Cher maitre, Hitchcock.

From his remarkable 5-decade career, I can easily cite at least 12 of his pictures that stand out as outstanding for me.

When it comes to other great filmmakers like Hawks, Lang, Lubitsch, Sturges, and Wilder, I would say I can spot about 4 - 5 of their excellent works each.

My favorite Hitch films include:

a) "Notorious." With the sublime Bergman, it has an s&m element. Cary forces her to sleep with an enemy agent who does nightly bedside reports to mummie, just as Hitch, as Spoto notes, did with his own. This film is also his most visually sublime one.

b) Then there's "Strangers on a Train." Ray Chandler, who was signed to write the screenplay, didn't connect with Hitch and said his work was 'erased.' Seeking a more cinematic feel, Hitch made the 'good' guy a tennis player instead of an architect as in Highsmith's novel. Robert Walker, playing the 'boy next door,' was damn brilliant as a psychotic. Sadly, he was 31 and passed away a year later.

c) "Vertigo" - Kim Novak's insecurities, we learn, influenced her performance. The story, as Spoto adds, reveals Hitchcock's attraction-repulsion to an idealized blonde, along with his double-image fascination.

However, it cannot be ignored that Hitchcock played infantile pranks and bullied the vulnerable. In 2008, Tippi Hedren was still talking about his hurtful manipulation (as reported in the London Times). "Psycho" made Hitchcock vastly rich. With Truffaut's adoration and his age, the pervo side of him emerged. (Even Hitchcock might like to ignore the 3 'clinkers' as Kael described the follow-ups). "Torn Curtain," released in '66, has one fresh element: the difficulty in killing someone, which came from his writer.

Spoto describes Hitchcock's growth in the emerging film world of the 20s. At UFA in Germany, he learned consummate technique. He also understood the importance of telling a film visually. He said that even if the sound went off, you should still be able to understand what was happening. And unlike every upstart director today, he never demanded screen credit.

Hitchcock was a complicated man. His betrayal of Bernard Herrmann is, to many, a defining moment. When the studio realized that "Torn Curtain" was not as good as expected, they wanted a'modern' score. After their 6 wonderful pictures together, Herrmann was fired by Hitchcock, ending a long and creative friendship. He then used a score that was supposed to imitate Herrmann's style. Generously, Spoto doesn't focus on this. But I have to ask: what price does Hollywood exact?

The fact is, Hitchcock could be contemptible. After four successful films with writer John Michael Hayes, he was jealous when Hayes won a mystery writer's award. Although they worked well together, Hitchcock was stingy about pay and cut their relationship when Hayes proposed a raise.

The sexually repressed Hitchcock (I suspect he was basically gay) deliberately got Monty Clift drunk at dinner, thinking it was an amusing stunt. So I jest: his one tryst with his cineaste wife Alma evokes the British chestnut, "My dear, I know this is unbearable for both of us, but let's just close our eyes and think of England." And they probably thought of the next Hitch pic.

Cher maitre, up yours!

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

This is a tour-de-force, an un-put-downable biography that stands as the best Hollywood bio I've ever read.

In 1983, Donald Spoto's ambitious, daring, and provocative biography on the "master of suspense" emerged, blowing all previous attempts out of the water. However, it also sparked controversy. Some fans of Hitch were outraged, and scholars and critics were uncomfortable with the level of speculation, artistic license, and psychoanalysis Spoto employed to link the director's films to the life influences that might have inspired them.

The book seems to have given rise to a cottage industry of authors eager to rebut, refute, or otherwise challenge Spoto.

But after reading the book, I find almost nothing amiss in Spoto's observations. In fact, I think he is very precise and consistent in correlating the known and reasonably extrapolated aspects of Hitchcock's life and statements with the obsessions, themes, and subject matter in his films. What makes the book a tour-de-force, in part, is Spoto's deep knowledge of the filmmaker's entire body of work and his ability to trace the similarities of themes and content over a canon that spanned half a century.

Yes, Spoto does extrapolate how various aspects of Hitchcock's life, such as his devotion to his mother, his Catholic upbringing and guilt, his parents' Cockney rebellious streak, his general "Englishness", his social awkwardness and introversion, his late loss of virginity, his tendency to control and humiliate people due to a sense of social exclusion and lack of self-confidence, and his unrequited desires for women, are reflected in his celluloid art. Spoto essentially argues that Hitchcock's oeuvre is a coded biography of the secret desires and repressions of his life, and I find this argument very convincing.

In addition to exploring the links between Hitchcock's life and art, the book also attempts to explain or at least document the director's sometimes sociopathic and even cruel Svengali tendencies both on and off the set, especially towards his leading ladies, but also towards his writers and other associates.

I had initially planned to write a much longer review (I have five pages of notes), but I've decided to keep it short.

This book is one of the most memorable reading experiences I've ever had. No matter where you stand on it or what your opinion is of Hitchcock's films, the book is endlessly fascinating and compulsively readable. And yes, I did learn a great deal about movies that I thought I knew well.

(KR@KY 2017)

This work offers a rather in-depth exploration of the master of suspense.

While it does lean a bit too much on amateur psychoanalysis, which might cause some to raise an eyebrow, overall, it is a highly commendable biography.

The author delves into the life and works of the renowned figure, providing valuable insights into his creative process and the factors that influenced his unique style.

Despite the slight overemphasis on the psychoanalytic aspect, the book manages to capture the essence of the master of suspense and his significant contributions to the field.

It is a must-read for fans of the genre and those interested in learning more about the life and times of this influential author.

The detailed accounts and engaging narrative make it a captivating read from start to finish.

One can't help but be impressed by the amount of research that went into this biography, which truly brings the master of suspense to life on the pages.

Donald Spoto once again presents to us in his distinct manner the life of a famous Hollywood celebrity.

This time, the subject of the author is the renowned director Alfred Hitchcock, whom I hold in high admiration and respect.

While I greatly appreciate Hitchcock as an artist, I am somewhat uncertain about my perception of him as a person.

He appears to have been a rather peculiar little man who had a penchant for torturing the actors and disregarding the work of some of his colleagues.

He strongly reminds me of a mischievous child, yet I suppose that is part of the genius that lies behind the iconic movies for which he will be remembered.

His idiosyncrasies, though perhaps off-putting to some, may have contributed to the unique vision and style that made his films so influential and memorable.

Despite his flaws, Hitchcock's body of work continues to captivate audiences and inspire filmmakers to this day.

It is a testament to his talent and creativity that his movies remain relevant and engaging even decades after their release.

Overall, Donald Spoto's exploration of Hitchcock's life provides valuable insights into the man behind the movies and helps us to better understand the complex and fascinating figure that he was.