Book of Towers 4: Hitchcock

Charlotte Chandler could be one of the best biographical writers I've ever read. I read her book on Orson Welles; splendid book. And her bio book she wrote on the one and only, the late suspense master himself: Alfred Hitchcock, was released in 2005, is a incredible book with so much insight into the mind of one of the best film directors that has ever lived.

The book opens with a wonderful prologue and it never gets boring. The book has direct quotes from Hitchcock himself  which I love. You get a great sense of his humor and his intellect on how to make movies and how he worked with his actors, some think the lack thereof, because he never liked explaining to actors the motivation behind the scenes and their characters. He has said what's in the script is the motivation, all he needs to do is tell the actors when they are doing something wrong.

The address' the famous statement that Hitchcock supposedly said all actors are cattle. Hitchcock corrects and says that he said: 'Actors should be treated like cattle'. He said it was meant to be a joke but people took it otherwise.

He talks about wanting to work with Audrey Hepburn, he talks about envying Billy Wilder, who has worked with Audrey before. We find out where him and Alma like to eat and what he eats, he discusses his weight as well.

There's an amazing part when he talks about how his movies are looked at by people all over the world and how they are all effecting by them. 'Emotions are universal and art is emotion. Therefore, putting film together and making it have an effect on an audience is for me the main function of film. Otherwise, it is just a record of events.'

He talks about his fears, about him and Alma and how important of a role she plays in his life. Alma said about Hitchcock: 'In all the years we've been together, my husband has never bored me. There aren't many wives who can say that.'

And we, the audience who love his movies over all these years, can say something similar, as a filmmaker, he has never bored us. Cheers to Hitchcock and his films.

Title of the book: 'It's only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock, a personal biography'.