Themes - the cultured baddie

From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki

Hitchcock broke the stereotype of evil mustachioed baddies by having cultured and intelligent adversaries.

• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - Abbott (Peter Lorre)
• The 39 Steps (1935) - Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle)
• Vertigo (1958) - Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore)
• North by Northwest (1959) - Philip Vandamm (James Mason)
• Topaz (1969) - Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli)
• Family Plot (1976) - Arthur Adamson is a respectable jeweller