Alfred Hitchcock (149 page)

Cast: Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins, Vivien Merchant, Michael Bates, Jean Marsh, Clive Swift, John Boxer, Madge Ryan, George Tovey, Elsie Randolph, Jimmy Gardner, Gerald Sim, Noel Johnson, and Alfred Hitchcock (man in crowd on Thames embankment).

(Color, Hitchcock for Universal, 116 mins.)

“This is the kind of thriller Hitchcock was making in the 1940s, filled with macabre details, incongruous humor, and the desperation of a man convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. The only 1970s details are the violence and the nudity (both approached with a certain grisly abandon that has us imagining
Psycho
without the shower curtain). There is suspense and local color (“It’s been too long since the Christie murders; a good colorful crime spree is good for tourism”) and, always, Hitchcock smacking his lips and rubbing his hands and delighting in his naughtiness.”

Roger Ebert,
Roger Ebert’s Video Companion

1976

Family Plot

As director and producer.
Sc: Ernest Lehman, based on
The Rainbird Pattern
by Victor Canning. Ph: Leonard J. South. Prod Design: Henry Bumstead. Costumes: Edith Head. Ed: J. Terry Williams. Sound: James R. Alexander, Robert L. Hoyt. Makeup: Jack Barron. Set Dec: James W. Payne. Asst Dir: Howard G. Kazanjian. Second Asst Dir: Wayne A. Farlow. Asst to Mr. Hitchcock: Peggy Robertson. Sound Editor: Roger Sword. Script Supervisor: Lois Thurman. Prod Mgr: Ernest B. Wehmeyer. Special Effects: Albert Whitlock. Production Illustrator: Thomas J. Wright. Music: John Williams.

Cast: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane, Ed Lauter, Cathleen Nesbitt, Katherine Helmond, Warren J. Kemmerling, Edith Atwater, William Prince, Nicolas Colasanto, Marge Redmond, John Lehne, Charles Tyner, Alexander Lockwood, Martin West, and Alfred Hitchcock (in silhouette at Registrar of Births and Deaths).

(Color, Hitchcock for Universal, 120 mins.)

“With his last film, Hitchcock made a triumphant return to form in the comic thriller. His most relaxed, witty and urbane movie since
North by Northwest
(also scripted by Ernest Lehman), it’s a dense but extremely entertaining collection of symmetric patterns, doubles, and rhymes. … Beneath all the fun, there’s a vision of humans as essentially greedy and dishonest, presented with a gorgeously amoral wink from Hitchcock, and performed to perfection by an excellent cast.”

Geoff Andrew,
Time Out Film Guide

*
The identity of the actress who plays the native girl is unknown, although the listing of Nita Naldi is an error that appears in almost every filmography. Hitchcock in one acount said the part was played by a waitress in the Alassio hotel who was impressed into service when the scheduled German actress could not go into the water because of her menstrual cycle.

**
Note on running time of silent films: Unlike a sound film, the running time of a silent film is not a meaningful description, for it is not an intrinsic property of the film itself, but only of a particular screening. The speed of projection (in frames per second) was selected at the whim of the projectionist. A silent film is characterized in this filmography by its length in feet. The relationship between speed, time, and length is that there are sixteen frames per foot in a 35 mm print. A simple example of the fact that the running time can vary drastically is that two video transfers of exactly the same print of
Easy Virtue
run at different times: one (Valencia) runs at sixty minutes, while another (Video Yesteryear) runs at eighty-seven minutes.

*
Henceforth all listings are sound films, and will be listed according to approximate running time in minutes.

*
Title assigned by the Imperial War Museum to edited footage unreleased in 1945. First shown in the United States as part of PBS’s
Frontline
series, on May 7, 1985, with Trevor Howard reading from the narration from the original script.

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

Abbott and Costello, 42

Abel, Alfred, 136, 137

Academy Awards, 281–84, 290, 352, 379, 382, 415, 516, 606–7, 648, 714

Ackland, Rodney, 146, 147

Ackroyd, Peter, 10, 12

Actors’ Orphanage, London, 271

Addams, Charles, 589

Addison, John, 674

Adler, Harold, 598

Adler, Renata, 675

Agate, James, 131

Agee, James, 350

Aherne, Brian, 246, 250, 273, 281, 460, 462

Albertson, Frank, 589

Alexandre of Paris, 643

Alfred Hitchcock Hour
(TV), 632–33, 789

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(McCarty and Kelleher), 524–25

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(TV), 221, 522–28, 529, 542, 543–44, 551–52, 555–56, 579–80, 586, 611–12, 658, 786–89

