Hitchcock, from every direction

The American Cinematheque shares “Hitchcock’s Confessions” at the Aero Theatre this week, while the Egyptian Theatre celebrates the “New Hollywood” of the late 1960s and ‘70s.

The Alfred Hitchcock festival opens tonight with the 50th anniversary screening of his sexy romantic thriller “North by Northwest,” starring Cary Grant as a confirmed bachelor and mama’s boy who is mistaken for a covert government spy. Eva Marie Saint is the cool blond, with James Mason and Martin Landau as the villains. The Mt. Rushmore chase sequence is among the director’s best. Friday’s programs are devoted to the late screenwriter John Michael Hayes, who penned several of Hitchcock’s films in the 1950s, including the 1956 remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and the frothy 1955 romance “To Catch a Thief,” pairing Grant with Grace Kelly.

On tap for Saturday are two classics from his first decade in Hollywood: 1940’s “Rebecca,” which won the Oscar for best film, and 1946’s highly charged “Notorious.”

A couple of his blockbusters from 1954 -- “Rear Window” and “Dial M for Murder” -- are set for Sunday. His 1960 shocker “Psycho” and the 1963 chiller “The Birds” will have audiences cringing on Wednesday.

‘New Hollywood’

Meanwhile, “New Hollywood Strikes Back: Most Requested” kicks off tonight with Richard Brooks’ startling, stark and enthralling 1967 adaptation of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” starring Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the Clutter family murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock.

Friday’s double bill pairs Peter Yates’ underrated 1973 crime thriller “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” and Sam Peckinpah’s controversial 1974 release, “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.”

Two buddy flicks are lined up for Saturday: 1974’s “Freebie and the Bean,” with James Caan and Alan Arkin, and 1972’s “Hickey & Boggs,” with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp (Culp also directed).

Frank Perry’s 1972 version of Joan Didion’s bestseller “Play It as It Lays,” featuring a script by Didion and her late husband, John Gregory Dunne, screens Sunday, along with the 1970 rarity “Puzzle of a Downfall Child,” with Faye Dunaway. www.american cinematheque.com

Classic westerns

In conjunction with its current exhibition, “Dialogue Among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California,” the J. Paul Getty Museum is presenting the film series “How the West Was Shot: Six Westerns, Six Decades” on Fridays and Saturdays this month. John Ford’s seminal 1924 sagebrush saga, “The Iron Horse,” ushers in the festival Friday. Raoul Walsh’s 1930 epic, “The Big Trail,” which marked John Wayne’s starring debut, screens Saturday. The films are free, but reservations are required. www.getty.edu.visit.

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susan.king@latimes.com