…but were afraid to ask.
By Jilles, Film Buyer at ABC Amsterdam
I was, am, and always will be, a great Hitchcock fan. His movies are like a visit from an old friend who always knows how to cheer you up with a story, be it a good day or a bad day. And it seems I am not the only one. Almost 33 years after his death, books are still published about him and his body of work. These last couple of weeks three new titles have been published to let us know that even beyond the grave, Hitch is still entertaining his audience.
The first one is The Making of Hitchcock’s The Birds by Tony Lee Moral and features new interviews with stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, and Veronica Cartwright, as well as sketches and storyboards from Hitchcock’s technical team, Robert Boyle, Albert Whitlock, and Harold Michelson. Using unpublished material from the Alfred Hitchcock Collection, Evan Hunter’s files, Peggy Robertson’s (Hitch’s assistant) papers, this is the ultimate guide to Hitchcock’s most ambitious film that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
The second one is Alfred Hitchcock’s Moviemaking Master Class, coming out this month. In this Moviemaking Master Class, Hitchcock author and aficionado Tony Lee Moral takes you through the process of making a motion picture, Hitchcock-style. Hitchcock wasn’t only the “Master of Suspense,” he was also an innovator of storyboarding, directing, framing, editing, and marketing. This book tells it all.
The third title is Strangers on a Train: a Queer Classic by Jonathan Goldberg. This Hitchcock thriller based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith (author of The Talented Mr. Ripley) is about two men who meet on a train: one is a man of high social standing who wishes to divorce his unfaithful wife, and the other is an enigmatic bachelor with an overbearing father. Together they enter into a murder plot that binds them to one another, with fatal consequences. This book delves into the obvious homoerotic energy of the film and builds on the question of the sexuality the film puts on view to explore the queer relations between sexuality and murder and the strong antisocial impulses those relations represent.
Other books about Hitchcock we have in stock are Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, The Dark Side of Genius by Donald Spoto, Hitchcock’s Films Revisited by Robin Wood, and The Art of Alfred Hitchcock by Donald Spoto.
And after reading these books there’s no better idea than staying home one evening and watching some of his amazing classics again. Enjoy! You can find these titles on the first floor of our Film section in Amsterdam.
