AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS Pays Homage to the Master of Suspense With the Alfred Hitchcock Birthday Festival On August 13.

Entertainment Editors

JERICHO, N.Y.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Aug. 10, 2001

AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS will pay tribute to director Sir Alfred Hitchcock on his birthday Monday, August 13, when it presents two of his most memorable Oscar(R)-nominated films, REAR WINDOW, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, and THE BIRDS, starring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor. As intriguing and gripping today as when they were first released, both films are a testament to why "Hitch" remains the reigning Master of Suspense.

Hitchcock launched his directing career in England in 1922, and continued making films for more than 50 years. Nominated for Best Director five times and Best Picture once, Hitchcock garnered the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968. In accepting the award, he set the record for briefest speech, saying merely, "Thank you." That same year, the Directors Guild of America bestowed him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

AMC's Alfred Hitchcock birthday tribute double feature begins at 11:30 AM (ET) with the sophisticated thriller REAR WINDOW (1954). James Stewart, a photographer who is housebound by a broken leg, and his socialite girlfriend, Grace Kelly, are drawn into a possible murder after he starts spying on his neighbors. Thelma Ritter co-stars as Stewart's no-nonsense nurse, and Raymond Burr is the suspicious neighbor. REAR WINDOW earned four Academy Award(R) nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay and Hitchcock for Best Director.

In THE BIRDS (1963), following at 1:30 PM (ET), Tippi Hedren appears to invoke nature's wrath when she delivers a pair of lovebirds to an acquaintance in a quiet community on the California coast. Suddenly birds descend upon the town and begin viciously attacking people wherever she goes in this frightening thriller, nominated for the Best Special Effects Oscar(R). Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette co-star.

AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS is the nation's premier classic movie network, bringing timeless favorites to a broad audience by placing them in a fresh and contemporary context. Award -winning original documentaries, series and specials are infused with the energy and excitement of Hollywood past and present. Launched in 1984, AMC is currently available in 77 million homes.

AMC is owned and managed by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. A subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) and NBC, Rainbow manages American Movie Classics, WE: Women's Entertainment, Bravo, The Independent Film Channel, MuchMusic USA, Rainbow Sports, News 12 Networks and MetroChannels as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. In addition, Rainbow is a fifty-percent partner in FOX Sports Net. AMC is one of the assets included in a new series of Cablevision common stock -- Rainbow Media Group tracking stock (NYSE:RMG) -- which began trading on the NYSE on March 30th. MGM (NYSE:MGM) owns a 20 percent stake in four of Rainbow's national networks - AMC, Bravo, IFC and WE: Women's Entertainment.