John Russell Taylor, Hitchcock’s official biographer, was interviewed on tape on 20th December 2012 in London, England

“When I was first going to the studio to interview Hitch for my biography, the people around him, particularly Peggy (Robertson) said, don’t mention Marnie because it’s a sore point. It was one of my favourite films and I told Hitch that. Obviously it had left painful memories but he seemed to be pleased that I liked it and praised it. In some ways it was very close to his heart. I knew about the famous quarrel and I heard both sides, because I subsequently talked to Tippi about it. After about two thirds of the film had been shot, they had this quarrel consequent to which they had a flaming row on set to which they never spoke directly to each other for about a week. They would say ‘Would you ask Mr. Hitchcock? Would you ask Miss Hedren?’ which I’m sure contributed to the extraordinary atmosphere about the film. So I asked Hitchcock about it, and he said, ‘Oh we had this row, and she said something that no-one is permitted to say to me, ‘Well, she, hem, referred to my weight.’”

You can read the story in the new Kindle edition of “Hitch” by John Russell Taylor out soon on Amazon.

Character actor Linden Chiles who plays office worker Artie (who offers Marnie a Danish) was Interviewed on August 22^nd 2012 in Los Angeles:

“I showed up ready to shoot on my first day, after wardrobe & makeup & so forth.  I’d been over my few lines a hundred times or so it seemed AND I was nervous.    I opened the sound stage door.  It was completely dark and empty or so it seemed. I thought I’d come to the wrong place.  Usually these cavernous dens are a beehive of activity.  But not this time.  I stood there for a moment and as my eyes adjusted I could make out dozens of ghostly figures rushing about.  The place was a beehive but you could’ve heard a pin drop.     Right about then an AD showed up and introduced herself & took me over to meet Hitchcock.  He gave me a soft pudgy handshake & we went right to work in the office set with Tippi & Mariette Hartley.   Hitchcock & I hardly spoke another word.  He was very quiet & had next to nothing to say about my performance, but he shot the hell out of those few pages.  Covered every angle.  I’ve never worked with a director who did such exhaustive coverage.

“And he never deviated from the script.  Many directors like to “mess around”, improvise, rework the dialogue,  play with a scene,  get the actors input – not Hitchcock.  We shot it word for word   I don’t recall how many days we spent in that office,   Several as I recall.  We only shot 2 or 3 pages a day.   Everything was choreographed, every move,  every line.    I always felt that the movie, Marnie,  suffered from a lack of spontaneity.   Except for Sean Connery who is brilliant,  whose performance jumps off the screen,  all the other actors seemed flat,  unreal.  Just my humble opinion, of course.”

Mariette Hartley who plays office worker Susan was interviewed on December 3^rd 2012 in  Los Angeles

“I had such a limited time with him, mine was the same size part as Linden’s, only a little larger. I had none of those experiences with other directors that I had with Hitch and I have mixed feelings. I was new to film and working on Marnie was my first experience. Hitchcock had seen me in Gunsmoke and hired me. He and I had a wonderful time, with  great repartee, he was very funny and giving, showing me the storyboarding which were exquisitely beautiful, I was so thrilled. Hitch had his own look, I feel so blessed that I was able to work with him and it was pretty amazing.”

Extracts from Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie, 2nd edition published in July 2013

Marnie & Psycho Assistant Director HILTON GREEN was interviewed on tape in Pasadena, December 3^rd 2012.

“I take offence at the portrayal of Hitchcock. I was with him a long time, and I was very close to Hitch and I never ever saw him as the way they portrayed him. When he came on the set, and blurted out and raised his voice, that never happened. There was no one to me like Alfred Hitchcock, and I feel so badly he never won the academy award and that bothered him.

“He didn’t bring to the set his problems, if there were problems. The only time I saw him emotionally upset and he called me into his office on the set (1958), and we were doing a television show, this was before Psycho and Marnie, I was the assistant on the show, and he had tears in his eyes and he couldn’t go on. He had tears in his eyes as he had just found that Alma had cancer. That was the only time I saw him emotionally upset. And he left that afternoon. He told me to go through and he just left.

“That’s what he had his fantasies, but in far as being connected, no, they were just fantasies. I feel they are just trying to exploit him today, the man is dead, he had a great career, he was a genius of a director, he was not in the in-crowd because he didn’t go to parties, and I felt he was more of an introvert. He wanted to know his crews, he didn’t want new faces. He was very professional. He knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it and there wasn’t any guessing.”

Doris Day mentioned in her 1975 autobiography In Her Own Story that initially she found working with Hitchcock challenging during The Man Who Knew Too Much as he never gave her any direction and she felt ignored. But as her hairdresser Virginia Darcy reassured her, “That’s good, that means you’re doing OK.”

Hitchcock expected his performers to do their job and he’d only interfere when they didn’t. Doris in fact gives a remarkable performance in The Man Who Knew Too Much, especially in the scene when she finds out that her son has been kidnapped. “It’s the best thing she’s ever done,” said director Peter Bogdanovich in his interview with Hitchcock who himself agreed.

That didn’t prevent Doris the professional from still worrying. But now at the age of 88, Doris has only fond memories to say about Hitchcock; “He was just Mr. Hitchcock, wonderful, a great director and a good friend. I loved working with him. In The Man Who Knew Too Much he shot the scene when I find out that my son is kidnapped from many different angles and he always knew exactly what he wanted. When filming in Marrakech, we’d go out to dinner with Mr. Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart. After dinner Jimmy would play the piano and it was a wonderful time. I wish I had the chance to do more than one film with them.”

