Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light – The Definitive Biography of Cinema's Master of Suspense and His Extraordinary Career

Hitchcock, for better or worse, doesn't on a visual level match up to his work in a heavily visual medium. Bald, rotund, and plain he would never be cast against his favored ice blonde heroines unless he was the murderer or the incidental character boarding the bus or part of a newspaper weight reduction ad. There have been numerous books written about Hitchcock and no doubt there will be more, but for my two bits this is a stand alone book that is or should be viewed as the final or last word. Patrick McGilligan presents Hitchcock as the creative genius who relied heavily on the visual aspects of film to create suspense. His early affiliation with Selznick when he came to the states was at times trying, but also rewarding and productive. As Hitchcock's reputation grew along with his girth, so did his fame. Interestingly, Hitchcock was able to work in different genres though he excelled when he worked in suspense the area of suspense. The Hitchcock presented in this book was a long married man who had one wife and one child. He could be cruel, but also was known for his humor which was generally funny but not without its dark side. What of the cool and icey blondes? No doubt Hitchcock's mind was working, but impotence prevented things from going anywhere. The creativity of Hitchcock's fertile mind appeared to be limitless; his long standing team executed his ideas visually. From my perspective this book is the total Hitchcock package. It is a thorough biography that abounds with personal information and interesting anecdotes while providing comprehensive details about Hitchcock's numerous projects. This is a great book that informed, fascinated, and held my interest.

This comprehensive biography of one of the most notorious film directors in history is a remarkably thorough and balanced portrayal of a complicated, brilliant man. Other biographies have been written, but seem to me to be much more biased - either unrealistically over-praising or unnecessarily scathing, depending on which mood and era of the man's life they chose to dissect. It's so detailed that it's difficult to write a review that's not novella-length, but it follows "Hitch" from his humble beginnings as a greengrocer's son in England, a sensitive and reserved boy who somehow still had the charisma to amass an enormous network of friends and colleagues, to his domination of the American film industry. His fascination with murder and the psychology of killers began early in life, as the slightly-eccentric Hitchcock family enjoyed lively dinner discussions about famous villains of their day: Dr. Crippen, Jack the Ripper, and Adelaide Bartlett, among others. Hitchcock was also an avid reader and happily described himself as an Americophile, and when the film industry really began to blossom he was most impressed by the American studios and production techniques, which he felt were superior to what was being done in Europe at the time. After early jobs in sales for an electrical products firm, he officially entered the film business as an assistant art director. It was during this time that he met Alma Reville, the woman who would become his wife and most valued collaborator. After success in the European movie market, Hitch was wooed by the Selznick brothers to cross the pond and contract with Warner Brothers (he would later leave them for Paramount and would ultimately finish his career at Universal), which he did with some hesitation because very few British directors had successfully crossed over into the American market. There were hits and misses - for instance, two of my very favorites, Rope and Vertigo, were considered box office failures! - but overall his success was substantial, and with Psycho, one of the top-grossing films of its day, his place in history was secured. One of the gems of this book is the inclusion of a treasury of early short stories Hitchcock wrote for The Telegraph, as well as an extensive filmography, which alone is 100 pages long! It's also heavily sprinkled with entertaining anecdotes and references from and about the actors, writers and musicians he worked with on every film: his deep friendship with Ingrid Bergman, teaching Gregory Peck about wine, falling out with Tippi Hedren, battles with the Selznicks, collaborations with writers like John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury, and much more. Reading all those details immediately prompted me to go out and rent a few of my favorites again, finding them even more fascinating after reading all the `inside' details. One of the most poignant points of Hitch's life story is, perhaps, its end. By all accounts, when his health deteriorated and forced him to retire, his inability to keep doing the one thing he truly loved - make movies - killed him, quite literally. Although his physicians said he could have gone on and possibly lived many more years, he simply didn't want to. He went to bed, stopped eating or seeing friends and family (besides Alma, who was also very ill), and died shortly thereafter. I make it sound like this all happened in a matter of days when it was actually a period of a few years, but it was a steady and relatively rapid decline. In the end although all were saddened, nobody who knew him seemed too surprised. At 800+pages it's no small investment of time, but it was a true pleasure to read and for ardent Hitchcock fans it's probably still not long enough!

When first published, this was, in part, seen as a corrective and answer to Spoto's rather gossipy and salacious biography. It does, in fact, specifically mention the Spoto bio and counters or refutes a number of points and throws others into dispute. More than that, however, this terrific look at Hitchcock's life and career expands on most all of what came before it. The primary focus is the work and the book follows Hitch from film to film, filling in his life as it goes along. This works very nicely for a man who's life was, essentially, his work. The author uses a wealth of primary and secondary sources to provide an in-depth and detailed look at the swirls of activity that surrounded his work - from first inspiration to follow-up publicity and on to the next. The portrait of Hitchcock the man emerges through the examination of his work. There are personal details, stories, jokes (usually off-color), memories of contemporaries that allow a fully-formed picture of the master to gel and coalesce over the course of the book, but this is not the place to look for juicy gossip or armchair psychology. Instead the focus is on the man and his life's work, how it went about it, what it meant to him and to the world at large. In that, it is marvelous.

If there's a more complicated guy who made more hit movies in both the UK and USA than Hitchcock, I'll give you $1. For the first 75-85% of the book, it's got a TON to keep you interested in such an incredible talent. Then comes his creepy relationship with Tippi Hedren -- yikes! Still, anyone who loves movies couldn't help following Hitchcock's long road, potholes and all. Get the book.

