Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies

I have always enjoyed Spoto's books about the film industry, and this one is superb. Having already mastered Hitchcock and his work in other books, this one takes the Master a step further. In short, Hitchcock was a "weirdo" who harrassed his leading ladies all through the making of his classic films. He told them dirty stories, propositioned them, and harrassed them in eras where that was acceptable and allowable. But it must have worked, as his leading actresses all were superb in his films, with one, Joan Fontaine, winning the only acting Oscar for a Hitch film, "Suspicion." AH was terrible to Tippi Hedren, Anne Baxter, and Diane Baker, but somehow he was in love unfailingly with Ingrid Bergman, who worked with him in 3 movies. A fascinating book - highly recommended!

Few film historians have the understanding of Hitchcock that Donald Spoto possesses. He sat at the master's arm during the making of Family Plot. He has previously written about Hitchcock in two other fine books, but here, unburdened by the need for censorship, Spoto offers his most uncompromising view of the obsessions and quirks that were an undeniable, if unattractive part of Alfred Hitchcock. Spoto is an artist of the first rank and this is one of his best.