Hitchcock's Notebooks: An Authorized And Illustrated Look Inside The Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcock (Paperback)

by Dan Auiler (Author) "the world owes a debt of thanks to Hitchcock's able secretaries..." (more)
Key Phrases: psychiatrist scene, bird shop, poker party, New York, Alfred Hitchcock, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Dan Auiler is undoubtedly the luckiest Alfred Hitchcock devotee alive. With the permission of the director's family, he sifted through the Hitchcock archives at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to create a multifaceted portrait of the artist at work. If this book has a fault, it's that the sheer mass of information makes it a little hard to digest; but taken in small doses, its richness becomes a virtue, offering unique insights into the complicated processes that led to some of the greatest movies ever made.

Auiler divides the creative act into three parts: "Building the Screenplay," "Preparing the Visual," and "Putting It All Together." In each section he provides documents, including memos, script excerpts, sketches, and storyboards from a selection of films. Most interesting are those relating to Kaleidoscope a project from the late '60s that, Auiler contends, would have been a groundbreaking film had the studio not forced Hitchcock to abandon it. This collection also gives full credit to Alma Reville, the director's wife and lifelong collaborator, and her influence on the development of Hitchcock's style is evident throughout. Other gems include a transcript of discussions between Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren about her character in The Birds and a set of production stills from an early, lost movie, The Mountain Eagle.

There's an enormous amount to take in, but what quickly emerges is a sense of Hitchcock's meticulous approach to crafting a film. He frequently sent script treatments to other writers and filmmakers, asking for their critical comments, and Auiler reproduces several of these correspondences, including François Truffaut's detailed analysis of Kaleidoscope. At the other end of the creative journey the book closes with the script for an unproduced Spellbound trailer in which Hitchcock playfully evokes the magic of movies: "That screen up there is like a mind ... we here in Hollywood can make anything happen there." Hitchcock's Notebooks is a testament to the powerful vision and sheer hard work that lay behind that magic. --Simon Leake --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In this 100th-anniversary year of Alfred Hitchcock's birth, the director's work has inspired several movie remakes and a whole new crop of admirers. These two tributes to Hitchcock's art offer something new to fans. Hitchcock's America focuses on Hitchcock as cultural critic, with essays from film and literature scholars. The pieces are randomly arranged and comment on family values, gender roles, and American ideals as they are reflected in a wide array of Hitchcock's American films. While most followers hail the psychological power of his cinema, this anthology successfully shows his ability to record the changing expectations of American society in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The stark contrasts between big city and small town, sexuality and purity, hidden desires and social mores are explored as Hitchcock filmed them. Auiler (Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic, LJ 5/1/98) returns with an ambitious look at the creative process of filmmaking, from the director's early German films through the golden decade of his work in the Fifties and Sixties. Using Hitchcock's own copious notes, plus copies of studio memos, hand-marked scripts, and plenty of production photos and stills, he re-creates the step-by-step production of a movie. Chapters on the screenplay, visual set-up, production, post-production editing, and unfinished projects provide fascinating insight into how movies were made, Hitchcock-style. Those with no knowledge of the "behind-the-scenes" activity of cinema will be fascinated by this detailed accounting. Auiler's book is for general audiences, while Hitchcock's America would be a good purchase for film collections in academic libraries.AKelli N. Perkins, Herrick Dist. Lib., Holland, MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380799456
• ISBN-13: 978-0380799459
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #604,864 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Go behind the Torn Curtain into Hitchcock's film making..., June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitchcock's Notebooks:: An Authorized And Illustrated Look Inside The Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcook (Hardcover)

