Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies [Hardcover]

This book explores Alfred Hitchcock's relationships with the actresses in his films, and his rather conflicted attitude towards women in general. Hitchcock's own marriage, though it produced one daughter, was apparently almost totally sexless (he claimed to have only had sexual intercourse once), and his sexual impulses were sublimated in his work, emerging in various aspects of his films and in his somewhat sadistic treatment of his actresses. An early instance of this was in "The 39 Steps" (1937), where Hitchcock spent several days shooting the scenes where Madeline Carroll and Robert Donat are handcuffed together while fleeing across the moors, taking care that the scenes were shot with especial realism, with Donat dragging Carroll through ravines and, at times, along the ground. He also referred to her as "the Birmingham tart." Even in Hitchcock's own day, word became public about his methods on this film, and his response was: "I try to make a woman human by making her appear in awkward and comic situations and taking away her glamour." Hitchcock's subjections of his actresses to physical and emotional cruelty was a constant feature of his method throughout his career.

But Hitch's foibles were overlooked because of the success of his results, and it was only much later that his behaviour took a more sinister turn, as his obsessions took over. The catalyst for this was his discovery in 1961 of a model named Tippi Hedren, who he wanted to turn into a star, despite her lack of acting experience. He gave her a 7-year contract and the lead role in his next film "The Birds." He attempted to control every aspect of her life, from the clothes she wore to the people she saw. She was prevented from socializing with cast and crew on the film, and all her outfits (not just for shooting but in daily life, too) were chosen by Hitchcock. He sent flowers, wine and "sentimental notes" to her apartment and, according to Hedren herself, had her followed. He also subjected her to a week of bird attacks in shooting the climactic scene of the film, brought to an end only by her collapse and the arrival of a doctor who insisted she go home and rest for ten days.
Hedren eventually escaped from Hitch's clutches and, by all accounts, he was never the same afterwards. The quality of his work suffered notably, and he became increasingly isolated and depressed.

Hitchcock was an interesting figure and a good example of the link between neurosis and genius. One odd feature of this book is that it does not go into its subject's childhood at all, it doesn't even mention it. In the first sentence we are told Hitchcock started work for Famous Players- Lasky in 1920, at the age of twenty-one, and it goes on from there. Surely some pages of childhood background would cast important light on Hitch's strange character, especially as the main body of this book is only 197 pages long? Spoto finds time to go into considerable detail on the lives after Hitchcock of several of the actresses mentioned in these pages: not without interest, but not strictly pertinent when such a long career is being discussed in such a slim volume. Spoto shows a good understanding of Hitchcock's character, but a slight tendency at times to adopt a shocked, disapproving attitude, which smacks of prurience. Spoto has, after all, made a lifetime study of Hitchcock's movies, and shows a deep knowledge of them, so he must have some common psychological ground with Hitchcock. But the subject is fascinating, and I found this a good read, giving an insight into the dark side of a genius.

Could not put this book down-it was quite sad to see what problems this genius had with his obsession for a great many of his leading ladies (including Ingrid Bergman,Grace Kelly,Doris Day,Kim Novack & Tippi Hedren) and how badly he treated some of them from whispering crude comments in their ears just before the cameras rolled to ignoring them to sexually harrasing them & in the extreme example (Hedren) physical abuse for a week on filming the attic scene in The Birds & sexual demands. I guess this shouldn't really suprise anyone though because anyone who could create the dark epics this guy created had to have some dark thoughts!

As a Hitchcock fan, I really enjoyed this book and felt it gave me a good insight into the making of some
of the Hitchock classics. Also made me think of Hitchcock in a different light and the way he treated his
leading ladies.