Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and 6 more blondes of Alfred Hitchcock

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The American and British director forever entered the history of world cinema as an unsurpassed master of horror. It seems that he himself got incredible pleasure from his films. He especially liked to make sacrifices from charming blond women. True, not every blonde could become a Hitchcockian, and even those whom the director liked were not always able to withstand his sympathy and his methods of working with actresses on the set.

Eva Marie Saint

This actress has always considered Alfred Hitchcock a nice and sweet person. At the same time, she is completely sincere in her attitude towards the director. Eva Marie Saint, while working on the film "North by Northwest", agreed with Hitchcock in everything, admired his original sense of humor and meekly cut her long platinum curls to the waist. After the release of the picture on the screens, critics unanimously admitted: Hitchcock managed to open new facets of the talent of the actress, who played Eve Kendall.

Marlene Dietrich

Alfred Hitchcock had great respect for Marlene Dietrich and appreciated her professional qualities. The only problem while working on Stage Fear was the desire of another actress, Jane Wyman, to slightly improve her image so as not to look too plain against the background of the majestic Marlene. Later, the director will more than once express regret that the mutual antipathy of the two actresses has become the highlight of the film, but the heroine Jane Wyman suffered greatly from the desire to look a little better than envisaged by the script.

READ ALSO: “I met him too late”: Why Marlene Dietrich knelt in front of Konstantin Paustovsky >>

Grace Kelly

She was a unique actress, and even the "great and terrible" Hitchcock did not allow himself to be rude to Grace or yell at her. The only thing he wanted from Kelly was to uncomplainingly follow the image that the director himself invented and painted in detail. However, she fully corresponded to the image of the Hitchcockian blonde: cold, restrained, refined, who knows what carnal pleasures are, but never flaunts her sexuality.

In total, Grace Kelly starred in three Hitchcock films: "In case of murder, dial" M "," Window to the courtyard ", and" To Catch a Thief. " Their collaboration could have continued if Grace had not become the wife of Rainier III. The director was very upset that his blonde preferred family to a career, but still made another attempt to invite Grace Kelly to his film "Marnie" in 1962. The spouse Grace did not object to the filming, the actress was happy about the opportunity to return to the cinema, but the subjects of the Prince of Monaco considered this occupation unworthy of the ruler's wife. Grace Kelly had to turn down the director.

READ ALSO: Hollywood star Grace Kelly is the perfect Hitchcock blonde and Princess of Monaco who broke the heart of the great director >>

Vera Miles

The director treated the actress quite warmly, filmed her in several of his films and even compared her to Grace Kelly, speaking well about the intelligence and restraint of Vera Miles. However, her desire to have a family did not find understanding in Hitchcock, their relationship deteriorated somewhat. The actress herself never regretted her choice in favor of the family, but the director, after her marriage, somewhat lost interest in the blonde, although he invited her to a secondary role in the film "Psycho".

Kim Novak

This actress was literally imposed on the director by the management of Columbia Pictures. The work of Hitchcock with Kim Novak as a result of both brought almost a nervous breakdown. Hitchcock looked for and did not find the features of Grace in Kim. Unlike the latter, Novak did not at all strive to meekly follow all the director's instructions and played the role in her own way, which caused Hitchcock's discontent and even rage.

Only after the director almost beat the leading actress, she stopped arguing with his interpretation of the image. However, the actress sincerely believed that she had managed to improve her character by adding humanity to her instead of her supposed cold sexuality.

Ingrid Bergman

The actress could rightfully be called the true muse of the famous director. In relation to Ingrid, he experienced a whole gamut of feelings: admired, jealous, loved, hated. At the same time, love and jealousy concerned, rather, the profession, rather than personal relationships. According to the actress's recollections, she could talk to Hitchcock on any topic and even trusted him with her love secrets.

He really knew how to keep other people's secrets and knew about the novels of his muse. However, he took offense at her only because, after marriage with Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman allowed herself to star in her husband's films. Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock took it as a betrayal.

Janet Lee

The two-minute shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho, which brought actress Janet Lee worldwide fame, was filmed over seven days. Later, Janet will write a book about what happened behind the scenes on the set, and what it cost her this role, which brought the actress an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Will not ignore the work on the role of Marion Crane and the ex-husband of the actress, who will talk about how the shooting in the film and the subsequent depression and Janet's alcohol addiction led their family to ruin. True, he will modestly keep silent about his betrayal of his wife. Janet Lee will be haunted by the ghost of "Psycho" throughout her life: in all interviews she will invariably be asked questions about the shooting of Hitchcock, and she will even be forced to turn to the FBI with a request to protect her from written threats received over the years.

Tippy Hedren

Alfred Hitchcock literally idolized Tippy Hedren, he was keenly interested in everything that was happening in her life, advised which outfits to choose and which lipstick to paint her lips. The actress did not immediately realize that his concern for her was a form of obsession. Hitchcock was in love with Tippy, and when he realized that he could not achieve reciprocity, he almost destroyed her.

The key scene, during which dozens of aggressive birds pecked at the actress's face and scratched her with sharp claws, was filmed over five days. Tippy bravely endured until the doctor sent her to sick leave. The director, right on the set, insulted the actress, humiliated her and at the same time invited her to dinner in private. Even the director's wife, Alma Reville, could not do anything about his obsession.

Nevertheless, after "Birds" Tippy also starred in "Marnie", and after failing to achieve reciprocity from the obstinate Hedren, Alfred Hitchcock simply destroyed the career of the object of his passion.

Suspension master Alfred Hitchcock kept the audience in tension and fear, which he knew firsthand: he himself suffered from such unusual phobias and demonstrated such oddities in behavior that it becomes clear how the plots of his films were born.