1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 2: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 4 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: story about one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, 5 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 2: Alfred Hitchcock. But it's also a story about some of 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 2: the most vicious killers in English and American history, killers 7 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 2: who captured the imagination of Alfred Hitchcock and who compelled 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 2: him to create classic tales of fear, horror, paranoia, and suspense. 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 2: And this is a story about power, more specifically the 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 2: abuse of power by a controlling auteur hell bent on 11 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 2: having his way with a woman who he assumed to 12 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 2: be a powerless actress, an actress Tippyhedron, who demonstrated remarkable 13 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 2: strength and survived both personally and professionally to tell her story, 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 2: the story she played out on screen for Alfred Hitchcock. 15 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 2: Though those stories were scored by a guy named Bernard Hermann, 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 2: a composer who made great music. Unlike that music I 17 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 2: played for you at the top of the show. That 18 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 2: wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for my 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 2: melotron called Erwin M. Fletcher. 20 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: I presume MK two. 21 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 2: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,839 Speaker 2: rights to our day will come by Ruby in the Romantics. 23 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 2: And why would I play you that specific slice of 24 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 2: glass half full Boston Nova Cheese. Could I afford it? 25 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 2: Because that was the number one song in America on 26 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 2: March twenty eighth, nineteen sixty three, And that was the 27 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 2: day that Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds was released in theaters, 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 2: shocking audiences with an ending so visceral and so violent 29 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 2: that it felt real because it was on this episode 30 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 2: violent Killers, violent Control, Violent Birds, Vindication, and Alfred Hitchcock. 31 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan in this this Disgraceland Leopold and low 32 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 2: Earl Nelson, Neville, Heath, ed Geane. These names may not 33 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 2: be familiar to you now in twenty twenty four, but 34 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 2: back in the nineteen twenties, the nineteen forties, and the 35 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 2: nineteen fifties, these men made headlines for their deeply disturbing 36 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 2: and utterly depraved crimes they committed. Nathan Leopold and Richard 37 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 2: Loewe stabbed a fourteen year old boy to death with 38 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 2: a chisel just to see if they could get. 39 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Away with it. 40 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 2: Earl Nelson murdered at least twenty two women, mostly landladies, in. 41 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: A little over a year. 42 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 2: Sometimes he even had sex with their corpses. Neville Heath 43 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 2: aka the Lady Killer, was a sadist who bound, gagged, 44 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 2: whipped and murdered two women in England. He got off 45 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 2: on it, the sex and the murder. At Geen was 46 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 2: a collector. He made bowls from human skulls, a belt 47 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 2: from human nipples. He killed women and stole corpses from 48 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 2: graves with the express purpose to create a skin suit 49 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 2: from their body parts, which would allow him, at least 50 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 2: in his mind, to become his dead mother. These stories 51 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 2: terrified people here in the United States and abroad. Alfred Hitchcock, 52 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 2: for one, was obsessed with these stories. Hitch as he 53 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 2: was known, grew up on murder. I mean he literally 54 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 2: grew up a few blocks away from Whitechapel in London's 55 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 2: East End, the sight of five brutal unsolved murders at 56 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 2: the end of the nineteenth century. That was the time too, 57 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 2: of Jack the Ripper, who began his bloody work about 58 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 2: eight years before hitch was born in eighteen ninety nine. 59 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 2: And where was Dirty Jack now? He lived on in 60 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 2: the minds of thousands of English children whose mothers told 61 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: them that if they misbehaved, the Ripper. 62 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: Would come and get them. 63 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 2: And then in nineteen twenty seven, Jack the Ripper struck again, 64 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 2: this time on a movie screen, a fictionalized version that 65 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 2: is in one of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, The Lodger, 66 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 2: a story of the London Fog. All of Hitchcock's other 67 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 2: obsessions soon followed. The prolific Landlady killer Earl Nelson became 68 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 2: the character of Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock's nineteen forty three 69 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 2: thriller Shadow of a Doubt. Leopold and Low were transformed 70 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 2: into two preppies who strangle a classmate for the hell 71 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 2: of it in Hitchcock's incredible nineteen forty eight film Rope. 72 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 2: The sexual sadist Neville Heath was the inspiration for the 73 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 2: so called necktie killer in one of Hitchcock's final films, 74 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 2: Frenzy and Human Skin Wearing. Ed Gean bore more than 75 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 2: a passing resemblance to Norman Bates, the hotel proprietor who 76 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 2: lives with his dead mother in Hitchcock's hugely popular movie Psycho. 