The Master of Suspense and his muse are back in the spotlight.
Alfred Hitchcock and actress Tippi Hedren _ who starred in one of the director's biggest hits, "The Birds" (1963), and one of his biggest flops, "Marnie" (1964) _ are the subjects of two new books that arrived in the past few weeks. But they're aren't necessarily birds of a feather: While Peter Ackroyd's "Alfred Hitchcock: A Brief Life" (Doubleday, $26.95) and Hedren's "Tippi: A Memoir" (William Morrow, $28.99) each delve into the complex relationship between the two, the approaches are certainly different.
The tales of Hitchcock's obsession with his leading lady while making both movies has been well-covered already, most notably in Donald Spoto's 2009 book, "Spellbound by Beauty," and the 2012 HBO film "The Girl." But Hedren's memoir is the first time the actress herself has written about the experiences.
Hedren details the sexual overtures and advances Hitchcock made toward her. A few days after showing Hedren her screen test, Hitchcock implied that he heard about her reputation and making herself available to men, claims that were untrue, she writes. On the set of "Marnie," she states that he entered her dressing room and put his hands on her. "The harder I fought him, the more aggressive he became," she writes.
Since Ackroyd's book deals more with Hitchcock's life and career, less space is devoted to Hedren, though he covers many of the same incidents in Hedren's book, including the filming of the attic scene in "The Birds," in which she was attacked by real birds after previously being told mechanical ones would be used. Ackroyd also quotes sources, such as "Marnie" screenwriter Jay Presson Allen, who downplay some of those tales of obsession. "He may have had a crush on her," Allen is quoted as saying, "a crise de coeur, but there was nothing overt. Nothing. Nothing. He would never in one million years do anything to embarrass himself. He was a very Edwardian fellow."
