It Books Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light

Never, they say, judge a book by its cover. The jacket looks idiotic and I delayed buying this book for months until I found time to read some reviews. When I did I discovered a superb biography - the best book about Hitchcock I've read apart from Truffaut's classic tome. American critics were often unappreciative when Hitchcock was alive, but this author really reveals what the Master of Suspense was like. Crammed full of information - much of it new to me - and highy readable. But please change that vile cover! It must be losing you a lot of readers.

Una lectura muy interesante y muy bien detallada sobre la vida y obra de este gran director, indispensable para cualquier fan de Hitchcock.

This comprehensive biography of one of the most notorious film directors in history is a remarkably thorough and balanced portrayal of a complicated, brilliant man. Other biographies have been written, but seem to me to be much more biased - either unrealistically over-praising or unnecessarily scathing, depending on which mood and era of the man's life they chose to dissect.It's so detailed that it's difficult to write a review that's not novella-length, but it follows "Hitch" from his humble beginnings as a greengrocer's son in England, a sensitive and reserved boy who somehow still had the charisma to amass an enormous network of friends and colleagues, to his domination of the American film industry. His fascination with murder and the psychology of killers began early in life, as the slightly-eccentric Hitchcock family enjoyed lively dinner discussions about famous villains of their day: Dr. Crippen, Jack the Ripper, and Adelaide Bartlett, among others. Hitchcock was also an avid reader and happily described himself as an Americophile, and when the film industry really began to blossom he was most impressed by the American studios and production techniques, which he felt were superior to what was being done in Europe at the time. After early jobs in sales for an electrical products firm, he officially entered the film business as an assistant art director. It was during this time that he met Alma Reville, the woman who would become his wife and most valued collaborator.After success in the European movie market, Hitch was wooed by the Selznick brothers to cross the pond and contract with Warner Brothers (he would later leave them for Paramount and would ultimately finish his career at Universal), which he did with some hesitation because very few British directors had successfully crossed over into the American market. There were hits and misses - for instance, two of my very favorites, Rope and Vertigo, were considered box office failures! - but overall his success was substantial, and with Psycho, one of the top-grossing films of its day, his place in history was secured.One of the gems of this book is the inclusion of a treasury of early short stories Hitchcock wrote for The Telegraph, as well as an extensive filmography, which alone is 100 pages long! It's also heavily sprinkled with entertaining anecdotes and references from and about the actors, writers and musicians he worked with on every film: his deep friendship with Ingrid Bergman, teaching Gregory Peck about wine, falling out with Tippi Hedren, battles with the Selznicks, collaborations with writers like John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury, and much more. Reading all those details immediately prompted me to go out and rent a few of my favorites again, finding them even more fascinating after reading all the `inside' details.One of the most poignant points of Hitch's life story is, perhaps, its end. By all accounts, when his health deteriorated and forced him to retire, his inability to keep doing the one thing he truly loved - make movies - killed him, quite literally. Although his physicians said he could have gone on and possibly lived many more years, he simply didn't want to. He went to bed, stopped eating or seeing friends and family (besides Alma, who was also very ill), and died shortly thereafter. I make it sound like this all happened in a matter of days when it was actually a period of a few years, but it was a steady and relatively rapid decline. In the end although all were saddened, nobody who knew him seemed too surprised.At 800+pages it's no small investment of time, but it was a true pleasure to read and for ardent Hitchcock fans it's probably still not long enough!

I was planning to use the product for research in order to publish an article on an renown star who appeared in one of Hitchcock’s films such as “Shadow of A Doubt”, and then give it to my niecefor her personal library which will be used for herson and daughter when they return to school next month . But noting the condition of the book , I would prefer to return the book if possible . On the other hand , the postage and shipping charges for the return of the book would cost more than the usual media mail charge of $3.99.It is a very thick book. If I had the extra funds at this time, I would buy a new copy for members of my family .—Maurice F Shaw

When first published, this was, in part, seen as a corrective and answer to Spoto's rather gossipy and salacious biography. It does, in fact, specifically mention the Spoto bio and counters or refutes a number of points and throws others into dispute. More than that, however, this terrific look at Hitchcock's life and career expands on most all of what came before it. The primary focus is the work and the book follows Hitch from film to film, filling in his life as it goes along. This works very nicely for a man who's life was, essentially, his work. The author uses a wealth of primary and secondary sources to provide an in-depth and detailed look at the swirls of activity that surrounded his work - from first inspiration to follow-up publicity and on to the next. The portrait of Hitchcock the man emerges through the examination of his work. There are personal details, stories, jokes (usually off-color), memories of contemporaries that allow a fully-formed picture of the master to gel and coalesce over the course of the book, but this is not the place to look for juicy gossip or armchair psychology. Instead the focus is on the man and his life's work, how it went about it, what it meant to him and to the world at large. In that, it is marvelous.