Thriller film film "M" (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, starred Peter Lorre (in his first film role) as a criminal deviant who preys on children. Hitchcock continued his suspense-thrillers, directing "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), the Oscar-winning "Rebecca" (1940), "Suspicion" (1941), "Saboteur" (1942) and "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943), which was Hitchcock's own personal favorite. Notable non-Hitchcock films of the 1940s include "The Spiral Staircase" (1946) and "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948). In the late 1940s, Hitchcock added Technicolor to his thrillers, now with exotic locales. Hitchcock's first Technicolor film was "Rope" (1948). He reached the zenith of his career with a succession of classic
Themes and plot devices in Hitchcock films films, also: In Hitchcock's films, trains are often featured. Extended sequences on trains occur in a number of Hitchcock films, including Some of his films take place in the past as opposed to the modern day, As related in articles by François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer and others in the French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinema"—and in Chabrol and Rohmer's book "Hitchcock" (Paris: Éditions Universitaires, 1957) -- Hitchcock often sets up a villain/antagonist who has a dark secret. In the course of the film, Hitchcock, through the screenplay and the filming, makes it clear that the hero/protagonist somehow shares