77 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 1: That was the big One. 78 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 2: More than thirty years after his directorial debut, after making 79 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 2: more movies than most directors make in a lifetime, silent films, talkies, 80 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: black and white, technicolor, Now, in nineteen sixty, Alfred Hitchcock, 81 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: at age sixty one, was not only the most famous 82 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 2: director working in Hollywood, but also the most wealthy, all 83 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 2: thanks to a movie which broke just about every rule 84 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 2: a movie would. The lead character, Marian Crane played by 85 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 2: Janet Lee, is killed off at the halfway point. The 86 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 2: iconic shower scene, its barrage and off kilter camera angles, 87 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 2: the fast paced editing, Bernard Hermann's piercing score, all of 88 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 2: it was incredibly shocking. At the time, moviegoers were so 89 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 2: frightened that they were literally running up and down the 90 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 2: cinema aisles screaming. But it wasn't just the movie. It 91 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 2: was the marketing, the execution. No admittance once the picture 92 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 2: has started, please don't spoil the ending. Hitchcock had the 93 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 2: world right where he wanted it, under his spell, under 94 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 2: his control, and scared to death. Little did anyone know, however, 95 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 2: that you, Alfred Hitchcock, were the most scared of all. 96 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: You never showed it. 97 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 2: You gave them that stiff upper lip and morbid sense 98 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 2: of humor, so impenetrable, so British, But it was true. 99 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 2: Everything you did, every movie you made all out of fear, 100 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,600 Speaker 2: a fear that had been there since you were a child. 101 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 2: Fear that Jack the Ripper was coming to get you. 102 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 2: Fear of the Jesuit priests who doled out that Headmaster 103 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 2: ritual on your knuckles with a strap. 104 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: You were afraid of authority, especially. 105 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 2: The police, after that one time that you came homely 106 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 2: and your father had some London cops toss you in 107 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 2: a holding cell to teach you a lesson. You were 108 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,119 Speaker 2: afraid of the dark of crowds. Most of all, though, 109 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 2: you were afraid of being alone, even on a movie 110 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 2: set surrounded by your team of collaborators, all the people 111 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 2: so crucial to executing your supposed auteur vision. You knew 112 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 2: how they all saw you, because you saw yourself the 113 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 2: exact same way, overweight, unattractive, an appearance that only became 114 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 2: more grotesque when you were pictured next to one of 115 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 2: your leading men debonair types like Carry Grant or Jimmy Stewart. 116 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 2: You worried that the great pulp crime novelist Raymond Chandler, 117 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 2: who wrote the script for your excellent nineteen fifty one 118 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 2: film Strangers on a Train, spoke for everyone when he 119 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 2: watched you exit your automobile and said, look at that 120 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 2: fat bastard trying. 121 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: To get out of his car. He didn't know that 122 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: you heard him, but you did. You heard everything. 123 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 2: The insult stung, but you got your revenge, not just 124 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 2: on Raymond Chandler, whom you fired, but on the world. 125 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 2: You took all your fears and put them on celluloid, 126 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: and then projected the film on the largest screens possible. 127 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 2: You subjected the masses to your own crippling anxieties. You 128 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 2: were a master not just of suspense, but of control. 129 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 2: Every shot storyboarded in advance, every move made by every 130 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 2: actor done just so because you told them to. 131 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: Hey, you said it. Actors deserve to be treated like cattle. 132 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 2: Now you were the master of the box office, fear 133 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 2: and obsession being the twin engines that drove you, Obsession 134 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 2: being the thing at the center of your poetic get 135 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 2: Deeply Fucked Up movie Vertigo, a movie that was panned 136 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 2: by critics and dismissed by audiences upon its release didn't matter. 137 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,199 Speaker 2: You were the guy who made Rear Window, north By 138 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 2: Northwest some of the greatest movies of all time. Plus 139 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 2: decades later, long after You died, Vertigo finally got its 140 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 2: props when it unseated Citizen Kane as the greatest movie 141 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 2: of all time, at least in the eyes of the 142 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 2: esteemed critics Poll and cit and Sound Magazine. 143 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: Revenge in life and again in death. 144 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 2: But right now, as nineteen sixty gave way to nineteen 145 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: sixty one, revenge wasn't on the mind of the most 146 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 2: powerful director in Hollywood. Once again. Alfred Hitchcock was obsessed, 147 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 2: this time, though not with Murder. Murder was just a mcguffin. 