Book description
The inspiration behind BBC2's The Girl starring Toby Jones and
Sienna Miller, Spellbound by Beauty examines Hitchcock's
relationship with his leading ladies including Tippi Hendren and
Grace Kelly. Hitchcock is also the subject of an upcoming film,
Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren due for release
in 2013.
Spellbound by Beauty examines Alfred Hitchcock's well known
collaborations with the leading ladies of his day, and, in so doing,
delves into his creative life and his uniquely curious professional
and personal relationships. The result is a singular kind of life
story - a book about film and film stars; business and power; sex and
fantasy; romance and derailed psychology.
Drawing on explosive, never-before-published material and details
gleaned through his friendship with Hitchcock, along with archival
material and personal collections only recently made available, Donald
Spoto casts a new light on this most famous of directors. He traces
Hitchcock's professional and social rise and deals frankly with his
strange marriage to Alma Reville, his distance from his daughter,
Patricia, and his obsessive relationships with a number of his leading
ladies from Grace Kelly and Kim Novak to Tippi Hedren.
Donald Spoto was born near New York City in 1941 and received his PhD
from Fordham University in 1970. He is the author of twenty-four books,
including internationally acclaimed biographies of Alfred Hitchcock,
Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman,
Audrey Hepburn and Alan Bates. He lives near Copenhagen.
