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Title: Alfred Hitchcock : A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan ISBN: 0-06-039322-X Publisher: Regan Books Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An epic
Comment: This is clearly meant to be a definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock, one that answers some of the nastier published works out there, and it does have a lot to say about one of the world's great filmmakers. The level of detail is fairly astounding - the author has something to say about just about everyone who ever met the man - and he covers all of his films thoroughly. Unlike Hitchcock, however, Mr. McGilligan is not expert at pacing. The book never becomes a chore, but it is not always the most entertaining book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Another Hitch bio? Well, this is THE bio.
Comment: As with John Ford, Orson Welles and a few other monument-like auteurs, one wonders if there is anything else to add when library shelves already groan under the weight of books about these great directors. In the case of Alfred Hitchcock, a proverbial household name, the challenge for a writer seems to double. And yet McGilligan as he did with Fritz Lang, Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood has pulled it off. In addition to seamlessly blending new research with a compelling narrative, this biography allows the reader to rediscover the familiar. McGilligan humanizes the director in the best way. Hitchcock is neither the repressed almost deviant sadist that Donald Spoto painted back in his controversial bio nor a droll, almost Santa Claus-like teller of ripping yarns, as mytholgized in Time-Life articles, but a highly talented man, a flawed, but essentially decent husband and father, and a complex artist caught between serving the demands of mainstream Hollywood and fulfilling his creative instincts. This is a big book, but it reads as briskly as one of Hitch's best films. Essential for any serious film book library.
Rating: 5
Summary: Much more fair balanced than either Spoto or Taylor's books
Comment: The third biography of Hitchcock focuses as much on Hitchcock and his work as it does the surrounding circumstances that informed it. What's really outstanding about this biography is the new bits of information and the careful research. I read Donald Spoto's book on Hitchcock 15 years ago and, while I found it informative, I also found it focused on Hitch's character flaws at the expense of providing a well rounded view of the person. This National Enquirer approach to Hitchcock look much of the credibility away from Spoto's book in my mind.
In contrast, there's more information and fair balanced analysis than in John Russell Taylor's offical biography. Like Taylor's book is, like Spoto's, well researched, this biography has the advantage of additional scholarship and sources willing to share new information and insights on Hitchcock.
We get to see short stories that Hitch wrote when he was young, a number of interesting onset observations about the various films Hitchcock made and a shred analysis of Hitchcock's relationship between his leading men and ladies. In fact, I don't think any book has done such a great job of pointing out the reasons why Grant and Hitchcock broke off their collaborations in the 40's.
Likewise, there are tidbits about both Robe and Strangers on a Train that I had never known (for example, Stewart Granger who is one of the leads in both films was gay. That's not important except when you realize that Hitchcock cast against sexual orientation in Strangers having the straight Robert Walker play the homosexual killer and Granger the straight hero of the film).
There's also a discussion about the casting decisions for various Hitchcock films, who he had in mind for various roles (some of which turned him down). For example, Grant was originally the actor that Hitchcock had in mind for Robe rather than Jimmy Stewart. While Grant wanted to do Vertigo desperately and Hitchcock ultimately got his first choice, Jimmy Stewart.
There's also quite a bit of information on the various films Hitchcock consulted on but never took credit for and a detailed analysis of the relationships between the best writers he worked with (John Michael Hayes, Ernest Lehman, Joseph Stefano, Ben Hect)and why their various working relationships splintered and fell apart.
If you like this book on Hitchcock check out the author's other two biographies on two overlooked directors (both of whom Hitch admired)Friz Lang and George Cukor.
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Title: Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man by Pat Hitchcock, Laurent Bouzereau, Pat Hitchcock O'Connell ISBN: 0425190056 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Down and Dirty Pictures : Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind ISBN: 068486259X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Ball of Fire : The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball by STEFAN KANFER ISBN: 0375413154 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 19 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. by WIL HAYGOOD ISBN: 037540354X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Alfred Hitchcock: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) by Sidney Gottlieb ISBN: 1578065623 Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi (Trd) Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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