Have you any recommendations for someone who is coming to Hitchcock afresh? I recall watching a couple of movies of his when I was younger ("Niagara" and whatever the one is where the kid gets on the bus with the time bomb) and they didn't really mean much to me. It was hard to see why the director was so famous. I'd be happy to change my mind, though, if there's a better place to start.

And of course I'll be watching "The Man Who Knew Too Much" just because I like Peter Lorre. As I understand, he learned the part phonetically, which I'm curious to hear. (You must have heard the one about him going to an interview with Alfred Hitchcock, and not speaking enough English at that point to follow what Hitchcock said. So he just sat there and nodded along and burst out laughing whenever Hitchcock appeared to have made a joke. I wonder what Hitchcock thought of it all.)

I'll bite. What should I watch by Powell and Pressburger?