Eva Marie Saint the star of North by Northwest was recently interviewed by Turner Classic Movies about her work:

“Hitchcock was a gentleman, he was funny, he was so attentive to me, with the character, and he cared about everything my character Eve Kendall wore. He had an eye for the specifics of the character.” You can read the whole story here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/movies/film-emissary-eva-marie-saint-plays-role-well-661995/

“Everybody had a different experience with him. There were six of us Hitchcock blondes, and it’s like we all were married to the man at one time or another and we all have a different take on him. Each actress was at a different stage of their life, we were different ages, some married, some not. My experience with Hitch was one of utter respect, warmth, friendliness and humour, and North by Northwest was a glorious time in my life. For me, it was beautiful and memorable and Hitchcock was funny, respectful and dear.”

Recently Kim Novak defended Hitchcock in The Daily Telegraph. “I feel bad about all the stuff people are saying about him now – that he was a weird character. I did not find him to be weird at all. I never saw him make a pass at anybody or act strange to anybody. And wouldn’t you think if he was that way I would’ve seen it or at least seen him with somebody? I think it’s unfortunate when someone’s no longer around and can’t defend themselves.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9586303/Kim-Novak-tells-all.html

http://rushfieldbabylon.com/post/34038817062/kim-novak-on-hitchcock-no-creep-to-me-im

In August of this year, Vertigo was voted the number 1 film of all time. Shortly afterwards, Save Hitchcock interviewed Kim on August 31st 2012 in Los Angeles:

“It’s wonderful that Vertigo has been voted Number 1 film of all time, it’s only a shame that Hitch and Jimmy Stewart aren’t here to know it, but at least I’m here. I think people respond to Vertigo because there are so many layers, there is always something new to see. It’s not only a film, you never get bored watching, there are new nuances to find. Hitch used to say, ‘That’s why it’s a mystery’, he didn’t know all the answers himself.

“I loved playing both Judy and Madeline for different reasons. I identified more with Judy than Madeline and Hitchcock gave me freedom in playing Judy than Madeline. That was intentional on his part, making it more comfortable for me in the role. The character really was Judy (she’s playing Madeline), he let me choose the clothes she wore and Hitchcock was very agreeable.

“I had a shoe fetish at the time and I didn’t like wearing the dark shoes of Madeline, but that added to the character. They made me feel uncomfortable and that worked for me, it made me feel out of place. She was having to pretend all the time to be something that she wasn’t, and that part was helping me. I also wore a blonde hairpiece which was very pulled back and unnatural.”

Extracts from Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass published in May 2013

According to Norman Lloyd, who is precise and sharp-witted at age 98, the revisionist depiction of Hitchcock is bizarre.

“Hitch was fascinated with his leading ladies,” Lloyd points out. “But if he had a favorite, it was Grace Kelly, and nothing ever came of it other than lots of retakes.” A tough-minded and highly efficient director, Hitchcock made his movies for well under $4 million, with “Psycho” coming in on a budget of $750,000, Lloyd reminds us. “Hitch was in fact a wonderful human being as well as a master filmmaker,” says Lloyd. “He deserves to be remembered that way.”

Read the full article here:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062046

Suzanne Pleshette (1937-2008) who played Annie in The Birds was interviewed on February 9th 2006 in Los Angeles

“For me he was wonderful, generous and loving, and I had a wonderful experience with him. We’ve heard many stories about how controlling he was, and what I think Hitchcock was trying to do was protect his vision of the film, which most directors do, some more subtly than others. But I coming from the theatre, am used to collaborating and not knowing that Mr. Hitchcock didn’t want to collaborate with me. So instead of not listening to me, he was very attentive, and sometimes even listened to some of my ideas, and he always made me feel that I had something to say and that what I had to do was valuable. He was very generous, the only people who don’t welcome that kind of collaboration are insecure people who aren’t very good.”

Rita Riggs, the costume supervisor who worked closely with Hitchcock on The Birds and Marnie, was interviewed on tape Wednesday 5^th September 2012 in LA and questioned about Hitchcock deliberately enjoying the torture during the telephone booth and attic scenes.

“I really don’t buy that and I’m sorry that the BBC has taken that line. I was on set all the time. I’ve never forgotten painstakingly putting elastic bands and birds and crows on Tippi. I was personally attaching the crows and it was lengthy, it was tedious and it just wore Tippi out.

“Because of the extent of his career, I have nothing but kind words to say about Mr. Hitchcock.

“He could have been a total Jekyll and Hyde but I never saw that. I think Hitch did many things to get performances from her, particularly in Marnie, because he didn’t depend on her with acting technique, he may have shocked her with all manner of his techniques. I never really thought he was serious. He was a jokester and a prankster and I have good memories all through The Birds and Marnie. We would be talking about something, maybe strawberries, and I came home that night and there was a packet of Wild Strawberries from France, and it was that kind of prank constantly.”

Today three of the Hitchcock blondes share what it was like to work with the director.

KIM NOVAK, interviewed in LA on Friday August 31st 2012

“It’s wonderful that Vertigo was named the number 1 film of all time. It’s only a shame that Hitch isn’t here to know it. He is one of the great directors and one to be studied. He was a perfectionist and didn’t make any short cuts.”

EVA MARIE SAINT, interviewed in LA on Tuesday October 16^th 2012

“There were six of us Hitchcock blondes, and it’s like we all were married to the man at one time or another and we all have a different take on him. Each actress was at a different stage of their life, we were different ages, some married, some not. My experience with Hitch was one of utter respect, warmth, friendliness and humour, and North by Northwest was a glorious time in my life.”

DORIS DAY, interviewed in Carmel on Monday June 18^th 2012

“He was wonderful, a great director and a good friend. I loved working with him. In The Man Who Knew Too Much he shot the scene when I find out that my son is kidnapped from many different angles and he always knew exactly what he wanted.”