Despite his professed disdain for actors, this book argues that Hitchcock’s films show a fascination with acting, and also contain many exceptional performances.
In this collection, the first on this subject, a group of distinguished film scholars analyse some key performances in Hitchcock’s work, covering his career from the British silent era to the last years of the Hollywood studio system. The actors covered range from Ivor Novello to Tippi Hedren, with classic, and less well-known films discussed including Notorious, Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train and The Man Who Knew Too Much.
This book reflects the growing academic interest in film performance, and opens new perspectives on the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
This book explores acting in a range of Hitchcock films, with leading scholars providing close readings of a selection of celebrated and lesser-known performances from across the director’s career.
Foreword Charles Barr
Introduction - Adrian Garvey and Victoria Lowe
1 Film sandwiches and corporeal intrusions: the cross-media performance of
Ivor Novello in The Lodger and Downhill Michael Williams
2 Between stage and screen, silent and sound: Hitchcock and The Skin Game
Victoria Lowe
3 The only actor I ever loved: Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant Mark
Glancy
4 Alex!: Claude Rains in Notorious Adrian Garvey
5 Richard Todd suffers Stage Fright: the deceptive performance of postwar
British masculinity Melanie Williams
6 Conspicuous identity and the casting of Strangers on a Train Alex
Clayton
7 When the villain winces: Ray Milland and villainous empathy in Dial M for
Murder David Greven
8 The famous Jo Conway: multifaceted performance in The Man Who Knew Too
Much (1956) Tamar Jeffers McDonald
9 A pretty girl with no references: the role of neatness and grooming in
the performances of Tippi Hedren Lucy Bolton
Index -- .
Adrian Garvey is a film historian Victoria Lowe is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Film Studies, University of Manchester -- .
