Starred review from September 29, 2008
In this enthralling third installment of his Hitchcock trilogy (after The Dark Side of Genius
and The Art of Alfred Hitchcock
), Spoto paints a portrait of a man as talented as he was troubled. Spoto examines each film in terms of its leading lady, but focuses especially on the three cool blondes with whom Hitchcock was famously obsessed: Ingrid Bergman (Spellbound
, Notorious
and Under Capricorn
), Grace Kelly (Dial “M” for Murder
, Rear Window
and To Catch a Thief
) and Tippi Hedren (The Birds
and Marnie
). While Bergman never returned Hitchcock's romantic advances, the pair struck up a lasting friendship. With Kelly, Hitchcock felt he had molded the young actress into his ideal woman with just the right mix of elegance and sexuality. When Kelly left Hollywood, Hitchcock sought a replacement and found newcomer Tippi Hedren, whom he both fawned over and humiliated during their two films together. Relying on hours of personal interviews with both Hitchcock and his various players, Spoto shines an admiring yet unflinching light on one of the most celebrated directors in history.
October 1, 2008
While this could have been a serious study of Hitchcock's obsessions and predilection for filming blondes, best-selling biographer Spoto offers only a few paragraphs on these subjects; the balance of his work chronicles Hitchcock's alleged sadistic treatment of actresses. Whether it's physical torture during filming or sexual harassment behind the scenes, Spoto relates every incident on a film-by-film basis, and his writing becomes repetitious if not tedious. He does a disservice to the master of suspense by ignoring his ability to get award-winning performances out of his stars and his success with bold and innovative cinematic techniques. In Spoto's 1983 "The Dark Side of Genius", his meticulous analysis brings out the seldom-seen character of a complex filmmaker. Subsequently, there have been scholarly studies such as Tania Modleski's "The Women Who Knew Too Much" that provide an in-depth understanding of Hitchcock's misogyny. Unfortunately, this latest effort by Spoto is an unnecessary sequel to his earlier, accomplished work, although it may satisfy readers who have an appetite for scandalous anecdotes. An optional purchase for public libraries.Victor Or, Surrey P.L. & North Vancouver City Lib., B.C.
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