in the craft and flair of movies from the dawn of the talkies through the mid-60s. Many of the beauties of classic cinema—short runtimes, streamlined premises, and the allure of movie stars—counter many of the recurring complaints we have about contemporary movies.

For those with sizable blind spots in their film-watching resume, starting off with the new Alfred Hitchcock collection on Netflix is a perfect gateway to falling in love with classic cinema. Curating movies by the old masters like John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Billy Wilder, who aren’t canonized by the archetypal “film bro,” will help bring together the casual viewer and the standard cinephile. At the very least, Netflix, in a period when tech executives view everything as disposable content, ought to use their bandwidth to preserve classic films from literally being erased from the ether.