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Maryland Daily News (08/Sep/1937) - In New York

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IN NEW YORK

By GEORGE ROSS

New York, Sept. 8. — Two hundred and fifty four pounds of Alfred Hitchcock have just gone hack to England, aquiver with enthusiasm about the American cuisine. Never has an Englishman grunted so with delight about our T-bone steaks, our French Frys, our Lamb Stews and Beef and Kidney Pies, as has this brilliant and eccentric film director. At "Twenty One," where he ate most of the time, they are laying in new supplies for a depleted refrigerator.

Hitchcock is that Briton who keeps his avoirdupois down to 254 pounds by climbing a three-story walk-up four times daily and who likes to shatter teacups after he has drained their contents. He also is the fellow who sleeps through the pictures he has directed and never looks at them twice. And while tales of these quirks reached us from London regularly, we never quite believed them explicitly until he arrived.

The rumors of his stomachic capacity were verified. Twenty interviewers, all with healthy appetites, testify that he ate them right under the table. Several of them have gained weight since he came here and have taken to the calisthenics table. "Hitch," however, hasn't put on an ounce. As for his teacup-breaking proclivity, there is no reliable testimony because "Twenty One" wouldn't let him. As for his swooning into the arms of Morpheus, neutral observers confirm it. They took him down to Greenwich Village to see his own film, "The 39 Steps," in revival and he insisted upon standing up through it, lest he drop off into a deep sleep in a sitting position.

With him, he is taking back to England a set of recipes for the education of the chef at the Savoy Grill.