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Film Quarterly (1994) - Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources

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Long anticipated, Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources opens with a brief biography and an informed critical survey of the director, and closes with two indexes to the main sections of the book, the synopses, and the bibliography.

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Sloan, Jane E. Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources. New York: G. K. Hall, 1993. $65.00.

Long anticipated, Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources opens with a brief biography and an informed critical survey of the director, and closes with two indexes to the main sections of the book, the synopses, and the bibliography. The synopses of the 57 films (including Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache) are detailed and very useful, and the annotated bibliography includes books and articles, arranged chronologically from 1919 through 1990, and supplemented (for many books) with a selected bibliography of reviews. The appendices contain contemporaneous reviews of the films and lists of miscellaneous materials; additional film credits (including television episodes Hitchcock directed); and an overview of archival collections pertinent to Hitchcock. In short, this book will be prized by scholars and students.

Now the caveats. The preface notes that the bibliography "includes citations for most of the substantial critical commentary..." The editor does not define "most," however, and certain omissions are curious. For instance, the Guide includes Louis Phillips' "Armchair Detective" essays on Vertigo, The Trouble with Harry, and North by Northwest, but not Rear Window. It includes William S. Pechter's essay on Psycho in Twenty-Four Times a Second, but not V. F. Perkins' commentary on Psycho in Film as Film. Where it counts, however — in its annotated bibliography — Alfred Hitchcock: A Guide to References and Resources is indispensable.