Though well researched, at times McGilligan's lengthy biography suffers under his implicit motivation for writing the book: to amend the Hitchcock legacy, tarnished by Donald Spoto's "Dark Side of Genius" (1983). McGilligan begins and ends "Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light" with warnings to the reader of Spoto's specious claims (claims, McGilligan notes, which have been refuted by people close to Hitchcock). Yet, puzzlingly, McGilligan often quotes from Spoto's work directly when he is not criticizing it. Further, many times McGilligan pauses his narrative to ask his readers leading, speculative questions concerning Hitchcock, performing the precise thing he criticizes Spoto for. In addition to this distracting, and unnecessary, psuedo-critical approach, McGilligan as a storyteller is underwhelming. "A Life in Darkness and Light" reads like any stereotypical biography of celebrity: birth, life, death, with a few entertaining anecdotes in between. I found that the most interesting parts of this book were taken from secondary sources (which are heavily used). In particular, Francois Truffaut's "Hitchcock" (which compiles interviews between the two directors), and John Russell Taylor's "Hitch: The Life and Work of Alfred Hitchcock," which appeared in the fifties and remains the only authorized biography of the Master. Distracting, too, is McGilligan's exceptional use of footnotes. Though some of these provide interesting facts and detail, they become rote and many times are unnecessary. McGilligan's footnotes, coupled with his frequent fractured sentences that at times are unclear upon first reading them, "A Life in Darkness and Light" becomes cumbersome by its midpoint. While I came away from this book with a better idea about who Hitchcock was, I felt I would have had a more enjoyable time reading Truffaut's work and using the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) for chronological reference. Perhaps the record in fact needed to be set straight after Spoto's book, but I question how much influence his work still had twenty years after its initial publication at the time McGilligan published his biography. With hundreds of books about Hitchcock available, it appears that McGilligan is more set on establishing his biography as the "definitive" book about Hitchcock as opposed to offering something new and revealing about an icon who still captures public imagination.

This is a very balanced bio of Alfred Hitchcock. I enjoyed it very much. I've always loved North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief (yes! Cary Grant). But beyond his most famous movies, I had no idea how long and how extensive Hitchcock's career was. Long ago I read a really dark bio of Hitchcock, very off-putting. This one is more centered, realistic, balanced. The good and bad. The author is telling the story of a long and busy life. The other author's bio was written, I think, with an agenda. This one is more readable and more likely to be true. Mcgilligan quotes lot of people, many behind the scenes who worked with Hitchcock on the writing, casting and camera work. He reports the positive and negative things he did dealing with actors and people in his life. It's no whitewash. And he shows how funny and lovable Hitchcock could be. He was a complicated, talented guy. If you like show business bios, this is a good choice.

I always liked hearing a story my dad told of when he saw "The Birds" in the theater. A young man strutted in with *two* girls, one under each arm, and sat in front of him and my uncle. At one tense point in the movie when the hero picks up a rock, intending to throw it at some birds, the cool young man suddenly lost it, leaping up yelling "Don't do it!" while the two embarrassed girls shrank as low as possible in their seats. We would laugh at that as kids, that a grownup would get so caught up in a movie. But having recently watched it with my kids I could see how easy it was to be pulled into the frightening world of the Master of Suspense, and my kids are still talking - over a month later - of how much fun it was to watch "The Birds." Alfred Hitchcock started in the era of silent movies. He once lamented the advent of talking pictures, saying it ruined a good story. But he was always innovating and challenging himself, whether it was through intricate camera shots or complex plot twists. He had a fascination for the dark and macabre, and appreciated stories that shocked and surprised. Such themes filled his movies, usually with a touch of his English wit and humor. And yet, there was another side to the man who frightened so many. He was a loving husband and father, was generous with friends and relatives, and loved watching plays and films, including anything by Walt Disney. And he had a soft spot for animals. Much has been written about Alfred Hitchcock, but Patrick McGilligan's biography is an outstanding addition. He provides a balanced portrayal of the famous director, often pointing out inaccuracies in Donald Spoto's "Dark Side of Genius." But he doesn't shy away from showing Hitchcock's crude side, from the dirty jokes he often told to his penchant for pushing the limits of censorship. He tells of how difficult and demanding Hitch could be to work with, as well as the admiration and awe held by many in the business - a long list that is a veritable "who's who" of the Hollywood elite. It is a story told largely through the lens of the director's camera, and chronicles the films he made. And it's a long story - 750 pages before the notes - that took me several months to read. Yet it was interesting and compelling in spite of having only seen a few of the movies. While my knowledge of Hitchcock was limited mostly to the scary stories collected in his name that I read as a child, I gained a much greater appreciation for his movie making genius from this book. I'm not much of a film buff but I look forward to watching more of his films, after re-reading McGilligan's account of each, of course.

Excellent price and condition

Sehr detailiert wird hier die Lebensgeschichte von Alfred Hitchcock beschrieben. Sehr interessant, wenn auch manchmal SEHR detailreich. Für Hitchcockfans ein Muss!

Comprehensive overview of Hitchcock's life that replaces the pseudo-psychological speculations of the Spoto biography with facts. McGilligan also demonstrates how Alma was very much Hitch's creative partner as well as his life partner.

Una lectura muy interesante y muy bien detallada sobre la vida y obra de este gran director, indispensable para cualquier fan de Hitchcock.

If you want to learn more about Hitchcock’s life and pictures this 800 page doorstop is the book for you. I read it picture by picture. It’s readable and it has a place on any Hitchcock’s fans bookshelf. I bought a second copy as a gift straightaway.

This quite a large biography and as is the case with a lot of biographies, I enjoyed the subject of Alfred Hitchcock growing up and how he started his career. However, I felt that it became a bit boring later on in his career, which I felt was a bit mundane. It may become more interesting later on in his life. I don't know and have not decided yet whether I am going to start reading it again or not. Generally I felt that I had wasted the best part of £8.99.