Alfred Hitchcock is, of course, best known as the Master of Suspense. The legendary director's highly stylish, nail-biting thrillers were generally very popular and well-reviewed in their time, and esteem for Hitchcock's pictures has only grown over time.

The filmmaker, whose career spanned more than 50 films and six decades, was also a master of cinema romance. Collaborating with great actors, writers, composers and craftspeople, Hitchcock is responsible for numerous romantic masterworks that have more than stood the test of time.

8 'Vertigo' (1958)

Judy wearing a robe and looking intently in Vertigo.
Image via Paramount Pictures

Considered a critical and commercial dud in its day, Vertigo is generally regarded as Hitchcock's finest masterwork in the present. The only reason it isn't higher on this list is because the romance is so dark and disturbing. It's only a date movie if you're dating a hardcore cinephile.

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Jimmy Stewart was famously cast against type as tormented detective who's tasked with tracing a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak). Melodrama and thrills ensue. For ten years, it ranked atop Sight and Sound's list of the best movies ever made. Though it's an unsettling and downbeat story about an obsessive, the romantic allure is undeniable, perhaps most apparent in the revolving motifs of Bernard Hermann's lush score.

7 'The 39 Steps' (1935)

Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat in 'The 39 Steps'

This is Hitchcock's first masterpiece, a suspense classic (still regarded as one of the best British films ever) that caught international attention and ensured Hollywood would call. Robert Donat plays a Canadian who becomes unwittingly entangled in an international spy ring while vacationing in London.

Hitchcock famously favored and revisited plots about "wrong men" and mistaken identity, a formula he perfected with North by Northwest—and here, too. Madeleine Carroll co-stars as an accomplice unwilling at first—that is, until our heroes catch feelings through extreme circumstances, handcuffed to each other for much of the film's runtime.

6 'To Catch a Thief' (1955)

to-catch-a-thief-cary-grant-grace-kelly
Image via Paramount Pictures

The one and only collaboration of Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly is astoundingly sexy. Oscar-winning cinematography and Oscar-nominated Edith Head costume design accentuate two of the most photogenic faces on record in the French Riviera-set yarn about a reformed cat burglar and the daughter of a wealthy widow.

Suspense takes a back seat in To Catch a Thief, frankly. There's a mystery that's not all that intriguing or tough to piece together, but that's secondary to an impossibly glamorous seductive game of cat and mouse. To Catch a Thief may not be that heart-pounding, but it's entirely intoxicating and swoon-worthy.

5 'Rebecca' (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

Hollywood mega-producer David O. Selznick put a lot of effort into bringing the British filmmaker to Hollywood, and right out of the gate, Hitchcock was a worthy investment, delivering the Academy Award winner for Best Picture in his first studio film.

Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca centers on a wealthy widower (Laurence Olivier)'s courtship with a seemingly remarkable young woman (Joan Fontaine). Rebecca is timelessly effective: a power struggle between a woman with nothing and a man with everything leads to self-discovery and mutual admiration. The 2020 remake distributed by Netflix was totally lame and limp; the shadow of Hitchcock's original looms over it not unlike Rebecca's ghostly presence looms over Manderley, and Du Maurier's story itself.

4 'The Lady Vanishes' (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Before making the big move to Hollywood at the end of the decade under the guidance of Selznick, Hitchcock made a string of British critical and commercial hits including The 39 Steps and the original The Man Who Knew Too Much (the latter was remade in Hollywood).

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In comic espionage thriller The Lady Vanishes, Margaret Lockwood stars as a young Englishwoman determined to locate her missing elderly friend (Dame May Whitty) on a European train trip, with the assistance of a handsome clarinet player (Michael Redgrave). A pitch-perfect mix of equal parts romance, suspense and humor, The Lady Vanishes is also a masterpiece of tone. It's been remade several times, including loose remakes like Flightplan starring Jodie Foster. The original holds up completely.

3 'Rear Window' (1954)

Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
Image via Paramount Pictures

One of Hitchcock's most famous and enduringly popular works is a psychological murder thriller on the surface, an exploration of the voyeurism that's intrinsic to filmmaking just beneath that. Jimmy Stewart stars as photographer L.B. Jefferies, who gets a kick out of watching his neighbors' windows as he heals from a broken leg. Jefferies believes he witnesses a killing, and becomes an amateur sleuth with the help of glamorous girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly).

As is the case with so many of the best, most resonant love stories, Rear Window is touching because of the way these people change each other. Jefferies is forced to slow down and feel; posh Lisa becomes a brave adventuress.

2 'North by Northwest' (1959)

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in 'North by Northwest'

Following the critical and commercial letdown of Vertigo, Hitchcock released a sophisticated crowd-pleaser that remains one of his crown jewels. Frequent Hitch collaborator Cary Grant is at the peak of his powers as Roger O. Thornhill, a Manhattan ad exec mistaken for an elusive CIA agent.

Charming, handsome and hilarious—though fully self-absorbed and twice-divorced Thornhill unwittingly becomes entangled in a deadly conspiracy, and along the way he meets icy blond Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) who may be a double agent, and certainly is more than she seems—perhaps not as icy, too. Ernest Lehman's perfect screenplay keeps us guessing until the third act, when Thornhill goes in for the rescue, and excitement is turned up to about 47 on a scale of 1 to 10.

1 'Notorious' (1946)

Notorious (1946)

Along with Casablanca, this is the film Ingrid Bergman is best remembered for. And frankly, it's every bit as great. The post-war thriller centers on the infamous, alcoholic daughter of a Nazi, who falls in love with an American agent (Cary Grant) as she's persuaded to infiltrate a scheming South American syndicate to clear her reputation. You'll never see a film so composed and elegant on the surface (the highest-octane action sequence involves walking down stairs), but with so much emotion and tension underneath.

RELATED: 10 Movies From the 1940s Everyone Should See At Least Once Shot in silvery black-and-white, Notorious does not age. The Ben Hecht screenplay (Oscar-nominated, as was supporting actor Claude Rains) is psychologically complex in a way few films of the time aspired to be. There's a case to be made for this being Hitchcock's greatest film.

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