148 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 2: A mcguffin being the narrative device Hitchcock employed in many 149 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 2: of his films. Think of it like a red herring, 150 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 2: something that moves the plot and the characters along, but 151 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 2: ultimately is kind of a fake out the briefcase in 152 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 2: pulp fiction, the Arc of the Covenant and Raiders of 153 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 2: the Lost Arc, these are mcguffins. In Psycho, the mcguffin 154 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 2: is the forty thousand dollars that Mary and Crane steals 155 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 2: from her employer and takes with her on the run. 156 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 2: In this episode of Disgraceland, the mcguffin is all this 157 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 2: stuff about Alfred Hitchcock being obsessed with murder, which he was, 158 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 2: But Alfred Hitchcock was truly obsessed with something else, or 159 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 2: should I say, with someone else, And like a character 160 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 2: in a Hitchcock movie, that's someone else was the object 161 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 2: not only of affection but of lust, jealousy. 162 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: And torture. 163 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 2: Tippy Hetern needed steady, reliable work. In nineteen sixty one. 164 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 2: Tippy was a thirty one year old model, recently divorced, 165 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,559 Speaker 2: with a four year old daughter to support and plenty 166 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 2: of bills to pay. Modeling provided when the gigs were there, 167 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 2: but it wasn't steady. In it wasn't reliable, which, as 168 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 2: I've just pointed out, were two things Tippy Hedron needed. 169 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: So when she got a phone call out of the 170 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 2: blue from the talent agency in Los Angeles, so it was. 171 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 1: Interested in her, she didn't question it. She didn't ask 172 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: why me. She took the meeting. 173 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 2: Just days later, she got an offer, not from the 174 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 2: talent agency and not from modeling work. This was an 175 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 2: offer to work as an actress under exclusive contract to 176 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 2: the most famous director in the world, a director she 177 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 2: hadn't even met yet. Tippy Hedrin had no idea that. 178 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 2: Just days earlier, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma had 179 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 2: been watching TV in their Belle Air home when they 180 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 2: happened to catch Tippy in a commercial for a liquid 181 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 2: diet drinking Alma was Hitchcock's closest collaborator, and had been 182 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 2: for his entire career. She was his story consultant, his 183 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 2: script editor, his gut check. But Alma Hitchcock wasn't Grace Kelly. 184 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 2: She wasn't Ingrid Bergmann or Janet Lee or any of 185 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 2: the blonde actresses that her husband gravitated toward when it 186 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 2: came to casting his films, and she certainly wasn't the 187 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 2: woman they were both watching on the family television set 188 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 2: right now. 189 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: The commercial played. 190 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 2: It was brief, but hitch couldn't take his eyes off 191 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 2: of her, some thirty years his junior. Her short blonde hair, 192 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 2: her close fitting white outfit, her smile. She made him 193 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 2: feel the way he felt when he was around Grace. 194 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 2: But she was better than Grace. She wasn't off playing 195 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,839 Speaker 2: princess and Monaco. She was nobody who could be as somebody, 196 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 2: his somebody. He was smitten and he had to know 197 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 2: who she was. He picked up the receiver of his telephone, 198 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 2: dialed his agent and spoke three words like he was 199 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 2: calling out orders on a movie set. 200 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: Find the girl, and now he had her the girl. 201 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedrin signed to a seven year contract, five hundred 202 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 2: dollars a week, for which she'd work for him and 203 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 2: him only. But working for Alfred Hitchcock didn't just provide 204 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 2: a paycheck. It provided a whole new wardrobe. Before she'd 205 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 2: even proven herself as an actress, hitch sent Tippy to 206 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 2: his legendary costume designer, Edith Head. 207 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: Tippy felt like she was walking into. 208 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 2: A dream as she walked through the tall red double 209 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 2: doors that led into Edith's workspace on the universal picture slot. 210 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 2: She felt like she was in a fairy tale when 211 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 2: Edith took her measurements and made her the most elegant 212 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:02,439 Speaker 2: clothes ball gowns, cocktail dresses, pantsy In all, Hitchcock spent 213 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 2: over a quarter of a million dollars in today's money 214 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 2: on Tippy's wardrobe alone. No expense was spared, not when 215 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 2: it came to making Tippy look how Hitchcock wanted her 216 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 2: to look. He spent more money than anyone had ever 217 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 2: spent in Hollywood history to produce a series of screen 218 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: tests which Tippy performed scenes from three of Hitchcock's older movies. 