“The Case of Mr. Pelham,” 528, 786

“The Crystal Trench,” 581, 612, 788

“A Dip in the Pool,” 559–60, 788

“The Glass Eye,” 526

“The Horseplayer,” 608, 789

“The Perfect Crime,” 787

“Appointment at Eleven,” 612

“Arthur,” 581, 788

“Back for Christmas,” 528, 786–87

“Bang! You’re Dead!,” 610, 789

“Banquo’s Chair,” 788

“Breakdown,” 426
n
, 527–28, 551, 786

cancellation of, 656, 683

“Fog Closes In,” 580

Hitchcock’s cameos on, 525–26

and Hitchcock’s fame, 515, 544, 551, 605

“Lamb to the Slaughter,” 556, 787–88

“Mr. Blanchard’s Secret,” 543, 787

“Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat,” 608, 789

“One More Mile to Go,” 544, 580, 787

ownership of, 653

“Poison,” 788

“Revenge,” 526–27, 528, 536, 786

“Vicious Circle,” 611–12

“Wet Saturday,” 543, 787

Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, 483, 529

Algonquin Round Table, 242, 257, 299

Allardice, James, 524–25, 552, 598, 608, 666, 682

Allen, Fred, 323
n

Allen, Jay Presson, 177, 640–42, 643, 644, 650–52, 653–54

Allen, Lewis, 642

Allgood, Sara, 117, 131

Alpert, Hollis, 575

Altman, Robert, 526, 723

Always Tell Your Wife
(film), 54, 61, 754

Amalgamated Studios, 418

Amann, Betty, 143–44

Ambler, Eric, 523, 645, 683

America First, 256, 294, 301

American Film Institute, 646
n
, 739–41, 744, 748

Anderson, Dame Judith, 245, 249, 281, 377, 740

Anderson, “Bronco Billy,” 76

Anderson, John, 589

Anderson, Lindsay, 327, 420

Anderson, Mary, 337, 342–43, 346

Anderson, Maxwell, 533–35, 540–41, 544–45, 553, 625
n

Andrews, Julie, 663–65, 667, 669–71, 672, 673

Angel, Heather, 287
n
, 337

Anne, Princess Royal (Britain), 702

Anthelme, Paul, 401

Anti-Defamation League, 420

Antonioni, Michelangelo, 657, 658, 677, 681, 685, 687, 688, 696

Apartment, The
(film), 606, 607
n

Appearances
(film), 751–52

Archer, Eugene, 655

Archibald, William, 456–57, 466

Ardrey, Alex, 381–82

Ardrey, Robert, 312

Armes, Roy, 146

Armstrong, Anthony, 193, 524

Arnold, Charles Wilfred, 50, 81, 100, 117, 162

Arnold, Norman Gregory, 50, 100, 117, 162

Arnold, Tom, 150–51

Arsenic and Old Lace
(film), 13

Ashcroft, Peggy, 172, 174

Ashenden
, or
The British Agent
(Maugham), 178–79, 180, 184

Ashton, Winifred, 133

Askew, Claude and Alice, 171

Asquith, Anthony, 135, 346

Astaire, Fred, 239, 407

Aston, Thomas W, 743

Auber, Brigitte, 491, 495, 498, 499, 500, 501, 503–4, 550–51

Auiler, Dan, 541, 548, 554, 555, 556, 563, 679, 681

Ault, Marie, 81

Austin, Darrel, 476

Aventure Malagache
(film), 346–48, 367, 384, 490, 508, 771

Ayers, Lem, 454

Bach, Steven, 434

Baecque, Antoine de, 631, 634

Bagdasarian, Ross, 485

Baker, Diane, 642, 646

Balaban, Barney, 420, 563–64, 580, 598

Balcon, Michael, 514

death of, 743

and Gainsborough, 60–61, 62, 67, 74, 77, 78, 84, 88, 93, 94

and Gainsborough-Emelka, 67–68, 70

at Gaumont, 152–53, 157, 161, 162–63, 168, 169, 175–76, 181, 187, 190, 192

Hitchcock’s letters to, 546, 721–22, 731, 732

at Islington, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 71

at MGM, 198, 200, 205

and Ufa-Gainsborough, 62–63, 67

and World War II, 272–74

Balcon, S. C. “Chan,” 181

Balestrero, Manny, 532, 534, 535, 536, 538

Balestrero, Rose, 532, 534, 536, 538

Balfour, Betty, 73, 103–4, 105, 129

Ball, Lucille, 479

Balsam, Martin, 588, 615

Bankhead, Tallulah, 112, 116, 336–37, 341–42, 350,
352–53, 358, 431, 434, 436, 621, 665

