Book of the week: The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock by Edward White
White’s unorthodox biography ‘dismembers Hitchcock into a dozen parts’
“Four decades on from his death, Alfred Hitchcock remains the most famous moviemaker of them all,” said Christopher Bray in the Daily Mail. The “tubby, lugubrious cockney in a banker’s suit”, with a walk-on part in all 50 of his films, is a figure everybody knows. Yet much about the man remains an enigma. Was he (as he wanted us to believe) a “serious business type who turned up on time, did his work and went happily home to his family”? Or was he (as his films suggest) a “leering pervert”, obsessed with humanity’s dark side? “Edward White’s answer to this conundrum is to dismember Hitchcock into a dozen parts.” He offers a series of thematic portraits, each focused on a different aspect of the director’s personality: Hitchcock the Dandy, Hitchcock the Voyeur, Hitchcock the Londoner, and so on. The conceit “largely works”: this is an original, absorbing study which captures the contradictory nature of “the Master of Suspense”.
One of its best chapters, entitled “The Fat Man”, concerns Hitchcock’s troubled attitude to his body, said Farran Smith Nehme in The Wall Street Journal. It circles back to the director’s friendless childhood, as the son of a grocer in Leytonstone, east London. Although as an adult Hitchcock’s appetite was legendary – he sometimes ate three steaks in a single meal – White argues that his frequent jokes about his weight betrayed a deep-rooted sensitivity. Elsewhere, the book’s fragmented structure produces moments of “odd illogic”, said Peter Conrad in The Observer. One chapter labels him “The Womaniser”, though Hitchcock claimed to be impotent, and dreamed he had a penis made of crystal that his wife Alma tried to smash. In a section considering him as a Catholic, White “rather desperately” argues that Grace Kelly’s red dress in Dial M for Murder was“liturgical”.
Hitchcock’s “desire for control” is a major theme, said Victoria Segal in The Sunday Times. He was “famous for tormenting his stars”. While filming The Birds, Tippi Hedren “spent days having live birds thrown at her head” – and later accused Hitchcock of sexually assaulting her. Without downplaying such incidents, White suggests that Hitchcock himself exaggerated his own cruelty, in order to “play up to sadistic legend”. Much like Craig Brown’s acclaimed Beatles study, One Two Three Four, this is a work that “swerves chronology in favour of the thematic, the tangential, the marginal”. And it yields many insights. “With these 12 scalpel strokes, White cuts close to his subject’s heart.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
W.W. Norton 400pp £22.99; The Week Bookshop £17.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The teenage 'maths prodigy' who turned out to be a cheat
Under The Radar Jiang Ping defied expectations in a global competition but something wasn't right
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Puppet shows, pagodas and pho: a guide to Hanoi
The Week Recommends Vietnam's capital city blends the ancient with the new
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'There are benefits, but not acknowledging them would tell only half of the story'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptation
The Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
By The Week UK Published
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
By The Week UK Published
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'
The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
By The Week UK Published
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff Goldblum
The Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
By The Week UK Published
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thriller
The Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
By The Week UK Published
-
Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'
The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
By The Week UK Published
-
How to do F1: British Grand Prix 2025
The Week Recommends One of the biggest events of the motorsports calendar is back and better than ever
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Twisters review: 'warm-blooded' film explores dangerous weather
The Week Recommends The film, focusing on 'tornado wranglers', stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell
By The Week UK Published