219 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 2: A screen test is typically a more modest exercise in 220 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 2: which an actor performs a scene on camera so that 221 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 2: the director can get a sense of how they'll appear 222 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 2: on a film. But these were elaborate productions, staged with 223 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 2: full sets and costumes. Tippy was flattered by the attention, 224 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 2: but a little confused. Even to someone new to the 225 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 2: movie making process, this seemed both indulgent and strange, and, 226 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 2: to be frank it was more than a little reminiscent 227 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 2: of Vertigo, Hitchcock's coldly received movie from a few years prior, 228 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 2: in which Jimmy Stewart dresses up a woman to make 229 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 2: her look like another woman whom he believes to be dead. 230 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 2: The sexual perversion in the third act of that film 231 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 2: was largely coded in the subtext given the times. But this, 232 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 2: this thing with Tippy here, this wasn't a movie. Alfred 233 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 2: Hitchcock didn't have to code anything if he didn't want to. 234 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 2: He told Tippy that he had an idea for another 235 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 2: kind of screen test, and this one, as he explained, 236 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 2: he would provide her with a martini which she would drink. 237 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 2: After she finished, he would ask her a provocative question. 238 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 2: He would give her a second martini, which she would consume, 239 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 2: and then Hitchcock would ask his next question, this one 240 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 2: even more provocative than the first, A third martini, A 241 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 2: third question. Could she even imagine what these questions would be? 242 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 2: Would they make her blush? Would they excite her? 243 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: Hitchcock wanted to know. 244 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 2: He was practically giddy as he asked, waiting with bated 245 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 2: breath for Tippy to respond. But Tippy didn't know how 246 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 2: to respond. All this talk about getting her drunk made 247 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 2: her feel uncomfortable, so she didn't say anything. She just 248 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 2: stood up and walked away. If Hitchcock was irritated by that, 249 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 2: he didn't show it. Not at first. He bypassed all 250 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 2: the A list talent he'd worked with for years and 251 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 2: cast Tippy as the lead in his new film, The Birds, 252 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 2: the long awaited follow up to Psycho, in which residents 253 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 2: of a coastal town are inexplicably attacked by violent birds. 254 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 2: It was Hitchcock's most costly film to shoot to date 255 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: and is most technically challenging. Fifteen hundred shots were planned, 256 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 2: twice the average amount for a movie at that time, 257 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 2: and about a quarter of those were trick shots. He 258 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 2: employed a bird trainer to work with hundreds of actual crows, gulls, 259 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 2: and ravens, as well as a special effects team to 260 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 2: create shots using mechanical or animated birds. At first, Hitchcock 261 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 2: gave Tippy instructions on how she should act, down to 262 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 2: the most minor movements in line readings. This was typical 263 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 2: Hitchcock behavior. An actor's motivation is his paycheck and all that, 264 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 2: at least in the eyes of the master of suspense. 265 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 2: But then Hitchcock had other instructions. He told Tippy what 266 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 2: she should eat, what clothes she should wear, when she 267 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,439 Speaker 2: wasn't working, who she could and could not see, and 268 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 2: when she deviated from these instructions, like when she spoke 269 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 2: to other men on set, Hitchcock got angry, very angry. 270 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 2: Suddenly the man who had provided her with a new 271 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 2: wardrobe was treating her like shit, because in Hitchcock's mind, 272 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 2: she owed him he had plucked her from obscurity. He 273 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 2: was turning her into a star. If it wasn't for him, 274 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 2: she would be making another mindless had for whatever diet 275 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 2: was the fat of the week. The least she could 276 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 2: do was show him some appreciation, some affection. Even it 277 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 2: didn't have to be in public, in front of the 278 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 2: entire crew. It could be here inside his limo, where 279 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 2: the two of them were seated side by side. 280 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: In the backseat. 281 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 2: The driver slowed to a crawl and pulled up outside 282 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 2: Tippy's hotel, and without warning, Hitchcock lunched for her. She 283 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 2: couldn't the void him, that big body of his, the 284 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 2: one he knew everyone talked about, swallowing up Tippy's petite, 285 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 2: delicate form. Hitchcock tried to put his lips on her, 286 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 2: and she recoiled, screaming, hitch what are you doing. She 287 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 2: used every muscle in her body to push the director 288 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 2: off of her. Her heart dropped to her stomach as 289 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 2: his beat frantically inside of his chest. 