<P> While working at Henley's, Hitchcock began to dabble in creative writing . The company's in - house publication The Henley Telegraph was founded in 1919, and he often submitted short articles, eventually becoming one of its most prolific contributors . His first piece, "Gas" (1919), published in the first issue, tells of a young woman who imagines that she is being assaulted one night in Paris--only for the twist to reveal that it was all just a hallucination in the dentist's chair induced by the anaesthetic . </P> <P> Hitchcock's second piece was "The Woman's Part" (1919), which involves the conflicted emotions that a husband feels as he watches his actress wife perform onstage . "Sordid" (1920) surrounds an attempt to buy a sword from an antiques dealer, with another twist ending . The short story "And There Was No Rainbow" (1920) is Hitchcock's first brush with material in which characters find them in suddenly unexpected and uncomfortable situations . A man goes looking for a brothel, only to stumble into the house of his friend's wife . "What's Who?" (1920) at first glance seems to be a precursor to Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" routine, being a short dialogue piece which resembles antic dialogue from a music hall skit . It captures the confusion that occurs when a group of actors decide to put together a sketch in which they will impersonate themselves . In the story's forty sentences, confusion regarding the questions "Who's me?" and "Who's you?" incrementally rises to comic heights . "The History of Pea Eating" (1920) is a satirical parody on the various attempts that people have made over the centuries to eat peas successfully . His final piece, "Fedora" (1921), is his shortest and most enigmatic contribution . It also gives a strikingly accurate description of his future wife Alma Reville, whom he had not yet met . </P> <P> Hitchcock was a film fan from his teenage years, and in 1919 began his film career at the age of twenty, working as a title card designer for the London branch of the American firm Famous Players - Lasky, the production arm of Paramount Pictures, at Islington Studios . After Famous Players - Lasky pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock stayed on as part of the studio staff . He was hired by a new firm run by Michael Balcon and others after being noticed at work on the short film Always Tell Your Wife in early 1923 . In time Balcon's company took the name Gainsborough Pictures . </P> <P> The British Film Institute summarises Balcon's discovery of Hitchcock succinctly: "But it was while working (on Always Tell Your Wife) with (Seymour) Hicks that Hitchcock was spotted by tyro producer Michael Balcon, who made the young man an integral part of his new company, beginning with Woman to Woman (d . Graham Cutts, 1923), filmed at Islington a few months later ." Hitchcock's rise from title designer to film director took five years . During this period, he became an unusual combination of screenwriter, art director and assistant director on a series of five films for Balcon and director Graham Cutts: Woman to Woman (1923), The White Shadow (1924), The Passionate Adventure (1924), The Blackguard (1925) and The Prude's Fall (1925). </P>

How did hitchcock began his film career in 1919