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Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Volume 2 (2014) edited by Sidney Gottlieb

9780520279605.jpg
editor Sidney Gottlieb
publisher University of California Press (Dec 2014)
ISBN 9780520279605
 

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Synopsis

This second volume of Alfred Hitchcock’s reflections on his life and work and the art of cinema contains material long out of print, not easily accessible, and in some cases forgotten or unknown. Edited by Sidney Gottlieb, this new collection of interviews, articles with the great director's byline, and “as-told-to” pieces provides an enlivening perspective on a career that spanned seven decades and transformed the history of cinema.

In writings and interviews imbued with the same exuberance and originality that he brought to his films, Hitchcock ranges from accounts of his own life and experiences to provocative comments on filmmaking techniques and cinema in general. Wry, thoughtful, witty, and humorous—as well as brilliantly informative and insightful—this volume contains much valuable material that adds to our understanding and appreciation of a titan who decades after his death remains one of the most renowned and influential of all filmmakers.

François Truffaut once said that Hitchcock “had given more thought to the potential of his art than any of his colleagues.” This profound contemplation of his art is superbly captured in the pieces from all periods of Hitchcock’s career gathered in this volume, which reveal fascinating details about how he envisioned and attempted to create a “pure cinema” that was entertaining, commercially successful, and artistically ambitious and innovative in an environment that did not always support this lofty goal.

Contents

Stories and Suspense

  • Introduction
  • The Henley Telegraph Stories
  • Good-night, Nurse! (c. 1922–23)
  • Hitchcock on Stories (1937)
  • Lights! Action!—but Mostly Camera! (1941)
  • Hitchcock, Master Maker of Mystery (1941) — Beth Twiggar
  • Introduction to Intrigue: Four Great Spy Novels of Eric Ambler (1943)
  • The Quality of Suspense (1945)
  • The Film Thriller (1946)
  • Death in the Crystal Ball (1950)
  • The Wise Man of Kumin (1951)
  • The Chloroform Clue: My Favorite True Mystery (1953)
  • "It's the Manner of Telling": An Interview with Alfred Hitchcock (1976) — Anthony Macklin

Pure Cinema and the Hitchcock Touch

  • Introduction
  • Titles—Artistic and Otherwise (1921)
  • How a Talking Film Is Made (1929)
  • Why I Make Melodramas (1937)
  • Some Thoughts on Color (1937)
  • The "Hitch" Touch (1946)
  • Encounter with Alfred Hitchcock (1956) — Charles Bitsch and François Truffaut
  • Alfred Hitchcock Murders a Blonde (1958)
  • My Favorite Film Character Is—ME! (1959)
  • A Lesson in PSYCHO-logy (1960)
  • Rear Window (1968)

On Directors and Directing

Hitchcock at Work

  • Introduction
  • Making Murder! (1930)
  • Hitchcock's Notes on Stage Fright (c. 1950)
  • Interview with Alfred Hitchcock (1955) — François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol
  • Alfred Hitchcock Brings His Directing Techniques to the Medium of Television (1955)
  • Hitch: I Wish I Didn't Have to Shoot the Picture (1966) — Budge Crawley, Fletcher Markle, and Gerald Pratley

Hitchcock Speaks

  • Introduction
  • Hitchcock Speaking (1956)
  • Women (1959)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Resents (1962) — Bill Davidson
  • The Chairman of the Board (1964) — Richard Gehman
  • John Player Lecture (1967)
  • Interview: Alfred Hitchcock (1978) — R. Allen Leider

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