(1899-1980) a British film DIRECTOR who made films in the UK and then in Hollywood for almost 50 years. He made THRILLER s (= films that tell exciting stories about crime and murder) such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963). He is famous for his use of SUSPENSE (= a feeling of fear and excitement that you have when you expect that something bad is going to happen) . People sometimes use the word "Hitchcockian" to describe a story or situation in which there is a lot of SUSPENSE.