A GLIMPSE OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN In 1919, at age 19, Hitchcock began publishing short stories in the Henley Telegraph. "Gas" was his first effort. This video uses clips from a half dozen of his early films (and one by E. A. Dupont) to bring his short story to life, neatly demonstrating how the "Hitchcock style" seems to have been born fully formed.