290 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: She panicked. She grabbed the door handle and yanked on it. 291 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: The door flew. 292 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 2: Open and she fell out, landing on her feet, running 293 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,880 Speaker 2: straight through the front door of her hotel into safety. 294 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedron was shocked. She was young, She was attractive. 295 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 2: She was used to men hitting on her, but nothing 296 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 2: like this had ever happened. The fact that it was 297 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 2: now happening with the man she was legally bound to professionally, 298 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 2: at least for the next seven years, that was a problem. 299 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: What was she going to do? What could she do? 300 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: Who could she go to? 301 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 2: It's not like no one knew it was happening. Even 302 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 2: Alma Hitchcock knew it was happening, Hitchcock's wife. This was 303 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 2: the early nineteen sixties, after all, when gross behavior like 304 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 2: this was not only tolerated, but usually swept under the carpet. 305 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 2: For now, Tippy Hedron decided to remain professional, smile, and 306 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 2: do her job. She wasn't going to let Alfred Hitchcock 307 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 2: break her. 308 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word word word. 309 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 2: Regarding Tippy Hedron's best professional intentions, Alfred Hitchcock had other ideas. 310 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,320 Speaker 2: Back on the set for The Birds, the crew prepared 311 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 2: to shoot the film's climactic action scene, where Tippy's character 312 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 2: is viciously assaulted by birds in an attic bedroom. Tippy 313 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 2: didn't understand the point of the scene in the first place. 314 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 2: If the entire town is under attack, if two people 315 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 2: have already died. If there is a seriously pissed off 316 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 2: flock surrounding the house she's right now, and she hears 317 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 2: bird sounds from up in the attic, then why the 318 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,639 Speaker 2: hell would her character go upstairs to investigate in the 319 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 2: attic by herself. You'll do it, Hitchcock said, because I 320 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,120 Speaker 2: tell you to. Tippy took a deep breath. She let 321 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 2: her mantra play over and over in her head. I 322 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 2: will not let him break me. I will not let 323 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 2: him break me. She remains steady, reliable, as steady and 324 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 2: as reliable as the paychecks. 325 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: Hitchcock provided her every week. 326 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 2: She remained this way when she was told on the 327 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,199 Speaker 2: first day of shooting this particular scene a Monday, that 328 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 2: the mechanical birds that were planning to use had broken 329 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 2: down that instead they would be using real birds. That 330 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 2: she would need to walk into a giant bird cage. 331 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 2: The two men would be standing on either side of 332 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 2: the camera, heavy duty gloves on their hands, holding large cartons. 333 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 2: She remains steady as she put herself right where hitch 334 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 2: wanted her. Hitchcock played her just like he played the 335 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 2: audience with Psycho, and just like he was planning to 336 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 2: play the audience with this film. He called action, and 337 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 2: those two men on either side of the camera opened 338 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 2: up those large carts that they were holding, and out 339 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 2: came the birds, real birds, their beaks and talons sharp 340 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 2: as knives, soaring around the room, stuck in that giant cage, 341 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 2: with Tippy moving unpredictably dramatically, darting this way and that. 342 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 2: Every time they went for the exit, the handlers would 343 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 2: grabbed them and throw them. 344 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: Back at Tippy's face. 345 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 2: Tippy was terrified as she fought to keep the birds 346 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 2: off of her. She fought to a mad steady. 347 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: I will not let him break me. 348 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 2: She said this over and over again on Monday, and 349 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 2: then on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. As they shot 350 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 2: the same scene over and over, Tippy was exhausted. By Thursday, 351 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 2: day four, it was determined that the birds were flying 352 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 2: around too fast and thus for not being captured on 353 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 2: camera in a way that pleased out a Hitchcock. Using 354 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 2: elastic bands and nylon threads that were run through small 355 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 2: holes in Tippy's clothing, members of the crew literally tied 356 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 2: the birds to Tippy Hedron's body. Again, Hitchcock called action. 357 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 2: This time the birds were even more crazy and agitated 358 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 2: on account of the fact that they were attached to Tippy. 359 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 2: They lashed out at her, their beaks and their claws, 360 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 2: dug into Tippy's flesh and tore at her clothes. She 361 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 2: wasn't sure anymore where the fake blood stopped and the 362 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 2: real blood began. The next day, Friday. 