The first lexicon of Hitchcock's motifs was published in Cahiers du Cinéma 62: Lexique mythologique pour l’oeuvre de Hitchcock by Philippe Demonsablon (1956: 8-29 & 54-55). The motifs listed there are Jewellery (subdivided); Cats; Dogs; Falls (subdivided); Keys; Knives; Flashes of Light (lightning; flash bulbs); Children; Geography (in effect, countries); Drinks; Spectacles and Optical devices; Hands; Handcuffs; Eggs; Shadows; Paintings; Telephones; Theatre; Trains; Disguises. For each motif, there is a brief assessment of its symbolic import, but for the most part this is a – fairly thorough – listing of these elements in Hitchcock's films up to THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1955).

The only other article I have found on Hitchcock's motifs generally is by Hartmut W. Redottée: ‘Leid-Motive: Das Universum des Alfred Hitchcock’ (Redottée 2000: 19-50). Redottée begins by looking at some more general Hitchcock features: Suspense; Montage; Loss of Identity (including the falsely accused figures). He then settles into a brief consideration of a number of different motifs and other recurring features of the films: The Abyss (essentially the threat of falling), in which hands reaching out for one another is a linked motif; Staircases; the Uncanny House; Bars-Grilles-Shadows (film noir lighting; images of imprisonment; threatening shadows); Cages (prison cells; cars; telephone boxes – the equivalent of CONFINED SPACES); Back projection; Colours (e.g. red); Meals; Kisses; Mothers; Portraits; The Look, including Optical devices and Eyes; Symbols, including iconic buildings (The British Museum, Statue of Liberty, The Golden Gate; Windmills etc.) and the use of plans, maps and drawings; Animals.

There is certainly more discussion here than in Demonsablon's article, but the range of films Redottée covers is fairly limited and the points he makes are mostly familiar from the Hitchcock literature. Nevertheless, he does convey the darkness of Hitchcock's cinema. For example, he suggests that, in general, Hitchcock's houses do not protect, but contain secrets, puzzles, danger, isolation and decay (Redottée 2000: 31-32). The introduction to the section on Kisses gives the flavour of his approach: