Customer Reviews

The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock: A Memoir Featuring the Screenplay of "Alfred Hitchcock's The Short Night"

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After having years ago started and abandoned Donald Spoto's dry, psychologizing biography of Alfred Hitchcock, I found this book by Hitch's last collaborator a welcome surprise. It offers a far more tangible and intimate portrayal of the actual, day-to-day functioning of Hitchcock's genius, thrown into sharp--and often comic--relief by the old man's inexorable decline. This often poignant, always clear-eyed memoir examines Hitchcock's working methods in illuminating detail: his exploratory process of developing the screenplay, his focus on the minutiae of his characters and the topography of their environment, his views on editing and image size, shock vs suspense, "horizontal cinema" vs "pure cinema," and his use of rhythm and tempo to elicit detailed performances that help audiences identify with his characters. The author's penetrating analyses of Hitchcock's films, and his insightful behind-the-scenes commentary on the included screenplay made me want to go back to view again films I've watched a dozen times. This book is a treasure for Hitchcock fans, and required reading for working or aspiring writers and directors.

I've read "The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock" with pleasure. Before saying why, I want to comment on a review posted by another reader. It's a misguided attack that cries out for a response. The objection seems to be that the Hitchcock that emerges isn't the one the reader wanted him to be. So? The book is a balanced and nuanced portrait of a great artist at the end of his life. Hitchcock was in bad shape. The pleasure of this book and the reason that people should read it is that we can see his struggle from day to day. Far from being "tabloid commentary" it's an immensely moving story. There's sadness in Hitchcock's deterioration, but there's inspiration in his refusal to quit. This book is about Hitchcock's humanity.

This book reveals more about its insolent author than about Hitchcock. I do not take issue with the notion that Hitchcock was suffering and struggling in his final days, but I do take issue in this largely disrespectful account. There is enough of historical value here to make the book worth reading, but barely. The first hand accounts make for some interesting reading, but it seems as if the author is stretching to increase his page count. As a result, he pads with uninspired analysis of Hitchcock's previous films including sections on such commonplace information as Hitchcock's cameo appearances. The bulk of the book is the script for "The Short Night" which is underdeveloped, having been cancelled as a project before a final draft was completed. The author describes what some of the changes may have been for the next draft.