Hitchcock Style [Hardcover]

Jean-Pierre Dufreigne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

The first book on Hitchcock, which is not a film book, but a book about style, decoration and fashion! The motel in Psycho. The bachelor pad in Rear Window. The blonde elegance of Tippi Hedren and Grace Kelly. Hitchcock style is immediately identifiable and universally recognized. That s because Alfred Hitchcock s images, which have informed fashion, photography, and art as well as film, arise as much from a particularly vivid aesthetic as from the suspenseful subject matter.

Jean-Pierre Dufreigne has traversed the world of Hitchcock to recapture and examine the director s unique atmospheric sensibilities. We hear from many of the talents that once formed Hitchcock s circle actors, set and costume designers, cameramen and composers, and title creators. This stylistic study ends with a catalogue raisonné of Sir Alfred s entire uvre.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One remembers a handbag, a key in the palm of a hand, a pair of glasses in which a crime is reflected, a windmill whose blades are turning backwards. One no longer remembers why Janet Leigh stopped at the Bates Motel, nor the story of Notorious. Neither Ingrid Bergman nor Cary Grant, but only a bottle of wine. This is not the case with Griffith or Welles or me. Hitchcock was really the master of the universe.... He had a control over the public that no one else had. Through objects. --.

Hitchcock Style arrives at a timely moment in fashion, as the return of '50s couture elegance continues. --Harpers Bazaar

About the Author

Jean-Pierre Dufreigne is a leader writer for the cultural section of L Express, and a film critic who is enamoured of cinema. He has written eight novels and three essays. He has also published Dolce Vita Style at Assouline.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Assouline (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2843235146
• ISBN-13: 978-2843235146
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Fashion

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Big Disappointment, July 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitchcock Style (Hardcover)

I purchased this book after seeing it in a brief magazine write up. The book has way too much text and a fraction of the documentation of the Hitchcock Style that I had anticipated. I attempted to read the text, but the the author's frustrating writing style kept me from succeeding. Maybe something got lost in the translation from French to English? Anyway, for those able to survive the awkward jumping back and forth between periods in time, beware. Just from skimming the text I found one glaring error. The author refers to Grace Kelly as being deceased in 1979, when she actually passed away in the early 1980s. Save your money. You can thumb through this book in a few minutes at your local library or bookstore.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy The Pics-Forget The Text!, July 17, 2004

By 

J. E. Avey (Nashua, N.H. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitchcock Style (Hardcover)

I wholeheartedly agree with the previous review! The book is LOADED with glaring errors! 3 that come to mind: North By Northwest's famous cropdusting scene was set in Illinois, not Texas, which he mentions more than once. Grace Kelly did not die in 1979 and there is a great picture, elsewhere, of GK and "Hitch" at the function this author uses for a reference point of Hitch's dead friends and sad end of life, and he refers to Patricia Collinge as Joseph Cottens mother in "Shadow Of A Doubt": She was his loving sister. He also misquotes Psycho and several of the biggest films in AH career. Didnt this guy have a fact checker to help him? He is also very coarse in his descriptions of people in Hitchcocks life: Anthony Perkins looked like a retarded child? I only gave it 3 stars for the rare pics that are included. Buy it when its in the remainder bin or used on Ebay!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All About Visual Expression, October 23, 2005

By 

gobirds2 (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitchcock Style (Hardcover)

If you can get past some of the obvious technical errors about Hitchcock's film this is actually a well thought out and visually attractive book. It presents many vivid photographs and images from his films. The point of the book is draw attention to the visual aspects of Hitchcock's films. There is a certain look that Hitchcock brought to his films and created for the viewer. It may have been use of the camera, lighting, set design, art design, shooting locations, casting and so forth. These are all visual elements that go in to making a film and show up in the final product. Even advertising and promotion are a key elements to Hitchcock's films. Hitchcock created a mood or an impression for the viewer that in many cases has had a lasting effect of anyone who has seen his films. This is the intent of the book. The images in this book are as indelible as what Hitchcock brought to the screen and they are very impressionable. Quite honestly I dismissed the text of the book and just savored the visual images, which are exquisite and stimulating. These images speak for themselves much like a soundtrack from a film does through music and sound. A mood is created and one is able to engulf and savor their remembrances and recall the initial reaction they experienced upon first seeing a particular film. This is an outstanding book in that regard, and I find it to be a handsome collection to my other Hitchcock film books. I truly recommend this book.