Hitchcock's Stars

After making a name for himself in his native England, Alfred Hitchcock was drawn to the U.S. in 1939, where he had unprecedented access to all of the riches the Hollywood studios had to offer. From set designers to cinematographers, Hitchcock could draw from the elite personnel behind the camera. But his choice of on-screen talent was an even greater boon to the director. In this book, the author shows how the director's keen sense of business, showmanship, and artistry helped him...
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After making a name for himself in his native England, Alfred Hitchcock was drawn to the U.S. in 1939, where he had unprecedented access to all of the riches the Hollywood studios had to offer. From set designers to cinematographers, Hitchcock could draw from the elite personnel behind the camera. But his choice of on-screen talent was an even greater boon to the director. In this book, the author shows how the director's keen sense of business, showmanship, and artistry helped him make the most of Hollywood's most valuable resource, the star system. Chronicling Hitchcock's twenty-eight pictures within the Hollywood system, the author examines how his use of stars evolved, and how his status in the industry eventually allowed him to create new stars, change their images, and turn them into film icons. Hitchcock's Stars is a chronological study of Hitchcock's Hollywood films (from Rebecca in 1940 to his final film Family Plot) and the innovative approach he took to casting films.