This fascinating, speculative exploration of Alfred Hitchcock reveals the thin line he walked between his obsessions over leading ladies and his lifelong devotion to his intellectual equal and collaborator, Alma Reville Hitchcock.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...Exceptionally sophisticated, witty and effective. I enjoyed reading (Hitch & Alma) very much." - Martin Scorsese -- Martin Scorsese
"As a dyed-in-the-wool Hitchcockian, I found Hitch&Alma absorbing. I applaud Schoen's seriousness of intent and mature appreciation of Hitchcock's work. This marks the first work I've read that attempts to speculate on Hitchcock and Alma's idiosyncratic day-to-day rhythms, tensions, and dynamic. Another plus."-Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho -- Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho
"I found Hitch & Alma very inventive and a pleasure to read. This will be a must for any Hitchcock fan -- and I hope the beginning of a real exploration of what Alfred and Alma were like as a team." Dan Auiler, author of The Making of Vertigo, A Hitchcock Classic -- Dan Auiler, author of The Making of Vertigo, A Hitchcock Classic
"Perhaps Robert Schoen should come clean and admit Hitch & Alma is really a fantasy novel POSING as a screenplay. I greatly enjoyed its humour, imagination, boldness and acute insights. The story centers on Hitch's relations with the women in his life - his wife Alma, his mother, and his leading ladies - all told with a most stimulating mixture of speculation and known fact that often convinced me that Schoen has put his finger on the very truth. I rate Schoen's knowledge and appreciation of Hitchcock's film highly. Hitch & Alma deserves a big success among Hitch aficionados."- Ken Mogg, Editor of 'The MacGuffin,' Web site and journal. -- Ken Mogg, Editor of 'The MacGuffin,' Web site and journal. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"As a dyed-in-the-wool Hitchcockian, I found Hitch&Alma absorbing. I applaud Schoen's seriousness of intent and mature appreciation of Hitchcock's work. This marks the first work I've read that attempts to speculate on Hitchcock and Alma's idiosyncratic day-to-day rhythms, tensions, and dynamic. Another plus."-Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho -- Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho
"I found Hitch & Alma very inventive and a pleasure to read. This will be a must for any Hitchcock fan -- and I hope the beginning of a real exploration of what Alfred and Alma were like as a team." Dan Auiler, author of The Making of Vertigo, A Hitchcock Classic -- Dan Auiler, author of The Making of Vertigo, A Hitchcock Classic
"Perhaps Robert Schoen should come clean and admit Hitch & Alma is really a fantasy novel POSING as a screenplay. I greatly enjoyed its humour, imagination, boldness and acute insights. The story centers on Hitch's relations with the women in his life - his wife Alma, his mother, and his leading ladies - all told with a most stimulating mixture of speculation and known fact that often convinced me that Schoen has put his finger on the very truth. I rate Schoen's knowledge and appreciation of Hitchcock's film highly. Hitch & Alma deserves a big success among Hitch aficionados."- Ken Mogg, Editor of 'The MacGuffin,' Web site and journal. -- Ken Mogg, Editor of 'The MacGuffin,' Web site and journal. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From the Publisher
Highly praised by Martin Scorsese, and other prominent Hitchcock authorities such as Ken Mogg, Dan Auiler, and Stephen Rebello, HITCH & ALMA combines little known facts within a speculative fictional premise that reveals the deeper psychological meanings of Hitchcock's cinema. Robert Schoen has created a virtual movie on paper, with this highly readable screenplay/novel.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Robert Schoen's "rhapsody on a life by Alfred Hitchcock",
By A Customer
This review is from: Hitch & Alma (Hardcover)
I finished "Hitch & Alma" this afternoon. I enjoyed it a great deal. It was funny, bittersweet and insightful (in a round-about way). I admired many aspects of the novel/screenplay, especially the non-linear narrative. I felt this was a very crucial ingredient to the success of the work. Memorable moments from Hitch's life floated in and out. It was all very well-balanced. Indeed, all of the major "notorious" moments were there - from his imprisonment as a boy to his infatuations with Bergman, Kelly, Hedren; his breakup with Benny Herrmann and his childhood with his over-protective mother. In addition to being very entertaining, the screenplay is also very informative (although one has to take it all with a pinch of salt!).It also provides a cohesive exploration of the recurring themes in the Hitchcock canon - guilt, murder, obsession, the dominant mother figure, the dominance of the male, etc. These are all cleverly (and I daresay truthfully) revealed to be aspects of Hitch's personality. I admire Schoen's bold courage in pursuing such an original and, I would suppose, controversial idea. I am sure some will be outraged by the liberty he has taken with the truth. But in the end, the work is a well-rounded, humourous and poignant tribute to a great artist (and his life-long partner). Hitch's famous self-appreciation of being an "enigma wrapped inside a mystery" seems to be very true. However, as the composer Aaron Copland said, "If it's in the art, it's in the man". I agree that Hitch's true personality - his obsessions, his humour - is evident in his films. Numerous biographers have tackled the enigma of Hitchcock, but few have so directly used his films as (veiled) autobiographical references. You should be heartily congratulated for your new and original "rhapsody on a life by Alfred Hitchcock". I also want to mention that the dialogue was excellent throughout - and very funny. Schoen has a gift for corny jokes! I should mention my delight at the jokes after the screening of the alternate "Vertigo" finale. I think that the dialogue of the various characters is also very accurate. In this situation,this is crucial to add at least some measure of believability to the screenplay. Jimmy Stewart's "darned tootin'" was funny. Pity there were no "gee whiz!"'s. But that's a quibble. I could imagine the various voices throughout (I had to create Alma's voice on my own). In addition to the humourous aspects of the story, I suppose that it is only fitting that the serious, disturbing elements of Hitch's past are featured. Surely things in his childhood influenced his art as an adult. I like the way Hitchcock had the ability to see into the soul of the disgusting priest - the same way he could see everything as the god-like director of his films. I felt that the the swimming pool ending was sensational. A masterful stroke (no pun intended...oh, what the hell!). It is nice that the film/book ended on such an impressive note. I don't know if I could ever foresee this being filmed, however. On paper it works so well. But how could you possibly get the actors who would play the parts? Perhaps in the future they will be able to re-create the characters digitally - so that's a possibility. But in our imagination we can see Hitch, Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, etc. And Schoen has done as Hitchcock liked to do - make films on paper.
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