Synopses & Reviews
Alfred Hitchcock, the "Master of Suspense," has been internationally recognized as a technical and stylistic innovator in the history of cinema.
A Hitchcock Reader grows out of the editors' desire as classroom teachers for a comprehensive and critical text in introductory or advanced courses devoted to the director's films. Yet the book should also satisfy scholars by providing an updated anthology representing the rich variety of critical responses that Hitchcock's films have evoked over the years.
This new edition of A Hitchcock Reader aims to preserve what has been so satisfying and successful in the first edition. The new volume provides updated scholarship and new editorial introductions, including a general introduction to the volume, added visuals, and a new comprehensive bibliography.
Review
"This richly intelligent book, even more indispensable in its new edition, illuminates every facet of Hitchcock's importance as artist, entertainer, and philosopher-poet. Essential for students and film buffs alike."
–David Sterritt, Ph.D.Chairman, National Society of Film Critics; Professor Emeritus of Theater and Film, Long Island University
"A Hitchcock Reader is an admirably well-assembled entrée to the endless realm of Hitchcock criticism. Film teachers, students, and critics are well-served by this far-ranging collection of essays of lasting value, insightful introductions, and detailed bibliographies."
–Sidney Gottlieb, Co-editor, Hitchcock Annual; Professor of Media Studies,Sacred Heart University
"With judicious additions and updated introductions, the seminal status of A Hitchcock Reader is established anew. Quite simply, the best anthology available on the master."
–Richard Allen, Professor and Chair of Cinema Studies,Tisch School of the Arts,New York University
Synopsis
This new edition of
A Hitchcock Reader aims to preserve what has been so satisfying and successful in the first edition: a comprehensive anthology that may be used as a critical text in introductory or advanced film courses, while also satisfying Hitchcock scholars by representing the rich variety of critical responses to the director's films over the years.
- a total of 20 of Hitchcock’s films are discussed in depth - many others are considered in passing
- section introductions by the editors that contextualize the essays and the films they discuss
- well-researched bibliographic references, which will allow readers to broaden the scope of their study of Alfred Hitchcock
About the Author
"The rewritten introductions to each section update scholarship on Hitchcock, engaging the reader in current debates among Hitchcock scholars and fans." (CHOICE, 2009)"The detail is extraordinary and the insights remarkable and the director? He would have been flattered, but still retorted "Oh it's only a movie!"" (M/C Reviews, May 2009)
Table of Contents
Preface.
Introduction.
Part One: Taking Hitchcock Seriously [Section Intro and Bibliography].
1. Hitch and His Public: Jean Douchet.
2. Hitchcock’s Imagery and Art: Maurice Yacowar.
3. Retrospective: Robin Wood.
4. Hitch as Matrix Figure: Hitchcock and Twentieth Century Cinema: John Orr.
Part Two: Hitchcock in Britain [Section Intro and Bibliography].
5. Hitchcock’s The Lodger: Lesley Brill.
6. Criticism and/as History: Leland Poague.
7. Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder: Theater, Authorship, and the Presence of the Camera: William Rothman.
8. Consolidation of a Classical Style: The Man Who Knew Too Much: Elizabeth Weis.
9. Through a Woman’s Eyes: Sexuality and Memory in The 39 Steps: Charles L. P. Silet.
10. Rematerializing the Vanishing "Lady": Feminism, Hitchcock, and Interpretation: Patrice Petro.
Part Three: Hitchcock in Hollywood [Section Intro and Bibliography].
11. All in the Family: Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt: James McLaughlin.
12. The Moral Universe of Hitchcock’s Spellbound: Thomas Hyde.
13. Notorious: Perversion par Excellence: Richard Abel.
14. Strangers on a Train: Robin Wood.
Part Four: The Later Films [Section Intro and Bibliography].
15. Hitchcock’s Rear Window: Reflexivity and the Critique of Voyeurism: Robert Stam and Roberta Pearson.
16. Finding the Right Man in The Wrong Man: Marshall Deutelbaum.
17. Male Desire, Male Anxiety: The Essential Hitchcock: Robin Wood.
18. A Closer Look at Scopophilia: Mulvey, Hitchcock and Vertigo: Marian Keane.
19. North by Northwest: Stanley Cavell.
20. "Oh, I See . . .": The Birds and the Culmination of Hitchcock's Romantic Vision: John P. McCombes.
21. Mark’s Marnie: Michael Piso.
22. Queer Marnie: Lucretia Knapp.
23. Rituals of Defilement: Frenzy: Tania Modleski.
Part Five: Hitchcock and Film Theory: A Psycho Dossier.
24. Psychosis, Neurosis, Perversion: Raymond Bellour.
25. On Being Norman: Performance and Inner Life in Hitchcock’s Psycho: Deborah Thomas.
26. Psycho’s Allegory of Seeing: Christopher Morris