Banks, Leslie, 161, 165, 223, 225, 508, 510

Banzie, Brenda de, 521

Barbette, Vander, 134

Barclay, Marguerite Florence, 68

Baring, Norah, 135, 136

Barker, Granville, 229

Barnes, George, 245, 250, 281, 282
n
, 359, 379

Barnes, Howard, 290, 420, 437

Barr, Charles, 120, 138
n
, 148, 152, 185

Barrie, James M., 28, 234, 343, 641, 650, 651, 723, 724

Barry, Iris, 76, 85, 86, 98

Barry, Joan, 121, 143, 145

Barrymore, Ethel, 391

Barrymore, Lionel, 406

Bartlett, Adelaide, 12, 546

Basevi, James, 359

Bass, Saul, 561, 573, 582, 586, 594, 598

Basserman, Albert, 259–60, 282

Bateman, H. M., 159

Bates, Florence, 245–46

Baxter, Alan, 302

Baxter, Anne, 239, 458, 459–62, 466

Baxter, Jane, 173

Baxter, John, 715

Bazin, André, 19, 88, 491
n
, 513–14

Beatles, 525

Becker, Jacques, 521

Beckett, Joe, 204

Beckett, Samuel, 327

Beeding, Francis, 344

Beerbohm, Sir Max, 181

Before the Fact
(Iles), 267, 268, 270, 278, 279, 285
n

Before the Fact
[
Suspicion
] (film), 278–80, 281, 284–90

Beith, Ian Hay, 172

Bel Geddes, Barbara, 547, 553, 555–56, 616

Belfrage, Cedric, 81, 83, 85–86, 88, 90–91

Bell, Monta, 98

Belloc Lowndes, Mrs. Marie, 14, 74, 78–80, 83, 173, 207, 268, 269, 270, 523

Belton, John, 116

Benchley, Robert, 205, 257

Bendix, William, 337

Benjamin, Arthur, 160, 521

Bennett, Charles, 164, 193, 677, 696

and
Blackmail
, 112, 113, 114, 116, 153, 154

and “Bulldog”/
Man Who Knew Too Much
, 153, 156, 157–58, 158, 160, 168

and
Forever and a Day
, 281

and
New Yorker
, 226–27, 228

and
Personal History/Foreign Correspondent
, 255–57, 264, 282

and
Secret Agent
, 184, 186, 187

and Selznick, 215, 218

and
39 Steps
, 170, 171–72, 178–80

and war effort, 256, 367

Bennett, Lillian Langrishe, 154

Benson, Jackson J., 331

Benson, Sally, 310, 312–13, 429

Bentley, Thomas, 125, 146

Bergadler, Der
[
Mountain Eagle
] (film), 756

Bergere, Ouida, 50–51, 244

Bergman, Ingrid, 409, 429, 527, 690

and Academy Awards, 352

comparisons with, 114, 390, 471, 547, 615

film proposals for, 292, 306, 345, 354, 356–57, 390

and Hitchcock tributes, 740, 741

and
Notorious
, 424, 73, 286, 367, 371, 375, 376, 378, 380–81

and Rossellini, 381, 423, 426, 437, 454, 533

socializing with, 386, 387, 405, 411, 413, 429, 433, 699, 742

and
Spellbound
, 354–55, 357, 358, 359–60, 361, 362, 363–64, 378, 379, 381, 424

stage performances of, 705, 722

and
Under Capricorn
, 384, 399, 416–17, 418, 419, 421–27, 434, 437–38

Berkeley, Anthony, 278

Berman, Pandro S., 267

Bernhardt, Sarah, 136

Bernoudy, Eddie, 265

Bernstein, David, 405

Bernstein, Matthew, 258

Bernstein, Sidney, 27, 161, 363, 411, 415, 433, 511, 674

and Film Society, 76

and Hitchcock tribute, 740

and HUAC, 414

at Islington, 55

and
Men of the Lightship
, 280–81

and Ministry of Information, 271, 294, 314, 344, 346–47, 372–74

and Television Bill, 514

and Transatlantic, 349, 353, 365–66, 381–84, 386, 389, 400, 401, 402, 403, 405–6, 413, 414, 417–19, 423, 428, 429, 432, 437–38, 440–41, 443, 455, 456, 457, 459, 463, 465, 467, 468–70, 490, 508

and World War II, 158, 270–71, 272

Berwick, Ray, 621, 626

Besier, Rudolf, 66–67

Beson, Paul, 424

Best, Edna, 161, 165

Beville, Richard “Dickie,” 99–100, 174

Bicycle Thief, The
(film), 533

Bigwood, James, 361, 363

Birds, The
(du Maurier), 611, 612–13, 617, 628

Birds, The
(film), 16, 132, 177, 185, 194, 321, 346, 611–30, 632–39, 642, 643, 644–45, 648–49, 654, 655, 670, 673, 705, 711, 748, 781–82