363 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: Day five. 364 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 2: Day five was more of the same same scene, same birds, 365 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 2: tied to the same actress, same mantra, I will not 366 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 2: let him break me. Her words were ironclad, but the 367 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 2: birds were relentless. One landed on her and started jabbing 368 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 2: its beak in her left eye. It missed, just barely 369 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 2: dodging her lower lip. She couldn't take it anymore. She 370 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 2: lost it, screaming, her heart pounding. She then collapsed to 371 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 2: the floor. There's no way around this. I don't care 372 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 2: how much you like Alfred Hitchcock's movies. Tippy Hedron was 373 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 2: assaulted while making the Birds. She was assaulted, and she 374 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 2: was tortured until she had a nervous breakdown. That's a fact. 375 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 2: Directors do many things to elicit a performance out of 376 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,639 Speaker 2: their actors, But when Alfred Hitchcock tossed live birds at 377 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,479 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedron for five fucking days, five days straight. He 378 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,640 Speaker 2: wasn't doing it to coax a great performance. He did 379 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 2: it to trigger some sort of hysteria. He did it 380 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,120 Speaker 2: out of malice. He'd been obsessed with this woman since 381 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 2: the day he saw her in a TV commercial, and 382 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 2: he had been rejected numerous times since. After making unwanted 383 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 2: comments and advances. The following Monday, the malice continued. Tippy's 384 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,439 Speaker 2: doctors told Hitchcock that she needed to rest for a 385 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 2: few days the production would need to halt. Hitchcock' said 386 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 2: that wasn't going to be possible, to which the doctor. 387 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: Replied, what are you doing? You try to kill her. 388 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 2: Hitchcock eventually relented, and Tippy got her rest from Hitchcock 389 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 2: the director. That is, there was no rest from Hitchcock 390 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 2: the obsessive. He followed up the onset torture by commissioning 391 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 2: the creation of an expensive doll of Tippy and character 392 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 2: from The Birds and sent it to Tippy's young daughter. 393 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 2: That's actress Melanie Griffith, by the way. But he didn't 394 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 2: just send it to her. He sent it packaged in 395 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,439 Speaker 2: a tiny little pine box that resembled a coffin He 396 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 2: then told Tippy about his recurring dream, one in which 397 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 2: she embraced him and said, hitch I love you. 398 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: I'll always love you. 399 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 2: He built her a fancy dressing room in a trailer 400 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 2: that just so happened to be located directly adjacent to 401 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 2: the back door of his private bungalow on the Universal Lot. 402 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 2: It was a short walk from Hitchcock's office to Tippy's trailer, just. 403 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: How he liked it. 404 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,959 Speaker 2: He was making that walk right now. In early nineteen 405 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 2: sixty four, roughly a year after The Birds was released 406 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 2: to mixed reviews and only a fifth of the box 407 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 2: office receipts earned by its predecessor, Psycho, Hitchcock was working 408 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 2: on his new film, Marnie, a psychological thriller, on which 409 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedrid was starring opposite Sean Connery. And speaking of opposites, 410 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 2: Connery was the opposite of Hitchcock. He was kind sensitive, 411 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 2: not just a gentleman on the surface, but deep down too. 412 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 2: Sean Connery wasn't the one entering her trailer. Though Sean 413 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 2: Connery wasn't allowed in her trailer, only Hitchcock was allowed. 414 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 2: Hitch called the shots, he told his screenwriter Evan Hunter 415 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 2: to write a rape scene in the Marney script. Hunter 416 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 2: thought it was out of character for the role that 417 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,199 Speaker 2: Sean Connery was playing, so Hunter the writer refused, and 418 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 2: Hitchcock fired him. Hitchcock had someone else right the scene, 419 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 2: and then while filming it, at the moment that Tippy 420 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 2: is sexually violated, he instructed his camera man to zoom 421 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,360 Speaker 2: in as close as he could on her face. 422 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 1: The whole shoot was. 423 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 2: Awkward, not as awkward as this moment, though, With hitch 424 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 2: and Tippy in her trailer, he was walking toward her, 425 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 2: backing her against the wall, just like he had backed 426 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 2: her against the wall during those five brutal days with 427 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,959 Speaker 2: the birds. But now he was doing it alone. Now 428 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 2: he was the bird. He didn't say much, He just 429 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 2: had that look in his eye, not romance, but not lust. Honestly, 430 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 2: who knew what was going through his head, The head 431 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 2: that had created some of the most unforgettable images in 432 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 2: twentieth century cinema, Images like that of Grace Kelly, unsuspectingly 433 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 2: attacked from behind in the film dial M for Murder, 434 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 2: knocked flat on her back, her would be killer on 435 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 2: top of. 436 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: Her, trying to strangle her to death. Her outstretched arm 437 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: gesturing wildly towards the camera. Joseph Cotton in. 438 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 2: Shadow of a Doubt, the seemingly harmless uncle finally revealed 439 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 2: to be a duplicitous sociopath, a killer struggling to overpower 440 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 2: his teenage niece and throw her from a moving train. 