Susan H. (symphonie) reviewed The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock on + 158 more book reviews
No one but a tortured genius could have created such brooding, suspenseful and utterly original films as The 39 Steps, Spellbound, Vertigo, Frenzy, Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Marnie and over forty others.
Now Alfred Hitchcock, the intensely private and often bizarre creator of these masterpieces, is fully revealed. Donald Spoto traces the roots of Hitchcock's obsessions -- with murder, food and idealized love -- to the childhood that made them all but inevitable. He explores Hitchcock's marriage to a gifted co-worker, his crude and often cruel practical jokes, and his many fantasy-romances, culminating in a dangerous obsession with a beautiful young blond actress.
Most of all, Spoto recreates with compelling immediacy the amazing technical expertise and awesome perfectionism that made Hitchcock one of the world's most famous and revered filmmakers.
Based on impeccable research, on interviews with Hitchcock's writers, actors and longtime associates, and on recently discovered information from studio archives, the Dark Side of Genius is truly the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.
Now Alfred Hitchcock, the intensely private and often bizarre creator of these masterpieces, is fully revealed. Donald Spoto traces the roots of Hitchcock's obsessions -- with murder, food and idealized love -- to the childhood that made them all but inevitable. He explores Hitchcock's marriage to a gifted co-worker, his crude and often cruel practical jokes, and his many fantasy-romances, culminating in a dangerous obsession with a beautiful young blond actress.
Most of all, Spoto recreates with compelling immediacy the amazing technical expertise and awesome perfectionism that made Hitchcock one of the world's most famous and revered filmmakers.
Based on impeccable research, on interviews with Hitchcock's writers, actors and longtime associates, and on recently discovered information from studio archives, the Dark Side of Genius is truly the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.
