The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock's Films

By Lesley Brill

Book Overview

Was Alfred Hitchcock a cynical trifler with his audience's emotions, as he liked to pretend? Or was he a profoundly humane artist? Most commentators leave Hitchcock's self-assessment unquestioned, but this book shows that his movies convey an affectionate, hopeful understanding of human nature and the redemptive possibilities of love. Lesley Brill discusses Hitchcock's work as a whole and examines in detail twenty-two films, from perennial favorites like North by Northwest to neglected masterpieces like Rich and Strange.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691040559
• ISBN13: 9780691040554
• Release Date: November 1988
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Take another look at the Master

Brill's contention is fascinating: Hitchcock was NOT a macabre misfit interested only in the sick and scary. Rather, says Brill, H's films on the whole are hopeful, affirming, generating conventional suspense and working toward a happily-ever-after ending. Works like Psycho and Vertigo, Brill contends, are exceptions to more typical works like North by Northwest and The 39 Steps, which are quite upbeat and happy. According to Brill, Hitch is really an ironist whose occasional subversions of his generally hopeful outlook have received more critical attention; but that doesn't mean his whole ouevre is one of despair or pessimism. Brill argues magnificently in many well-informed essays; though his citation of Trouble with Harry as the quintessential Hitchcock film is a bit hard to swallow. Highly recommended for Hitchcock fans!