ALFRED HITCHCOCK is revered as the greatest ever film director thanks to his
mastery of tales of suspense and murder.
This weekend sees the release of a new film that shows the light side of the
legendary British filmmaker and his struggle to produce the classic horror
Psycho.
In Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins portrays the movie icon as being shy and
tormented by insecurities.
But in real life “Hitch” had a much darker side, as twisted as the tormented
characters in his thrillers Rear Window, North By Northwest, The Birds and
Vertigo.
He would sexually harass his leading ladies, and, obsessed with blondes, would
try to ruin the careers of those women who displeased him.
He also delighted in humiliating his crew and male stars.
Hitchcock, who died in 1980 aged 80, once said: “Actors. I hate the sight of
them. They should be treated like cattle — actresses, too. I tell them I
hate the sight of them and they love it.
“Any profession that calls for a man to have to use paint and powder on his
face in order to earn a living gives me evil thoughts.”
Tippi Hedren, star of The Birds and Marnie, has claimed Hitchcock put her
in a “mental prison.”
The 83-year-old, whose daughter is actress Melanie Griffith, has said: “I had
to be extremely strong to fight off Mr Hitchcock.
“He was so insistent and obsessive, but I was an extremely strong young woman,
and there was no way he was going to get the better of me.”
Eventually, she had enough of his controlling behaviour and demanded to be
released from her contract.
Hitchcock refused and would not allow other directors to hire her either.
Griffith told how, as a little girl, Hitchcock later sent her a doll in a
coffin dressed like Tippi in The Birds.
Tippi was not alone.
When British blonde Madeleine Carroll made The 39 Steps she found herself
playing out one of Hitchcock’s bondage fantasies.
On the first day of filming he handcuffed her to co-star Robert Donat and
pretended to have lost the keys.
Oscar winner Joan Fontaine, who starred in Rebecca, suffered mental cruelty
due to his barbed comments.
She said: “He kept me off balance, much to his own delight. He would
constantly tell me that no one thought I was any good except himself and
that nobody really liked me.”
Actress Elsie Randolph was allergic to cigarette smoke and avoided all
smokers. When she was working on one of Hitchcock’s films, he sent her into
a telephone box on set. He then slammed the door shut and activated a trick
mechanism whereby clouds of smoke were released into the box.
Elsie then learned he had never intended to film her in a telephone box.
Afterwards, Hitchcock confessed of actresses: “Nothing gives me more
pleasure than to knock the lady-likeness out.”
When he worked with blonde bombshell Kim Novak on Vertigo, Hitchcock
deliberately made her film take after take in which she jumped into the icy
cold ocean fully dressed.
Afterwards, he gloated about how he had forced Novak to get soaked to the
skin, change into a dry outfit then jump in again.
He said: “At least I got the chance to throw her into the water.”
In the film Hitchcock, Scarlett Johansson plays Janet Leigh, the female star
of Psycho, and Helen Mirren plays Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville. The film
alludes to his infatuation with blondes and Alma jokes about Janet being his
type.
But in this version, Janet compliments Hitchcock for being sweet and not
living up to his overbearing reputation.
Actress Vera Miles — played by Jessica Biel — does tell in the film how the
director made her life hell, and it shows Hitchcock spying on her in her
dressing room.
The actress had been due to take the lead role in Vertigo, but then got
pregnant. After that she was out of favour.
Hitchcock confessed in an interview: “She became pregnant just before the part
that was going to turn her into a star. After that, I lost interest.”
Hitchcock was once even cruel to his daughter Patricia, when she was aged
22 and working as an actress in his film Strangers On A Train.
During a break in filming she asked to ride the Ferris wheel which was part of
the set. When her carriage reached the top, her father turned off the lights
then stopped the wheel for an hour.
Biographer Donald Spoto claimed in his book Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Side Of
Genius that the director was mean to his crew.
He once bet an impoverished props man a week’s salary that he wouldn’t dare
spend a whole night alone in a dark studio, chained to a camera.
The props man accepted the bet — but didn’t know the sadistic director had
laced a brandy he gave him with laxative. So the poor man spent the entire
night suffering the consequences.
Another time, Hitchcock invited the venerable actor Sir Gerald du Maurier to a
fancy dress party at his home, and beforehand told him to dress up in a wild
and colourful outfit.
Du Maurier arrived at the party dressed in a kilt, with his face painted all
over grotesquely.
To his horror, he saw that all the other guests were dressed in black tie and
looked completely normal. Humiliated, he left the party immediately.
There are suggestions Alfred got his tough streak from his father William, who
was a greengrocer in east London.
William was very strict and sent young Alfred to the local police station
whenever he was naughty, where he would be shut in a cell as punishment.
Such unforgiving behaviour was repeated by Alfred.
When leading man Montgomery Clift was struggling with alcoholism, Hitchcock
forced the actor to drink a vast amount of alcohol against his will at a
party.
Everyone at the bash watched horrified as Clift downed a full glass of
brandy in one big gulp — then passed out.
Additional reporting:
GRANT ROLLINGS
Alma’s magic touches helped make his name
MUCH of the new movie focuses on Hitchcock’s relationship with wife Alma.
She is considered to be an equal genius behind his success – she edited the
movies and wrote the screenplays.
Alma, who died in 1982 aged 82, came up with the idea of adding music to the
famous shower scene in Psycho where Janet Leigh’s character is stabbed to
death.
Hitchcock had objected at first, but the striking music is now synonymous with
both horror films and the director.
Helen Mirren, who plays Alma in the film, said: “She was one of the great
unsung heroines of film. She was extremely pro-active in the making of
Hitchcock’s masterworks and he himself paid her all the credit in the world.
“It was great to bring Alma out of the shadows.”
Mary Stone, Alfred and Alma’s granddaughter, said: “She deserves 100 per cent
of the recognition she is getting.”
Hitchcock’s marriage to Alma was reportedly sexless after they had their one
child, daughter Patricia.
Here are Sun Film Critic ALEX ZANE’s top ten Hitchcock films:
1. Psycho
2. Rear Window
3. North By Northwest
4. The Birds
5. Notorious
6. Rope
7. Strangers On A Train
8. Dial M For Murder
9. Vertigo
10. Marnie