The Best Hitchcock Book You Will Ever Read

In Hitchcock, film critic and director François Truffaut presents fifty hours of interviews with Alfred Hitchcock about the whole of his vast directorial career, from his silent movies in Great Britain to his color films in Hollywood. The result is a portrait of one of the greatest directors the world has ever known, an all-round specialist who masterminded everything, from the screenplay and the photography to the editing and the soundtrack. 

 

Based on a 1962 dialogue between Hitchcock and Truffaut, in which the two directors spent a week in a room at Universal Studios talking about movies, this entire book is one long conversation/interview. The transcript was originally published under the title Hitchbook — first in France and then in the United States. An interview book may sound boring but remember this is two directors talking about directing. After briefly discussing his childhood, Hitchcock discusses each of the movies he directed in England, chronologically, moving onto the Hollywood productions. How certain camera shots were accomplished, why he wanted to take on certain challenges, film by film Hitchcock reveals so much. 

 

François Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock in 1962.

Alfred Hitchcock discusses the inspiration behind his films and the art of creating fear and suspense, as well as giving strikingly honest assessments of his achievements and failures, his doubts and hopes. This peek into the brain of one of cinema’s greats is a must-read for all film aficionados. And of all the books ever published about Alfred Hitchcock (which numbers more than 100), this is the one book you have to have on your shelf.