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A review by bargainsleuth
Hitchcock's Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession by Laurence Leamer
4.0
For this and all my other reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com
I received a complimentary copy of Hitchcock’s Blondes from NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s and Sons ahead of publication. I am voluntarily leaving this review.
Alfred Hitchcock was a lot of things, including a great director of some of my favorite films like North by Northwest, the trio of Grace Kelly films, and Psycho, to name a few. But in recent years, given the #MeToo movement, one has to reexamine the director’s works and see if they are worthy of our adoration. This is not even the first book to concentrate on Hitchcock’s blonde leading ladies, but it is the first I’ve read in a few years, so I was curious if there was anything new.
For the most part, Leamer’s book rehashes some stories, while some are fresh and new, like the focus on two of Hitch’s early blonde actors, June Howard-Tripp and Madeleine Carroll. I had not read anything in-depth about these fine actresses and what they had to put up with under Hitchcock’s watch. I knew everything about Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly’s time with the director, as I’ve done extensive reading on both actresses, and knew some of the stories from Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Eva Marie Saint, and Janet Leigh. So if you’ve already read a Hitchcock biography or two, you might have come across some of these stories before.
It seems, given the tales, that Alfred Hitchcock started out as just a guy with a little fetish for blonde actresses, and over time, the reverence turned into something else, as was the case with his later actresses like Tippi Hedren. She’s been very outspoken over the years about the abuse she suffered while working with Hitchcock, and Kim Novak had a terrible working experience with him, too. Hitchcock was a great director, but he definitely was a little pervy, too, and as he got older, he took advantage of his women actors.
I really liked this new look at Hitchcock’s Blondes, I just wish the author would have concentrated on some other female actors or gone into greater discussion of how Hitchcock could not survive in today’s climate. There was a bit too much padding with an overview of their lives pre-and post-Hitchcock films, which is fine for those who haven’t read a lot about them, but I suspect people picking up this book want new stories, of which there are a few. Four stars!
I received a complimentary copy of Hitchcock’s Blondes from NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s and Sons ahead of publication. I am voluntarily leaving this review.
Alfred Hitchcock was a lot of things, including a great director of some of my favorite films like North by Northwest, the trio of Grace Kelly films, and Psycho, to name a few. But in recent years, given the #MeToo movement, one has to reexamine the director’s works and see if they are worthy of our adoration. This is not even the first book to concentrate on Hitchcock’s blonde leading ladies, but it is the first I’ve read in a few years, so I was curious if there was anything new.
For the most part, Leamer’s book rehashes some stories, while some are fresh and new, like the focus on two of Hitch’s early blonde actors, June Howard-Tripp and Madeleine Carroll. I had not read anything in-depth about these fine actresses and what they had to put up with under Hitchcock’s watch. I knew everything about Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly’s time with the director, as I’ve done extensive reading on both actresses, and knew some of the stories from Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Eva Marie Saint, and Janet Leigh. So if you’ve already read a Hitchcock biography or two, you might have come across some of these stories before.
It seems, given the tales, that Alfred Hitchcock started out as just a guy with a little fetish for blonde actresses, and over time, the reverence turned into something else, as was the case with his later actresses like Tippi Hedren. She’s been very outspoken over the years about the abuse she suffered while working with Hitchcock, and Kim Novak had a terrible working experience with him, too. Hitchcock was a great director, but he definitely was a little pervy, too, and as he got older, he took advantage of his women actors.
I really liked this new look at Hitchcock’s Blondes, I just wish the author would have concentrated on some other female actors or gone into greater discussion of how Hitchcock could not survive in today’s climate. There was a bit too much padding with an overview of their lives pre-and post-Hitchcock films, which is fine for those who haven’t read a lot about them, but I suspect people picking up this book want new stories, of which there are a few. Four stars!