Welcome to the Hitchcock Architecture of Suspense Film Festival at the Shepherdstown Opera House
Friday, October 30 at 7:00 pm — Psycho
Saturday, October 31 at 1:00 pm — North by Northwest
Sunday, November 1 at 1:00 pm — Vertigo
Three hosting screenings with live introduction and post-film discussion by author Christine Madrid French, author of the acclaimed book “The Architecture of Suspense”
Costumes Invited! Come dressed as your favorite Hitchcock character, a building from the films, the mood of suspense—or the master director himself.
Click the button below to buy a discounted ticket for the entire Festival (all three film blocks including author talksand Q&A sessions). Can’t come to all three films? No problem, you can buy single-film tickets, too!
Block 1: Psycho (1960)
Friday, October 30 at 7:00 pm
Hitchcock’s famous thriller about a psychotic motel owner who obsesses over his late, controlling mother while becoming the prime suspect in a murder case involving one of his recent guests, a pretty secretary who checked into the Bates Motel after impulsively stealing $40,000 and never checked out.
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam
Program time: Film is 108 minutes + presentation/Q&A
Rating: R
Block 2: North by Northwest (1959)
Saturday, October 31 at 1:00 pm
Cary Grant stars as an innocent man mistaken for a spy in one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest thrillers. While leaving New York’s Plaza Hotel, advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Grant) has the misfortune of standing just as the name “George Kaplan” is paged–starting a lethal case of mistaken identity and a nonstop game of cat and mouse as he is pursued across North America by espionage agents trying to kill him–and by police who suspect him of murder.
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Philip Ober
Program time: Film is 136 minutes + presentation/Q&A
Rating: PG
Block 3: Vertigo (1958)
Sunday, November 1 at 1:00 pm
A retired cop, afflicted with acrophobia, agrees to shadow the wife of an old acquaintance, who fears that she may be suicidal.
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Program time: Film is 129 minutes + presentation/Q&A
Rating: PG
All films are general admission (unreserved seating).
The historic Shepherdstown Opera House is a cozy 99-seat vaudeville-era theater — we encourage patrons to purchase tickets in advance. Online sales end 1 hour before showtime. Doors open 30 minutes before showtime and our shows start promptly. Popcorn, candy, soft drinks, beer & wine available for purchase (no outside food or drinks please). Lobby, theater & restroom are wheelchair accessible.