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
Hitchcock (film) considerable success, but is troubled by a reporter's insinuation that he should retire. Seeking to reclaim the artistic daring of his youth, Hitchcock turns down film proposals, including "Casino Royale" and "The Diary of Anne Frank", in favor of a horror novel called "Psycho" by Robert Bloch, based on the real-life crimes of murderer Ed Gein. Gein appears in sequences throughout the film, in which he seems to prompt Hitchcock's imagination regarding the "Psycho" story, or act as some function of Hitchcock's subconscious mind (for instance, drawing Hitchcock's attention to sand on his bathroom floor, the quantity of which reveals