The later films of director Alfred Hitchcock are classics: "North by Northwest," "Psycho," "The Birds" and "Vertigo" among them. But Hitchcock directed more than 20 films before he ever got to America in 1940, many of them silent movies, and watching them now affords us a unique and surprising view of a young director learning and perfecting his craft. Most of those films can now be easily viewed, and there are some good books exploring Hitchcock's life and work that nicely complement the cinema