HITCHCOCK'S BLONDES

Sub-titled The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession. Through the experiences of June Howard-Tripp, Madeleine Carroll, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Janet Leigh, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren, the women who starred in 14 of Hitchcock's most notable films and who sometimes bore the brunt of his fondness and fixation, we can finally start to see the enigmatic man himself. This dazzling biography finally puts the actresses he cast in his legendary movies at the centre of the story. Alfred Hitchcock was fixated not just on the dark, twisty tales that became his hallmark, but also by the blonde actresses who starred in many of his iconic movies. The director of North by Northwest, Rear Window, The Birds, his silent classic The Lodger, Dial M For Murder, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo and Marnie, Hitchcock had precise ideas about the image he wanted his actresses to project and insisted on clothing them the way he wanted. Novak had thrown a fit when the director insisted she don the grey suit in Vertigo that defined her character. So how did the polychromatic blondes respond? Were they putty in the hands of a sadomasochistic director? This impressive book shows that they were fine actresses with complicated relationships with Hitchcock on the set and off, disparate back stories and marriages and love affairs. "For the shower scene to work, Hitchcock needed Marion to be nude. Leigh was not about to take off all her clothes. He had to find someone else..." "Renfro disrobed again and stood like an object for sale. Leigh acted in a manner Renfro thought was disdainful and dismissive. The actress considered Marion Crane her role..." Although meant to be a closed set, Renfro faced reporters and Hollywood columnists invited to watch. The stories range from Janet Leigh's first marriage when she was 14 years old, to forcing The 39 Steps star Madeleine Carroll to rehearse while handcuffed and soaking wet. Every salacious detail is here. 323 pages, eight pages of photos. Remainder mark.