It's Only A Movie: A Personal Biography Of Alfred Hitchcock (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
Review of 'It's Only A Movie: Alfred Hitchcock a personal biography'By Charlotte ChandlerRecommended for: Hitchcock fans,film buffs in general.Hitchcock was nominated five times as best director, but never won an Oscar. He tried to make light of it:"(it's because) I don't look like an artist. I don't look like i've starved in a garret. But the real reason is that the suspence genre is not highly esteemed."However, to his fans worldwide ,he remains the undisputed king of suspense genre & his movies continue to delight young & old alike.Charlotte Chandler presents this extraordinary life through direct quotes & interviews with innumerable Hitchcock collaborators so we get multiple points-of -view.The hitch is,his personal life tends to get bogged down by the professional one: instead of Hitchcock's catch phrase"It's only a movie!", it looks like it's all abt movies!I recently read Marlon Brando's 'Songs My Mother Taught Me' where the subject's personal life is beautifully meshed with the professional side & that's an achievement considering Brando doggedly refused to discuss his controversial marriages & his children.In Hitchcock's case there isn't really much of a personal life:"To interview me,you would have to interview my films."His worldview remained specially that of a child:"Hitch liked people intuitively,the way a child does. When he liked you,he Really liked you."This is how Hilton Green,his friend of thirty-eight-yrs,describes him: "I believe he never let his guard down. Only with Alma(his wife). But it wasn't understood even by Hitch's closest friends how extremely sensitive he was or how personally he took everything. And for him everything was personal."To be fair,we do get the requisite family background,details of early yrs. We learn abt Hitch's love of reading,interest in travel,desire for order & control,his love for drawing & visiting art museums.Still,his was an intensly personal world:"I wasn't a popular type,so I was forced to live in my imagination,& I believe that helped me to develop my creative resources.I don't need much stimulation from the outside world... It was an advantage that the homely,less popular child has. I was forced to develop my interior self, not to be dependent on the others... My private person,the real me,is a very shy person,not at all the public impression. The man is not different from the boy... When you start out that way as a child,it's rare that you lose it."The chapter 'Early Years' is more of an academic interest as it charts Hitch's entry into the world of cinema as a writer & designer of titles for silent films,the coming of Talkies & Hitch's meeting with Alma,his creative partner & future wife. The thing that stands out in this segment is his passionate involvement in various aspects of cinema:as assistant director,screenplay writer & art designer,often unpaid & uncredited for all this extra work!Hitch's devotion to his wife & his solid reputation as a family man further rules out any gossip or scandal, so no spicy stuff on the personal front!Still his attachment to the screen personas of his famous"Hitchcockian Blondes" esp. Ingrid Bergman & Grace Kelly is amusing. There is hint of a Vertigo-type obsession in his desire to turn all his subsequent leading ladies into another Grace Kelly,with the case of Tippi Hedren,heroine of 'The Birds' & 'Marnie',taking a particularly sour & unpleasant turn. But cut the guy some slack,which director doesn't fall for his muse?The two main threads that run throughout the book are: Hitchcock's reported aloofness as a director & his propensity for practical jokes.Actors & technicians are divided on both these issues: while actors like Lawrence Olivier,John Gielgud,Paul Newman & Julie Andrews were taken aback by his hands off approach,others like Cary Grant,Anthony perkins & Sean Connery were cool abt it. This is what James Mason had to say: "Hitchcock's efforts & genius went into preplanning & rapport with his technicians. We actors were typecast & chosen because of our track records that had shown him we could carry off the part he wanted delineated. He preferred that we not be overly creative,which meant anything that interfered with his camera & what he had in mind for it."Hitchcock's view: "You don't have time to massage actors' egos. If you do,it has been my experience that the appetite grows with the eating."People were appalled by Hitch's "Actors are cattle" remark! I wonder what such actors would do if they had to deal with the likes of Herzog,Lars von Trier & Haneke! Compared to them,Hitch was a cuddly teddy bear!We learn that movies & food are Hitch's passionate interests(as if we needed to be told that!).And then comes this gem:"I believe that there is a perfect relationship between love of food & a healthy libido...i think that repressed sex is more constructive for the creative person. It must get out,& so it goes into the work. I think it helped create a sense of sex in my work."We also learn abt Hitch's unique ability to visualise an entire film completely in his mind & his expertise with camera angles. The maestro holds forth on his various theories of cinema & movie making:such pearls of wisdom!The biography really moves into top gear once the analysis of his movies starts: from his first film as a director: "The Pleasure Garden" to his last"The Family Plot", each film is examined & presented,with a synopsis,anecdotes from actors & technicians & interesting trivia. This is the kind of material that you won't get on IMDB & for that alone,this book is worth reading.My favourite chapters here are Rebecca,Suspicion,Lifeboat,Spellbound,Rope(Hitch's first movie under his own production as well as his first colour film), Rear Window & of course Psycho(which gets two chapters).We all have our favourite Hitchcock movies: mine are:VertigoRear WindowNorth by NorthwestSpellboundPsychoNotoriousSuspicionFrenzyLifeboatThe BirdsRopeCan you guess which one is Hitchcock's fav?It's(view spoiler)[ 'Shadow of a Doubt'. (hide spoiler)]
Biography - 3.5 stars"This is the best book ever written about my father. It really is amazing." - Patricia HitchcockThese words on the cover were the deciding factor to read this book. As a long-time Hitchcock fan, particularly of his TV shows, it was a bit disappointing that the reader doesn't learn more about the man.Based on this book, it may be that he was exactly as described -- a quiet, routine-loving, introvert. Hitchcock's most important collaborator and companion was his wife Alma. I was surprised to learn of her intense behind the scenes involvement and the importance of her opinions to "Hitch". Their decades-long love affair and friendship was refreshing.Hitchcock's meticulous movie making is explored in great detail. He was involved in virtually every small detail of his films and TV shows. The author interviewed an quoted Hitchcock's family, actors in his films, and film crew members. It seemed like many of the quoted comments, especially by actors who worked with him, were rather vague - or maybe there just isn't much to say about the person. Hitchcock's life was movies.
