Posts filed under Alfred Hitchcock

Films in the Family Plot

Early on during the filming of Family Plot (1976) in May 1975, Hitchcock held a press conference to help promote the film. But, this being the grand old Master of Suspense, it wasn’t a normal press conference! The invited members of the press found themselves in a specially constructed graveyard, each with their own personalised gravestone. If you’ve ever seen this photograph before and wondered what it had to do with Family Plot, now you… (read more)

Can You Take a Joke?

From the Los Angeles Times (02/Dec/1951): CAN YOU TAKE A JOKE? by Alfred HitchcockMOTION-PICTURE DIRECTOR DEAR MR. HITCHCOCK: Is it good manners to indulge in practical joking? ANSWER: There are some, I am well aware, who look upon practical jokes as a particularly low form of humor, and the practical joker as a menace to polite society. I must, in self-defense, come to the rescue of the practical joke, inasmuch as I seem to have… (read more)

The Bride Wore Black

I guess it’s fairly well known that François Truffaut’s 1968 film The Bride Wore Black was part homage to Hitchcock. It also marked the second time that Truffaut hired Bernard Herrmann to score one of his films — the first time being Fahrenheit 451 (1966). In one of those odd little coincidences, I stumbled across an advertisement for the publication of Cornell Woolrich’s novel from the New York Times (13/Feb/1941)… …ironic, huh?

“Alfred Hitchcock” by Peter Ackroyd

I was very fortunate to receive a pre-publication copy of Alfred Hitchcock, the new biography by Peter Ackroyd, which is released in the UK tomorrow. As noted on Wikipedia, Ackroyd is a noted “biographer, novelist, and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London”. As discussed in a previous blog post, there are no shortage of books about Alfred Hitchcock and Ackroyd is the latest to provide a biographical overview of… (read more)

The Birds is Coming?

Here’s a little curio which appeared in the San Antonio Light newspaper on 26th April 1945, nearly 20 years before Hitchcock made The Birds (1963). In an article titled “Peace Plans Pour Into Conference”, the newspaper apparently asked Hitchcock what might happen if there was another world war… [Hitchcock] believes that birds will inherit the earth, if there is another war. He told us recently: “Crows, probably. You can see that they’re working that way… (read more)

Movieland’s Spy Master

I can’t recall ever seeing this article reproduced before, so I thought I’d share it with you :) “Movieland’s Spy Master” appeared in the Montana Standard (08/Nov/1942) and looks to have originally been published in Every Week Magazine. The LIFE article it mentions is the well-known “Have You Heard?” photo essay. Movieland’s Spy Master When recent headlines screamed of spies landing on our shores in rubber boats, plenty of heads wagged and voices remarked: “Well,… (read more)

Henry Mancini and “Frenzy”

A big “thank you” to film historian Morris Bright (author of Pinewood Studios, 70 Years of Fabulous Filmmaking) for sharing these extremely rare photographs of Hitchcock and composer Henry Mancini, taken in December 1971, which were found hidden away in the Pinewood Studios archives. Following the breakup of the Hitchcock/Herrmann partnership over the score of Torn Curtain (1966), Hitchcock never again worked with a composer on more than one film. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy: The… (read more)

“I was not surprised I had chosen the Sarony” said Alfred Hitchcock

We’ve previous covered the Lux Toilet Soap newspaper advertisement from May 1929 which featured Hitchcock and this one appeared later on the same year in the Daily Mail (on 31/Jul/1929 and again on 11/Sep/1929): This was just one of dozens of Sarony adverts from 1929 which featured famous sports and entertainment stars, but gives an indication that Hitchcock was perceived by Sarony as being a household name. Amongst the other adverts were Gracie Fields and… (read more)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Great Hitchcock Murder Mystery

This little curio titled “Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Great Hitchcock Murder Mystery” appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune‘s weekend magazine, “This Week”, on Sunday 4th August 1957. Unfortunately the images are from the best quality scan I have, but hopefully you can make out Hitchcock hamming it up (if anyone has a better quality scan, please let me know!) It’s seems highly unlikely the photoshoot was specifically staged as a response to a question from… (read more)