441 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 2: Farley Granger in the opening scene of Rope, diabolically fusing 442 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 2: pleasure and pain, sex and violence, getting off on choking 443 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 2: the life out of another man. And now Alfred Hitchcock 444 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 2: closing in on a terrified Tippyhedron in her trailer. Who 445 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 2: knows if he was thinking of those images those scenes 446 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 2: as he got closer didn't matter. All that mattered was 447 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 2: that he had her right where he wanted her, under 448 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:39,159 Speaker 2: his control, scared to death. But she wasn't a naive 449 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,959 Speaker 2: audience of moviegoers that he could play like a fiddle. 450 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 2: So when Hitchcock reached out and grabbed her, grabbed parts 451 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 2: of her that she never wanted him or anyone like 452 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 2: him touching. 453 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: She fought back. 454 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 2: She pushed him, just like she pushed him in the limo, 455 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,719 Speaker 2: only this time she had to push harder because the 456 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 2: more she resisted, the more he went after her. He 457 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:04,479 Speaker 2: was relentless, but Tippy was fierce. She continued to swat 458 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 2: at him and squirm him out of his grasp, until 459 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 2: at last he was out of breath and had to stop. 460 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 2: His beat red face was flush with anger and embarrassment, 461 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,360 Speaker 2: and he told her that she should be more grateful 462 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 2: that she was nobody until. 463 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: He came along. I'll ruin you, he said. 464 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 2: You know what, Tippy replied, do what you have to do. 465 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedron proceeded to take her own advice. 466 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: She did what she had to do. 467 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 2: She finished making Marnie like the steady, reliable professional she was, 468 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 2: even though Hitchcock never directly spoke to her again and 469 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 2: only addressed her through other crew members. Hitchcock gave up 470 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 2: on the movie, at least creatively. When it was released, 471 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 2: it made even less money than The Birds. Tippy Hedron 472 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 2: didn't care. She got paid the same regardless. More importantly, 473 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 2: she was whole. She'd been pecked, clawed, bitten, and groped, 474 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 2: and yet she remained unbroken. There's a scene towards the 475 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 2: end of Psycho in which Lilah Crane played by Vera Miles, 476 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 2: is desperately searching for her sister Marian in Norman Bates's 477 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 2: creepy Gothic house. Spoiler alert, Marion had been hacked to 478 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 2: death in the shower by Norman dressed up as his 479 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 2: dead mother way earlier in the film. As Lilah looks 480 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 2: through the house for her sister, the camera quickly shows 481 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 2: us a turntable and a copy of Beethoven's Arroyoka Symphony 482 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 2: on the platter. But why, why is this shot in 483 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 2: the movie? What does Beethoven have to do with Norman Bates? 484 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 2: Is there some deep symbolic connection that we're supposed to 485 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 2: make between this classical composition and the events of. 486 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: One of the original slasher films. 487 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 2: No, it's actually far more simple than that, and it 488 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 2: has to do with your gut reaction to the visual image. 489 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 2: Hitchcock wants your brain to take a quick snapshot of 490 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 2: that image, specifically of that word on the record, Arroyoka, 491 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 2: a word that a quick glance looks like erotic, and 492 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 2: in fact, he's betting on you to misread it as erotic, 493 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 2: which naturally you do, and which immediately makes you think, Hey, 494 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 2: what is really going on between Norman Bates and his 495 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 2: mother images? As Hitchcock knew all too well, have incredible power. 496 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,719 Speaker 2: Images of objects have incredible power. And there are objects 497 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 2: all throughout Hitchcock's movies, keys, locks, ties, eyeglasses, candles, Beethoven records. 498 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: Some of these things have true meaning. 499 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 2: A lot of them are just mcguffin's remember those, But regardless, 500 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 2: most of them are burned forever and are subconscious. That 501 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 2: is Hitchcock's power. As the French New Wave director Jean 502 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 2: MoU Gadar once said, there are perhaps ten thousand people 503 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 2: who haven't forgotten Saison's apples, but there must be a 504 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 2: billion spectators who will remember the cigarette lighter of strangers 505 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 2: on a train. Gadar also said Courte Hitchcock succeeded where 506 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 2: Alexander the Great, Julius, Caesar, Napoleon, and Hitler failed in 507 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 2: taking control of the universe. 