A Century of Hitchcock: The Man, the Myth, the Legacy

Filmmaker and novelist Moral (Alfred Hitchcock Storyboards) challenges portrayals of Alfred Hitchcock as “a flawed figure with a dark side” in this disappointing reappraisal. Moral investigates two biographies by Donald Spoto—The Dark Side of Genius (1983) and Spellbound by Beauty (2008)—asserting that Spoto framed Hitchcock as a tortured, monstrous person for dramatic effect. Chronicling the director’s rise, Moral demonstrates Hitchcock was obsessed with precision, demanding perfection from actors and often clashing with studio executives over the script and final cut. The book draws on the interview Spoto conducted with actress Tippi Hedren six months after Hitchcock’s death in 1980, in which she discussed Hitchcock’s alleged psychological abuse and sexual harassment during the filming of The Birds and Marnie. Moral compares the interview, which was later transcribed and archived, to Spoto’s interpretations of it, finding that Spoto asked leading questions and created “inconsistencies and serious embellishments” that exposed his personal conflict with the director, whom he felt rejected him. Rather than simply refuting Spoto’s claims, Moral casts aspersions on Spoto’s character, much like he criticizes Spoto for doing to Hitchcock. Elsewhere, he details Hitchcock’s enduring influence on directors like Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro. Unfortunately, his attempts to resuscitate Hitchcock’s moral reputation result in an overly simplistic representation of a complex individual. (June)