Having been an armchair Hitchcock fan for a few years now, I was eager to read about his creative process to find out just how much he meant to put into making his films. Admittedly, I had read only two other books on Hitchcock before, Donald Spoto's "The Art of Alfred Hitchcock" (after I watch one of Hitch's flicks I crack open that book and read the chapter for said movie...great analysis)and "Psycho" by Stephen Rebello (great inside stiff - er, stuff - and a cool new cover, no less). This book, tho, was different because it is well illustrated with storyboards, (drawings of the crows attacking the schoolkids and the crop duster scene from North by Northwest among others - come on, that's cool stuff!) photostatted letters from the Master himself (was not the master of sus-'pens', I'll tell you, you can barely read what he writes...but worth the closer read). There is a plethora of script stuff in here that handily contributes to the book's heft...I found some of that to be a little much, but the more serious Hitchcock fan (bidding on original Hitchcock posters on Ebay, for example) might be more into the subtle (insightful, mind you) variations in some of "Rebecca's" dialogue, for instance. Dan Auiler did a nice job sifting through what must have been a lot of, well, 'stuff' to get to the really neat-o plot development on movies such as "The Birds" and "Marnie" and he also includes some cool backstory on a film Hitchcock had to abandon because the studio practically forced him to make "Topaz." Supposedly this unmade film could have been a real career boost, as well as possibly helped to reshape 1960s cinema. Buy this book if you love movies and want an inside look at a master's methods.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding look at how film-making should be done!, April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitchcock's Notebooks:: An Authorized And Illustrated Look Inside The Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcook (Hardcover)

This thick book contains plot treatments for many of his best films, including marked up scripts and Hitchcock's sketches of what he wanted his films to look like. This is one of the best books I've ever found for students of movies.

You may feel like you are about to go blind as you read through the handwritten letters and edits to scripts and treatments, but the book really gave me a good idea of who Alfred Hitchcock was and what it means to direct a movie. The book ably shows how Hitchcock was involved in every minute detail of the projects (especially during his "best" years of the 1950s) and how he was able to "Wheel and Deal" with the studios on their own terms.

What struck me the most was Hitchcock's intimate work on areas that I felt were reserved for the Producers, Writers, Director of Photography and Gaffers. Hitchcock seemed to be able to stick his nose in every aspect of the film making process and not only created such masterpieces as "North by Northwest" and "Psycho", but seemed to be well liked and respected by those around him.

I'm now looking forward to reading Dan's book on Vertigo!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Was Hitch Thinking?...This Book Will Tell You...., March 29, 2003

By	L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (fountain valley, ca United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review refers to "Hitchcock's Notebooks..An Authorized and Illustrated Look Inside the Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcock" by Dan Auiler....

The title of this book says it all. It is exactly that. A look into the creative mind of "The Master"..Alfred Hitchcock.
Although geared largely toward the aspiring film maker, it is also a wonderful treasure for film buffs and huge fans(like myself).

Each chapter gives detailed information and documents on Hitch's genius at the making of his films. Not just the blockbusters, but all of them.(Even the ones that never saw an audience.) From the First chapter, "Beginnings", where you may see many photographs of the young director working on the set of his earliest completed work "The Mountain Eagle" which has disappeared and is one of the world's most sought after films, through the last chapter "Fade Out". which describes his marketing techniques(i.e. not letting anyone in the theatre after "Psycho" had started) once the films were wrapped up, you will find that Mr.Auiler has done extensive research and enlightens us on Hitch's methods.

Very detailed accounts of scripts from "Rebecca", "The Paradine Case" and Suspicion" may be found in the chapter entitled "Building The Screenplay", correspondance, notes, and letters in Hitch's own handwriting in refrence to "Shadow of a Doubt" may also be found here. This is a very technical chapter, but Auiler gives an easy understanding of the production processes used.

In "Preparing the Visual" you'll find lots of sketches, drawings, and Hitch's famous story boards for movies like "Lifeboat", "North by Northwest" and "Vertigo" are shown as well. In "Production Gallery" there are many stills of Hitch and the actors on the sets of works going as far back as "The Farmer's Wife" and "Number 17"(an experimental film, which was never completed), the "Thirty Nine Steps", Sabatoge","Strangers on a Train" and much more.

Auiler fills this 559 page book with fascinating facts and memorabia that any Film buff would love. There are even taped conversations(in which Hitch does almost all the talking), one with Tippy Hedron on exactly how he wants her to act in "The Birds" among them.

I loved it and could not put it down!.....enjoy....Laurie

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