IN THE PIPELINE:

When I was about 12 years old, the first time I visited California from New York, I ran smack into Alfred Hitchcock’s stomach.

Our family vacation was officially underway as my parents checked us into the Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles. My two sisters and I were knocking around the lobby, burning off some post-flight steam, and I didn’t see him coming through the front door.

After bouncing off his gut, I recognized him almost instantly — not because I was a young film buff, but rather because I’d just seen him interviewed on TV a few days earlier. His stern, puffy face was still fresh in my mind, as was his languid British accent. “Young man,” he intoned with a deep seriousness, “where are your parents?” With that he walked me over to my folks, and with an admonition along the lines of, “Young men should behave properly in public,” he actually patted my head and moved on. Talk about a welcome to the West Coast.

That event may be why I became such an avid student of the wonderful artist — but whatever the reason, many of his movies seem to grow in stature and impact the more I see them. I bring this up because the Oscars are on this weekend, and each Oscar season, when so much focus is on movies, I remind myself of just how great Alfred Hitchcock was. What makes this year special, though, is that I recently learned of a connection that Huntington Beach shares with the master of suspense.

To begin, though, did you know that, outside of an honorary statuette in 1968, Hitchcock never won the award? It’s true, the famed director of “Rear Window” (1954), “Vertigo” (1958), “North by Northwest” (1959), and “Psycho” (1960) was completely shut out after being nominated five times. The only movie directed by Hitchcock to win the Academy Award for Best Picture was “Rebecca” (1940), the very first film he directed in the United States.

But awards or no, to me no one can touch Hitchcock. His best films retain a look and feel that has proven to be timeless. But besides Hitchcock, who was responsible for the taut, classic texture that seems burned into every inch of celluloid? Director of Photography Robert Burks, ASC. Hitchcock first worked with Burks in 1950, making the classic “Strangers on a Train,” and the chemistry was instant. The film earned Burks Hitchcock’s respect, as well as an Academy Award nomination. Burks proved to be the perfect cinematographer for Hitchcock.

For the next 14 years, Burks photographed 11 more of Hitchcock’s best-known suspense classics, including “I Confess” (1953), “Dial M for Murder” (1954), “Rear Window,” (1954), “To Catch a Thief “(1955), “The Trouble with Harry” (1955), “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956), “The Wrong Man” (1957), “Vertigo” (1958), “North by Northwest” (1959), “The Birds” (1963) and “Marnie” (1964).

I asked Aaron Leventhal, co-author of the excellent book “Footsteps in The Fog” from Santa Monica Press, about the importance of the collaboration.

“Robert Burks’ cinematography helped bring to life some of the most well-known and revered Alfred Hitchcock films,” he said. “Burks and Hitchcock worked together over two decades, marking a collaboration that witnessed some of the great master works of Hitchcock’s career, and possibility even a partnership and vision that remains unequaled today.”

Burks’ work on “To Catch a Thief” earned him an Academy Award, putting him one up on the great director. In 25 years as a director of photography, Burks made 55 features. Sadly, his collaborations with Hitchcock ended May 13, 1968. That’s when Burks and his wife, Elizabeth, died in a fire at their home in Newport Beach. So what’s the Huntington Beach connection? Well, if you ever visit the Good Shepherd Cemetery on Talbert Avenue, at Section D, Lot 1409, Grave 5, you’ll see he’s laid to rest here.

I’ve been trying to find out if he has relatives here, maybe his children, but so far I haven’t been able to make the connection. But no matter, he’s a film legend.

I didn’t see many of the things nominated this year, nor do I care to.

I’ll probably watch the show (or at least part of it), but first I’ll go lay a bouquet in honor of Hitchcock’s right-hand man — it’s the least I can do for all that great work. Then I’ll go home and maybe we’ll watch “North By Northwest.”

See anything you liked this year? Post it In The Pipeline, www.hbindependent.com/ columns.

 CHRIS EPTING is the author of 10 books including his latest, “Led Zeppelin Crashed Here, The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North America” and the forthcoming “Huntington Beach — Then & Now.” He also hosts “The Pop Culture Road Trip” radio show on webtalkradio.net. You can write him at [email protected].