Birth of a Nation, The
(film), 28, 55

Björk, Anita, 458–60, 547

Black, Edward “Ted,” 190, 192–94, 206–7

Black, George, 192

Black, Karen, 723, 726, 740

Blackguard, The
(film), 259, 755

Blackguard, The
(Paton), 62–63, 66, 67, 71

Blackmail
(film), 112–27, 129, 131, 135, 138, 143, 148, 153, 154, 165, 186, 226, 356, 577, 620, 677, 759–60

Blackwell, Carlyle, 88–89

Blake, George, 731

“Blind Man” (film proposal), 608–9

Bloch, Robert, 578–80, 583, 584, 586, 593
n
, 642, 658–59, 660–61, 678, 698

Boa, Damien, 282

Boehnel, William, 203

Bogart, Humphrey, 478

Bogdanovich, Peter, 29, 67, 95, 100, 117, 127, 132, 145, 166, 251, 271, 327, 390, 438, 488, 489
n
, 500, 548, 576, 638

Boileau, Pierre, 529, 540, 541, 542, 544

Bolton, Guy, 151

Bon Voyage
(film), 346–47, 348, 384, 490, 508, 771

Bonnie Brier Bush, The
(film), 752

Booth, John Wilkes, 316

Bordonaro, Peter, 472

Borsten, Orin, 449
n
, 689, 690, 691

Borzage, Frank, 331

Boucher, Anthony, 578

Bourde, Paul, 401

Bourke, Sean, 731

Boyle, Robert, 8, 9, 304, 305–6, 312, 319, 323, 569, 570, 571
n
, 586, 615, 621, 623, 626, 635, 639, 667, 732, 738

Bradbury, Ray, 524, 611, 632

Bradin, Jean, 73, 103

Brahm, John, 325, 526

Bramble Bush, The
(Duncan), 456

Bramble Bush, The
(film), 459, 463, 464, 466–68, 578

Brando, Marlon, 494, 567

Braque, Georges, 477

Brazzi, Rossano, 520–21

Brean, Herbert, 529, 532

Brecht, Bertolt, 727

Breen, Joseph, 249, 288, 289, 485, 486, 596

Bresson, Robert, 607

Brewer, Colin M., 705

Bridie, James, 173, 387–89, 391–92, 402, 414, 417, 422, 425–26, 430, 432, 434–35, 443, 625
n

Brighouse, Harold, 44

Briskin, Sam, 267

Brisson, Carl, 95, 106

British Committee for Victims of German Fascism, 158

British Film Institute, 120, 125, 748

British International Pictures (B.I.P.), 93–94, 96, 98, 100, 101–4, 106, 111–12, 116, 120, 122–24, 126–27, 132, 135, 140, 148–49, 153, 154, 194, 348

British National Pictures, Ltd., 88, 89, 90–91, 93

Bromfield, Louis, 244

Bronson, Charles, 526

Brook, Clive, 58, 60

Brooks, Mel, 745

Brooks, Richard, 611

Brown, Frederic, 610

Brown, Katherine “Kay,” 202, 211, 214, 245, 407, 459, 464, 545

Brown, Ned, 582–83

Brown, Royal S., 507, 597

Browne, Roscoe Lee, 689

Bruce, Nigel, 246, 285

Brunel, Adrian, 76, 86, 87, 129, 132–33, 619
n

Bryan, Jane, 215

Brynner, Yul, 568

Buchan, John, 14, 139, 169–70, 172, 173, 175, 184, 247–48, 254, 264, 267, 297, 306–7, 657, 683

Buchanan, Jack, 213, 230, 703

“Bulldog Drummond’s Baby” [
Man Who Knew Too Much
], 153, 156, 158, 161, 165

Bumstead, Henry, 576, 688, 722

Buñuel, Luis, 355, 714–15

Burgess, Guy, 659, 693, 732

Burks, Robert, 96, 450, 452, 460, 484, 495, 496, 501, 506, 516
n
, 536–37, 568, 586, 615, 621, 643, 682–83, 722

Burnside, Bob, 211–12

Burr, Raymond, 485

Burton, Richard, 576

Busch, Niven, 318

Bywaters, Frederick, 37, 390
n

Cagney, James, 739, 740

Cahiers du Cinéma
, 513–14, 607, 631

Caine, Sir Hall, 106

Caine, Michael, 700

Calder-Marshall, Arthur, 347

Calhern, Louis, 377

Call of Youth, The
(film), 751

Callas, Maria, 609

Calthrop, Donald, 117, 118, 132, 133, 135, 147

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), 466

Canadian Cooperation Project, 455

Canby, Vincent, 713, 730, 748

Cannes Film Festival, 389, 470, 496, 517, 638, 639, 712

Canning, Victor, 716–17, 724

Capa, Robert, 380–81, 481

Capra, Frank, 13, 199, 200, 215, 259, 283, 331, 377, 740

Cardiff, Jack, 99
n
, 422, 423–24

Carey, Harry, 302

Carey, MacDonald, 317

Carne, Michael, 494