Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick in Hollywood

Hitchcock and Selznick is the story of one of the oddest partnerships in Hollywood history: between a reticent, overweight Englishman with a flair for striking detail and a penchant for the perverse, and a dynamic movie mogul with a keen eye for successful entertainment on the grand scale. It began when producer Selznick brought director Hitchcock from England (where he was already gaining widespread acclaim for his "little thrillers"), and resulted in the making of such masterpieces as Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious. But what Selznick did not count on was that the softspoken, unconfrontational Hitchcock was just as iron-willed as he--and more, that he was setting in motion a conflict between geniuses with wholly different approaches to the art of filmmaking. For Hitchcock was a master of suspenseful plot twists and chilling moments, but remained uninterested in what held them together. Selznick, on the other hand, believed in story, characterization, the overall picture. The sparks that were to fly between them over the next eight years would at first ignite into some of Hitchcock's most memorable achievements, but would finally make collaboration impossible. Drawing on unpublished documents, early drafts of script treatments, and humorous anecdotes--and including a wealth of previously unseen photographs--Hitchcock and Selznick is a fascinating behind-the-scenes portrait not only of two great filmmakers, hut of Hollywood itself: the endless negotiations, wheeling-and-dealing, frustrations and compromises that characterize the movie business. Here, too, are tales of the many stars who worked with "Hitch": the discovery of Joan Fontaine, and how she was coaxed--and on one occasion physically beaten--to draw out her role in Rebecca; how Hitchcock turned Laurence Olivier's cool parody of English gentry into a brooding, tortured portrayal; Ingrid Bergman's legendary set-tos with Hitchcockian approach ("'Very well, Hitch. We'll do it your way, ' the actress finally said. 'It's not my way, Ingrid. It's the right way.'") and philosophy ("it's only a moo-vie"); the young Gregory Peck's insecurities in the face of his producer's high expectations and his director's seeming indifference. Finally, Hitchcock and Selznick demonstrates, in engaging and lucid detail, the importance of both producer (as overseer) and director (as "personality") in the filmmaking process, and affords remarkable insights into how these two talented, idiosyncratic figures created their perennial classics. A book for specialist and layman alike, Hitchcock and Selznick contains all the excitement of a Hitchcock thriller and all the dazzle of a Selznick extravaganza.--Dust jacket.