What do You think about It's Only A Movie: A Personal Biography Of Alfred Hitchcock (2006)?
I really enjoyed this biography of the legendary director. It gave insight into his personality from the actors and filmmakers who worked with him throughout his long career. The most interesting moments were about his techniques and tricks used in his films. I feel like most people who are called a "genius" in their field are also called strange, aloof, or unapproachable. Not everyone who worked with him adored him and their opinions were not censored. Tippi Hedren's famous conflict with Hitch was only discussed briefly but the opinion of Hedren's daughter, actress Melanie Griffith, said all that really needed to be said. You're better left reading her opinion for yourself if you plan on delving into this biography for yourself. It is an easy read and let's you journey through his career in chronological order. I am excited to revisit his films that I have seen and watch many for the first time. If you consider yourself to be a movie buff then definitely give this one a shot.
—Kelly Millspaugh
I have read many books about Sir Alfred Hitchcock.And so much of the information in this book I had "heard" before.But with 'It's only a movie', I learned some new secrets about the Master of Macabre.What I also enjoyed was the way we were taken to every set of Hitchcock's films.We were also taken to closed door meetings and I found myself sweating at one particular confrontation. This book had funny moments, sad moments, happy and points that made you so mad; especiallylearning the opinion one of today's most popular actresses has about the genius, 'Hitch.' (I won't be watching anymore of her films, I will tell you that.)Why four stars not five? Because I have read other books about Hitchcock which were better, namely the Dark side of genius (borrowed from my friend Hannah Brown) and Truffaut given to me by Arda Aghazarian.
—Abdullah H.
From this biography it is difficult to assess what kind of person Alfred Hitchcock really was. Opinions of him, from those who knew him well and worked with him, vary so much; some state that he was 'an actor's director' while others assert that he always referred to actors as 'cattle'.He was undoubtely talented once he had gravitated to films from his humble beginnings in Leytonstone, east London and his legion of films, made in Britain, Germany and America, bare testimony to his capabilities.One thing that is distracting from the story is that every time a film is mentioned a synopsis of the story, is interspersed into the text. It does tend to break up the flow and the synopses would perhaps have been better placed at the end along with the extensive, and useful, filmography.Hitchcock could undoubtely be a paradox as he would be charming one minute and dismissive the next. Writers suffered as much as actors for when one who had worked for him a number of times was asked to consider a new script, he stated that he thought it not for him. He was dismissed and never used again, something that also happened to a more famous writer when working on 'Marnie'. Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain) disagreed with something that was planned, he, too, was dismissed, never used again and given no writing credit on the film.The myth of Hithcock appearing in all his films is dismissed and an interesting story emerges from his appearance in 'Lifeboat'. His colleagues suggested that he float by as a dead body but he did not care for that and he cared even less when they suggested he float by as a dead body on his stomach because the audience would know it was him by his shape! In the end he came up with the image on a piece of newspaper floating by with the other debris from the wreck.Perhaps the most interesting factor from the book, however, is the difference in opinion of those stars who worked with him. One is left to think that the truth is somewhere in between but Tipi Hedren's daughter, Melanie Griffiths, would not have the reader believe that as she offers the most forthright opinion and even stresses, 'And you can quote me on that.'One slightly disappointing thing is that Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh were nowhere near when the shower scene in 'Psycho' was filmed. Perkins was on stage in New York and it was Janet Leigh's body double that was in the shower. And considering that same film, Hitchcock once told an inquisitive seven-year-old that the blood in the shower was chocolate sauce (he particularly wanted to film 'Psycho' in black and white), adding, a la title of the book, 'It's only a movie.'And that little maxim is something that is worth remembering when minor things go wrong ... just think of Hitchcock and relate 'It's only a movie' to the situation in hand!
—Gerry