508 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 1: Unquote, be that as it may. 509 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 2: Alfred Hitchcock himself failed when it came to taking control 510 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 2: of Tippy Hedrin after the Birds and after Marnie. Tippy 511 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 2: waited out the rest of that seven year contract and 512 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 2: then went on to have a steady, reliable film and 513 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 2: television career. At the same time, the Hitchcock's best days 514 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 2: had fallen behind him. Still Hitchcock could never forget Tippy, 515 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,000 Speaker 2: and he'd never have to, in large part because he 516 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 2: had a keepsake from his time with her, a totem, 517 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 2: if you will, perhaps not exactly like the thing's real 518 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 2: life psycho ed geinkev bowls from human skulls, and belts 519 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 2: made of human nipples, because Alfred Hitchcock was not a 520 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 2: murderer or a grave robber. 521 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: But he was a collector. 522 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 2: If you were to walk through his house, that seven bedroom, 523 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 2: five bathroom English style nestled in the trees of bel air, 524 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 2: past the mahogany grand piano, past the Chinese terra cotta 525 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 2: figures in the Salvador Dolly sketch, the three Paul Cleet paintings, 526 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 2: that one Picasso which turned out to be a fake, 527 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 2: but I digress. And if you made her way into 528 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 2: Hitchcock's private office, there on his desk you would find 529 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 2: an object, a real object, something called a life mask, 530 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 2: a rendering of Tippy Hedron's face made from wax or plaster, 531 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 2: one that Hitchcock was able to make because he told 532 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 2: her it was needed as part of a makeup routine. 533 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 2: And that was bullshit, psychotic bullshit, by the way, there 534 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 2: was only one reason why the life mask was made. 535 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 2: It was made so that it could sit on Hitchcock's 536 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 2: desk forever, so that every day, long after Tippy Hedron 537 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 2: was out of his life, Alfred Hitchcock stare at Tippy 538 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 2: Heedron's face, at Tippy Hedron's eyes, like she was really there, 539 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:12,240 Speaker 2: which of course she wasn't. The next time Tippy Hedron 540 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 2: later actual eyes on Alfred Hitchcock. It was nineteen eighty 541 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 2: at Hitchcock's funeral, dead from kidney failure at the age 542 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 2: of eighty. Some were surprised to see her there, given 543 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 2: her history with her benefactor turned tormentor. As she wrote 544 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 2: in her memoir, she had long since healed and moved 545 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 2: on from her trauma and was there to quote honor 546 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 2: him personally as an unparalleled teacher and starmaker who once 547 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 2: believed in a former model who had never acted a 548 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 2: day in her life unquote. But whatever she said, what 549 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 2: Tippy Hedron was truly honoring by attending Alfred Hitchcock's funeral 550 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 2: was her own fortitude. Despite the best efforts of a 551 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 2: predator who had all the power on his side, Hitchcock 552 00:33:55,240 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 2: had not broken her in the end, Tippy Headron was 553 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 2: the victor, the great director, he was the disgrace. I'm 554 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 2: Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Thanks for listening to 555 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 2: this week's episode on Alfred Hitchcock, a problematic director to 556 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 2: say the least, but no doubt one of the greatest 557 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 2: to ever do it. And this has we wanted to 558 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 2: know which problematic directors and which problematic actors have made 559 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:37,800 Speaker 2: films that were so great that you continue to watch 560 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 2: them despite the transgressions of their creators. I watched Hitchcock's 561 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 2: for a Window two nights ago and I'm going to 562 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 2: watch this a thousand more times before I die. But 563 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 2: I want to know who is it for you guys 564 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,839 Speaker 2: six one seven nine oh six six six three eight, 565 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,840 Speaker 2: Leave me a voicemail, send me a text, let me know. 566 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 2: Can also reach me at disgracelaandpod as well on Instagram, 567 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 2: X and Facebook. 568 00:34:58,040 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: Leave me a review for the show. 569 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 2: If you guys want to help out, you do that 570 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,880 Speaker 2: on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and you can win some 571 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 2: free merch by doing so as well. 572 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: All right, here comes some credits. 573 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 574 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 2: partnership with Double Elvis. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com 584 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,279 Speaker 2: slash membership for details, Rate and review the show, and 585 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,359 Speaker 2: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod 586 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 2: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgracelampod. 587 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 1: Rock a Roller, He's a baddard man.